Our CDC panelists shared with us that the most successful CDCs take on one or two community issues and address them rigorously. Taking on too many issues can undermine the work of a CDC.
So, if you had to choose one thing you would like a Penn Hills CDC do, what would that one thing be?
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I have several ideas that I would like to submit for consideration, but if limited to only 1, I would have to suggest the revitalization of the Rodi/Frankstown Road corridor and the Penn Hills Shopping Center district. The lack of retail/restaurant locations, not to mention poor aesthetic presentation of this main corridor leading into our community gives visitors and potential re-locators little incentive to return to Penn Hills or consider moving here. After all, why would a young family choose to move into PH when they could go a little further east to Wilkins or Monroeville, or across the river to Aspinwall or Shaler where there are lower taxes, more thriving businesses and shopping areas, and supposed better, safter schools for their children?
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled to see Dunkin' Donuts reopen this year and continued to be so when I drive by and see it bubbling with customers, but I was also saddened by the loss of Kings Restaurant and continued vacacncies in spaces along these two roads.
My family grew up in PH, and while both my sister and I moved out of state for 12+ years, I returned to PH 4 years ago and purchased a home within the community. Each time I am visited by my sister (who now lives in Columbus OH with her family) she is shocked and saddened by yet another business closing up shop along Rodi, Frankstown,or within the Shopping Center, and she also comments on how "run-down" the community looks since she last lived here. It not only saddens the two of us to see the community we once loved living in decline, but as young professionals who have each lived in a variety of towns and cities in the midwest and east coast regions, we know that if things remain the way they currently are there is little incentive being offered by PH for younger populations to move here and help the community continue to grow. Nevetheless, ideas such as the consideration of a CDC indicate a committment on behalf of the citizens of PH to address the areas of concern within our community, and to work together to improve them.
Right now I am still traumatized by the recent event to generate the required optimism. Firstly we need to equip and train the police force to deal with any contingency that might occur in this more dangerous world. Then I would concur with the suggestions of the previous writer.
ReplyDeleteI believe the most important thing for Penn Hills is to attract new and existing businesses to locate here. A CDC can certainly help in this area, but I believe the PH Chamber of Commerce should take the lead on this. Clearly, the CoC has not had much success recently, with the closing of a number of businesses and especially King's. Thus, the CDC should support the CoC's goal of attracting business.
ReplyDeleteTo that end, I think the highest priority for a CDC is to present a community that will attract business. A number of things can be done, which I will put under the heading of “beautification”.
Volunteer groups can be organized to clean up roadsides and other public spaces
a program of “gentle persuasion” can be implemented to get property owners to clean up their properties of trash, mow the lawn regularly, cut down on weeds, etc. Persuasion can take the form of pointing out that all such activities improve their values. In the case of recalcitrant owners, perhaps public shaming or some other pressure can be brought to bear. I suspect (although I don't know) that there are local ordinances governing the appearance of properties; perhaps finding some method of making sure they're enforced.
Perhaps a business beautification program, whereby local existing businesses can be persuaded to improve their appearance.
Perhaps an information program to alert property owners as to what kinds of things they can do to improve their properties. This could be done with brochures listing things they can do, especially those that are easy and/or cheap.
As far as any involvement with the police, I suggest we leave such matters to the professionals we already have. After all, what does a CDC know about law enforcement that the police force doesn't? At most, perhaps the CDC can act in some auxiliary way to the PH Police, but I think the police should certainly take the lead on this, and the CDC's involvement, if any, should be limited to a supporting role within an overall strategy, which should be defined by the police.
Penn Hills comprises a pretty large area and includes a number of diverse sections: Verona, the Rodi-Frankstown business corridor, and Eastview, to name a few. Each is distinctive, with different needs. I like the idea of having a number of separate sub-CDCs, each of which would best serve its distinct section, and each of which would be best served by the stakeholders of its community. I see the Penn Hills CDC, then, as a coordinating body for the sub-CDCs.
