The Role of Greenspace in Pittsburgh’s Transportation Equity Conversation Posted on February 3, 2020 by Masoud Sayles Currently, the City of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) is developing a Mobility Vision Plan for the next 50 years! While on its surface this may not seem like an environmental justice issue tied to vacant or disinvested land, the implications of this plan are incredibly far-reaching. As the main entity tasked with managing the city's transportation infrastructure, DOMI governs many aspects of your movement through your day-to-day life. In addition to the roads most of us use…Read More
Environmental Hazards: Close-to-Home Posted on March 5, 2019 by Masoud Sayles The snow is already beginning to melt, and we can see the first spikes of spring ephemerals like snowdrops and crocus poking through the snow. Having spent the short days of winter cooped up indoors, many people are pleased to feel the days getting perceptibly longer. As we cross the thresholds of our respective houses out into this warming world, we transition between two very distinct sorts of environments: one familiar, consistent, and controlled, the other unpredictable, varied, and sometimes…Read More
ReClaim Central 2.0: Update Posted on February 11, 2019 by wpengine In the winter of 2016-17, Grounded recruited a dozen Central Hill District residents, called Ambassadors, to lead the movement for reclaiming vacant lots. In the spring of 2017, the Ambassadors began work on vacant lots around the Hill District and in total created 5 new community spaces for residents to utilize. Fast forward to fall 2018, after a year of engaging residents on the sites and gathering input about if the spaces were welcomed and accepted we were asked to come…Read More
A Story of Vacant Land (Part 1): Costs & Benefits Posted on November 12, 2018 by wpengine Numbers don’t lie. Well, if we are being honest, they sometimes do. As community leaders, advocates, and policy analysts, it’s our job to think critically about data. In short, numbers mean something, which is why it’s so important to contextualize them. They represent real people associated with real costs. When analyzing costs and benefits, nothing is more important than humanizing the numbers. Let’s consider some of the numbers and truths with regards to vacant lot maintenance. In Allegheny County, 67.3%…Read More
Grounded in East Hills Posted on September 24, 2018 by Masoud Sayles As part of our investigative process, Grounded Strategies is exploring East Hills for further intervention. Having recently installed rain gardens in the Park Hill Drive Community, we're now working with the East Hills Consensus Group (EHCG) to help them advocate for improvements in the entire East Hills neighborhood. The main focus points for EHCG in terms of community strategy are Stormwater, Public Safety, and Community Beautification. During our tour of the neighborhood, it became apparent just how important…Read More
Following a rain drop at Park Hill Drive Posted on August 21, 2018 by Masoud Sayles Grounded continues its Green Stormwater Infrastructure work in the Park Hill Drive community in East Hills. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) design and implementation are just one of the services we offer here at Grounded Strategies. As we plan each such project, we consider the fate of rainwater as it encounters the built environment. Let's follow a raindrop through one of our GSI facilities in the Park Hill Drive community! The first thing that a raindrop is likely to encounter in…Read More
Sustainability Education Posted on June 28, 2018 by wpengine We recently came across a study published in The Journal of Environmental Education focused on the effectiveness of sustainability education in four different unique schools. The study lead to interesting results about which methods of sustainability messaging are most effective at encouraging youth to be environmentally conscious members of society. Schools must immerse students in sustainable practices and possess a culture of equality and sustainability in order to impact students. After interviewing students at each of the four schools, this…Read More
Returning to Sustainable Return on Investment Posted on November 15, 2017 by Grounded Strategies This blog post was authored by GTECH's Research & Policy Intern, Lilli Kashef Hamadani. Email Lilli at l.kashef@gtechstrategies.org. Returning to Sustainable Return on Investment Measuring the Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts of the URA LandCare Program GTECH has been working on evaluating its programs through a Sustainable Return on Investment (SuROI) methodology. You might remember when our intern, Kate, wrote about SuROI lingo and shared the results of GTECH's first SuROI analysis, which measured the social and ecological value of…Read More
Take a Survey! – Stormwater in the East End Posted on November 1, 2017 by Ariam Ford Do you live in East Hills, East Liberty, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, or Homewood? If so, you can take our survey to help shape stormwater infrastructure efforts in your neighborhood. Click the button below to take the survey, or read on to learn more about the project first. Please take the 10 minute survey by clicking the button below. If you'd rather take a survey on paper, please contact us. Read More
Meet our new GTECH GSI Neighborhood Liaisons Posted on August 9, 2017 by wpengine As we complete our GTECH Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) project in the Woods Run/O-27 sewershed on Pittsburgh's Northside, we are beginning the process in our next sewershed: the Negley Run/A-42 sewershed in the East End. As we did on the Northside, the first order of business for our GTECH GSI process was to hire neighborhood liaisons to represent the communities that make up this high-priority sewershed; Homewood, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, East Hills, and East Liberty. These liaisons will serve as GTECH's front…Read More
Welcome Lauren – GTECH GSI Community Liaison Posted on February 6, 2017 by wpengine We are very excited to welcome Lauren Bivins as a Community Liaison in Marshall-Shadeland! A couple months ago we highlighted our Community Liaisons that are supporting our GTECH GSI project in Woods Run. We've got a new addition to the team and are excited to introduce her. Lauren Bivins Neighborhood: Marshall-Shadeland What is your favorite thing about your neighborhood? I enjoy the diversity and caring neighbors that keep the community growing with each generation. Why are you excited about this project? When…Read More
Northside neighborhood trail maps now available! Posted on December 16, 2016 by Grounded Strategies Whether you live in Pittsburgh's Northside or not, it's unlikely that you've been able to explore each and every one of its 18 neighborhoods. Now you can do just that! We have trail maps, fresh off the press, for each of the Northside's neighborhoods. Over the past 2 years we've worked alongside One Northside and Northside residents to map out important community treasures and identify the best routes to explore them. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of assets! Our…Read More