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NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID PITTSBURGH, PA Permit No. 2403 Volume 35, No. 1 Serving Bloomfield, Friendship, Garfield, East Liberty and Lawrenceville since 1975 January 2010 Who Benefits from the Census? You Do! By Paula Martinac child participates in the school lunch this region deserves,” Mayor Luke The Bulletin program, or if you or a loved one has Ravenstahl said in establishing the taken advantage of programs for sen- committee with County Executive What do the national school break- iors, census figures help to determine Dan Onorato. fast and lunch programs, the Low what the level of need is in your com- Income Home Energy Assistance munity. Who Should Be Counted? Program (LIHEAP), the unemploy- Census data also help local govern- Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, ment insurance program, Medicaid, ments and agencies decide where to the census provides a snapshot of the and new home construction all have in locate new roads, public transit routes, country’s population. All residents, common? They are among the many schools, and hospitals. The informa- citizens and non-citizens, must be programs that benefit local residents tion also guides corporations in decid- counted. Households will receive a available and staff who can help any- every day, and that require U.S. ing where to set up new businesses, questionnaire in the mail in February, one needing assistance to fill out the Census data in order to determine based on population density. consisting of 10 simple questions that form. where billions of federal dollars are That’s why, said Aggie Brose, take about 10 minutes to answer. In distributed. Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation’s the spring and summer, those house- Can the Information Be Used deputy director, “it’s so important that holds that did not respond will receive Against People? Is It Any of Their Business? residents in our neighborhoods fill out a visit from a census worker, who will Questions on the census form If you think the U.S. Census is just the census form.” Brose was recently ask the same questions as appear on include whether a unit is rented or about the government poking its nose appointed to the Complete Count the form. owned, and the names, genders, and into people’s private business, think Committee, a local working group For those who do not get a form by races of those living in the house- again. The census, which takes place convened to make sure that Pittsburgh mail, the questionnaires will also be hold. Answers to the census ques- every 10 years and will be conducted neighborhoods are thoroughly includ- available at selected public sites. In tions are confidential. By law, the again this year, provides information ed in the census. “A complete count of the East End, for example, the Census Bureau is not permitted to used to fund many of the programs all our residents is the only way to Eastside Neighborhood Employment share people’s responses with any- that community members rely on and ensure we receive the congressional Center (ENEC), located at 5321 Penn take for granted. For example, if your representation and federal funding Avenue, will have questionnaires See Census, page 12 Conversion of Penn Circle Designed to Improve Circulation in East Liberty At a public meet- By Tiffany Clark al" efforts of the ing on November East Liberty Development Inc. 1960s, has caused 16, Ernie Hogan, confusion for driv- the deputy director of development of ers and constricted major investment East Liberty Development Inc., and in the neighborhood’s commercial Pat Hassett, assistant director of the core ever since it was built. In 2002, City of Pittsburgh's Bureau of part of Penn Circle South was recon- Transportation and Engineering, pre- figured during the construction of the sented plans for the conversion of Eastside development. The City of Penn Circle into a two-way street to Pittsburgh is now working with ELDI more than 40 East Liberty community to convert the next major section of members. The reconstruction of Penn the road into two-way traffic from Circle South and Penn Circle East into South Highland Avenue to Penn a bidirectional roadway will begin in Circle North. Parts of Penn Avenue the spring of 2010, and is expected to and Broad Street near Penn Circle will be completed by the summer of 2011. also be reconstructed. Courtesy ELDI Penn Circle, a major one-way ring ARTIST’S RENDERING OF PENN CIRCLE CONVERSION (HIGHLIGHT- ED IN GRAY). road created during the "urban renew- See Penn Circle, page 12 The deadline for all articles, ads, and Bulletin Board items for the February 2010 issue is FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010. For more information, call 412-441-6915. Page 2 • The Bulletin • January 2010 PUBLIC SAFETY TASK FORCE REPORT OUR COMMUNITY IS NOT A DUMPING GROUND! Recently, PA By Kathryn Vargas BGC office at 412- Cleanways re- Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. 