ReplyDeleteDoes PH have the requisite community members in each community to take the lead and responsibility for their communities? It seems to me the overall CDC would have to have the authority to speak for PH as a whole, as well as the flexibility to effectively work with the individual sub-CDCs and with all of them together.
I think Howard Davidson would be an invaluable resource to the CDC, having been intimately involved with many facets of how PH operates over the years. Not wishing to duplicate effort, we need to draw a sharp line between the CDC's responsibilities and those of the PH Planning Dept. so that we work in synergy. However, I would not want the CDC to degenerate into an advisory arm of the Planning Dept. The CDC should have its own set of goals that complement those of the Planning Dept.
I also think Alexandra Murphy would be an excellent resource to the CDC, having spent some considerable time to research CDCs and organize these early meetings. My sense, though, is that she will only be around for some limited time, so I don't think she would be a good candidate to lead the organization, but rather to act as an important advisor.
I thought about the board of directors. While the notion of a board that includes a member of each community sounds attractive, I believe it would be unwieldy. The purpose of the board of any organization is to set goals and to monitor how effectively those goals are being met. I think a small, rather agile, board (perhaps 5-6 people), with regular public meetings, would best serve the needs of the organization.
Great comments above - I agree. Since Penn Hills is such a big place, communication is the key to being sucessful. This website (blog?) is a good place to meet and plan and share Ideas.
ReplyDeleteSome of the people who do not like to use emali will need to attend regular meetings, and get phone calls or post cards.
I/we should take margorie's course so we can learn the mechanics of making this organization work.
I really would like to accomplish some things so I envision this way of doing things. Committees of say 3 to 5 people work on a project that they are really interested in. They come up with a plan and present it to the full group. Then the group tackles the project. Then we move on tho the next thing. Some things take time but we need to get some things done in a short period of time or else everyone will get bored and quit.
I have a few Ideas in the beautification topic:
ReplyDeleteAt each entrance to Penn Hills (main roads), we put a "Welcome to Penn Hills" sign with a surrounding flower garden. Perhaps we can team with the conservancy to make one of their flower gardens.
Community gardens: A few places in Penn Hills with land donated or owned by the municipality or in parks. People get their own little plot of land to grow vegetables. This encourages interaction of the neighbors which is a good community builder.
Redd up crews of volunteers: If someone has an eyesore of a property, (maybe they are old or disabled) with their permission, a group of volunteers can cut the hedges, trim the trees and lawn, pick up trash maybe even some paint. This will help to keep property values up in the neighborhood.
I think one of the keys to neighborhood revitalization is figuring out how to keep money inside the neighborhood. One of the ways that happens is if people are as proud of their local businesses and municipality as they are their high school football teams. I know I find it difficult to be proud of a place with no sidewalks, run down strip malls, and high taxes(with relatively little return for my money). A CDC can't change all of that, but maybe energizing a community base to become active in turning around some of the more negative trends is possible - community outreach with the purpose of giving the community back a positive identity and sense of pride. Added bonus - a more self reliant community is a more resilient community, able to withstand the shocks of price increases and good shortages. We need a "Buy Penn Hills" campaign to help with all of that.
ReplyDeleteI have created a "Penn Hills Change"site on facebook. I think it is a great way for people to create sub-groups for our Penn Hills area and link them to the (facebook) Penn Hills Change Site. I am in no way trying to step on any toes of the CDC site- that I see is unveiling a new website on Thurs. I will be more than willing to link or close the facebook site if they have a way to further localize the Penn Hills area to sub groups. I feel it's much easier to say "I need a walking partner in Churchill Valley (Duff Rd) or I lost my dog in Spring Valley (and post their photo). I will be attending the Thursday meeting and looking forward to seeing all that the CDC has to offer.
ReplyDeleteThank you for caring about our community.
Shawn O'Mahony (Penn Hills Resident)