Tom Sarver

I held a bulldog on a leash.  I watched an artist light a painting on fire with gunpowder.  I was nearly asphyxiated by the chemicals in his studio.  The smell didn’t seem to bother him.  I tried to visit galleries in Downtown Pittsburgh but they were closed.  I looked into the window of one and saw some random items on a blanket on the floor.  Traffic in the city was a nightmare.   A bus forced me to make a right turn (instead of a left) directing me toward a roadblock that I did not remember.  I sat in the Beehive and drank a couple cups of coffee.  A lot of old friends were there.  I recognized an actress from some local plays sitting at a table next to me.  I wanted to say hello and tell her that I had seen her performances, but that would have been awkward.  I walked down East Carson Street and stopped for hot roast beef sandwiches with some friends.  I looked around the old Brew House and wondering if the place would ever be filled with activity again.  A door was collaged with some old baseball cards from the 1980’s.

Pittsburgh City Council members deserve a lot of credit.  In standing up for the health and future of city residents, they have resisted the temptation of rapid, unregulated industrialization.  In voting to ban gas drilling in the city, they are aiming to protect communities, culture, and the ideals of creative residents that strive to hold the city up to the “most livable city” title.  Residents of Pittsburgh take pride in the transformation of the city from the soot, smog and rust image of the past, to a place of environmental and high-tech innovation.  Concern for the environment is a common topic in Pittsburgh.  It is prevalent in art exhibitions, in eco-friendly small businesses, in outdoor groups, and in almost every educational program that I have been a part of.  Kayaking in the river is now a regular pastime.  New bicycle and pedestrian paths wrap along the rivers and connect communities.  Pittsburgh is also known for restoration of buildings and creative reuse initiatives.  Fishing in the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela has also become popular.  Two nationally televised fishing tournaments have been held in Pittsburgh within the past ten years.  Thirty years ago, fishing in Pittsburgh was abysmal.  Even with the positive changes, a lot more can be done.  Cancer rates in Western Pennsylvania are high.  Sewage still overflows into the rivers with every hard rain.  Chemicals from sewage water are entering waterways, causing biological changes in certain fish species.  All in all, and despite economic struggle, Pittsburgh is moving in the right direction.

City OKs ban on gas drilling, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 17, 2010