1Recognizing the week of <-January 13 through 19, 2013 February 10 
2through 16, 2014, as "Emerald View Park Trail Week" in this
3Commonwealth to honor Mount Washington Community Development
4Corporation's Emerald View Park Program for demonstrating how
5people in a community can work together to improve the
6quality of life in their neighborhoods.

7WHEREAS, Citizens, community members and lawmakers in this
8Commonwealth have the responsibility to preserve, nurture and
9protect our environment; and

10WHEREAS, Community development fosters safer and more livable
11neighborhoods, which creates a higher demand for real estate and
12attracts people as well as small businesses; and

13WHEREAS, Intersecting problems and hyper-localizing capital
14solves multiple neighborhood issues; and

15WHEREAS, The Mount Washington and Duquesne Heights
16neighborhoods of Pittsburgh saw the potential in their
17underutilized community parks and greenways and attempted to

1capture that value through the creation of the Emerald View
2Park; and

3WHEREAS, The ultimate goal of the project is to create and
4connect 20 miles of trail, encircling the two communities and
5connecting the historical parks of Grandview, Olympia and
6Dilworth with the Duquesne Heights Greenway; and

7WHEREAS, Those involved in the Emerald View Park project as
8volunteers or otherwise have removed 250,000 pounds of waste,
9which created approximately six miles of new trails and
10refurbished another four miles of the community that had dated
11back to the 1930s; and

12WHEREAS, The Emerald View Park Trail Corps program offers a
13unique opportunity for employment by training workers in a very
14unique skill set for trail construction and conservation in
15difficult terrain where machinery cannot be used and it pays its
16workers a living wage with benefits; and

17WHEREAS, The park has become a marquee location in the
18community, as seen in the increased sale prices of nearby
19houses, the opening of new businesses in the community and as
20demonstrated by the recognition of the Mount Washington
21Community Development Corporation as a Champion in Action in the
22neighborhood revitalization category by Citizens Bank and
23program partners WPXI-TV, Trib Total Media and Pittsburgh Cares
24for all the collaborative and other work in the park's
25development; therefore be it

26RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
27week of <-January 13 through 19, 2013 February 10 through 16, 
282014, as "Emerald View Park Trail Week" to honor and recognize
29Mount Washington Community Development Corporation's Emerald
30View Park Program for demonstrating how people in a community

1can work together to improve the quality of life in their
2neighborhoods; and be it further

3RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives congratulate
4Mount Washington Community Development Corporation on the
5completion of its most recent segment of trail and celebrate the
6innovative partnership that sustains the Emerald View Park
7project, which can serve as a great example that other
8neighborhoods and communities across this Commonwealth can
9follow in doing sustainable redevelopment and job training of
10residents.