Dear Neighbors,

As we continue planning for Pittsburgh's future, one of my top priorities is to ensure that we reinvest in our neighborhoods, in order to create safe, clean, stable and self-sufficient communities.

Over the past six months, I have engaged in direct dialogues with more than 650 residents across the City and in each of our 90 neighborhoods as part of my Neighborhood Listening Tour. During each of the ten meetings, my directors and I shared information regarding how we put your tax dollars to work. We outlined Pittsburgh's progress in combating crime, restoring finances and reinvesting in neighborhood infrastructure. I challenged you to envision your community's future, and you did.

In return, you challenged me to take action on the issues and concerns that you brought to my attention. I will continue to create, introduce and implement initiatives, policies and programs, drawing from the feedback that you provided at the forums.

We are already addressing some of your top concerns and are trying to make your vision for the future a reality. A large number of the responses that we collected addressed public safety issues. Residents want better police protection and increased police presence in their communities. Since the start of the Neighborhood Listening Tour, we have re-opened the Zone 6 Police Station, and have reintroduced a beat cop program with at least eight police officers walking a business district beat. As part of my Safe Neighborhoods Cabinet, community stakeholders and leaders with experience confronting and deterring crime are meeting to share their thoughts and ideas as to how we can improve public safety.

Many responses also indicated that residents wanted to see better and increased code enforcement. We made this a priority last year. In 2007, we completed over 16,500 daily code enforcement inspections compared to less than 13,000 in 2005. I will continue to place an emphasis on code enforcement in 2008, as I think we can do even better.

Many of you long for vibrant and revitalized neighborhood business districts and residential development, as well as more recreational opportunities and facilities for our youth. Through the storefront renovation program, we currently offer $5,000 grants to neighborhood businesses to make improvements to the façades of their buildings. We will also be expanding the Pittsburgh Summer Youth Employment Program (PSYEP) this year as well.

These requests are shaping and will continue to shape my plan for neighborhood development, and I am exploring ways to effectuate these changes. Although we are off to a great start, we can and will do more. My Neighborhood Listening Tour will continue on in 2008, with a focus on the top issues identified from last year’s forums. Please stay tuned for a complete schedule of meetings.

Thank you again for meeting with me and for providing me with creative and detailed requests and recommendations. I also want to thank you for sharing what you like about your community with me. We are a City of residents and neighborhoods who genuinely enjoy and take pride in our City. We all want the best for our communities. We want to see our neighborhoods succeed and together, I believe that we can achieve this.