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Logan takes on Zephyr Street

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

 
loganspikeslitter
Logan Byers is a 10-year-old boy who was hit one day with a question that too many adults fail to ask themselves when they see a problem: “What can I do about this?”
 
It was litter that motivated him while playing outside one day last year.
 
“Every time I go out to play with my friends or my dog, I see all this litter on the street,” he said, referring to Zephyr Street in Sheraden. “It makes me have a dirty, stinking kind of feeling.”
 
His first idea was to alert the police. His letter was answered by Scott Schubert, the commander of Zone 6, who thanked him for his attitude and validated his concerns. At a community event last year, Councilwoman Theresa Smith suggested a meeting with the city’s anti-litter coordinator, Missy Rosenfeld, who helped Logan adopt his street as a Redd-Up Zone.
 
Yesterday, Logan and eight other volunteers, some of them fellow Cub Scouts, inaugurated Zephyr Street as a Redd-Up Zone by spending part of the afternoon filling seven large garbage bags with litter.
 
Logan and his “Litter League” will do litter sweeps on Zephyr four times a year with supplies of bags, gloves and other tools from the city. But Logan said he would probably organize more frequent clean-ups in between.
 
He also wrote a proposal to the principal at his school, Carmalt Academy in Brookline, to broaden his Litter League and adopt a Redd-Up Zone near the school. He has a power point presentation ready to show his fellow students in May and has already shown it to his Cub Scouts group on his way to earning a naturalist badge and a World Conservation award. He will present his Litter League information at an upcoming Kiwanis safety fair, said his mother, Barbara.
 
“It has been impressive to see him run with this,” she said.
 
“Kids at school, when I tell them about this stuff, don’t give much of a reaction,” Logan said. “Some kids beyond don’t care.”
 
Logan wore a suit and tie to City Council chambers one day recently, where he was presented as an exemplar of human behavior and started to get a little overwhelmed, he said.
 
“All I wanted was to get help cleaning my street,” he said.
 
But as many community advocates know, doing good has a tendency to start the ignition on doing more good.
 
“Logan,” his mother said to him, “You saw a problem, it bothered you and you took action.”
 
Photo courtesy of Paul Byers
 

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Downtown growing with youth and larger households

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

 north-side-station
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership confirms what the most recent information in the U.S. Census shows about the city — that if we are growing at all, we are growing younger.
 
From its 2012 study on pedestrian traffic and survey of Downtown residents, the PDP reports that more than half of Downtown pedestrians rely on public transportation; 45 percent of Downtown residents are under the age of 40 and 27 percent are under the age of 30, compared to 47 and 26 percent, respectively, in 2010 and the 40-49 age group increased from 12% to 17% over 2010.
 
“This type of detailed research has been consistently useful for the real estate and development communities, [and to] marketing professionals,” said Jeremy Waldrup President and CEO of the PDP. “Additionally this research provides us with excellent insight that can be utilized in business attraction and retention initiatives, highlighting the growth and progress we have seen throughout Downtown over the last few years.”
 
The pedestrian study count took place over three days, 12 hours each at nine locations. The study was previous conducted in 2006, 2008 and 2010. The counts were extended into the evening for the first time last year, providing a baseline for future counts.
 
Other factoids from the studies:
 
Annual household income bumped, too. About 48 percent of households were earning more than $100,000 per year last year compared to 42 percent in 2010 and 34 percent in 2008.
 
Household size also increased. In 2010, 40 percent of residents lived in a household of more than one person. In 2012, that demographic had jumped to 51 percent.
 
The entire report can be read at this link. 
 
Photo by  John Altdorfer, courtesy of PDP.
 

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Shade coming to the 10th ward

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

 treepark
On Saturday, volunteers from Lawrenceville’s Tree Tenders and others will be planting 33 new trees on a lot that’s been vacant for decades at the corner of Stanton Avenue and Keystone Street in Upper Lawrenceville. 
 
A path will curve through the native species whose canopy will be lit from the ground. There are future plans for a rainwater collecting art piece.
 
Lawrenceville’s Tree Tenders pushed the idea for greening the lot, which the Lawrenceville Corp. bought several years ago to maintain ahead of any investment that might come along. The project would have cost about $80,000 but for donated services that lowered the cost to about $20,000 -- the amount of a grant from Duquesne Light, which provided the lighting.
 
The morning plantings will be followed by a celebration at noon with music provided by Lawrenceville’s own fez-wearing music maker Zombo. You can go if you want.
 
Image courtesy of Christine Brill of the Studio for Spatial Practice

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I bike. I walk. I vote

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

bikewalkvote
BikePGH is taking a stand on the mayoral campaign trail — to gather enough signatures on a petition among people who insist on safer streets for walking and biking.
 
Though I can’t take an active part in politics of any kind — and that includes the politics of dancing... the politics of ooo feeling good — I find good fodder in the “I Bike. I Walk. I Vote” campaign.
 
What’s not to like about streets that are safe for everyone who is actively not burning fossil fuels? 
 
So, if you want to know more, here's the web site that tells you all about it and gives you the prompt to sign the petition.
 
See you on the bike trail... but beware the campaign trail. It's like walking behind the horses in a parade. 

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March Madness for urban design

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

urbanistbracket
 
If you don’t care much about college basketball but you’re an urban design nerd, congratulations. The Atlantic Cities has a form of March Madness just for you: the first annual Urbanist Toolkit Bracket Challenge.
 
In its latest edition, Henry Grabar has some fun with one of the preoccupying themes of the season with a game of his own, “One that pits your instincts, tastes, and urban design wisdom against those of your fellow readers. Here’s how it works:
 
“Thirty-two in-form tools of urbanism have been seeded, according to their popularity and utility, into four regional groups: the Ed Koch, the Sidewalk Ballet, the Le Corbusier, and the Dandyhorse. The four #1 seeds -- car share, bike lanes, farmers’ markets, and the waterfront promenade -- are paired off against decidedly more obscure options.
 
“You’ll need to make tough choices. Bus rapid transit or streetcars? A convention center or a festival? Privately owned public space or highway decks? Think of it as a mid-20th century version of SimCity; or perhaps the Strat-O-Matic of city games.
 
“Fill out a bracket and send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Monday evening, with “Bracket” in the subject line. (Double-check that the bracket you attach has your entries saved!) If your prediction is the closest match to the actual results (with weighted points for predicting higher levels of the competition, of course), we’ll give you your fifteen minutes of fame when we announce the winner here in a couple weeks.”

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