News Around the Neighborhood

Letter from the President – October 2018

Oct 3, 2018 |

Know what a MILLENNIAL is? Broadly defined as folks in their 20s and 30s, this large young segment of the population is being chased by every community and business in America. They are recognized correctly as the future: those who will bring vitality and shape the course of the nation across the next 50 years. The most popular yardstick of success among American municipalities is currently their ability (or inability) to attract this critical next generation of residents. So imagine our delight in learning that IN ALL OF PENNSYLVANIA, the Allegheny West and Manchester zip code 15233 is second only to Lawrenceville (15201) in attracting millennial residents between 2011 and 2016 – increasing our share by 41.5% during that time. Our Zip Code is now 49% Millennial, with 644 as of 2016! What we have in Allegheny West is exactly what these folks are seeking, and that is not by accident. Across more than half a century, the AWCC and its members have focused intensely on creating a neighborhood which preserved and enhanced its architectural and historic heritage, provided outstanding quality of life for those who live here, and a pleasant balance of local business and community amenities to serve those residents. From the beginning, the strategy was simple: if you build it, they will come. They have, and they continue to do so in increasing numbers. But as far as we’ve progressed, we certainly have plenty more to do. Far too much of our neighborhood is vacant land, where surface parking lots generate enough money as an amenity for suburbanites on just ten days a year to prevent new homes and businesses from being built on those sites instead. Replacing the impacts of empty asphalt, congested traffic, and bad fan behavior with hundreds of new neighbors, new amenities, and much needed new tax revenue for our City continues to be a long awaited priority. Inappropriate and disruptive uses continue to impact their neighbors, important buildings continue to deteriorate in the hands of unconcerned absentee owners, and the lure of a quick buck continues to attract speculators whose greed is conveniently oblivious to how their neighbors are affected. All of these require consistent and aggressive vigilance, as well as progressive development to counter them. Staying on mission has always been a challenge – none of these issues is new. However, Allegheny West has always been extraordinarily effective at persistently overcoming all of those and more – just as we will continue to do going forward. The Millennials have voted with their feet. And that’s a sure sign that we’ve been doing a lot right! John DeSantis President, AWCC

AWCC Membership Meetings – October 9, 2018

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Ave
Tuesday, October 9th at 7:30 pm

  • Visitors
    • Councilwoman Harris’s Office
    • Mayor Peduto’s Office
    • Representative Wheatley’s Office
    • Zone One Police
    • Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
  • New Neighbors & Guests
  • Minutes
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Membership
  • Ways and Means
    • Showcase Wine Event (September 15) – Report
    • 2018 Alleys, Axles & Ales (September 29) – Report
    • Christmas Candlelight House Tour (December 7-8)
  • Friends of Allegheny West
    • Clean Up
  • Property
  • Housing and Planning
    • Allegheny Commons Proposed Implementation Plan
    • CCAC New Building: Ridge at Brighton
    • Western Avenue Revitalization, Electric
    • Light of Life Ridge Avenue Project
    • Expansion of Historic District
    • Historic District Enforcement Issues (old cases)
    • Comprehensive Guidelines for New Construction on Vacant Sites
    • Airbnb Issues/Impacts on AW
    • Railroad Bridge Replacements, Double Stack Train Impacts
  • Northside Leadership Conference
  • Nominating Committee
    • Proposed Slate November Election
  • Other Business (Old & New)

Discussion on the Allegheny Commons Master Plan 2018 Update

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Submitted by Tim Zinn

The Housing and Planning Committee has identified several areas of concern in the 2018 Allegheny Commons Master Plan. Although this topic has been discussed at past general membership meetings, the committee would like to revisit these concerns at the October 9th meeting in order to form a consensus opinion for submission to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. The committee has identified the following concerns with the current master planning document:

West Commons and the Grove

  • The introduction of a “water feature” in the historic location of the West Commons fountain — we continue to advocate that the original fountain be restored. We will not support a wet play area, splash pool, or bog area.
  • Family sized shelter to be constructed in place of center tennis court.
  • Expansion of the play area–we agree that the existing play area is in need of drainage improvements.
  • Introduction of meadow plantings that will diminish the lawn feature of the park, which has been, since its inception, an important character-defining feature of the commons.

