Volume 28 No. 8
August 2012
Brightwood works to revitalize Woodland Ave. Northsiders
Photo by Kelsey Shea
BCG President Diane Annis-Dixon hugs City Council President Darlene Harrisat a nail pounding ceremony on Woodland Avenue. By Kelsey Shea In the past four years, Brightwood Civic Group members identified homeownership as the key to improving their neighborhood. BCG members, community developers and politicians celebrated that concept on July 26 at a nail
pounding ceremony on Woodland Avenue that marked their continued effort to revitalize old homes in Brightwood. The BCG acquired seven decrepit houses on Woodland Avenue in Brightwood that they are now redeveloping into single-family homes with the help of the North-
side Leadership Conference, The Northside Community Development Fund and Rivers Casino. The midday nail pounding marked the beginning of construction on the neighboring homes at 1320 and 1324 Woodland Ave., the second and third homes to be redeveloped as a part of the Woodland Avenue Revitalization Project. “The more homeowners we get interested in our neighborhood, the better our neighborhood becomes,” said BCG President Diane AnnisDixon, who noted that absentee landlords were a problem in Brightwood. Though still unfinished, 1320 Woodland Ave. is already under sales agreement, and the new owner is working with developers to choose installed details in the kitchen and bathroom. The two-bedroom 1324 Woodland is currently still on the market for $130,000. Last year, the BCG celebrated the completion of the project’s first
See Woodland Ave. page 6
Bed and breakfast planned for Deutschtown By Kelsey Shea Historic Deutschtown neighbors agree: The old house at the corner of Cedar and W. North avenues is an eye sore, in an unfortunately visible spot. “This building has been vacant for so many years,” Cedar Avenue resident Kathleen Hagan said. Built in 1880 by a young Pittsburgh couple in their early 30s, the house was once stately, before time took its toll. The old brick structure now has boarded windows and peeling paint
INSIDE
on the once-grand front porch. But whether it was the visible location or the architectural remnants of the house’s better days, the property caught the attention of another young couple in their 30s about 130 years later. Central Northside residents Justin and Keili Mistovich recently purchased 1010 Cedar Avenue and plan to renovate the building and open a new bed and breakfast. In 6-9 months, the building will reopen as the Allegheny Inn, a five-room inn across the street from Allegheny General Hospital, where
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they hope patients’ families and visiting doctors will stay. The couple celebrated a ground breaking ceremony on July 10 on the front porch of the building with neighbors, friends, project financers and elected officials Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and City Council President Darlene Harris in attendance. “We’d like to restore the building back to how it would be if you were walking through the neighborhood in the glory days of Allegheny City,” said Allegheny Inn
See Allegheny Inn, page 4
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opposes reapportionment By Kelsey Shea Northsiders are speaking up this month to fight for neighborhood unity as city council districts are reapportioned. Community members from Observatory Hill and the Central Northside spoke in City Council Chambers on Monday July 9 and at Bistro Soul on July 17 to oppose the proposed reapportionment of Pittsburgh’s city council districts. On the Northside, the proposed council district changes would split the Central Northside between two city councilmembers and move Allegheny West and parts of Observatory Hill and Perry Hilltop from their current districts. The city of Pittsburgh is broken into nine city council districts, 32 wards and more than 400 voting districts, and each council district is represented by an elected city council member. Every 10 years, City Council is legally obligated to look at the population of the nine council districts to insure that they are balanced and that minorities are fairly represented by at least two minority districts. Optimally, each district should have a population close to 33,967 people, there should not be more than a 10 percent deviation between the largest and smallest district and the districts should be contiguous and compact. Minorities must also be fairly represented. Because Pittsburgh’s population decreased since the last reapportionment 10 years ago, certain districts needed to add or shed wards and
See Reappointment, page 7
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