441-6950 x 15. We leased a 2009 will make sure that dumping survey identifying 14 ille- the incident is reported. And, if you gal dumping sites in Garfield and an hire a contractor to perform some estimated 17 tons of waste. Of the renovations, ask him where he’ll be 14 sites identified, eight are fully hauling the debris generated by the visible from surrounding roadways, work. and the remaining six are partially Together, we can start to crack visible. There were also three sites down on illegal dumping, and send identified in Bloomfield at an esti- the message that we will do what it mated three tons of waste. takes to keep our community clean. Paula Martinac/The Bulletin When the BGC went out to survey Here are some of the streets with the sites, we noticed a mixture of identified dump sites: landscape debris, personal trash, and large item waste. On Shamrock Garfield: Way, we found mattresses; on Corner of Alhambra Way and N. Jordan Way, a futon; on the corner of Evaline Alhambra and Evaline, a bunch of Broad Street garbage bags and two sinks left in a Brown Way vacant lot; and on Brown Way, a Corner of Shamrock Way and much larger mixture of landscaping Elora Way waste, personal trash, household fix- Jordan Way, between N. Evaline tures, and furniture. and Winebiddle We cannot tolerate this activity in Mora Way our neighborhoods. Any form of lit- Cornwall Street tering or dumping is illegal and sub- Kincaid Street ILLEGAL DUMP SITES ON ject to fines. It has the potential to N. Negley Avenue BROWN WAY (TOP); SHAMROCK destroy the environment in our WAY AND ELORA WAY (MID- DLE); AND ALHAMBRA WAY neighborhood and bring down prop- Bloomfield: (LEFT). erty values. We are asking neighbors Juniper to keep their eyes and ears out for Juniper at Edmond this activity. If you see something Aloe at South Matilda suspicious, or are able to get the license number of someone dump- ing, please report the activity to the Participate in the Pittsburgh Citizen’s Police Academy Twice a year, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police sponsors an opportuni- ty for members of the community to become closely acquainted with the roles and responsibilities of the Police Bureau. The Pittsburgh Citizen’s Community Groups Gain Tools for Police Academy (CPA) brings the police and the community close together in a setting that offers a sample of police training to each par- Neighborhood Stabilization ticipant.* The next session of the Citizen’s Police Academy will begin Tuesday, Bob Gradeck and other staff from the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for February 2, 2010, at the Allegheny County Adult Probation Day Social and Urban Research offered a workshop to East End community organi- Reporting Center, located at 2320 Arlington Avenue. The program will zations about how to use the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community be held each Tuesday evening, from 6 to 9 p.m. for 15 weeks. Information System. PNCIS is an online database that collects information on Class size is limited to 30 participants. All interested persons must community conditions and makes it available to local stakeholders and groups. complete a written application, available online, and give permission for The information helps community leaders, Gradeck said, because “they don’t the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to conduct a background check to deter- have to chase down data” on such topics as foreclosures, tax delinquency, crime, mine if they have a criminal record. All applications must be received by property ownership, the housing market, and land use in a particular neighbor- January 15, 2010. hood. Gradeck’s team worked with East Liberty Development Inc., for example, For more information on the City of Pittsburgh Citizen’s Police to identify real estate for acquisition “before it fell into the hands of absentee Academy and/or an application, please go to http://www.city.pitts- property owners.” PNCIS also enabled Lawrenceville Corporation to identify burgh.pa.us/police/html/citizens_police.html, or contact Lieutenant “the worst of the worst” absentee property owners and “put together a strategy Jennifer Beidle at: Pittsburgh Police Headquarters, 1203 Western to get them to adopt better practices,” Gradeck reported. Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233; phone: 412-323-7844; email: “There are a lot of speculators scooping up property in low-market areas,” [email protected]. Gradeck said, “and it’s not always the best thing for residents.” The information available through PNCIS can make the job of community groups working for *Please note: this program is not an accredited certification course to become a sworn neighborhood stabilization a lot easier. police officer. January 2010 • The Bulletin • Page 3 Mobile Council Office Continues Service to District 7 In 2008, my office By Patrick Dowd Park, we found that launched a unique City Council - District 7 we can service 20 program called percent more Council to Go – a mobile district office requests than we could by phone or – to better serve you in the neighbor- email from our downtown office.

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