Welcome GSI Community Liaisons

How can the Pittsburgh region maximize community benefit associated with Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) investments? We just launched the GTECH GSI project in the Woods Run (O-27) sewershed which seeks to apply a methodology to do just this - engage residents in shaping land use decisions related to upcoming stormwater infrastructure investments, so that community benefit can be maximized. Our Foundation: Work Closely with the Community As part of this project, we're delighted to have the opportunity to work with 4 residents from the…

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Volunteer 10 minutes to refine routes for the Northside trail

Over the past four months, GTECH and One Northside have been working on a plan for a neighborhood trail system that would connect all 18 neighborhoods in Pittsburgh's Northside and show off the amazing destinations in each. Opinion polls done by One Northside showed that Northsiders want safe connections between neighborhoods, and want their side of the city to be known as a hub for arts and culture. Once you get visitors walking around the Northside, it's easy to show…

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Getting a Handle On Your Housing Stock

We've been talking a lot this year about the Pittsburgh LocalData Collaborative (PLDC), the need for accessible data in our region and GTECH's role in making sure accurate information is used in community development decisions. Many organizations, from PCRG to Lawrenceville United, have partnered with us through the PLDC to launch innovative data collection projects over the past year and the results have been astounding. Since 2014, partnering organizations in the PLDC have collected 35,252 data points across 44 communities on everything…

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Streamlining Data Management – WPRDC

In a time where information is readily available, it is easy to see why data driven decision-making has become a hot topic of discussion for people and organizations trying to impact their local communities. Although vast amounts of data can lead to an informed, equitable decision or outcome, condensing and sometimes even finding such data can be a major barrier to the process of change. Despite the fact that there is an emerging need, managing mass data sets can be a big…

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Lawrenceville United uses Pittsburgh LocalData Collaborative to sign up neighborhood children for pre-K and kindergarten

For the past three years GTECH has facilitated the Pittsburgh LocalData Collaborative (PLDC), a digital platform that makes it easy to gather and visualize hyperlocal data about the environment, local businesses, homes and people. LocalData enables members to collect and understand complex data, allowing for better data-driven decisions, without the need for a technical expert. Members of the PLDC range from government municipalities to community based organizations. Surveying and data storage with PLDC is highly accessible. Members of PLDC have access to tablets…

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Explore 23 maps that showcase Northside treasures

Treasure mapping in a quest to build community resources This summer, we had the pleasure of working with 11 student researchers from Chatham, CMU and Penn State to map assets throughout the 18 Northside neighborhoods as part of the One Northside Asset Inventory and Mapping (Northside AIM) project. We aimed to: Engage the community to find as many resident-identified assets as possible Map gems in every one of the 18 Northside neighborhoods Encourage and support student talent and creativity Package…

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Homewood Community Uses LocalData to Map Vacancy

Operation Better Block, Inc. (OBB) has been a Pittsburgh LocalData Collaborative member since May 2014. Demi Kolke, the Community Development Coordinator at OBB, tells the story of how her organization used LocalData to help with their community planning efforts.   Operation Better Block, Inc.’s resident-driven vacant property remediation has at its core the following goals: gather accurate and current parcel information, build relationships with residents by linking them to services, and address neighborhood-wide issues. Through this, we were able to advance…

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