Residents say they want to show up for their community. They just need local media to help them know how.
This was the commonality between about two dozen people who gathered Monday afternoon at Catapult Greater Pittsburgh in East Liberty to participate in the fourth “You Have the Floor” town hall.
Surrounded by local artists’ paintings lining the walls, attendees discussed topics ranging from housing issues to Pittsburgh’s unique neighborhoods. An overarching theme of the session was that people want to help underserved communities, such as Pittsburgh’s youth and those affected by addiction, and local media can help.
Editor’s note
For our town hall series, Public Source is asking participants to speak from their own experience and listen to understand. To preserve that openness, this recap doesn’t include names or attributed quotes. To attend a future town hall, click here.
Another common refrain was that Pittsburgh has so many aspects that set it apart from other cities and foster pride, but you might not know it from the news. One participant from Squirrel Hill shared that he recently found joy traveling to Bloomfield to explore the area, and he said he has made it a goal to travel to each Pittsburgh neighborhood.
Participants agreed they’d like to see Pittsburgh’s communities highlighted through human interest stories to help build up underserved neighborhoods. They stressed the importance of coverage that includes real, human voices with which they can connect, saying such stories can lead to progress on some of the community’s issues. Several also felt featuring community gardens and unique, historic buildings in the area would build on community identity.
Attendees broke into small groups, almost all of which ended up discussing three issues: affordability, housing and public transportation. One participant described how it’s difficult to see the gentrification of her community through luxury apartments while she deals with issues with her landlord. Others agreed and said they want to welcome everyone, but they don’t want high-end apartments squeezing out affordable housing.
You Have the Floor is a seven-day series of community town halls hosted by Public Source across the Greater Pittsburgh region.
A non-car-owning participant said she cares deeply about public transportation. Others agreed that they’d like to attend more council meetings and community events, but struggle without reliable transportation. They said this is something local media could help with by covering local council meetings and relaying the issues, opportunities to participate and decisions to residents. They said they struggle to keep up with the vast amount of information available, and they rely on journalists to analyze data pertaining to their area.
As a whole, the group agreed that residents can attend more community events and advocate for their neighborhoods — and local media outlets can collaborate to provide the information residents need to advocate more effectively.
Sophia Lucente is a freelance reporter and photographer in the Pittsburgh area and can be reached at sophia.lucente@outlook.com.
