Scenic Pittsburgh

We envision a future in which we, as residents of southwestern Pennsylvania:

1) Retain the distinctive character of our communities and countryside by rebuilding older cities, towns and suburbs as beautiful places in which to live and work; and conserve agricultural land and open space. Set aside open space for greenways, parks, trails and river corridors.

2) Foster new development that respects the special character of places as defined by their distinctive geographical features, cultures, climate and natural systems.

3.) Encourage a balance of regulatory and market approaches to protect scenic resources including rewarding land stewardship by property owners, local governments and corporations; and providing disincentives for practices that destroy scenic values.

4) Design a national transportation system that respects aesthetic values as well as economic and energy efficiency, social equity, and environmental qualities.

5) Prevent mass marketing and outdoor advertising from intruding on the landscape or community appearance.

6) Teach young people to value the visual environment and to create and respect places of beauty.

7) Actively engage business, industry, civic and professional organizations in the movement for a more scenic America.

Scenic Pittsburgh engages the southwestern Pennsylvania community on various levels to preserve, protect and promote scenic resources. We aim to provide community groups and leaders with all of the tools necessary to carry out this mission.

Scenic Pittsburgh works on all levels of policy creation and enforcement to ensure that appropriate scenic conservation policies are implemented into law in order to protect the region’s irreplaceable scenic resources. We work with lawmakers, community leaders, organizational leaders, and others to encourage better policies and enforcement.

Scenic Pittsburgh conducts full Scenic Asset Inventories for communities. The Scenic Asset Inventory is a survey tool developed by Scenic Pittsburgh to evaluate the scenic assets and deficiencies within a specific geographic range.

Scenic Pittsburgh created the Southwestern PA Scenic Awards program to recognize excellence in preservation, enhancement, and promotion of scenic resources in the region. We hope that the example provided by the award winners can help other communities in making the most of their own scenic resources. - and keeping southwestern Pennsylvania beautiful for us all.

We have 3 full-time staff members, plus two interns - one full-time and one part-time. Scenic America's capacity has increased over the last year with the addition of a full-time communications and outreach professional and a full-time intern from Public Allies.

We now have 10 years of experience advising communities on preserving and leveraging their scenic resources, and our leadership has built relationships with local nonprofits, community leadership, and funders.

Direct Community Outreach and Advocacy. Over the last year, Scenic Pittsburgh reached out via email, phone, and U.S. mail to 30 mayors and community leaders across 10 counties. We chose to target leaders of the largest cities in each county of our 10-county region. As a result, we scheduled 7 meetings, had in-person meetings with leaders of 4 municipalities, and are currently working on projects with two of them.

Public Testimony. Over the last year, the Assistant Director has testified at multiple council meeting and public hearings in favor of pro-scenic legislation. Scenic Pittsburgh has opposed variance requests for oversized signage at 5 Zoning Board of Adjustment hearings and obtained denials of these request all 5 times. Attendance at ZBA hearings is mandatory if it becomes necessary to appeal a decision. We have addressed Pittsburgh City Council 4 times on blight and greenspace issues. We have appeared at multiple Pittsburgh Planning Commission hearings and the Historic Review Commission to oppose building signage and support restoration of Allegheny Commons Park.

Program Development. In August of 2019, Scenic Pittsburgh debuted the Southwestern PA Scenic Awards program to recognize excellence in preservation, enhancement, and promotion of scenic resources in the region. We awarded the first Award for Community Scenic Achievement to the City of Connellsville during a ceremony on October 16, 2019 at the Connellsville Canteen on West Crawford Avenue that attracted more than a hundred people.
In May of 2020, we developed and submitted a proposal for zoning ordinance analysis services to the City of Latrobe and the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation. We hope to offer this more comprehensive level of zoning analysis and project management to interested municipalities going forward.

During winter and spring of 2019-20, after multiple site visits and in consultation with representatives of the City of Aliquippa, we developed an initial Beautification Plan for their historic Franklin Avenue business corridor and are in the process of finding funding for full plan development and an eventual partnership with the City of Aliquippa and their Community Development Corporation that will serve as a model for our work with other distressed and Act 47 municipalities.

We continue to refine and pursue funding for the development of a new 2-acre greenspace in Pittsburgh’s Fineview neighborhood on unused City property.

Campaigns. In cooperation with PRC and Allegheny CleanWays, we have developed and are promoting the CleanPGH plan, which we kicked off September 5, 2019. Collaboration and Partnerships. Since becoming a chapter of Scenic America in 2019, Scenic Pittsburgh has taken steps to share costs and capacity for a forthcoming new website, organizational and fundraising support, and other nonprofit services. We will be debuting our new website in June 2020 and we will have access to new state-of-the-art outreach and fundraising systems.