Monday, January 16, 2012
Neighborhoods Pittsburgh neighborhood residents clean up vacant lots for MLK Day
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 3:15 PM
- Dustin Chambers
- HEAVY LIFT Pittsburgh residents and volunteers scoop and shovel trash from an abandoned lot in the historic neighborhood as part of MLK Day
Today's effort, which is the 2nd annual "Day of Service" organized by Atlanta City Counciwoman Cleta Winslow, is aimed not just at recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but also improving the community. Starting at 8 a.m., young and old residents and pastors from area churches fanned out to different parts of the neighborhood to scoop up trash, leaves, and old tires.
Perhaps the biggest task: bagging the piles of garbage — and the mattress, spoiled food, artificial hair, old boxes, signs, and other items — from an overgrown lot which ne'er-do-wells had turned into a dumping ground. William Murray, the owner of a funeral home located on McDaniel Street, Pittsburgh's main thoroughfare, helped shovel trash into bags alongside his two children, William and Chloe.
"I'm leading by example," Murray said. "You've got to give back. There are more ways to put back in a community than just funds."
James Bridges, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident, came decked out in jeans promoting the clean-up with bleached letters and a jacket and toboggan bearing a portrait he painted of King.
Bridges said the community has been ravaged by the negative effects of vacant homes, which attract squatters and crime. But he and other residents think that various initiatives and projects, including an ambitious endeavor by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, could help turn around Pittsburgh, once a mortgage fraud hotspot. Atlanta Police are quick to respond to calls, says Murray. Neighbors are watching out for each others' houses. The Pittsburgh Community Improvement Association, a nonprofit builder, is working in the neighborhood on a community land trust, an innovative affordable housing model that could help stabilize the community. Some residents also think the successful development of the foundation's massive property along the Atlanta Beltline, located on Pittsburgh's southern edge, will help bring a grocery store, jobs, and other amenities.
"We have so much hope right now," said Bridges.
In the meantime, the clean-up is a good way to take ownership of and beautify the community.
"If it's a clean community, your property is more valuable, you invite more people into the neighborhood," he said. And it's a safer place for the children."
- Dustin Chambers
- Residents filled up more than 10 oversized bags with trash from the vacant lot
- Dustin Chambers
- Lifelong Pittsburgh resident James Bridges came decked out in clothes celebrating MLK Day and the clean-up
- Thomas Wheatley
- Chloe Murray, 10, shovels leaves off the sidewalk. Murray and her brother came from Gwinnett County to help clean up Pittsburgh with their father, who owns a funeral home in the community
- Dustin Chambers
- Local Cub Scouts, including Justin of Pack 6850 from Parkside Elementary, helped clean up Saturday and today
- Thomas Wheatley
- Pastor Maynon Copeland scoops up trash into a bag held by Bridges and Murray
- Thomas Wheatley
- James Bridges points out one building along McDaniel Street that residents hope will be eventually renovated
Comments (4)
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Talk about a neighborhood that needs more people like those pictured above. Pittsburgh has good bones, and is so close-in, It's a shame to see it so blighted.
Zed,
I agree 100 percent. I'm personally fascinated by Pittsburgh. Such a historic spot with so much going for it, including a good number of residents who are committed to seeing it improve. The neighborhood has the same type of walkable street grid you'd find in Cabbagetown and that McDaniel Street main drag which could be perfect for some restaurants and a smaller grocery store. A lot of the housing needs major renovation work but you've got some historic gems in there. Much like Vine City and English Avenue, it just needs people.
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