Beloved Community Garden Cheryl was apart of the original cohort of 13 Ambassadors participating in the 2013-2014 ReClaim South program. As a civic leader and pastor in a food desert community, Cheryl knew she wanted to make a difference by beginning her own community food garden. In partnership with the church where she pastors, Cheryl set out to implement a thriving food garden, complete with a dozen planting beds and a play area for local kids.Read More
30/32 Grape Street Garden Linda Piso was one of the 13 original Ambassadors who participated in the 2013-2014 ReClaim South program. Linda, realizing that there were little to no fresh food options for residents living in her neighborhood, designed and implemented a community garden in partnership with her neighbor, the Carnegie Library.Read More
Let’s Talk! Let's Talk!, located at Mountain Avenue and Fisher Street, transformed a large vacant lot into an engaging and creative gathering space. The space contains a chess table, two sets of cornhole and a Little Free Library.Read More
St. Joseph’s Garden This site, located at the intersection of St. Joseph Street and Ormsby Street, is one of three gateways that provides a beautiful welcome to those entering the Hilltop. The site is planted with perennial wildflowers. John plans to expand the plantings in future years down the hill.Read More
Hilltop Little Free Library Project The Little Free Library is a national movement, where communities plant covered boxes full of books where residents can “take a book, return a book”. Working with the other Ambassadors and considering public transit lines, David will install five different boxes on four Ambassador project sites and one on a Western Pennsylvania Conservancy garden. His vision is that bus commuters will be able to peruse the selection before taking their trip on the bus. It is also a great way…Read More
Emerald View Park Trail Entrance Before Melanie implemented her project, the entrance to Emerald View Park in Mount Washington was unsightly and uninteresting. The site has been beautified with perennial plantings, signage and benches – creating a more welcoming entrance to a great Hilltop park.Read More
Patti’s Point Patti’s Point, located at the intersection of Mountain Avenue and Parkwood Road, is one of three gateways pointing to the Hilltop. Perennials were planted to reduce erosion and beautify the intersection.Read More
Mt. Oliver Community Garden Gathering Space Mitra and Chitra are a father and son duo that moved to the Mt. Oliver Borough in 2012 by way of Nepal and Bhutan. Because of the high population of Bhutanese refugees living in the Mt. Oliver area, they created a community space that pays homage to their homeland. In partnership with Grow Pittsburgh and the Mt. Oliver Borough, Chitra and Mitra Gurung built out a community space within the new Mt. Oliver Community Garden. The space has a place for…Read More
ReClaim South 2.0: Sustaining Momentum ReClaim South: Sustaining Momentum was launched in 2015 to further bolster and support existing Ambassador projects implemented during the original ReClaim South program. ReClaim South: Sustaining Momentum provided both returning and new Ambassadors with additional skills, tools and resources necessary for improving Ambassador projects. Ambassadors were exposed to a wide variety of trainings as well as other large-scale greenspace and community development projects occurring in Hilltop neighborhoods. Programming partners included the Hilltop Alliance, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC) and Neighborhood Allies.Read More
Route 51 Green Blvd Property Acquisition Planning Study In Winter 2015-Spring 2016, GTECH worked with Economic Development South (EDS) to identify land to serve as an established greenway, protecting and improving land for a variety of open space uses along Route 51 and Saw Mill Run. The long-term vision for this project is to create a Green Boulevard to improve the environmental, social, and economic health of the corridor. GTECH’s role in the creation of the Route 51 Green Boulevard was to develop and apply a decision making…Read More
ReClaim South Ambassadors ’14 The 2012 Green Toolbox Report conducted for Hilltop communities identified over 400 acres of vacant land in those neighborhoods, including two former public housing sites. The Ambassador program is one way that GTECH and the Hilltop Alliance is addressing this opportunity. Ten residents will participate in a vacant land focused training program and create their own green project on vacant land. Research shows a greener environment has a positive impact on the perception of a place as a good location…Read More
Green Toolbox The Hilltop Alliance Green ToolBox was completed in partnership with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to offer guidance to communities that are interested in developing a comprehensive approach to greening strategies, with guidance on costs, timing, and prioritization to help make sure efforts are doable, sensible and affordable. The ToolBox provides a structure for gathering data, analyzing the information, soliciting and processing input from a variety of stakeholders and developing a plan of action tailored to specific communities. The ToolBox document…Read More