Emerald View Park (formerly called Grand View Scenic Byway Park) is a large municipal park in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It encircles the neighborhoods of
Mt. Washington,
Duquesne Heights and
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
and offers scenic views of the city that draw more than 1.5 million visitors annually.
The park, officially named on
Earth Day 2007, is . It joins
Frick,
Schenley,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
,and
Riverview as the fifth in the city's network of regional parks. Until consolidated in 2006, this land was an assortment of existing smaller parks,
greenways
Greenway or Greenways may refer to:
* Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path
* Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions
People
* Greenway (surname)
Places
Australia
* Electoral Division of Greenwa ...
, forested hillsides, playing fields, and neglected land parcels. It is jointly managed by the city of Pittsburgh and the neighborhood's
community development corporation
A community development corporation (CDC) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated to provide programs, offer services and engage in other activities that promote and support community development. CDCs usually serve a geographic location su ...
.
History
In the aftermath of a rare
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
in 1998 that touched down in the neighborhood, the park was conceived by community activists as a way to address the damage. They called themselves "Green Is Good". They feared a post-storm "blighted" designation would spur the city to allow housing and
condominium development. Although Mount Washington's vista points are a high-profile attraction, they argued, the true amenity was the continuous of green, hilly, undeveloped land that rings the Mount. Eventually "Green Is Good" won the support of Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation, other local nonprofits, and the city government.
In 2003, the state designated three Pittsburgh roads—Sycamore Street, McArdle Roadway, and Grandview Avenue—as
Pennsylvania Scenic Byways, inspiring the park's very long former name.
Notes
References
* Tom Barnes (2002)
Project would improve Mt. Washington greenway: story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
*Diana Nelson Jones (2006)
Grand View Scenic Byway Park: story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Retrieved May 12, 2007.
*Diana Nelson Jones (2007)
Ilyssa Manspeizer is the new park manager in Mount Washington: story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Retrieved June 11, 2007.
External links
*
2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story of the creation and early stages of the Emerald Link project which became the Grandview Scenic Byway Park
Background story of the development of Grand View Scenic Byway Park
{{pittsburgh parks
Monongahela River
Ohio River
Parks in Pittsburgh
Urban forests in the United States
Urban public parks