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PLACE MATTERS: THE PITTSBURGH CONTEXT

Given that the scope of this assessment seeks to identify the Postal facilities in vulnerable places - the City of Pittsburgh makes for the ideal backdrop to hone assumptions and test concepts. In 2017 The City of Pittsburgh officially launched the OnePGH initiative fusing the objectives and strategy from both Resilience and Smart City planning.  A primary focus of the initiative is to coordinate the deployment of funding, resources, and city improvements towards an inclusive and equitable development strategy. Balancing goals of smart growth with opportunity creation for all residents - especially minorities and the poor - OnePGH is informed by the P4 framework - People, Place, Planet and Performance setting the overarching values and principles for development, partnerships, process and outcomes. “The OnePGH Resilience Strategy aims to ensure improved coordination among government and non-government organizations, better budgeting and capital coordination city-wide, adoption of resilience practices in government, institutions, organizations, neighborhoods, etc, and increased resident engagement and empowerment”.

 

Additionally, due to the City’s rich portfolio of unique and diverse neighborhoods - which are  often geographically isolated due to topography as well as natural and built infrastructure - Pittsburgh has multiple place-based initiatives seeking to alleviate systemic disinvestment, poverty, and increase community health and prosperity in targeted communities.  Consequently, there are some best in-class community resilience initiatives that seek to concentrate resources, partnerships and interventions to elevate the voice and capacity of targeted residents and hyper local stakeholders. One of the most sophisticated and advanced efforts is the One Northside Initiative wherein the goal is simply to improve the 18 neighborhoods on the Northside of Pittsburgh. In doing so a multi-year planning and engagement process contributed to the development of a framework that separates issues into five categories, or pillars. The Five Pillars represent larger systemic issues that the communities face. By separating these issues into pillars and further specifying small scale problems, actionable plans can be implemented that improve the community as a whole.

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