Neighborhood advocates are alarmed by a proposed axing of Main Street and Elm Street funding in the coming state budget. As lawmakers hash out a budget that could be $3 billion leaner, the shears are pruning what’s considered to be nonessential and outside the protection of entitlement and federal mandate. Read the full Post-Gazette article… Continue reading »
May
19
URA will aim for $6 million in Recovery Act funds
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday voted to shoot for nearly $6 million in federal Recovery Act funding for three Pittsburgh projects. The board voted to apply for a $2 million grant for the Bakery Square project, a redevelopment of the former Nabisco Bakery on Penn Avenue which is being turned into a mixed-use development… Continue reading »
May
19
Federal money sought to link lower Hill to Downtown
Four lawmakers are seeking federal funding for a curving landscaped walkway at the new hockey arena and a giant “cap” over part of the Crosstown Expressway to better connect the Lower Hill District with Downtown. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire and Tim Murphy have requested a total of $9… Continue reading »
May
12
Capturing the Value of Transit
With stimulus funding creating new transit projects across the country, now may be a great time to use innovative methods for funding development around transit, say Nadine Fogarty and Gloria Ohland of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. Portland and Denver are just two communities that have seen property values rise around rail. Read Full Story… Continue reading »
Jan
08
URA helping city school board sell empty buildings
What could the future be for 22 empty school buildings during a recession in a city that has been draining of people for half a century? The Urban Redevelopment Authority has taken on the challenge of finding out by becoming the school board’s real-estate agent, Kyra Straussman, the URA’s real estate manager, told about 50… Continue reading »
Aug
01
Code enforcement sweep hits the North Side
More than 30 people joined Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on an hourlong code enforcement loop through the streets of California-Kirkbride yesterday, where amid dilapidated buildings and weedy vacant lots the mayor said, “There is a lot of hope.” Read more in today’s Post-Gazette.
Jul
28
Allentown CDC talks safety, housing, greening
Ms. Doven said the mayor ‘recognizes that building new houses in a neighborhood does not mean revitalization. For neighborhoods such as Allentown, we have a serious problem with vacant structures and lots. Folding greening into the public safety process is a key part of the puzzle.’” Allentown neighbors have been working with the city and… Continue reading »
Jul
24
PCRG members benefit from PNC fund
An eight-month-old fund that has already loaned $1.6 million to nonprofit groups that boost urban areas will dramatically ramp up its lending, officials said yesterday. That’s because PNC Financial Services Group has loaned $5 million to the Urban Economic Loan Fund, part of Landmarks Community Capital Corp. Landmarks plans to quickly turn that money into… Continue reading »
Jul
16
Housing revitalization and mortage crises
PCRG member OPDC mentioned in the news as a partner in housing revitalization in Central and South Oakland: City Pilots Building Code Violation Sweeps in Oakland PCRG Executive Director Steve Shivak quoted in the Trib: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac get infusion of cash