Pittsburgh, PA

I recently came across a great video about Pittsburgh that I wanted to share with anyone who is thinking this would be a great place to live, or already knows it...

Yes those two words…October and snowing shouldn’t be allowed in the same sentence. However in Pittsburgh, we are accustomed to wild swings in weather. While some of us might still be hoping for that last burst of warm weather, it is inevitable that winter has now arrived. Here is the great thing about living in Pittsburgh, it doesn’t matter what the weather is like. Pittsburghers alike will complain about cold yet we relish in the chance to tailgate in the snow. Families no longer feel obligated to go the park and enjoy our last few warm weather days.

We can go to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, the Carnegie Science Center , BounceU in Warrendale or Lilliput playhomes in Peters Township without any guilt that we are spending it indoors. The winter sports season is here with Seven Springs and Hidden Valley ski resorts are rejoicing for an early season. Playing hockey at the Southpointe Iceoplex or Blade Runners in Bethel Park doesn’t seem so foreign with some snow on the ground. The South Park outdoor Ice skating rink might even open early this year.

This type of swing in weather makes us Pittsburghers creative. If you are relocating to Pittsburgh you should know, we swap out short sleeved Halloween costumes for full Pittsburgh Penguins hockey outfits on our kids for Trick or Treat. We make a mad dash to our local Ace Hardware store for that first bag of ice and a new shovel. Our nicely carved Halloween pumpkins are adorned with Santa hats and our cornstalks light up with Christmas lights.

In the end while we will complain about the cold all winter long, Pittsburghers truly do enjoy every season. With so many activities to do in the area, one can see why Pittsburgh is one of the best places on earth. For now, we can enjoy the winter at least until February when Pittsburghers start dreaming of Kennywood, Sandcastle and the Pittsburgh zoo.

And if you happen to be looking to buy a home in the Pittsburgh region, I will be happy to find you one with a fireplace! Just contact your top real estate agent in Pittsburgh, Julie Sasko-Bissell.

If you are looking to buy a home in Peters Township or sell a home in Peters Township, please contact me, Julie Sasko-Bissell, your local, trusted Real Estate Agent in Peters Township.

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Passing this on if you are interested, a really cool idea, I hope to check some of them out myself this weekend...

Pittsburgh Solar Tour

Featuring Solar Homes in

Beaver, Butler, Cranberry, Southside, Squirrel Hill, Oakmont, Cheswick, North Hills, Gibsonia, Mt. Lebanon, Erie, and Johnstown.

Also featuring a live solar installation in Wilkinsburg, see the online guide for more details.

Saturday, October 29

Noon - 4:00 p.m.

Free

www.pghsolartour.org

Three Rivers Solar Source ( a prject of PennFuture) is your host on this self-guided open-house tour of homes that use solar energy. You will find many homes from Pittsburgh and surrounding communities. All of the owners of these homes have graciously invited you to stop by, see, learn, and ask questions about their solar installations.

We are excited that so many solar homeowners wanted to show off their installations. We are also excited that so many of these installations were installed by Pittsburgh’s and western Pennsylvania’s own solar energy businesses. We know they’ll love to show off their handiwork.

Some homeowners might take you on a tour of the other features that make their home more environmentally friendly. Some might answer questions and show the components of their system from their front yard - it’s up to the specific homeowner.

The homeowners will be at their respective properties to greet visitors between 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29.

There's no need to register, just choose a few locations you want to visit and stop on by.

Use the map and online PDF guide at www.pghsolartour.org to plan your tour.

I wanted to write today about a subject that is dear to me, our environment and the ongoing attacks against the EPA. Recently congress and many in the Republican party (sorry, I hate to take sides but this one has to be called out) have taken to making the Environmental Protection Agency enemy #1 for their perceived role in limiting economic growth through regulation. I feel strongly that their attacks are misplaced and believe that the EPA's work has led to a much higher quality of life which is a major driver of economic growth. Case study #1: Pittsburgh!

This is what Pittsburgh looked like in the 40's when it was ok for industry to pump anything it wanted into the air and the water. This is what the city looked like when my grandmother was a young girl. She told me about having to dust twice a day and nothing stayed white. This lack of regulation may have been great for the economy, but it was terrible for the quality of life in Pittsburgh and the health of the community. That lack of quality of life means that people don't want to buy houses or live in these places. And that ultimately is NOT good for the economy. Who would really want to live in that place?

Don't kid yourself and say this couldn't happen today, if given the choice between lowering costs and boosting shareholder profits, or doing the right thing for the environment, most companies will sadly choose the profits. The EPA is the organization that can protect our environment, our communities, our quality of life and ultimately our economy. We can't fall victim to a shortsighted opinion that reducing environmental regulation will improve our lives through the improvement of our economy, it will only allow corporations to make the choices related to how clean they think our air, water and soil should be, and I for one don't trust the corporations to make that choice for me and my family.

Cut to 2011, this is Pittsburgh now. It's not perfect, but this city has worked hard to fix the damage of the past, and we probably better than most know the real economic cost of poor environmental regulation. We had to reclaim our rivers and our skies. And we still have work to do.

We also can not let the agency that was put in place to protect our environment be gutted for political reasons. There have recently been proposal that required the EPA to make the cost of complying with environmental regulations the primary factor for the adoption of environmental policies, not the value to society or improvement in quality of life. While I do believe that economics should be considered, ultimately I do feel that we must allow the EPA to consider the long term environmental implications in a world that is too often focused on the short term gain.

Because I am privileged to be both a licensed Realtor and certified Home Staging professional in Pittsburgh, photography not only sells my listings - it sells my services. Here are a few tips to create a selling tool that won't break your budget.

• Plan your project by finished size. I like 11x17 landscape for the overall impact of the before and after shots for staging. Itoya art profolios and Florence Art porfolios are a bargain for this type, with most under $ 30.00 Benefit: change out the photo pages as you wish allowing custom presentations, tuck in your biography, copies of certifications, etc. A lesser expensive permanently bound version can be created online or in any number of stores with a digital photo department. Benefit: design a custom cover in your own color branding, for under $ 30.00 perfect to keep several with you should you wish to leave with a potential client for a day or so.
• Limit the number of page views. The idea is to make an impact, but after about two dozen pages, interest will drop. Twenty four photos are my limit.
• Include your bio, mission statement, copies of certifications / awards/ press releases
• Use the same format throughout such as side by side photos on a black background
• If your presenation will have different sections, divide with a full page photo or collage type to define the change
• Include brochures, rate cards, business cards in the binder if possible

To your continued success!

Bonnie Wisniewski

Pittsburgh Home Staging Experts

http://PittsburghHomeStagingExperts.com