Hyatt-Hotel-March-9-Meeting.pdf
Date: Monday, March 9, 2015
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Pittsburgh Athletic Association, 4215 Fifth Avenue
Contact wwilson@opdc.org or 412.621.7863 ext.15 for more information
In order to better understand the food gardening habits and barriers to gardening in South Oakland, research is being conducted as part of a community-based project through the University of Pittsburgh Honors College to understand gardening habits in South Oakland to determine why people do, and don’t garden. If barriers are identified, this project aims to connect residents to gardening resources. We are asking residents to fill out a 5 minute anonymous survey (link below and available on SouthOaklandPgh.org). Thank you for your time and consideration!
In the very near future, in-person surveys (approx 15 min) will be taken of both avid gardeners, at Frazier Farms, home gardens or otherwise, and those who don’t, and why for more in depth analysis. The surveys should be done by March 10th, but may extend a few weeks if not enough surveys are completed. The data analysis and report will be done by the end of April. If the results clearly identify a problem that could be addressed, the student will try to coordinate an event or program sometime in May to try and help people in the community who need help to start gardening!
If you know anyone that is interested in participating please use the link below, or have them contact SONG,either call or text 
or print out the attached flyers to hand out.
Schedule Update
Lane Closures
Updated: 2/28/15 – Most of the people who had planned to come have cancelled so we will not be having Adult Night Tonight. Hopefully we be able to get things going better when the weather starts to warm up.
====================================
Our monthly adult get-togethers at the Frazier Fieldhouse adjacent to Dan Marino Field on Frazier St. Any volunteers, donations of food or beverages is encouraged and welcome.
The Kids nights are going to be suspended during this cold weather.
Saturday Feb 28th is the adult get-together from 7pm-10pm.
Some entertainment is possible, but this event is more of an eat, meet and greet, maybe some card games so that neighbors can introduce themselves and discuss topics of interest and ideas for future events like like music, movies, games, etc.
This event is for ages 21 and older.
Due to the size of the building and limited people to run the event, we are limiting the number of adults to 30, so signing up beforehand is recommended. Please include your name, address and contact number.
Donations of a covered dish, hors d’oeuvres, snacks and beverages are requested and welcome, but not mandatory.
Anyone that would like to share some of their favorite beer or wine for their neighbors to try is also welcome. To avoid this becoming a “bar” night, we ask that you limit to one or two drinks total per person.
We reserve the right to ask anyone who is disruptive at any event to leave.
Please RSVP via SONG contact page, call or text , or talk to Janet Sims in person.
February 20, 2015
Sat., Feb. 20 – The Penn State Extension is hosting a 4-Day Arborist Short Course in the basics of arboriculture (tree care), including tree biology, tree risk assessment, tree planting, and other topics. This course is designed to increase working tree knowledge, professional arborist skills, and prepare you for the ISA Certified Arborist Exam, which should improve your marketability. Info and registration: Click here
They are postponing the ZBA hearing regarding the WindNest project, pending the outcome of design revisions that will have an effect on the scale.
The project will no longer be on the March 5th agenda. We will continue to pass along any updates we receive regarding the project.
==================================
Central Page with Research Project Links
============================
UPDATE 2/18/15
The hydroponics workshop will be 3-4pm Sunday 2/22 at Frazier Fieldhouse.
Workshop Flyer
============================
Update: With some work on actual installations now done, and since there probably aren’t many “ideal” windows in South Oakland, the specs and guidelines have changed a bit for site installations. There will be fluorescent lights on all installations, and the size has been significantly reduced.
For anyone that was interested in hosting a hydroponics installation, but didn’t contact us yet, here’s a few pictures of the 2.5’x6′ system and a CAD sketch of the 22″x32″ system that’s going into two locations so far:
The first two are the same system in progress, planned to have three channels, each with 5 plants in it. The PVC pipes above are for holding lights not shown in pic.
The Oakland Business Improvement District, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the South Side Chamber of Commerce, with sponsorship from Dollar Bank, have joined forces to raise funds for Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh by simultaneously hosting Drink for Pink events on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Each location is free and open to the public and will include Pittsburgh celebrity bartenders, a unique twist on the Drink for Pink theme. All proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh.A Shadyside developer wants to build 352 market-rate apartments at the Pittsburgh Technology Center along Second Avenue in Oakland.
The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority owns the land where Walnut Capital would build. The URA’s board is scheduled to vote Thursday to negotiate with Walnut Capital for up to 90 days to sell the four-acre property to the developer, a meeting agenda shows.
The land is appraised at $1.4 million. If the sale goes through, the developer would submit a building proposal to the city Planning Commission.
URA Chairman Kevin Acklin said the potential development “further confirms the growing strength of our city’s housing market.”
The development would be called Technology Center Living. Amenities would include an outdoor pool, sun deck and sports court, along with parking for cars and bicycles, URA documents show.
Work would be done in two equal phases, the documents show.
Oakland Planning and Development Corporation is collecting information from Oakland residents about their engagement in the neighborhood. The survey is a part of a pilot data project that the Pittsburgh Foundation is funding to test new ways of collecting, accessing and using data for planning, decision-making and evaluative purposes.
Having more responses will help OPDC better identify and meet the needs of residents as well as make the case with funders for continued or increased support of The Oakland 2025 Master Plan implementation.
Follow this link or copy and paste it into your browser to complete the short survey: http://goo.gl/Da9JK8 If you have problems with the link, you can use the attached PDF file to print and fill out and contact OPDC to get the paper version to them.
Please email or call David Zwier at 412-621-7863 ext.14 if you have any questions or concerns.
