Greening Homewood Clusters: Year One

In 2016, GTECH partnered with Operation Better Block (OBB) to implement four new greening projects in Homewood. Each project was imagined, designed and implemented with the help of residents via the Cluster Planning process sponsored by OBB. The Cluster Planning process created a detailed land use vision for Homewood’s future based on the needs and desires of existing, present-day community stakeholders. This process will considered both long- and short-term land use, working with residents in one part of the neighborhood at a time.

During the spring of 2016, GTECH worked with dozens of volunteers who contributed 122 hours of their time to help implement four beautification projects throughout Homewood. Combined with educational trainings with OBB’s Junior Green Corp and further outreach and engagement activities through temporary vacant lot projects with Phipps Conservatory during the 2016 Pittsburgh Marathon, our goal was to energize residents and stakeholders to get involved in community beautification initiatives.