Dear Friends and Supporters of Scenic Pittsburgh,

  Visitors representing Scenic America and affiliates from across the country gathered in Pittsburgh this past weekend to discuss scenic preservation, but to also see the “most livable” and “best place to visit”  Pittsburgh. And they loved it. Don’t take my word for it, see Bill Zlatos’s article on their visit in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (below).

  The conference highlighted speakers Councilman Bill Peduto, Councilman Doug Shields, and former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, this year’s recipient of the Stafford Award for scenic resource conservation, and environmental protection.

  Of special concern to the group was the proposed ordinance to allow electronic billboards in Pittsburgh. Mary Tracy, president of Scenic America said "Visitors and businesses don't come here to see the signs". Margaret Lloyd of Galveston, Texas, vice chairwoman of Scenic America said. "The city is your art." We have to agree.

  Please contact city council (www.scenicpittsburgh.org/council.html) and urge them to ban electronic billboards in the City of Pittsburgh.

  Thank you for your support,

Dave Demko

Experts from Scenic America impressed in tour of Pittsburgh

By Bill Zlatos, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, November 14, 2011

The best thing about Pittsburgh is its respect for old as well as new buildings, a panel of scenic experts says.

"What I like are the old buildings," Ronald Fleming, chairman of the board of Scenic America, a Washington, D.C.-based group that aims to preserve the beauty of American communities, said Sunday while on a walking tour Downtown. "I like the reminders of craftsmanship."

The Scenic America board met this weekend in Pittsburgh, about two weeks after National Geographic tabbed Pittsburgh as one of the 20 top places in the world to visit in 2012. Mike Dawida, executive director of Scenic Pittsburgh and former county commissioner, led yesterday's tour.

In terms of favorite Pittsburgh sights, the visitors picked some standards, topped by the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning and the view from Mt. Washington. They also cited the William Penn Hotel, where they stayed; the Harvard-Yale-Princeton Club, in a former tenement building with a wrought iron gate and a courtyard; and the Cultural District.

But many favorites are linked to Pittsburgh's appreciation for the past. They cited the Granite Building on Sixth Avenue and the old Allegheny County Jail.

"You're connected to your history," said Bill Johnson, a board member and city councilman from Clearwater, Fla. "When you're connected to your history, you're a special place."

Margaret Lloyd of Galveston, Texas, vice chairwoman of Scenic America, was prepared to encounter "dark and ugly" on her visit.

"My impressions are totally different from what I expected," she said. "I see light and beauty."

Like many visitors to the city, she changed her impression the moment she entered the Fort Pitt Tunnel.

"The two things that struck me the most was when I came in the tunnel, and the city opened up before me," she said. "The city is your art."

Later she saw the view from Mt. Washington.

"When I was up there, it was also the city vistas, the rivers, the color of the trees, the walkability of the city to pedestrians to view the historic buildings."

While finding much to like about Pittsburgh's scenery, the board members also had a beef about it.

They dislike the multicolored newspaper boxes lining Downtown streets. They suggest following New York City's lead and standardizing the colors of the boxes.

Standing in the living room of John Rohe, vice president of the Colcom Foundation, on the 18th floor of Gateway Towers, the board members admired the majesty of Mt. Washington. Then they noticed a rusting, faded rectangle atop the hill.

When told that it was the Bayer sign and that the company was hoping to digitize it, the defenders of urban beauty scoffed.

"Visitors and businesses thinking about relocating don't come here to see the signs," said Mary Tracy, president of Scenic America. "To take what is such a beautiful mountain and to allow that to become a digitized, eye-popping, commercial advertising sign would destroy one of the most scenic vistas in Pittsburgh."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_767162.html