A Chatham University blog about the work funded by Bank of America
On August 7 and 9, I completed Blocks 1, 11, and 12 – finishing the Business and Institutional Core Cluster! On the small portion of Block 1 (Hamilton Avenue), I identified Catalpa speciosa (Northern Catalpa). On Block 11, there were Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood), Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress), Tilia cordata (Littlelead Linden), and Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum), as […]
At Operation Better Block, we are continuously conducting property surveys throughout the rest of the summer. According to our survey map, many of the homes surveyed are owned by either the City of Pittsburgh or the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is an interesting find for anyone thinking about the future of Homewood. A stark contrast […]
Yesterday, I completed Block 9 and almost Block 10. Even though I didn’t complete my targeted goal for the day (I was in South Homewood from 7:45 am till noon), I had some insightful and wonderful conversations with several residents that were worthy of my time. On Block 9.3 at 7800 Susquehanna Street, there is […]
I have been learning so much about the vibrant community of Homewood. I’ve had the opportunity to meet with staff members at Operation Better Block and to learn of all of their sustainability initiatives, especially with the youth of the community. In these meetings, we are learning how to best use our people and […]
Over the past four weeks, my focus has shifted away from figuring out the logistics of the new Green Infrastructure course to start in Fall 2018 and more towards creating a curriculum for our professors to use in the future launch of the course in Fall 2019. I am collaborating with our chosen instructors to […]
On Tuesday, I went and inventoried Block 8 and Block 9. On Block 8, there were only two trees on the west side of the block (Tioga and Braddock). Of the two, I identified an Acer saccharinum (Silver maple). Since I divided Block 9 into three portions, I will discuss each separately. On Block 9, […]
This morning, I redid the field work completed on the first day of data collection, measuring in particular the height (more so recording up/down percentages of my views of the top and bottom of the trees) and distance (how far away from the tree can I view the top of it) of the twenty-three trees […]
I’ve been doing research on lead in soil, how to interpret soil tests, and potential methods of removing soil from lead in urban areas where there are lots of people. Studies of phytoremediation (using plants and natural methods to extract lead from soil) are fairly recent and there is no definitive answer on what the […]
The past month at Operation Better Block has served as a great learning experience. Some of my assignments have been surrounding the topic of housing in Homewood. Housing is a major issue in many, if not all, Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and housing contains significant value in sustainable cities. Interestingly, the City of Pittsburgh owns many vacant, […]