Pittsburgh's Hill District plays host to another City in the Streets event
By: KDKA-TV's Chilekasi Adele
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- You may have seen a mix of bikers, vendors, and local officials along part of the Open Streets Pittsburgh route on Saturday.
It's part of the city of Pittsburgh's City in the Streets initiative to hear concerns its citizens may have directly from them.
"The better we connect, the more we improve," Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said. "And so, for me, it's, 'How do we create this connectivity that continues to improve the quality of life of our city?' We can't do that if we're just downtown."
It's a similar mission for the Thelma Lovette YMCA. It sits right next to where today's City in the Streets event took place, and its executive director jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this.
"It's definitely the perfect match," Thelma Lovette YMCA Executive Director Aaron Gibson said. "You really have to engage everybody to be part of the process to make your community grow from a health and wellness standpoint."
As people rolled along Center Avenue, there was a sense of community this morning. It's exactly what Bike Pittsburgh wanted.
"Where you would normally see a ton of cars, you see people, you see local businesses, you see vendors," Julie Walsh, Communications and Marketing Manager of Bike Pittsburgh, said. "You see people making these community connections that are so important to a vibrant Pittsburgh.
Mayor Gainey said about 100 people came to last month's edition of City in the Streets; the Mayor's Office says over 1,600 people came last year.
This is the second of five City in the Streets events the city of Pittsburgh is doing. The next one is set for July 17 in Hazelwood.
Here are the rest of the dates, locations, and times:
- Saturday, Aug. 17, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Knoxville
- Wednesday, Sept. 4, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Homewood