Steel Valley Accelerator hosted a legislative breakfast featuring state and county leaders.<\/p>\n
By THOMAS LETURGEY
For the MVI<\/p>\n
The ability of three different communities to collaborate was the takeaway from the inaugural State of the Steel Valley Legislative Breakfast Wednesday morning in Homestead.<\/p>\n
Welcomed by Carnegie Library of Homestead Executive Director Carol Shrieve, hosted by Steel Valley Accelerator Executive Director Katlyn (Kat) Weiser and opened by Homestead Mayor Mary Nesby, the event hosted about 110 people over coffee and a buffet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shown at the State of the Steel Valley legislative breakfast from left: Munhall Mayor Rob Falce, state Senator Nick Pisciottano, Homestead Borough Mayor Amanda Loutitt, and Director, Allegheny County Economic Development Lauren Connelly. Photo by Thomas Leturgey.<\/p>\n
Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall are among the communities (Whitaker Borough is the other) that share the 15120 zip code and frequently work together for a combined benefit. Aaron Kleiber, marketing and engagement director for Steel Valley Accelerator, explained that the communities make up the \u201cSteel Valley\u201d but are still a part of the much larger \u201cMon Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Sen. Nick Pisciottanno, D-West Mifflin, Munhall Mayor Rob Falce, Allegheny County Economic Development Director Lauren Connelly and Homestead Borough Manager Amanda Loutitt, had a panel discussion about progress made in the communities, and what stakeholders need to do to continue the growth.<\/p>\n
Weiser, who has led the Accelerator for nine months, said she was \u201cthrilled\u201d with the turnout, which included leaders from the City of Pittsburgh as well as all of the Steel Valley boroughs, the Steel Valley School District, and Allegheny County Treasurer\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
All of the Steel Valley communities share the waterfront along the Monongahela River and the Eighth Avenue corridor. Weiser talked of the \u201cvision\u201d for the Steel Valley, and \u201cthe best days are ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what collaboration looks like,\u201d Nesby added. \u201cWe recognize the strength of the communities we call home.\u201d She said it has been good to witness the neighborhoods evolve\u201d because of \u201ccollaboration, not competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weiser, Pisciottano and Connelly all talked of the Mon Valley Forward project. According to its website, the initiative \u201cis a focused effort to strengthen economic competitiveness in the Mon Valley by guiding business attraction, job creation, site readiness, workforce alignment, and strategic public investment. The Mon Valley includes communities along the Monongahela River in southeastern Allegheny County and nearby municipalities that share economic, transportation, and workforce connections to the river corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you see here is communities that took a bad situation and turned it into a positive,\u201d said Pisciottano of the Steel Valley neighborhoods that were rocked for decades by the closure of the steel industry. \u201cIt was unprecedented across the county.\u201d<\/p>\n
A comparison between Pittsburgh\u2019s Lawrenceville neighborhood was discussed. After decades of difficult economic times and considered a downtrodden community along the Allegheny River, Lawrenceville and its Butler Street corridor became a trendy urban destination that critics, researchers, city planners and residents decry as one of the most heavily gentrified neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Some observers say Butler Street is similar to the 8th Avenue corridor with aged storefronts and similar housing stock.<\/p>\n
Falce was quick to say that the Steel Valley isn\u2019t like Lawrenceville as property values and housing have skyrocketed in that city neighborhood the past two decades. \u201c(The Steel Valley) is a diamond in the rough,\u201d he said, adding that with entertainment, new business and new industry \u201cwe can make it special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connelly, who before joining Allegheny County\u2019s Economic Development wing, she served as executive director of the Lawrenceville Corporation, a grassroots coalition that helped the neighborhood grow. She said Lawrenceville\u2019s growth is like the Mon Valley\u2019s in \u201cgrowth opportunity and quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loutitt said those in the Steel Valley \u201cdon\u2019t talk as much about our recreation amenities.\u201d She touted the Great Allegheny Passage as one, as well as the \u201cHomestead Frick Park.\u201d That\u2019s the small neighborhood park at 200 E. 10th Ave.,in Homestead, and not the 644-acre park in Pittsburgh\u2019s city limits. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful park in the center of town.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said Pisciottano is helping with Local Share Account grants and she agrees that the area \u201chas the potential for development like Lawrenceville.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pisciottano touched on the 8tht Avenue corridor and the communities they are investing in but also focused on the nearby river.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time, the river was not a place that anybody wanted to go, but we have changed that into the fact there are over 70 different species of fish in the Monongahela River now. There are whole new ecosystems of coral and aquatic life developing on the floor of the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
He calls the river a huge recreation space, \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve tapped into yet\u201d and \u201cthe three communities have the advantage of access to the river that isn\u2019t constrained by railroad tracks, which is a big problem up-and-down the Mon Valley.\u201d Railroad tracks along the Steel Valley communities are further away from the river than many similar towns. Because of that obstacle, many people aren\u2019t legally allowed to get to the river.<\/p>\n
Nesby also asked the panelists to add quality-of-life issues, including those for everyone from children to seniors be considered.<\/p>\n
One year from now, the group hopes to host the second legislative breakfast. Falce noted that Munhall\u2019s Main Street project could have renovations, and Loutitt said there could be movement on the 8th Avenue corridor.<\/p>\n
Pisciottano said he expects the Mon Valley Forward initiative to be introduced \u201cand the things that come with that will provide a very clear framework on how we go forward. When we\u2019re having this event a year from now, I think we\u2019ll be talking more about the specifics of what came out of that and how those get implemented.\u201d He then joked, \u201cIf we\u2019re having this event in the middle of the Mon river on, you know, some new infrastructure there, that would be great too, but that might be aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steel Valley Accelerator hosted a legislative breakfast featuring state and county leaders. By THOMAS LETURGEYFor the MVI The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-293621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}