“Big Ideas” for Uptown Discussed

Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh last night held a community meeting regarding the Uptown Community Vision. Dozens of Uptown citizens, property owners, and stakeholders took part in the meeting which began with an overview of the neighborhood itself and a subsequent breakdown of the area into four parts: the Fifth/Forbes corridor which includes both streets and buildings on either side, the Uptown Bluff which spans from the Duquesne University campus and UPMC Mercy hospital to the site of the soon-to-be-erected Consol Energy Center, the Uptown/Soho area which extends from Kirkpatrick St. and the Birmingham Bridge to the Oakland portal at Carlow College, and Central Uptown—the highly residential area nestled between the Bluff and Soho regions. Participants broke up into splinter groups according to each area to discuss possible solutions to revitalize the neighborhood, and then returned to offer “Big Ideas.” These suggestions included a possible return to two-way traffic on both Forbes and Fifth Avenues, construction of new “green” housing, housing for seniors and college students, as well as improved lighting and strategic positioning of street-level trees and parks. Ken Doyno of Rothschild/Doyno Collaboration—emcee for the meeting—says from the group discussion he sees specific areas of development near the Birmingham Bridge, Duquesne’s athletics building the Power Center, the intersection of Miltenberger and Dinwiddie streets, and near UPMC Mercy. Several participants also expressed an interest in bettering the area for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, as well. Doyno says the diversity of the neighborhood in terms of age and its natural topography including hillsides and greenspace make it an inviting place to live and adds to its potential for growth. Similar Uptown development meetings are intended to be scheduled.