The core issue with gentrification is the loss of a community’s essence. When a community is changed fundamentally by means of either economic or residential factors, the loss of key pillars in identification results. A loss of culture, a loss of heritage, a loss of community pride, and a loss of history, are all part of that.

There is an interesting article that was published recently about the “food boom” in Pittsburgh’s trendier neighborhoods, and how these restaurants are creating a new vibrant culinary scene. The otherwise optimistic article goes on to lament the possibilities of older eateries being priced out of the market in favor of newer, in-fashion places. Food is just one example of this; gentrification is a multi-faceted concept that affects the lives of residents and business owners alike. When considering this part of gentrification, allowing people in the area to have a proper forum is a good goal, but constructing a place for them while allowing for people no longer in the area but with strong bonds, to continue to communicate. The dispersal of a group into a diaspora with regards to gentrification is a hard thing to tackle here, but that is the most pressing matter here, and one that aligns with the rest of my groupmates.

With that in mind, my proposal is for a media sharing site/forum that would run as a set of imageboards.. These specific sites would provide people with the ability to post pictures, short video clips, or even text, about neighborhood events. The goal would be to capture the essence of the neighborhood and provide a place for sharing within a small-focused area. Each section of the city would have its own sub-form/board, breaking the site into multiple parts. This would allow topics specific to certain populations within the city neighborhoods to be presented to their target demographics.

I was inspired to look into this topic after a terrifying run-in with a bike as a pedestrian on a sidewalk. I was shocked, since bicycles are not allowed on the sidewalk. At that moment I realized that not everyone had a parent who taught them the rules regarding the operation of a bicycle. I was taught to share the road with cars, and that while you are on the road you are to act like a car. In this project I would like to learn what the real rules are, and look into ways to educate the public on what rules they are required to follow. I have also been speculating as to why there is a lack of education on the topic. Drivers Education about cars is completed in high schools around the country, but why the lack of information about bikes? It may have to do with differences in roads in rural vs urban locations. I would love to be able to address some of these questions.

There has been bad publicity in Pittsburgh recently with bike safety after the death of a University of Pittsburgh staff member who was riding a bicycle on Forbes Ave at Bellefield Ave. This cast a sour shadow over the newly lined bike lanes that have been constructed throughout Pittsburgh, and especially in Oakland. While she was not at fault in regards to proper operation of the bicycle, that is the most significant recent news regarding the topic.

My interest in this topic is redoubled due to a course I am taking about transportation where we are learning about the rules that regulate the design of intersections and roads including how bike lanes can be incorporated. I’m interested to see how these two different classes can have an overlapping theme.

I am part of the group devoted to revamping the Hill District. The Hill District is a very poor and rundown part of the city. Most of the people I know are intimidated to walk around or even just walk through the Hill District, alone or in small groups. Considering the proximity to both Pitt’s campus and downtown Pittsburgh, it’s very unfortunate that the Hill District feels so impassable. Our group plans to come up with projects that could really help to improve way of life in the Hill District.

We specifically shied away from saying that our plan or idea was gentrification. The reason for this is because the Hill District has been “gentrified” before. A little known fact is that the Hill District used to actually be a pretty well-off, middle class area. But at some point there was a group who decided to try to gentrify it even more. Their plan was to demolish some of the smaller local shops and replace them with a large business. This led to lots of loss of jobs and income for the people who owned the now demolished “mom & pop shops” and, eventually, led to the state that the Hill District is in now.

Because of this previous attempt, we decided to go more towards public safety than for giving the Hill District an economic boost. The biggest idea we talked about was increasing peace of mind by placing blue lights (like those on Pitt’s campus) throughout the district. The idea is that wherever you are, there is one of these in sight and you should get police response in a matter of minutes at most. This idea, combined with putting in more/better streetlights, would be two small steps towards making walking around the Hill District feel much safer.