North West Commons and Lake Elizabeth

  • Additions of plantings inside the border of Lake Elizabeth
  • Lowering of water level of Lake Elizabeth
  • Storm water management of street water runoff discharging into the park including into Lake Elizabeth.
  • Construction of new Lake Elizabeth pavilion at the south corner of the lake with amenities such as a cafe. There should be no destination restaurants in the park. If a pavilion is to be constructed, it should be in the historic location of the Lake Elizabeth boathouse, which was between Lake Elizabeth and the Aviary, and should be a faithful reconstruction of that building.

PechaKucha Night Pittsburgh at Alloy 26

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Submitted by Greg Coll

Co-organized by our own Greg Coll in collaboration with AIA Pittsburgh, AIGA Pittsburgh and Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, PechaKucha Nights are informal, fun gatherings held in more than 1,000 cities worldwide, where creative people share their ideas, work, and thoughts in a 20×20 format; a presentation style with 20 images that advance automatically for 20 seconds each, as the presenter talks along with the images.

  • Thursday, October 11, 2018 – Doors open at 6:00 pm. Presentations begin at 6:30 pm. The event normally ends by 8:00 pm.
  • $15 admission includes food and open bar!
  • Tickets are available on site on event night or purchase in advance at aiapgh.ticketleap.com.

Our 10 presenters are (maybe you know some of them): Phyllis Kim, Claudia Berlinski, Charles Rosenblum, Kirsten Compitello + Group, Doug Dean, Jan Loney, Mary Cvetan, Julie Mallis, Mark Ramdarass, Rob Pfaffmann. Each will be presenting on a unique topic of their choice, so be ready for a night of surprises! Make sure you purchase your tickets, which include food and drink, for this event at Alloy 26!

Ground-to-Glass Showcase Event: Thank You!

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Submitted by Carol Gomrick

Sincerest thanks and gratitude on behalf of Allegheny West Civic Council and Deb Mortillaro of Dreadnought Wine for all who shared a wonderful celebration of Eberle wines in the magnificent Holmes Hall on September 15th.

If you would like a chance to Meet Gary Eberle in person, he will be in Pittsburgh for a dinner at The Carlton on October 23rd (The Carlto: 412-391-4099). Contact The Carlton directly to make reservations. Dreadnought will also be having a casual meet and greet with Gary during his October visit so watch for this on the Palate Partners class schedule calendar: palatepartners.com.

Alleys, Axles, and Ales is a Success: Thank You!

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Submitted by Cecile Canales, co-chair

Many, many thanks go out to all the home owners, cars owners, and volunteers who helped make this year’s Alleys, Axles, and Ales Tour a wonderful success. A very special thanks goes to Greg Coll, our AW neighbor of the year, who with many revisions and drafts, created magnificent, colorful posters, ticket booklets, the program and lanyard hot passes. He is most reliable and a tremendous help to everyone.

  • Thank you goes to Tom Barbush, Co-Chair, and to our committee members who suggested great ideas and dealt with many decisions. It was a pleasure to work with Carl Canales, Tom Cihil, Doug Debelak, John Engle, Carol Gomrick ,Thomas Huygens, Lindsy McDonald, Mitchell Schwartz, Cathy Serventi, Abi Webb. Thank you to car owners and homeowners not listed above: Tom Armstrong, Dan Barbus, Kelly Brown, Eleanor Colema, John DeSantis, Armand Englebrecht, Linda and Roy Englebrecht, Tim Hudson, Rob Johnson, Kevin Luffy, Ashley Webb, Chris and Mike Zappa.
  • Thank you to Jake Bier and Abbey Surrena, of Bier’s Pub, and Nate and Katie LaValla, of Bear Dog Bike, for hosting a Beer Stop at their establishments and their financial support.
  • Thanks to out-of-state displays from Michael Skellie, and his father, Dave Skellie, who traveled from Delaware bringing their DeLorean and their brand new Model 3 Tesla; Stephen Bell, of Classic Investments, a financial supporter, who traveled from Denver, CO; Dennis and Peggy Gilligan, car owners, who trailored their 1967 XKE Jaguar from Maryland, and other car owners who brought cars from central PA, Ohio, New York and Florida.
  • Thanks to A&L Motors for bringing an F-Pace Jaguar, to Hagerty Insurance, a financial supporter who displayed at their tent, and to Bryan Williams, chief judge, and organizer of the Jaguar Concours Cars.
  • And a special thanks to Dan Hermann, Zone 4 Chief Command Officer, who helped secure permits to close and barricade Brighton Road and a Jaguar owner.
  • Thanks to our financial sponsors: Babb, Inc., Bellevue House Tour, Gallery H, Giorgio’s, Greg Coll Creative, LeClaire Griewahn & Scott, Coldwell Banker Realtor Susan Meadowcroft, The Modern Cafe, Penn Brewery, SMARTSolution Technologies, Daniel Strinkoski DDS and YMCA.
  • Thanks to our own Northside food truck, Newman and Marley, whose delicious hotdogs and sausages fed the volunteers and tour goers.
  • Thank you to Dr. Dan for cleaning up leaves and debris before the tour.
    Thanks to our ticket collectors, MaryAnne Murphy and Cathy Serventi. Cathy and Dan Adam also helped with online tour info, Showclix, permits and expense reports.
  • Thanks to the many volunteers Elizabeth Barbush, Carolyn Graham, Sally Graubarth, Bob Knaus, Scott and Hilary Moser, MaryAnne Murphy, Diana Poliziani, Michael Shealy, Doris Short, John from N. Lincoln who carried heavy buckets of signs, and my special assistant for the day, Tony Caruso.
  • Thanks to our party organizers who at the end of the day served Chile and Cornbread in the Paddock to our weary volunteers: Fran Barbush, Trish Burton, Mary Callison, Diane Caruso, Nonie Knaus and Abi Webb.
  • My biggest thanks go to my husband, Carl Canales, who weathered the past 2 weeks of my insanity.

