Park Place Blog

The Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association (GPPNA) is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to preserve, protect and improve the Park Place community and surrounding areas.

We are looking for community volunteers to become members and help the community take charge of its own destiny through proactive involvement on the issues that face us, including:

• Neighborhood Improvements
• Safety Issues
• School Issues
• Events
• Planing and Development
• Street Cleaning & Municipal Services
• Communications and Outreach
• and others as desired and needed . . .

To become a member, you must:

• Complete a GPPNA Membership Registration form (.PDF)
  
• Pay the annual individual membership dues ($10)
• agree to abide by the GPPNA Bylaws

Note: To vote in the annual board election, you must also live or own property or be the designated representative of a business in Park Place. Those not meeting these geographical criteria may become non-voting members.

Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association Boundaries

Here is a map of the current boundaries.

GPPNA Boundaries Map

Board Member Bios

Susan Breslow (Treasurer)

I am a native of Pittsburgh and have lived in either the city or suburbs for all but eight years of my life. I’ve lived on East End Avenue in Park Place for the past thirteen years.

We are fortunate to have the Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association as one more great thing to love about this neighborhood. I’m excited about the possibility of participating in all of the conversations about our shared civic life that takes place both within and outside of our Park Place boundaries. Some new ideas I would like to explore in the next two years include developing a special event for all the dogs and dog owners in our neighborhood, seeing if there is interest in a program for residents who have home-based business (e.g. getting together for lunch once a month), and connecting with the firemen who operate out of the firehouse at the corner of Hamilton and North Braddock Avenues.

I am ready to support the neighborhood programs and events that are already operating and need to be maintained as well as those ideas and initiatives that are still being developed by the current Board. I’m particularly interested in increasing the circulation of the fabulous Park Place Update e-newsletter, pursuing more funding for programs, maintaining ties with our City Councilman’s office, and all activities that involve maintaining and upgrading the appearance, function, and value of our houses apartments, landscapes, streets, and infrastructure.

I am an architect and have my own small office in Edgewood. I work with property owners and construction contractors and plan renovations and additions to single family houses and small commercial and institutional buildings. Before being self-employed I worked for firms that provide architectural services to a variety of larger public and private entities.

Katy Frey (President)

I moved to Park Place in 2008 and as homeowners in the second house from the Walgreen’s, my husband and I consider ourselves de facto gatekeepers to the neighborhood. I love the friendly and civic-minded nature of Park Place residents, and am especially interested in pedestrian safety, preventing crime, and supporting development that has a positive impact on our community. My professional background is in education, and I’m currently working as a high school math teacher.

Marlene Green

I have resided in the Park Place area since my pre-school days, and I am now 67 years of age.  My brother, David, and I share our family home.  I retired two years ago, having worked for Highmark for 17 years. My most receont position was an Appeals Administrator.  Prior to that, I taught Junior High at several Catholic schools in Pittsburgh.  My post-secondary school education includes a BA from Pitt, and a Masters in Education from Duquesne.  Interestingly, I went to the local grade school, Park Place, which as you know, was converted to a condo, and is once again becoming a school!!!   I was very involved with the “Walgreen’s Campaign,” and would like to  be involved  as Park Place is a vital, diverse community, and a wonderful place to live.

Mary Hupe

I have lived in Park Place since 1980 with my husband Ken. I began my community involvement by passing out Citiparks coupons and Zoo tickets with my toddler son. From there I helped get Park Place recognized as a city neighborhood, served as association president, took Community Festival training, and began hosting the Park Place Picnic. I have also served as a member and officer of the Zone 4 Citizens Public Safety Council for 20 years.

In the past, Park Place Association was an informal collection of Block Watch groups that gathered for meetings as issues arose, and at the annual picnic. Now we live in a time when our neighborhood association needs to be more tightly and formally organized so that we have a strong and recognizable voice in our future.
I welcome the talents and knowledge of our residents who have stepped forward to incorporate the organization, fight for neighborhood preservation and keep us all informed.

I would be honored to continue my involvement with Park Place by serving on the Board.

Jim Lenkner

The Park Place Neighborhood has been my home for more than twenty five years. It is the place where my wife and I purchased two different houses and raised our two children.

I believe GPPNA can serve to mobilize the strengths of our community so that we can respond to future challenges and opportunities as a chorus of different yet harmonious voices. In my professional life, I work with many non-profits, foundations and schools, mostly in the area of public education and technology. My interests are in the area of public education, safety, affordable housing and quality of life. Despite the large percentage of rental units in Park Place, it is not a transient neighborhood. I’d like to think we can keep our neighborhood a place where people stay.

