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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
April 9, 2009
WILKINSBURG TAKES HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ITS FUTURE
Author: Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wilkinsburg is in the process of formulating a plan that could shape the borough's development
for the next decade.
The Wilkinsburg Plan is unprecedented in that it would incorporate a traditional comprehensive
plan -- guidelines for future community facilities, development and transportation -- with
recommendations for financial management and guidelines for the development of the business
district along Penn Avenue and on Wood Street.
Borough Manager Marla Marcinko said the plan is more holistic than a traditional
comprehensive plan and the financial management portion will help ensure that the borough will
be in a position to implement other parts of the plan.
"We included the financial component with it to make sure that we would be able to implement
each of the recommendations that come out of each of the components," she said.
But Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson, a borough council member, said the plan has the potential to
reshape Wilkinsburg from the ground up, and not just economically.
She hopes the mere process of formulating the plan will bridge the divide between the "haves
and the have-nots" in the community. It's something she's already observed in planning meetings.
"The community has become greatly divided," she said. "I think this is an opportunity to bring
people together, to make it more cohesive."
At a meeting Tuesday night, she and other residents broke out into small groups and discussed
everything from the community's bad rap to the impact of blight.
They developed suggestions for educating residents about the impact of blight and litter and to
being in better touch with the media to advertise some of the community's development sucesses.
Ms. McCarthy-Johnson said she would like to see more green and sustainable development, such
as buildings with green roofs and turning vacant lots into community gardens.
Green development could be the gateway to niche development and could serve as a way to
attract people into the community, she said.
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