Exactly where are our tax dollars going? What are the environmental impacts of fracking? Those were some of the questions on the minds of around 30 people who gathered at Local Remedy Brewing in Oakmont on Wednesday evening to discuss what they care about in the community, what feels undercovered in the media and what brings them joy. The discussion went deeper than dollars and drilling, though, revealing yearning for connection and concern that it’s getting harder to achieve.
Residents smiled as they sipped drinks and recounted times when their neighbors welcomed them to Oakmont. The importance of human connection in the community and the media’s role in it was a recurring topic at the last of seven “You Have the Floor” town halls led by Pittsburgh’s Public Source.
People in nearly every group said they cared about community building, and the ways it is changing. Some recalled how they used to have close relationships with every person on their street, and others talked about how community service — in which families and neighbors lift each other up — gives them joy. One resident recounted moving to Oakmont about six years ago, meeting people at a Breakfast with Santa event, joining a kickball group and attending block parties.
Editor’s note
For our town hall series, Public Source asked participants to speak from their own experience and listen to understand. To preserve that openness, this recap doesn’t include names or attributed quotes.
Others agreed they’d like to see more local events and neighbors coming together. Attendees highlighted that recently, those connections haven’t been automatic. One person used one of the many sticky notes posted on boards to point out “it’s hard to meet neighbors.”
As at many of the town hall meetings, attendees expressed a need for local media to provide transparency for residents and accountability to the people in power. They’d like to have one place to look for information on local government, the environment, businesses in the area, arts and small communities instead of having to gather it piecemeal from public records or meetings.
Affordability, public safety for immigrants and marginalized groups, and the strain of new development on roads and stormwater were among the issues residents said feel undercovered. So too were mental health, the isolation of elderly neighbors, and — perhaps unexpectedly — the deer population, whose impact on gardens and tick-borne illness some residents took seriously even if media often doesn’t. Some noted that these types of stories could help build the connection and community they crave, and help neighbors in Oakmont and elsewhere to look out for each other.
Sophia Lucente is a freelance reporter and photographer in the Pittsburgh area and can be reached at sophia.lucente@outlook.com.
You Have the Floor is a seven-day series of community town halls hosted by Public Source across the Greater Pittsburgh region.