As a member of the GPPNA board I will gladly contribute to the communications, outreach and organizational work of the association and I commend Stephanie, Mary, John, Jim and the many others who have diligently worked to establish the association. There is a lot of talent in this community. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

John Mayberry

A neighborhood resident and home owner for over 10 years, you may know my name from the parkplaceblog.com web site that I currently manage.

I am interested in being on the board for the neighborhood association because I wish to help make our community stronger, continuing down the path of improvement it has been on for the last several years.
I believe that to become a stronger community, we need to draw on the talents of our diverse community members and come together as strong advocates with a vision, guided by our individual strengths and unified under a common purpose.

Our neighborhood’s future is largely of our own making and will continue to be so as long as we do not cede that right to outside interests. I wish to have our community define our own direction for planning and development, and to have the community become its own best advocate in all matters related to it, including zoning, schools, redevelopment, and safety issues.

As a certified project manager with many years experience in electronic media communications, I can help build out some of the infrastructure helpful to those goals.

Khrys Myrddin (Secretary)

I was born in Park Place, and, after a number of comings and goings, I have resettled in the home of my birth. My educational background is in ethics and political philosophy, and I am now the Associate Director of the Conflict of Interest Office at the University of Pittsburgh. Crime and safety issues such as speeding traffic, lack of crosswalks, broken sidewalks, and poor lighting are of particular interest to me. I also have a strong interest in environmental issues, including the health of the Nine Mile Run watershed and urban organic gardening.

I envision GPPNA as a vehicle that gives Park Place a voice in City affairs and creates ways for neighborhood residents to work together for the betterment of our neighborhood. By organizing we can lobby for City services, help the police nip crime in our area in the bud, ensure that the community has a say regarding development in the neighborhood, and improve Park Place ourselves with planned clean-ups and shared resources. We also will be able to network with other neighborhood associations to address issues that effect all of the east end. Not to mention we can have fun and get to know one another better! Ultimately, it is the diverse and wonderful denizens of Park Place that make our sliver of Pittsburgh a wonderful place to live (not to mention our fine cooking!). I want GPPNA to create opportunities for us to get to know one another, deepen those relationships, and care for the neighborhood we call home.

Marilyn Navish-McCullough

A self-proclaimed compulsive overachiever, Marilyn has been deeply committed to volunteerism and community engagement since childhood.  Born here in Pittsburgh, Marilyn spent the first few years of her early childhood living abroad with her family in Brussels, Belgium before settling back in to their Forest Hills homestead.  A graduate of Woodland Hills High School, Marilyn was an active participant in their renowned Music Theater productions and sang in the A Cappella Choir as well as serving as an officer in the Key Club and volunteering as a library aide before going on to study Anthropology and English Literature at the University of Pittsburgh.

While she also holds a full-time position in the Marketing department at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, a registered nonprofit organization, Marilyn continues to dedicate herself to volunteering to strengthen our community through initiatives like OnePittsburgh and local public radio station WYEP.  In her free time, Marilyn enjoys running in Frick Park, paper crafting, operating a small event planning business, baking and eating cupcakes, and practicing and teaching yoga.

Melissa Neely (Vice President)

I love living in Park Place. My husband and I bought a duplex on S Braddock Ave in 1995. After 13 years, a large dog, and 3 growing boys, we decided we needed to move… next door. We have been converting a 4 unit into a single family house since 2008. Living on South Braddock Ave for 16 years, one of my ongoing concerns is pedestrian safety and our traffic issues.

A lot of my time is spent being a mom and the coordinator of the Neelyhouse. My work hours are spent as print designer for the Software Engineering Institute at CMU. My specialty is taking complex print information and making it easy to understand.

I look forward to contributing to the work of the GPPNA Board: supporting the neighborhood programs and events; helping build a sense of community between neighbors; addressing particular issues of the neighborhood; providing effective communications; and empowering residents to work together to improve Park Place.

Joni Rabinowitz

My husband John Haer and I have lived in Park Place since 1976. I’ve always been a big fan of the neighborhood.  I’ve worked for many years on the summer picnic and was also one of the spearheads of the campaign to stop Walgreens from tearing down 3 houses. (It was a partial victory).  As a trained “tree-tender” I worked on the first and 2nd tree planting in the neighborhood. John and I are Democratic committee people and work to get voters out for 2 elections every year. One of us is always at the polls on election day. I would like to serve on the board. I would like to work on getting another tree planting and getting the 2 houses sold on East End and Braddock next to Walgreens.