Hometown Represent! Braddock Grows Green

The first-term mayor of Braddock, PA is showing where the rubber meets the, uh, bike path.

See a video clip here.

Photo by Lake Fong, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

What I like about this present-day story is that the work really gives voice and thought to a community identity, something that has been absent from community development since Robert Moses (ick) told us what city living was supposed to look like. What we're seeing is the real and concrete development of a new mode of urban living, and the energy around Braddock has realized the theories of new urbanism into:

• An urban garden that sells produce to the community
• Low-cost housing for artists
• Local engagement in the arts
• Community events and community engagement for residents, providing a sense of place for people of all ages and backgrounds
• Reclamation of existing architecture (instead of those weird suburban condo things)
• Dense, mixed-use development
• A loud call for green job development & clean energy businesses to set up shop

What I encourage for long-term success is that the mayor, John Fetterman, bring other leaders and "figure heads," especially youth from the community, along with him so that he's not the only one talking, and so there are several long-term faces associated with the neighborhood who are allowed to go out and be strong and be vocal to take the message to the streets. I mean, bike paths. This makes the community stronger and avoids the fiefdom complex that so often pervades Pittsburgh neighborhood politics. I would also encourage a thorough long-term plan of how to empower the current residents to take advantage of the economic change that will come to their community when housing prices begin to rise.

If we're going to make cities livable, that has to mean for everyone, and this model brings together a lot of the ideas. There are a lot of people rooting for these models to work. And of course it's nice to see it happening in my hometown.