Q&A: Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association President

Katy Frey recently became the new president of the Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association.

The Park Place neighborhood stretches from the Forbes and Braddock avenues corner to Penn and Braddock, including the surrounding blocks. Frey recently sat down with us to discuss her love of the community, what matters to residents in Park Place and more.

When did you move to Park Place?

My husband and I bought a house here in 2008 and really knew nothing about the neighborhood. It was a spur of the moment decision. We are from Pittsburgh and kind of East End folks and had lived in Oakland, Shadyside and Friendship.

How did you get involved with GPPNA?

We moved about this time of year and saw a flier for the GPPNA holiday potluck, so, it's a funny story because we thought it was going to be very lame, but we decided to go anyways and it was fantastic. Just friendly people and amazing food and they hooked us with that initial potluck. Then, we started volunteering for different things.

When did you become even more involved?

GPPNA board member Khrys Myrddin talked to me about running for the board and it was nice to be asked, and there are people on the board who have been doing incredible service for the neighborhood for decades, and so I was interested in one, becoming a member of a group where mentors were available—people who knew how to get things done with advocacy, action and throwing events for the community.

And I felt like I am one of the grownups now, so when I say, “Someone should do something about this,” that needs to be me. We had some problems with some properties on our block, so I also got more involved with that.

What were those problems?

The development of Walgreen’s near the corner of Penn and Braddock avenues was a major catalyst for the beginning of GPPNA. It got us really active and that happened around 2006 and 2007. The neighborhood really objected to some of the ways the Walgreen’s development company was coming in in terms of the parking lot and traffic, and they weren’t very transparent about their process.

The neighborhood started to organize and what happened was, the development group bought a number of houses on the block, and then couldn’t use the space because they had to negotiate back the development. When we moved here, there were two vacant properties between us and Walgreen’s and it was caught up in this weird legal problem. They just started working on them this year, so they have been vacant for a number of years.

What are the main issues in the neighborhood now?

The traffic along South Braddock is something we talk about a lot—the pedestrian and bicycle safety. One of the big issues happening right now is the is going to be opening as the primary school for  People are really happy about the school but worried about what the traffic will look like.

How is it rewarding for you to be a neighborhood leader?

Learning the ways that things get done and seeing that it takes a lot of persistence, but I actually can have an impact on the place where I live and make it better for myself and my family.

What do you love about Park Place?

The potlucks. There are really great cooks! It’s a diverse community. We have a lot of homeowners, a lot of renters, various income levels. It’s very welcoming. I have a 2-year-old daughter and I am happy it’s where she is growing up because her definition of neighbor is one that’s pretty diverse.

For more information on the GPPNA, visit http://www.parkplaceblog.com/.