March 2008 Community Update

Beechview

Community Plan
Beechview held the first community meeting in the process to develop a community plan on Saturday, February 23, 2008. The following account of the meeting was written by Beechview Merchants Association and Community Leaders United for Beechview President Don Bell and was published in the March edition of the Beechview Summit neighborhood newsletter:

When CLUB was formed, it was not an attempt to start yet another competing community group but rather to provide a forum for all of the existing neighborhood organizations to meet regularly, exchange ideas and present a united front to the City of Pittsburgh. Without this cooperation, we would not be where we are today.

As part of presenting our community’s ideals to the city, 137 citizens showed up for the February 23^rd meeting at McCann Hall. They showed the democratic process in action. A group of neighbors came together to decide what is next for Beechview. It is the first step of many on the path to recovery. We have all seen what the lack of community involvement can produce. What we generated on Saturday was a comprehensive list of who we are, what our issues are and where we want to go. The next step is agreeing on what we have in common and deciding what to do next. 

The presence of our noisy kids at the meeting reminded me of what someone once said about democracy. “It’s noisy, disruptive, argumentative and slow but it admits variety and it permits criticism.” The result of our planning process will be identifying the issues we want our public officials to deal with. The issues will be ones that we decide are the most important to the health and well-being of our community. Without this open public forum, many voices would be left out of the process and a lot of great ideas might not be brought to the table.

Upcoming Events in Beechview:

03/06/08 – Friends of the Library @ Beechview Branch, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 1910 Broadway Avenue (6:00 p.m.)

03/29/08 – Beechview Community Plan Meeting @ McCann Hall, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Broadway Avenue at Belasco Avenue (1:00 – 2:30 p.m.)

04/03/08 – Block Watch/Beechview Area Concerned Citizens @ Beechview United Presbyterian Church, 1621 Broadway Avenue (7:00 p.m.)

Brookline

Upcoming Events in Brookline:

03/10/08 – Brookline Chamber of Commerce @ District Justice Charles McLaughlin’s Office, 736 Brookline Boulevard (6:00 p.m.)

03/11/08 – Block Watch @ McLaughlin’s Office (7:00 p.m.)

03/24/08 – Brookline Area Community Council @ St. Mark’s Church, 933 Brookline Boulevard (7:00 p.m.)

03/29/08 – South Pittsburgh Development Corporation’s Spring Fling @ McLaughlin’s Office (11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.): “The Spring Fling is a community gathering at which we will be giving away refreshments and flower seeds and selling Brookline T-shirts and The History of Brookline book.  Fun for the whole family!”

Carrick

Upcoming Events in Carrick:

03/15/08 – Carrick Business Association “Bunny Bash” @ Concord Presbyterian Church, 1907 Brownsville Road (9:30 – 11:00 a.m.)

03/19/08 – Carrick Community Council @ Concord Elementary Auditorium, 2350 Brownsville Road (7:30 p.m.)

Also, keep an eye out for a new bookstore set to open in Carrick, at the intersection of Churchview and Brownsville Road.

All South Pittsburgh Neighborhoods

Many of our neighborhoods are planning to participate in a city-wide clean-up effort on April 19, 2008.