Category Archives: Neighborhoods

4th Annual Community Development Summit — 05/14+15

Pittsburgh’s Fourth Annual Community Development Summit: Reaching Across Boundaries is on May 14-15 at the Omni William Penn Hotel. Among the esteemed presenters, Mayor Peduto will be participating as moderator on a panel discussing the roles of neighborhoods and government in shaping the cities of tomorrow.

Pittsburgh’s new City Planning Director, Ray Gastil, will also be on a panel, entitled “Planning for Demographic Change in our Neighborhoods.”

The Summit’s two keynote speakers will be Shelley Poticha and David Rusk. Shelley is the director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Urban Solutions program, building NRDC’s work for better cities that support thriving people as our breakfast keynote. David is former mayor of Albuquerque and now a consultant on urban policy. He is also the founding president of Building One America; author of Cities without Suburbs; and has a longstanding relationship with the Pittsburgh area.

The Summit features 14 breakout sessions, three mobile workshops, an evening awards ceremony and reception, and two keynote meal programs. It has quickly earned the reputation as the largest community development conference in the region; approximately 500 folks from near and far attend the event each year.

You can learn more about the Summit here: http://www.pcrg.org/conference/

Steel of the Week: Vegan Milkshake

Our Steel this week may leave you a little hungry… Vegan milkshakes from the Quiet Storm. Vegans and non-vegans alike are sure to be satisfied from one of these shakes. Forget weekly vegan specials: Quiet Storm has twelve different varieties offered every day. The flavors we tried were the espresso shake, sticky bun, banana bread, and ginger lemon. As the menu suggests, they did take a little while to prepare, but were definitely worth the wait.

Located in Bloomfield since 2001, this vegetarian and vegan cafe is the perfect spot if you are looking for this type of meal or even just to connect to the wifi and get some work done over house brewed iced chai tea. Some other points worth mentioning: the cafe is BYOB, a mostly vegan Sunday brunch is offered, and take-out is available.

If you have an item you would like featured as our Steel of the Week, submit to sotw@iheartpgh.com!

TechShop Open House – Try the Plasma Cutter, Weld a Custom Branding Iron, And More!

TechShop Pittsburgh, located in Bakery Square, is hosting an all day summer social Saturday, June 22. The communal space offers a ton of different professional equipment and workshops for members to start creating. The interns took a field trip there today, and I have to say we were impressed. There are so many machines and cool projects going on, the place is definitely a must-see. From 3D printers to sewing machines, this place has it all. TechShop is only located in a few cities in the country, and Pittsburgh is lucky enough to be one of them.

The TechShop Summer Kickoff, held from 10a.m. to 5p.m. will feature a lot of DIY workshops where you can create your own craft to take home.Some of the Make-It, Take-It workshops include: vacuum formed chocolate molds, custom steak branding irons, silkscreened totes and bandanas, laser etched beer mugs, and more. The workshops are low cost and open to everyone, plus you take home the project that day (thus the “Make-It, Take-It:). These classes are limited numbers, so sign up here before you go.

There will also be food, music, demos, and exhibitions throughout the day.

The event is free, but you do have to RSVP. For more info, check out their Facebook Event.

: Make a custom branding iron

: use the vacuum former to make a custom chocolate mold and bar

: metal flower made with the plasma cutter

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3 Events to Check Out Neighborhoods – Mt. Washington, Bellevue, Point Breeze

One of the best parts of Pittsburgh, as you probably already know (but since it is back to school season – I know we have some new to Pittsburgh readers – bare with us as we educate them on why Pittsburgh is amazing) – is the Neighborhoods. The city of Pittsburgh has 88 neighborhoods – you can check out a map and a list here. Outside of the city – there are even more neighborhoods and boroughs in Allegheny county. Three of these neighborhoods have orgaized events this week to invite others to come to check out their neck of the woods.

These three events give you a chance to check out Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods – South, East and Northwest.

MT. WASHINGTON: A Taste of Mt. Washington

Thursday, September 29 5-9pm
$15 per ticket gets you specials and discounts at participating Mt. Washington businesses
a great way to check out Mt. Washington and to support the Mt. Washington CDC’s Main Streets Program
Facebook event link – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=204919659569779

BELLVUE: Artobert Fest

Saturday, October 1
1-6pm Free block party on Lincoln Ave
5-8pm “Art and Wine Walk” down Lincoln Avenue. Ticket prices are $12 for a single ticket, or $20 per couple. Participating businesses will become individual art galleries as ticket holders enjoy live music, art exhibits, hors d’oeuvres, and complimentary wine tasting.
8-10pm Artober Fest After Party at Bite Bistro
Facebook event link – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179562568778542

POINT BREEZE: Annual Bonfire

Saturday, October 1 4-10pm
Street Classical Academy, Corner of Reynolds and Lang
live music, hayrides in Homewood Cemetary, food vendors (including s’mores)

On Sat. May 21 – Fineview will be transformed to Spineview Movie Set

Another awesome collaboration to show off more of wonderful Pittsburgh! Saturday, May 21, 2011 – is the annual PopUp Pittsburgh – this is the annual project of the Leadership Pittsburgh students. Each year – PopUp Pittsburgh plans a big day long festival in a different neighborhood. I checked out the PopUp Pittsburgh Uptown 2 years ago and had a great time checking out many hidden gems of uptown neighborhoods.

But wait, this collaboration also involves zombies. This year PopUp Pittsburgh is taking over Fineview for the day – and trasnforming the neighborhood in to Spineview. Fineview will be the location for filming a zombie film about the neighborhood and history – and everyone is invited to attend the filming.

There will be food, fun and movie related activities complete with red carpet. We made the residents of Fineview the stars as they tell you why Fineview is a fine place to live. Do you want to be a star? We will be filming our short film, Spineview and you can be an extra. Spineview tells the tale of a proud neighborhood that is beset by zombies. The residents band together to clean up the neighborhood and defeat the zombies. We need a few good zombies and a few bad ones too. Come dressed as a zombies and we will put you on the red carpet and in the film. Best zombie contest starts at 1:00 PM on the red carpet with top 3 getting a featured scene in Spineview plus a swag bag! Parking will be available at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, located at 302 North Avenue. Shuttle service to the event will be provided from 12:30 – 7:00 pm. We will see you in Fineview on May 21st starting at 1:00 PM. More info at http://www.popuppittsburgh.com/

Lights, Camera, Fineview
Saturday, May 21, 2011
1pm-6pm
Fineview
Facebook Event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179305455449180

Read more about the project in this PopCity Media article.