Redevelopment Works

More than a year and a half ago, Dr. David McDeavitt and I had a dream: to create a space on school grounds that would…

Today I’d like to give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of one of the most involved and hard-hitting parts of redevelopment work. This…

Spring 2021 feels like a breath of fresh air on so many levels. We’ve still had a few snowstorms to deal with – both literal…

  Rick Sheffer grew up in Emlenton in the 1950s and 60s. Though he moved out of the area many years ago, Rick keeps Emlenton…

Last week, I talked about Pittsburgh’s P4 redevelopment framework, a model built on equitable and balanced consideration of People, Place, Performance, and Planet. If you’re…

With a rust-belt legacy linked directly with ours, Pittsburgh’s recent redevelopment efforts provide theoretical guidelines that show promise for our own region, while highlighting the…

Since taking up my local redevelopment role, I’ve had the honor of talking to a number of folks who have been involved in similar efforts…

This time last year, I was thanking folks for offering to donate items to our School Farm project and looking forward to getting our hands…

We’re sure by this point everyone in Emlenton has seen or heard about the construction project taking place in and along the river at the…

Today, I’d like to talk a bit about something that most of us try to avoid, even though it’s a perfectly normal and natural part…

Anne Schleiden loves our local rail-trails. After moving to the Chicora area from Cranberry Township more than twenty years ago, Anne settled into the relaxed…

All around the globe, people have been stepping up, responding to the challenges brought about or highlighted by the events of the last year. Small…

Last week, I shared the tale of a very successful redevelopment project that sparked the transformation of an entire region. As I alluded to, though,…

I’d like to tell you a story about a town with a challenging history. This is a town that was built up on 19th century…

Like so many of us, Joseph Croskey’s journey has been a winding road, part strategy and intention and part luck and circumstance. Continual life redevelopment,…

Last week, we talked about the importance of perspective for redevelopment work. Quite simply, no one person, no matter how well they think they might…

I work in an interesting field, where change is celebrated, challenges are embraced, and differing thoughts are not just invited but needed. Redevelopment, after all,…

Last week, we explored how the ORA has adapted and evolved over the last decade and a half. To start off the new year, we’re…

The ORA looked very different fifteen years ago than it does today. I sat down recently with current CEO John Phillips to talk about the…

We’ve been talking a fair bit about the theory of redevelopment – what it’s about and what sorts of activities it can entail. Today, though,…

In this time of all-things-virtual, it can feel…challenging, to say the least… to find ways to get involved in the community. Many of our local…

With the holiday season now officially underway, we are continuing the conversation on being involved in the community through ideas, action, and support. Last week…

Last week, I encouraged everyone to get involved in redevelopment, and this week I want to offer some specific examples of how. There are three…

Thursday, Nov. 5, was a momentous day for local redevelopment. After a year of grant-writing, waiting, strategizing, more waiting, and logistical planning, we finally had…

As I’m sure is abundantly clear by now, redevelopment is all about people. Sure, we work on the places and things around us, but the…

This week, I’d like to get personal. I’d like to talk about what redevelopment really means for me, and for you. It’s all well and…

We’re wrapping up our focus on the A-C Valley School District by looking at collaboration, and the potential it holds for our community. Collaboration is…

Life has changed considerably in the nearly four centuries since colonists established the first public school in America.  In the early 1600s the focus of…

Superintendent David McDeavitt’s ties to the A-C Valley School District go back a ways. “My father, actually, was a mason on the high school in…

I hope everyone has enjoyed getting to know more about a few of our neighbors over this last month.  The potential for increased resilience in…

“Oh, absolutely. You have to cooperate. Everyone succeeds when everyone works together.” I was struck by the simple sincerity with which Lee Ralph, owner of…

Betsy Gibson loves to tell the story of how she, a vegetarian from Pittsburgh, fell in love with Joe Gibson, a rural pig farmer.  We…

“Locally sown, grown, and owned.” The emphasis on keeping things local ran throughout my conversations with the Gibson family as I continued to speak with…

“Ah, man…he would be so happy. I tell you what, he’d be out there, right now, in the field, working on a new discer or…

Many of humanity’s greatest accomplishments were inspired by the necessity of the moment during times of strife and stress. When crisis strikes, responsibility and inspiration…