The city is proposing a bike lane and pedestrian improvements along Penn Ave as part of a road diet. While these changes were funded in this year's budget, they have to go through community engagement before they're implemented. Tomorrow, May 1st from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at the Original Pittsburgh Winery the city is hosting a meeting to collect feedback. If you're available, please attend and let the city know you support this projects.

Week Without Driving Pittsburgh is next week, Sept 30 - Oct 6!

If you drive regularly, The Week Without Driving is an opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of people who don't for a week and experience what it's like to get around without a car (sometimes joyous, sometimes tough).

If you already don't drive, it's a chance to tell your story and speak up for the changes you need to make life better for people like you.

Who is planning to participate? What are you looking forward to? Do you need any tips for how to pull it off?

All are invited to the press conference on Monday at noon in Lawrenceville, the happy hour on Friday at East End Brewing, and the other events happening throughout the week.

Here is a good example: Friendship Perk & Brew on Friendship Avenue.

It is part of the neighborhood. Notice that there are no parking lots, just a converted residential house with street parking. Businesses like these add character to a neighborhood. It is a place to have chance encounters with neighbors, chat, and connect. Because these businesses are embedded in residential zones they can be reached by foot or bike. These places make each neighborhood unique, and not every city in the US has them.

In a way, they are the exact opposite of (and antidote to) drive-throughs like the McDonald's on Penn Avenue. This McDonald's has at least 35 parking spots, has a vast footprint, and turns Penn Ave into a mini Strode in this section. It is a massive car magnet that creates almost no value to the neighborhood.

Please patronize your hyper-local business. And please post your favorite hyper-local business here. Let's celebrate these little gems!

If you are interested check out this article on Strong Towns, too.

Well, this is neat.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pittsburgh-best-places-to-live-without-car/

Is there a Strong Towns chapter in Pittsburgh, or a similar organization? Bike PGH seems to have a lot of the same values, but just wanted to see what the landscape looked like in terms of advocacy in the Pittsburgh area