Pretty Up Beechview: Greenway Stewardship

Pretty Up Beechview (PUB) is an active community group dedicated to maintaining and beautifying Beechview, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh’s Southills. Part of PUB’s work includes stewarding a portion of the Seldom Seen Greenway. One of PUB’s goals is to help the Seldom Seen Greenway be seen! Seldom Seen has been referred to as “A Park Hiding in Plain Sight.” It is a hidden gem that Beechview wants more Pittsburghers to experience. At Grounded, we were excited about this iniative because we believe that everyone deserves access to high-quality greenspace, whether that is a park, greenway, or landscaped neighborhood spaces.

Through our ReGen Program, Grounded teamed up with PUB to reimage vacant and underutilized space at the entrance of the greenway that can be used to help draw people into the space. Eventually, PUB plans to add more amenities like benches, tables, and lights to help the entrance become more functional for visitors.

In the fall of 2018, the transformation began with a workday to spruce up the entrance. Adding flower beds, edging, mulching, and planting were just a few of the activities that took place. In the spring of 2019, Grounded organized a workshop open to all those interested in stewarding a greenway to learn more about hosting a workday on their own and shared resources that are available to community groups. We were also joined by employees from the City of Pittsburgh to discuss how different departments interact with greenways and how community groups, like PUB, can prepare for Greenways 2.0.