Sojourner MOMS House, a project of permanent housing for formerly homeless women and their children in East Liberty, has had many exciting additions recently.  On Tuesday July 7th, the sight received new trees thanks to a grant written by the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest.

The trees will fill in the streets lacking canopy.  Along with this tree planting, the MOMS project has a community garden and is working on creating a playground.

For more information, read the Pop City article.

Participants received trainingand certification for the following areas: general safety, “haz com“, materials handling and storage, tools, electrical, excavation, fire protection and prevention, floor openings, stairs, ladders and scaffolding, personal protective clothing & lifesaving equipment.

This course reduces job-site accidents, provides proof of Construction Safety & Health Training and assists employers with meeting OSHA and worksite safety and compliance.

The training was funded through Weed & Seed, a partnership of Mayor Luke Ravenstal, the U.S. Attorney for W. PA and community stakeholders of Larimer, Garfield and East Liberty. The OSHA Construction Safety & Health training hosted on July 07 at the Kingsley Center was provided by the Eastside Neighborhood Employment Center and the East Liberty Job Training % Referral Initiative, a partnership between ELDI and Coalition of Organized Residents of East Liberty towards preparing residents to work among East Liberty’s development projects.

For additional information on opportunities among the building trades in East Liberty contact:

Kevin Mickens, MSW

COR/ELDI Section 3 Coordinator

East Liberty Section 3 Job Training & Referral Initiative

211 N. Whitfield Street, Suite 210

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

p. 412.661.2600

f. 412.661.2602

www.eastlibertypost.com

kevin.mickens@eastliberty.org

Fo

·

·

Photo from WTAE TV

This past Sunday, May 17th, the last of East Liberty’s three highrise apartment buildings came down! The 20 story building was imploded at 9 am by the Titan Company. Watch the video of the highrise going down on youtube!

Future plans for the sight include a major department retailer.

Pittsburghers, you should be proud!
In a recent article in the New York Post, Pittsburgh was #23 in the top 100 summer travel destinations! The article recognizes the old-heritage culture of the strip and the happening new arts scene of Lawrenceville.

Take a look at the article and plan a summer vacation to one of the great U.S. destinations, but remember to return home to our beautiful, happening hometown!

Allowing water to run into our overcrowded sewers creates a health hazard for us.

Many eyes are on Pittsburgh for taking a strong lead on a problem many other cities face across the country. Our current urban infrastructure does not have the capacity to handle the amount of water we see from our homes, rainfall and city amenities.

Pittsburgh’s green partners are using creative, environmentally friendly methods to nip our water problem in the bud. Instead of spending ten or hundreds of million dollars on expanding the pipes in the sewer system, street trees and porous pavement cut down on the amount of water which reaches the sewers.

To learn more about this read the Science of Stormwater article.

On January 29th at 11 am, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, URA Executive Director Rob Stephany, a representative for City Councilman Reverend Ricky Burgess, and development partners presented East Liberty’s next generation of homes. These homes are East Liberty Development, Inc.(ELDI)’s answer to the question of how to build more durable, more sustainable, and more enjoyable homes for the next 100 years.

ELDI, with our partners S&A Homes, Pfaffmann+Associates, IBACOS, and mossArchitects, has created extremely energy efficient homes (40% better than the Department of Energy’s benchmark), using durable components that require minimal long-term maintenance, and that are designed in a contemporary style which complements the historic houses of East Liberty.

With 4 great floor plans, these homes are priced aggressively- starting at $216,000. Maelene Myers, Executive Director of ELDI, says, “Our new homes have terrific prices, but even more importantly, the energy efficiency and minimal maintenance of these homes will be saving homeowner’s money for years to come.” She goes on to point out that, “These homes are an integral part of ELDI’s other sustainable initiatives and one of the first phases of the Green Plan for East Liberty.”

These innovative homes are just one example of the transformation that is occurring in East Liberty. With numerous commercial and residential projects, in both development and construction, East Liberty is a vibrant neighborhood that is poised to be the leader in sustainable development in the city of Pittsburgh. More people than ever are shopping at Whole Foods, eating at one of our more than 25 restaurants, and choosing to call East Liberty home. Only seven minutes from Downtown and walking distance to everything, East Liberty is the place to be.

For more information about East Liberty’s Historic Enclave, contact Pam D’Alessandro (412.537.8564) or Catherine McConnell (412.874.3074)

Read more about the homes and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in the Tribunee Review

As ELDI staff makes progress on condensing the notes from all of the Community Plan held last year, we want feedback from the community! If you are interested in reading this info, please click the Community Plan Information page and look through the _ Task Force recommendations.

We would appreciate feedback and edits from the community by January 6th. We are working on a design and printing deadline, so if we do not receive your information before this date, we will not be able to incorporate your feedback. Please participate in the community review process, we would like incorporate as many voices as possible!!

Happy Holidays everyone!