Learning to Love the Riverfront: Fairmont Looks to Big Brother
Pittsburgh For Planning Ideas
HomeYesterday.com
19 October 2016
There’s no denying it: Pittsburgh has got it going on. And I’m not
talking about the Steelers.
Anyone who visits The City of Bridges these days encounters a
vibrant, bustling city with tons of creative energy, strong local
businesses and a powerful tourism scene.
The way the riverfront area is organized and smartly developed has
a lot to do with why the city feels like a good place to be,
whether you’re a local or a visitor.
Riverlife will be hosting a workshop in Fairmont on Nov. 2 to
support ongoing riverfront efforts in Marion County.
Does our own fine city of Fairmont have this same feeling, of
energy and human activity along it’s waterfront? No, it doesn’t.
At least not yet.
For Pittsburgh, it wasn’t always like this. Even just a few short
decades ago, Pittsburgh was doing a pretty good job of living up
to the less generous moniker that many West Virginians used to
describe the place.
Pittsburgh’s vast improvement was no accident.
The good news for us here in West Virginia is that we can learn
from how they did it, and replicate what they did.
On November 2 there will be a workshop in Fairmont, hosted by the
very same people that were behind much of the savvy planning of
Pittsburgh’s waterfront area.
Riverlife is a nonprofit advocacy organization that has worked for
the past 17 years to transform Pittsburgh’s riverfronts from
industrial zones to thriving, mixed-use communities, complete with
trails and riverfront parks.
Does our own fine city of Fairmont have this same feeling, of
energy and human activity along it’s waterfront? No, it doesn’t.
Riverlife will be hosting the Fairmont workshop on Nov. 2 to
support ongoing riverfront efforts in Marion County, such as the
Palatine Park upgrades, and to help locals identifying sticking
points or road blocks for individual projects where Riverlife’s
past experiences with planning, fundraising, and implementation
can help.
They’ll also be talking folks through the new Pennsylvania
Riverfront Tax Credit, which could be a good model for West
Virginia to emulate in order to stimulate better waterfront
development.
If you’re interested, show up. Or email Northern WV Brownfields
Assistance Center Redevelopment Specialist Kate Greene at
kate.greene@mail.wvu.edu.