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November 7, 2013

Anchoring the district:

Pitt community work reported at national conference

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Pitt played host last month to leaders from anchor districts and institutions nationwide who came together to share ideas on revitalizing their cities. Representatives from groups in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit were among the presenters.

The Anchor District Council, which bills itself as “a coalition of nonprofit community corporations working in partnership with education, medical and cultural institutions to transform city anchor districts and their neighborhoods,” brings together leaders from neighborhoods anchored by large education, medical and arts organizations to share best practices on strengthening and revitalizing their neighborhoods.

Local conference organizers included the Oakland Business Improvement District, Oakland Planning and Development Corp. (OPDC), Peoples Oakland, Oakland Transportation Management Association and Community Human Services.

“Cities are back and they’re back better than ever,” said Chris Ronayne of the Cleveland-based community development corporation University Circle as part of the Oct. 24 anchor district forum, “Shaping the New Metropolis: The Role of Anchor Districts in Reshaping Cities” in Alumni Hall.

Anchor districts are where much of the growth in cities is happening. The so-called “eds and meds” employment sector is responsible for 5 percent of jobs today, but the percentage is double that in cities, he said. “Cities have 10 percent of the jobs they have because of a university or hospital presence,” he said.

“They’re starting to leverage that in cities to make neighborhoods around them better,” Ronayne said, adding that anchor institutions and community service corporations need each other to achieve that success.

Paul Supowitz, Pitt vice chancellor for community and governmental relations, cited Pitt’s growth in recent years and its partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University and the numerous institutions in the area as evidence that Oakland is special.

Just outside Alumni Hall, he said, Pitt’s life sciences complex, music building, William Pitt Union and library; CMU’s Mellon Institute; the Pittsburgh Board of Education headquarters; the Carnegie Museum; Carnegie Library; the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, and Schenley Plaza all serve as evidence of the breadth of institutions and organizations contributing to the neighborhood’s vitality, he said.

“It’s a special place not just because it’s (Pennsylvania’s) third-largest downtown workplace destination, behind downtown Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; not because the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC are the region’s two largest private employers. It’s special because of what happens and what goes on here,” he said.

UPMC has invested $335 million in capital improvements in Oakland, said John Innocenti, president of UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, who was among the forum’s keynote speakers. “Everything that surrounds us is the University of Pittsburgh and Oakland. What we do affects Oakland.”

He said, “We live kind of like a family in Oakland. We all hold hands and do.”

Part of the hospitals’ mission is to serve the community by effectively utilizing resources to promote innovation, he said, citing partnerships with Pitt’s industrial engineering department and participation in the Innovation Oakland wayfinding and digital information project (see Jan. 21, 2010, University Times) as examples.

“This is where we live. UPMC lives in Oakland. Our staff and associates work in Oakland. They go down to the business district in Oakland. Oakland’s problem is our problem.”

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Keynote speaker Renny Clark, Pitt’s vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff, said, “The University of Pittsburgh has long recognized that our success is linked with the success of our neighboring communities.”

Among the accolades Pitt has garnered for community partnerships are a “Best Neighbor” public education institution designation in the 2009 “Saviors of Our Cities” survey of college and university civic partnerships; three consecutive Good Neighbor awards from the United Way, and recognition on President Obama’s 2013 National Honor Roll for Extraordinary and Exemplary Community Contributions.

Anchors may secure a ship from drifting, Clark said, but without a chain, an anchor is useless. “Pitt may be an anchor in this community, but we need our neighbors and partnering organizations, the connecting chain, as much as they need us.”

Clark cited the transformation of Schenley Plaza from a parking lot to what has become a town square as a powerful example of Oakland anchor institutions and community partners working together to meet community needs.

Planned with input from community members, Schenley Plaza has had an outstanding impact on Oakland residents and visitors, Clark said. “The parklet fulfills what I can now see is an essential function; it is a place where the community gathers.”

He also noted the University’s dependence on community members as volunteers in University research — an important relationship that’s mentioned less often than other community partnerships, he said. Clinical trials here have led to progress in understanding autism, Alzheimer’s disease and addiction recovery as well as to the development of HIV-prevention drugs, Clark said.

A stabilizing role

Employers in the education, health care, technology, finance and professional services segments grew following the devastating decline of the region’s steel industry in the 1980s.

But, the city lost nearly half its population, with residents moving to the suburbs or out of the region entirely to find work. “Still today, many neighborhoods and communities are struggling with the impact of this devastating loss of a sustaining population and related tax base,” Clark said.

“Institutions based here in Oakland – Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC and Pitt, among others — have played a critical role in stabilizing the local economy. Along with other significant employers in the region, these institutions continue to fulfill the role of economic engines, leading the way to a new, post-industrial economy.”

Clark enumerated some of the many ways in which the University has contributed in community partnerships:

— Development

In addition to building and renovating University buildings in Oakland, since the 1990s Pitt has increased student housing by 3,000 beds, Clark noted. And University projects have played a role in reviving other areas of the city: the Pediatric Research Institute adjoining Children’s Hospital was an early investment in Lawrenceville; more recently, the Human Engineering Research Laboratories have contributed to the revitalization of Pittsburgh’s East End.

He added that Pitt has aided the city by providing dollars and in-kind services to upgrade intersections and traffic signals on the Fifth and Forbes corridor and water lines on Bigelow Boulevard.

— Student participation

Pitt students last year logged 30,000 hours in service-learning projects and internships in Oakland and beyond, Clark said. And the student-led Pitt Make a Difference Day, launched in 2007, this year engaged 4,000 students, with a waiting list of 500, in volunteer projects county-wide.

— Community initiatives

Despite a discontinuation of funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the University has continued, through other programs, initiatives in Hazelwood, Oakland and Oak Hill that were launched with a 2000 HUD community outreach partnership center (COPC) grant.

Clark noted that Pitt participates in OPDC’s Keep It Clean Oakland program, which includes tree planting, adopt-a-block cleaning and community garden projects.

He said the University also has been instrumental in establishing and supporting the Oakland food pantry and, through federal grants, operates the Matilda Theiss Health Center in Oak Hill, which serves uninsured patients.

— Investments in children and youth

More than 57 percent of Pitt alumni live in Pennsylvania, with nearly 30 percent remaining in the Pittsburgh region, Clark said. “These alumni represent another kind of chain to the anchor that is Pitt, for they continue the good works they began here as students.”

Clark quipped that Pitt also partners in projects that could add to the Pitt alumni ranks. For example, the University supports local early head start programs for children up to age 3 and OPDC’s School 2 Careers program, which aids at-risk teens through mentoring, job development and career exploration.

And, the Swanson School of Engineering’s “Investing Now” college preparatory program provides academic support for students from groups that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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Clark said, “From my perspective, the relationships that the University of Pittsburgh has formed with the Oakland neighborhood and the city with which we have shared our name and our home for over 225 years, as well as our other home communities in western Pennsylvania — Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville — are strong relationships because Pitt cares about partnerships. Together we collectively enhance our neighborhoods with respect and collaboration.”

Although anchor institutions take their role seriously, Clark said, community needs persist. “I know there is a mother living in the shadow of the Cathedral of Learning who doesn’t know how she will feed her children tonight,” he said. “Let us commit today and all of the days to come to continue building partnerships so that we may fully meet the needs of our community.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow

Filed under: Feature,Volume 46 Issue 6

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