Hill District Greenprint

Find the Rivers! has been working over the past several years to create an overall plan for future green space in the Hill District. The Greenprint project re-connects both the Hill District to its specific landscape and community members to the greater Pittsburgh area. It also strengthens social ties through linkages to adjacent neighborhoods. Fulfilling the plan is expected to attract outside visitors, encourage outdoor activity, provide new venues for public visual and performing arts, increase property value, and attract economic development. 

The Greenprint has three core goals:

• Establish a healthy place with urban development that works in concert with the natural ecology;
• Identify projects and opportunities for leadership and innovation in the local economy; and
• Reframe the identity of the Hill District as "A Village in the Woods" - an example of urban beauty.

The Greenprint builds upon the Hill’s existing landscape resources to provide a framework for the neighborhood to retain its identity and capitalize on its geography.  As an ecological framework to guide future development, the Greenprint defines three distinct regions:

• The Woods, the Hill's outer edge, wraps the community with dense vegetation.
• The Village is a collection of diverse neighborhoods at the geographic center of the Hill.
• Conveyance is the system that moves people, water, and wildlife through the Hill, highlighting historic stream paths.

Download the Greenprint

You can download a PDF copy of the Greenprint conceptual plan here.  Please right-click and save to your computer.

Project Timeline

2001-04
Find the Rivers! formed as a consortium with goal of reconnecting Hill District to the rivers and the rest of the city

2005-07
FTR! produces corridor plans for Herron Avenue and Kirkpatrick Street

2007
Parks Conservancy is recruited as a partner for expertise in park development, management, and fundraising

2008
Study completed of Arcena Street in context of nearby cultural sites

2009
Greenprint I completed – articulates vision for the Hill as a Village in the Woods
Cliffside Park Site Plan completed

2010
Greenprint II completed
Cliffside Park Entrance capital improvement project underway
Woods plantings on Center Ave and side streets; at Ammons Field/Memory Lane

2011
Cliffside Park Entrance to be completed
Cliffside Playground underway
Woods plantings continue
Coal Seam Trail/Memory Lane underway

2012
Centre Avenue Public Space
Woods plantings continue
Lombard Steps

2013
Williams Park/Herron Hill Reservoir
Woods plantings continue

2014
Chauncey Street Steps and New Park
Woods plantings continue

2015
Ongoing initiatives

Supporting Documents

Greenprint Study Area
About Find the Rivers!
Find the Rivers! Informational Map
Arcena Connections Planning Concepts
Herron Avenue Corridor Coalition Planning Concepts
Kirkpatrick Park Planning Concepts

Project Team

The Greenprint project team includes Hood Design and Studio for Spatial Practice, working with Terri Baltimore, Denys Candy, and Susan Rademacher of Find the Rivers! The Greenprint is a project of Find the Rivers! (FTR!),  a partnership between Hill House Association, the Hill District Consensus Group, Community Partners Institute, and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. 

The Greenprint was funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development / Neighborhood Partnership Program supported by BNY Mellon.