Proceeds will go to Allegheny YMCA Northside Summer Camp and the Allegheny Commons Park Renovation Project.

From the Nominating Committee: Proposed Slate of Officers

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

The AWCC Nominating Committee is pleased to present the proposed slate of officers for 2019:

President: Ann Gilligan
Vice President: Tom Barbush
Treasurer: Cathy Serventi
Secretary: Bob Griewahn
Sergeant-at-Arms: Sara Sweeney
Housing and Planning Committee: Ashley Webb
Membership Committee: Greg Coll
Ways and Means Committee: Annette Trunzo
Communications Committee: Trish Burton
Property Committee: Michael Shealey
Friends of Allegheny West: Diane Caruso

Train Tour Guides Needed

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

The Allegheny West Christmas House Tour is December 7th-8th, 2018. John DeSantis has a magnificent collection of the prewar Standard and Wide gauge trains and will open his collection for tours.

I am beginning to schedule volunteers now for the trains. Are you interested this year? We need approximately 8 people on each shift, as in the past. We close early on Saturday so that guides will be able to go to the neighborhood party which begins at 9:00 pm this year. There are no train tours scheduled after the 6:00 pm tour group on Saturday.

John also has a walkthrough prior during the week of the tour. Please take advantage of this opportunity to view his collection and help AWCC with the train tours. To volunteer, please contact Cecile Canales at ccanales13@icloud.com. Thank you!

Allegheny West Christmas Tour Update

Oct 3, 2018 | ,

Save the Date! – The annual AWCC Christmas Tour will be held on December 7th and 8th. If you are interested in having your house on the tour, please contact Carol Gomrick at carolgomrick@gmail.com.

Important Dates Leading into the 2018 Tour

Wednesday October 10th at 7:00 pm: Christmas Tour General Meeting | 940 W North Avenue
Wednesday November 7th at 7:30 pm: Christmas Tour Mailer Labeling | Calvary Church

Be a Good Neighbor

Oct 2, 2018 |

Be a Good Neighbor Event

Join us for this year’s 7th Annual Geared Up & Grounded: Bike Tour and Block Party on October 13th! It will be hosted at our friend’s place, Providence Connections in the Northside, which is one of our Green Stormwater Implementation sites. Grounded has partnered with many friends throughout Allegheny County to build capacity and transform vacant land into community assets. Geared Up is just one of the ways we get to celebrate these spaces and share them with you.

Cycling Graphic

The bike tour will feature Starbucks Coffee, treats from Eat’n Park, and bicycle mechanic support from Waxwing Cycles; riders will roll out at 9:30 am so plan to arrive early to eat and mingle with friends. Along the ride, guides from the Grounded team and Pittsburgh Major Taylor Cycling Club will be there to help you safely navigate the way. We will get to explore the Northside neighborhoods and chat with community partners who helped to bring these projects to life.

If you can’t ride, don’t worry! Starting at 1:00 pm, there will be a block party hosted at Providence Connections featuring music by Smokestack Lightning, food by La Palapa food truck, libations from local breweries, funnel cakes, tiny bike relay and a host of other family-friendly activities!

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