News Around the Neighborhood

The summer of 2018 has been even more eventful than usual here in Allegheny West. As we approach autumn, here’s at least a bit of what’s happening… A special thanks goes out to the AW Party Team (yes, there really is such a thing), and “Partier-in-Chief” Greg Coll, who pulled together and treated all of us to three GREAT Summer street picnics – on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. This neighborhood tradition goes back into the 1970s, and couldn’t have been in better hands this season! And, although the Party Team now gets a well-earned rest, they’re always looking for more volunteers to help out when those picnics roll around next year! The Housing & Planning Committee under Tim Zinn has been working diligently through the Summer as they process the many upcoming developments, impacts and issues for our neighborhood. At the September 11^th Membership meeting, you’ll hear reports of positive progress on subjects as diverse as the railroad through the park and the overpass bridges, the scrap yard on Behan Street, guidelines for new construction on vacant sites and the growing issue city-wide of AirBnBs. More Special Thanks – this time to Trish Burton’s Friends of Allegheny West, whose monthly neighborhood clean-ups make a world of difference for all of us. And when you’re strolling Western Avenue and enjoying the dozens of colorful hanging flower baskets, it’s Friends that make all of that happen too. Next year they’ll be tackling all of those empty tree planting beds along Western as well! Our Ways & Means Committee is headed by Carol Gomrick, and has a distinction unmatched by any other community organization in the county: Mounting four different major fundraising events within six months. Did we mention that these folks are ALL volunteers?! With the very successful Wine & Garden Tour completed in June, Ways & Means now moves into its wildest part of the calendar – with the new Premier Wine Event on September 15, the very popular Alleys, Axles, & Ales car show just two weeks later (Thanks Cecile Canales and Tom Barbush), and then the region’s biggest annual house tour: our Allegheny West Victorian Christmas Tour in December. Of course, volunteers are needed for ALL of these! And… Nearly a decade after it was initially proposed, we are finally moving forward with our Western Avenue Gateway project, which will expand the AW Parklet at the corner of Western and Brighton to include several community garden plots, an appropriate encircling iron fence and prominent signage welcoming passersby to our community. Not a bad Summer for the City’s smallest neighborhood! See you at Tuesday’s meeting for details on all of these – and lots more. — John DeSantis President, AWCC