Dear Neighbors,
On September 24 & 25th, 2009, the City of Pittsburgh will welcome the world when the G-20 Economic Summit comes to town. As you have probably heard, it will involve a great deal of commitment from everyone in Pittsburgh: political leaders, businesses and residents alike. We must do all that we can to make this a successful experience for the leaders and visitors from various countries as they gather in a joint effort to resolve some of our country’s most pressing issues.
As your Mayor, I am happy to have the opportunity to showcase our City’s revitalization to our visitors. I want to thank you in advance for your patience and understanding for any minor inconveniences you may experience.
In anticipation of thousands of visitors, we are taking this opportunity to redd up our City and we are asking for your help in the process. Our City, County and State public works crews have been working together for months to identify and rectify problems on Pittsburgh’s most visible streets. During July and August, City public works and safety crews ‘swept’ through the five areas that surround the Summit area. These areas include Downtown Pittsburgh, Mt. Washington, South Side, Oakland and the Strip District. Together these departments have tackled graffiti, power-washed sidewalks, swept streets, planted new street trees, removed invasive plants and overgrowth, replaced signs and many other maintenance issues in each business district.
On September 12th, 2009, volunteers from across the region will be working together to make Pittsburgh shine. Beginning the 12th, and continuing up until the G-20 Summit, volunteers will be picking up litter. We need more than 1300 volunteers to help clean up and beautify the region. If you are interested in rolling up your sleeves and helping to redd up, please log on to the Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership web site at www.pittsburghg20.org.
Help us show the world why Pittsburgh is “America’s Most Liveable City” and why we love it so much. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Luke Ravenstahl
Mayor, City of Pittsburgh
Part of our “sacrifices” must include having our vehicles towed so that the last 10 feet of dead-end streets can be repaved before the G20. Even if rest of said street is in great shape and will not be seen, even if one block over the street provides access to a marina and the trail, even if our vehicles are not in the way, the city “doesn’t want to play favorites” so we must sacrifice and let them tow us all and then steal more than $200 out of our pockets, we must then be prepared for them to tell us when we can take time off to go ask for the money back because we live in America’s most livable city, certainly not America’s most sensible city.