Panther Hollow (Pittsburgh, Carnegie, Oakland: crime, houses, high school)

[pman]

... A $1 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will go part of the way toward an ultimate goal of restoring the watershed and preventing the stormwater runoff that has contributed largely to the degraded hollow and its man-made lake...The Panther Hollow watershed includes parts of Schenley Park, Squirrel Hill and Greenfield. The hollow is a deep ravine behind the Carnegie Museums and Carnegie Mellon University that extends to the part of Greenfield known as The Run.
Over the past six years, the conservancy and the city have been correcting flow problems in Phipps Run, part of the hollow's watershed, removing invasive species and planting native trees to stabilize the hillsides.
Stormwater runoff is a major culprit.

Read more: $1 million given to restore Panther Hollow watershed

[BrianTH]

That is such a cool part of the park--it is going to take a lot of work, but at least they have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done.

[Impala26]

The amount of invasive species (like Kudzu and Japanese Knotweed) throughout the Junction Hollow Valley is staggering, I pass by it everyday on the Charles Anderson (Blvd. of the Allies) Bridge. To be clear, Panther Hollow is the east-west ravine that runs through Schenley Park while Junction Hollow is the larger north-south ravine that begins near Central Catholic High School/CMU and ends up in "The Run" section of Greenfield. I suppose they can refer to this whole watershed area as Panther Hollow or Four Mile Run.

Like the article said, the Oakland side of that valley is basically a trash heap, everything from alcohol remains to tires and furniture. I'm actually hoping with an Oakland organization's help to construct a trail of sorts that would link the main trail down there to Oakland near the Boulevard via a hillside path and an old staircase. I'm also hoping that one of these days that dirt path the crosses the train tracks near the lake and connects to the Junction Hollow trail is recognized as a legit path, but I doubt that will ever happen either with liability issues...

[grimacista]

Originally Posted by Impala26

Like the article said, the Oakland side of that valley is basically a trash heap, everything from alcohol remains to tires and furniture. I'm actually hoping with an Oakland organization's help to construct a trail of sorts that would link the main trail down there to Oakland near the Boulevard via a hillside path and an old staircase. I'm also hoping that one of these days that dirt path the crosses the train tracks near the lake and connects to the Junction Hollow trail is recognized as a legit path, but I doubt that will ever happen either with liability issues...

Are you referencing that old wooden staircase on the right hand side immediately after you get off the Blvd. bridge heading toward downtown? I took that once and it left me down by those 4 derelict looking houses and was lectured by the hillbillies that lived there that it was their private staircase and their private street, both of which are totally incorrect. Otherwise there were chickens and turkeys and who knows whatever else kind of wildlife running around there.

[elbows]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but there doesn't seem to be much of a consistent, dedicated attack on invasives in Pittsburgh. I do a lot of invasives work in Arlington and other places around DC. When I've come back to Pittsburgh to visit, I've looked around for places to volunteer with, but I just don't see it.

[Impala26]

Originally Posted by grimacista

Are you referencing that old wooden staircase on the right hand side immediately after you get off the Blvd. bridge heading toward downtown? I took that once and it left me down by those 4 derelict looking houses and was lectured by the hillbillies that lived there that it was their private staircase and their private street, both of which are totally incorrect. Otherwise there were chickens and turkeys and who knows whatever else kind of wildlife running around there.

That's exactly what I was referencing. I heard gossip that basically they don't want any sort of trail/path near their property because they worry about crime and that they're place is too isolated to be protected well. To be perfectly honest I firsthand that people use the stairs and their driveway (which really is public ROW Juno Street) to get down to the trail or the lower part of Schenley Park.

I feel like proposing a trail that wouldn't go right through their property would be a better deal than what they have now given that people are already walking around their place. I feel like the crime argument isn't really valid.