City Cast Pittsburgh
🌱 How to make a garden thrive in Pgh
May 10, 2023
Grab your gloves, neighbor! 🌱 Today on the City Cast Pittsburgh podcast, we’re digging into what makes a backyard garden thrive.
What's CITY Talking About?
Council’s Plan for Unhoused Residents
The city unveiled a plan this week to provide unhoused residents with new, longer-term accommodations. The proposal includes transforming offices into a dorm-style apartment complex, building a village of tiny homes, and constructing a long-term shelter similar to the one on Second Avenue. [90.5 WESA]
Give Feedback on the City’s Budget
A series of community meetings to gather input on the city’s 2024 budgets starts with a virtual meeting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Future meetings will be held at 6 p.m. May 17 at the Phillips Recreation Center in Carrick, 6 p.m. May 18 at the Manchester Citizens Corporation Center, 6 p.m. June 1 at the Sheraden Senior Center, and 6 p.m. June 7 at the Homewood Senior Center. You can also take an online survey. [TribLIVE]
Public Hearing With Pgh’s New Police Chief
Residents will have the chance to ask Pittsburgh’s police chief nominee, Larry Scirotto, questions about his experience and plans for the bureau at a public hearing before Pittsburgh City Council votes to confirm his nomination. A date for the meeting hasn’t been set yet, but it's planned to be held in council chambers and will broadcast on the city’s YouTube channel. [TribLIVE]
Pgh’s Growing Greenhouse Footprint
PennEnvironment released a new state-wise survey of environmental polluters that pinpoints the Pittsburgh area as a disproportionate contributor of Pennsylvania’s harmful gas emissions, with 44% stemming from the region in 2021. The study names twelve of the heaviest polluting facilities (the “Dirty Dozen”), and six of them are in Southwestern Pennsylvania: gas plants in Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties, along with U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Coke Works in Braddock. [Pittsburgh City Paper]
- 🎧 Hear the City Cast Pittsburgh team talk with Colin Williams at The Incline about how odd smells can indicate air pollution, and how rapid swings in temperatures exacerbate emissions. They also discuss the latest investigation into Beaver County’s Shell cracker plant.
What To Do
🚲 Critical Mass Bike Ride | Friday | 6 p.m.
Join the group of biking friends for the first ride of the season at Friendship Park. [free, Friendship]
🍌 Scepter Studio Sessions | Friday | 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
See a first-of-its-kind exhibit featuring The Velvet Underground & Nico’s master tapes of nine tracks from the first recording sessions at NYC’s Scepter Studios in 1966, through Sept. 25. [$13-25, North Side]
🌱 Plant Nursery Opening | Saturday | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Browse plants at Audubon's Native Plant Nursery that attract bees, birds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. [free, Fox Chapel]
Today on City Cast
How To Start a Backyard Garden in Pittsburgh
Wondering what kinds of fruits, vegetables, and herbs to grow in your backyard? We're with Claire Matway, Community Garden Network Program Manager for Grow Pittsburgh, to get answers on how to make a patch of crops prosper in Pittsburgh.
Personally, I won’t be able to start my backyard garden until I can get rid of the invasive knotweed. Thanks to everyone who wrote in about it this week. Anybody else have success stories to share? My backyard (and many of your neighbors’ yards) will thank you.
Be back in your inbox tomorrow!
— Francesca Dabecco
Free · Daily