New Riverfront Rail Trail in America's "Most Livable City"

Pittsburgh is smoothing over the residue of its industrial past, turning an abandoned railway into a waterfront park, Paige Miller reports.

1 minute read

April 6, 2012, 12:00 PM PDT

By Ryan Lue

Just two years ago, Forbes gave Pittsburgh the distinction of America's most livable city, noting a trend it called a "rust belt renaissance." And as it makes its way out of a three-decades-long slump, Steel City is finding ways to take advantage of the landscape it once relegated to manufacturing and shipping.

"The riverfronts were designed around industry rather than the community, and the land around them does not connect to our neighborhoods," said Lena Andrews, senior planning specialist at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.

But with the help of federal grants from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city was able to move forward with the Allegheny Riverfront Green Boulevard, "a multi-modal transportation corridor that includes park access, open space programming, neighborhood design, stormwater management and habitat restoration," writes Miller.

Officials are considering proposals to use the Green Boulevard as a transit corridor, as well.

FULL STORY: Spotlight on Sustainability: Pittsburgh’s Waterfronts

Monday, April 2, 2012 in Smart Growth America

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