PART OF THE SOLUTION: MORE THAN JUST A BATTLEGROUND STATE
Topic: Government in My Backyard (GIMBY), Part of the Solution, The Forum04. November 2008 |
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Pennsylvanians (2006 pop. 12.5 million) may be getting a bit tired of being tagged red, blue, or purple after the endless presidential campaign. Whoever is elected, some residents of the Keystone State are looking beyond politics and working to renew their second-largest city, Pittsburgh, Sean Hamill of the New York Times reports. A group of twenty or so city residents decided to transform a combination overgrown forest/informal dump into a two-acre city park. One participant even said "[w]e were just strangers before, and this made us neighbors." A little too cute? Yes. But true? Probably. This kind of pulling together is what Americans are good at and if this spreads, it will help Rust Belt cities (and others) turn around. Pittsburgh city government came to the aid of these citizens and will declare the park a greenway, closed to commercial development. -NH


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