Mayor John Fetterman and the
Community of Braddock
Braddock, Allegheny County
As much as urban revitalization can go through “generations” of allies, Mayor John Fetterman and the Braddock community represent the region’s next set. This former steel production center, home of the first Carnegie Library, and setting to Out of This Furnace has experienced a plunge in population from 20,000 in the 1950s to just over 2,000 now. What’s worse, the proposed Mon-Fayette Expressway threatens to erase parts of Braddock entirely.
The setting now in Braddock is borderline post-apocalyptic, but Fetterman has been able to create a synergy between the mentee youths that brought him there, current residents, artists and new creatives, and the rest of the region. In a partnership with John Katz, principal of Lincoln Land Development, he orchestrated a deal to rent low-cost space to artists in the Ohringer Building. He was instrumental in bringing Fossil Free Fuel, a biofuels pioneer, to Braddock and the larger region. His “Mayor’s Lair,” a converted warehouse with rooftop cargo containers, houses the Dorothy 6 gallery on the ground floor and acts as the front doorstep for the community, along with the historic library and a church-turned-venue. Additional plans include an experimental urban farm. And while doing all this, Fetterman continues his work with Braddock dropouts, helping them earn GEDs and gain employment.
"Fetterman exemplifies a new kind of urban pioneer. Going to the edge of the frontier of revitalization, allowing experiments to develop, successfully nurturing the participation of others in an utterly open way," says Kyra Straussman, founder and President of Cool Space Locator. The beauty of Braddock is that community members, new and old, are powering the area’s revitalization.
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Fossil Free Fuel in Braddock
Ohringer Building houses artists
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Mojo Bistro
The bar at Affogato
517-521 Lincoln Avenue, home to
the eponymous store and
Creative TreeHouse
Creative TreeHouse interior |
Metanoia Development and the Community of Bellevue
Bellevue, Allegheny County
One of the qualities that makes neighborhoods lively is the diversity of its business district. A surge of new businesses, many led by Metanoia Development, are making sure that Bellevue’s Lincoln Avenue commercial strip satisfies the needs of local residents and visitors while maintaining a fresh edge.
New meeting places make up Bellevue’s doorstep. In 2005, Paige and Matt Lydic transformed a worn-down bridal and tuxedo parlor at 172 Lincoln Avenue into a mixed residential and commercial space. Plush eatery Mojo Bistro opened on the ground floor in February 2007. One customer was so moved that she decided to purchase a home in Bellevue. Additional gathering places include Vivo, an upscale restaurant, and Affogato, a funky café that holds weekend events and attracts folk of all ages; both are products of Metanoia Development. Bellevue is a dry town, but most places are BYOB-friendly.
Metanoia, led by Sam DiBattista and Andrew Rubacky, has touched off a wave of new Lincoln Avenue businesses with the urge to unite. The former G.C. Murphy building at 517-521 Lincoln houses the eponymous store 517521 and Creative TreeHouse. 517521, a new, vintage, and artist-made department store “connects the belongings of different eras with different generations of customers,” says Rubacky. “Teenagers buy records while grandmothers search for children’s books, and moms buy handmade t-shirts and comics.” Creative TreeHouse, slated to open in summer 2007 above 517521, is a studio for creative professionals and students to collaborate and share their work. Creative TreeHouse will also function as a pool of potential freelancers, for firms that require creative work.
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