6% Place

10 January 2012

cityLAB recently received an email from a long-time Pittsburgher who now lives in Harare, Zimbabwe. He writes:

Dear Garfield Neighbors,

Please find my contribution to your community creating its future: Invest. Brand. Plan.

Good luck with the process!

Mike Staresinic
Harare, Zimbabwe
Pittsburgh from 2012

Garland Clubs. Recovery takes time. Start small start now: combine joined parcels for gardens, greenways, community vegetable gardens and the like, as a viable investment strategy to attract neighborhood investment clubs. For the price of acquisition, tax, fencing, and some weed whacking, each patch of green neighborhood pulls the rest up. Over time, the surroundings come up due to these Garlands. As new housing picks up, it has green neighbors. Those who hold the green get their investment back as a neighborhood develops around them (eventually selling or developing their land), while residents walk the garlands  in an upcoming, natural, strengthening neighborhood. I am prepared to organize the first Garland Club.

Garland Brand. Garfield needs a new brand. Named for an inconsequential President who nobody remembers (quiz: ask meeting participants for that president’s first name), please play with options: 25% Garland. Gardens. 20% vacant can be readily made into a wonderful number when it = 25% FREE, 25% SPACE TO BREATHE, 25% NATURAL 25%. Natural material is the neighborhood’s natural strength. Pump it up to 25% Garlanded Garfield.

Holistic, Full-Cycle Planning. Pittsburgh should not be proud of its speed of demolition, rather speed of redevelopment. Figuring out the full cycle before buildings unfortunately go down transforms demolition from a loser into a winner.

Thanks for contributing your ideas, Mike!

view of Harare by Flickr user Simon Kelly

21 October 2011

The new Pittsburgh CONNECTS Lab in Garfield has a series of great workshops coming up, including sessions on computer and software training, free computer repair, writing invoices for non-profit organizations, and information about how to apply for heating assistance this winter. Read more about their November events here. In October, they are offering:

“Microsoft Excel Basics” on October 27th 2:00 PM;

“Invoicing for Non-Profits” on October 29th 6:00 PM;

And a PNCIS Information Session on October 27th at 6:00 PM.

RSVP or find out more about the workshops by calling 412-456-0858, by writing BGC.ENEC@gmail.com, or visiting their website.

6 October 2011

On Tuesday night, cityLAB held a brainstorming session to work through the 16 incentives for our 6% Place in Garfield.  Community members worked with the Carnegie Mellon architecture students who are researching and designing the incentives this semester.

After a presentation about the 6% Place and student progress on the projects, we organized into break-out sessions. CMU students and community members worked together in 8 groups to make the incentives as good, as strong, and as viable as possible.

Read more about the background of the experiment here and watch this space to hear more about the 6% incentives in the coming weeks.

3 October 2011

We’ve had some great press coverage about our 6% Place experiment and the brainstorming meeting we will be holding tomorrow in Garfield.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review posted a short article about the meeting yesterday, and The Bulletin, a publication of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, just published a great piece about the experiment, the 16 ideas for Garfield, and our upcoming meeting. Read their coverage here, and read more of their October issue here.

Thanks to the Tribune-Review and The Bulletin for this great coverage!

P.S. R.S.V.P. to tomorrow’s brainstorming meeting here!

3 October 2011

Please join us tomorrow night to brainstorm about 16 fantastic ideas for Garfield. 70 architecture students are working on these ideas right now and need your feedback! Garfield residents, adults, youth, stakeholders, and community leaders alike, anyone who is excited about Garfield’s future, should attend tomorrow’s meeting at the BGC Community Activity Center at 113 North Pacific Avenue.

The evening will begin at 6 PM with a repeat presentation of the 16 ideas and images of the students’ work so far, followed by the brainstorming session at 7 PM. Please join us to make an exciting change in Garfield! (And: cookies will be served!)

R.S.V.P. here.

27 September 2011

Come help us connect the dots! Your ideas for Garfield are needed at a brainstorming session!

Help us brainstorm for change in Garfield on Tuesday, October 4th at the BGC Community Activity Center, 113 North Pacific Avenue. We’ll explore 16 fantastic ideas for Garfield’s future with 70 architecture students.

Hear the 6% Place presentation at 6 PM (a repeat performance) and join in with your ideas at 7 PM.

Be there or be square!

R.S.V.P. to the 6% Brainstorming Meeting here.

12 September 2011

The next phase of our 6% Place experiment got off to a strong start last Wednesday at our community meeting at the St. Lawrence O’Toole Activity Center in Garfield.  Garfield residents, along with neighbors from Friendship and beyond, listened to cityLAB present 16 projects for the 6% Place, all designed to reach our 6% goal.   We listened to comments, organized committees and are preparing for the next phase – the DO phase.

Details to follow!

5 September 2011

Get the word out! cityLAB will be holding a community meeting for our 6% Place experiment on September 7th in Garfield – and we need YOU to come and GET INVOLVED!

The community meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 7th at the St. Lawrence O’Toole Activity Center on 140 N. Atlantic Avenue in Garfield.

cityLAB will be unveiling the ‘toolbox’ for our 6% Percent Place experiment and what comes next. We need your input – there will be 90 CMU architecture students there to work with you!

Munchies and drinks will be served.

R.S.V.P. to the 6% Percent Place Community Meeting here.

We hope to see you there!

24 August 2011

Hot off the presses! cityLAB will be holding a community meeting for our 6% Place experiment on September 7th in Garfield – and we need YOU to come and GET INVOLVED!

The community meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 7th at the St. Lawrence O’Toole Activity Center on 140 N. Atlantic Avenue in Garfield.

cityLAB will be unveiling the ‘toolbox’ for our 6% Percent Place experiment and what comes next. We need your input – there will be 90 CMU architecture students there to work with you!

Munchies and drinks will be served.

R.S.V.P. to the 6% Percent Place Community Meeting here.

We hope to see you there!

18 August 2011

We are looking for some superheroes…

to come to a COMMUNITY MEETING being held from 6 to 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 7 at the St. Lawrence O’Toole Activity Center on 140 N. Atlantic Avenue in Garfield.

cityLAB will be unveiling the ‘toolbox’ for its Six Percent Place experiment and what comes next. We need your input – there will be 90 CMU architecture students there to work with you!

Munchies and drinks will be served.

R.S.V.P. to the Six Percent Place Community Meeting here.

 

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