Park Place Blog

October 23, 2009
1:00 pm	to	2:00 pm
October 24, 2009
9:00 am	to	12:00 pm

The Nine Mile Run Water Shed Association is holding a tree fall planting in Park Place on Friday October 23 from 1:00pm to 4:00PM and Saturday October 24 from 9:00AM to 12:00PM (with breakfast served.)

The Friday planting will be in the business district on Trenton, with the volunteer tent at the corner of South and Trenton. Saturday’s tree planting will be for the houses in the new Peebles Square development, where Nine Mile Run has already installed rain barrels.

Volunteers are needed to help with the planting to help further beautify our neighborhood!

On a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, June 7, 2009, local residents participated in the 22nd annual Park Place Picnic. Great music, food and activities were enjoyed by all.  Also joining the picnic this year were representatives Brenda Smith and Justin Hynicka from the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, who answered questions about the watershed, and signed up people for the rain barrel program.

The picnic sponsors this year were:

• Pittsburgh Citiparks
• Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association
• Howard’s Park Place Pub
• Liz Swartz – Howard Hanna
• Flyer Printing by Office Depot 

And of course, Mike The Balloon Guy, who arranged the many activities.

Thursday, May 7th, at 7:30 PM

Church of the Nazarene
300 Peebles Street,
Corner of Waverly and Peebles.

Project representatives from the Peebles Square affordable housing development project have requested a chance to speak to community members at the GPPNA monthly meeting. In case you haven’t yet seen it, the ground breaking has already occurred and construction has started. This is a chance for community members to see final plans and ask questions.

March 21, 2009
1:00 pm	to	3:30 pm

Adding value to your home and community

Saturday, March 21, 2009 1:00 – 3:30 PM
Mifflin Avenue United Methodist Church, 905 Mifflin Ave., at Whitney Ave.

Last year, GPPNA partnered with a couple other neighborhood groups and the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh on a Renovation Resources Workshop that aimed to help homeowners make smart renovation decisions that would improve the value of their properties and their neighborhoods. It went so well, that we’re doing it again—this time focusing on the exterior of the home—looking at landscape design, which includes plant selection and the use of hardscapes, such as sidewalks, paths, and retaining walls.
The Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association, Regent Square Civic Association, North Point Breeze Community Development Corporation, and Whitney Park Neighbors are partnering again with the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh to put on another FREE workshop for homeowners interested in improving the value of their homes.

This year’s workshop will look at making exterior improvements to the landscape and
hardscapes around our homes. Presenters will provide information on:

• good landscape design
• storm water management,
• street trees,
• the use of native plants in the landscapes,
• and more!

As it was last year, there will be presentations from approximately 1:00 – 2:00, followed by an open time for participants to talk with the presenters and others from the organizations they represent, as well as visit information tables from others offering relevant products or services.

In addition, landscape architects from the Community Design Center will offer a limited number of free “mini-consultations” for residents who bring pictures of areas they want to develop. Look for more information on flyers that will be posted around the Regent Square business district or contact info@parkplaceblog.com

On October 25th, Park Place received 14 new street trees as part of the TreeVitalize program that will plant 20,000 street trees in Pittsburgh by 2012.  More than 26 Park Place neighbors and friends came out on a rainy autumn Saturday afternoon to plant the trees and help green Park Place. In about four hours, these volunteers learned how to properly plant trees, take care of recently planted street trees, and successfully planted all the trees.

The GPPNA Street Tree Committee (Hyla Willis, Joni Rabinowitz, and Henry Schumacher) worked with Marijke Hecht, TreeVitalize Director at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest to apply for the program and organize the all-volunteer tree plantings.  Park Place is one of 20 neighborhoods participating in the TreeVitalize program to plant 900 trees throughout Pittsburgh this fall.

Street trees not only make the neighborhood look nice, but they provide a variety of tangible benefits for the neighborhood including: reducing home energy costs, providing habitat for birds and wildlife, increasing home prices, reducing storm run-off and river pollution, and providing cleaner air to breathe.  You can help restore Pittsburgh’s urban forest and improve the quality of life in Park Place by planting a tree on your property.

The GPPNA Street Tree Committee would like to thank the participating property owners for helping to green the neighborhood, all the volunteers who came out to help, Marijke Hecht at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest, the Pittsburgh department of public works for sidewalk cuts, State Representative Joseph Preston, TruValue for donating watering buckets, and the East End Co-op for providing snacks.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of street trees, how to take care of street trees on your property, or want to help grow Pittsburgh’s urban forest, contact the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest (http://www.pittsburghforest.org/).  For more information about the TreeVitalize program, check out the website (http://www.treevitalize.net/index.aspx).  If you would like a street tree for your property during the Fall 2009 TreeVitalize planting, contact Henry Schumacher (hschumacher78@gmail.com, 412.657.8148) this winter.