GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR MIDLAND BOROUGH BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Transcription

1 GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR MDLAND BOROUGH BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA 972 Prepared By MCHAEL BAKER, JR., NC. Consultng Engneers and Planners Rochester, Pennsylvana

2 LST OF OFFCALS MAYOR El G. Corak COUNC L j W am J. V nov c h, Presdent k,-&.d Joseph D Aleso ~k&-~--~:~~ Joseph -,.John Mlkovch &&,,$ Wllam Shovln Pete Vuckovch <&<-t&d,.leonard Ware G,Q/ / PLANNNG COMMSSON Emerc Davs, Charman Charles P. Henderson Wllam Love Davd Schwerha A Slverberg SECRETARY Edward P. Cll BOROUGH SOLCTOR Robert J. Masters

3 m MCHAEL BAKER, JR., NC. CONSULTNG ENGNEERS 43 DUTCH RDGE ROAD BOX 28 - BEAVER, PA March, 972 Mr. El G. Corak, Mayor Mdland Borough Borough Buldng Mdland, Pennsylvana 559 Dear Mayor Corak: We are pleased to submt herewth the General Development Plan for Mdland Borough, a comprehensve, overall statement of plannng polcy for the next 2 years. Ths Plan s based on an analyss of exstng physcal condtons and lmtatons, land use patterns, populaton trends and characterstcs, economc condtons, publc facltes and servces and housng condtons. These factors together wth a projecton of future needs form the bass of the Borough's future development. The land use controls, zonng and subdvson ordnances developed as an ntegral part of ths program, reflect closely the fndngs of the Development Plan. Adopton and enforcement of these plannng tools and mplementaton of the captal mprovements program developed heren, wll assst the Borough n achevng the goals and recommendatons presented n the Plan. We acknowledge the complete cooperaton and courteses extended by all those who partcpated n the preparaton of the Plan. t has been a pleasure to be of servce to the Borough. f we may be of assstance n the Plan mplementaton process, please do not hestate to contact us. Sncerely your MCHAEL BA,KER, JR., NC. 4 f Mchael Baker,, P.E. Presdent

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS NTRODUCTON...,...' 2 SUMMARY OF EXSTNG CONDTONS... ~ LandUse... 2 Populaton Analyss... 2 Economc Potental... 9 Communty Facltes Streets and Traffc Neghborhood Analyss GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Bass For Plannng Land Use Plan... 7 Reducton Of Atmospherc Polluton Communty Facltes Plan Transportaton Plan Housng qprovement Pan Fscal Analyss And Program mplementaton... 9 Plannng's Contnuous Functon page. LST OF LLUSTRATONS SLOPE AND DEVELOPABLE AREAS... 3 EXSTNG LAND USE... 7 POPULATON D STR BUT ON... 3 AGE-SEX Dl STR BUTON AGE-SEX DSTRBUTON :... 7 EXSTNG COMMUNTY FACLTES EXSTNG STREET AND ROAD CONDTONS... 4 TRAFFC VOLUMES STRUCTURAL CONDTONS... 6 GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN STOREFRONT RENOVATON TECHNQUES RECOMMENDED STREET CROSS-SECTONS HOUSNG MPROVEMENT PLAN... 9 HOUSNG NSPECTON PROGRAM GENERAL FUND RECEPTS AND EXPENDTURES... 5.

5 NTRODUCTON The Development Plan represents the collectve opnons of Mdland Borough offcals regardng plans for the revtalzaton and growth of the Borough. Borough Councl and the varous agences assocated wth governmental operatons have realzed that changes wll occur n the Borough durng the next two decades. Revtalzaton of the resdental development s expected to occur, traffc wll contnue to ncrease, and demands for communty servces wll grow. Communtes not havng effectve development plans can generally become overwhelmed by uncontrolled growth whch results n costly errors. Land may be napproprately used causng nharmonous land use patterns. Water and santary sewage dsposal problems can develop. School and recreatonal facltes can be neffectvely located and utlzed, and smooth traffc flow wll be eventually nterrupted. The Development Plan seeks to assst Mdland n avodng the ptfalls that mght occur and to elmnate exstng problems by acquantng local resdents wth present and potental trouble spots and to offer remedal proposals where and as needed. The Captal mprovements Program establshes a prorty system for developng the mprovements wthout overtaxng the Borough fscal resources. Plan mprovements nclude the establshment of an effectve land use plan contanng a bypass of the busness dstrct to help allevate ndustryorented and through traffc problems n the Borough; a communty facltes plan program concerned wth school, recreatonal, utltes and related publc servces; and a housng program orented to the preservaton of the sound fwupg, the mprovement of the housng that s deteroratng but stll structurally sound, and the elmnaton on a planned bass of that housng consdered generally unsutable for resdental purposes. A code enforcement program has been proposed to ad the Borough n mantanng qualty housng and conssts of a Housng Code, Buldng Code, Electrcal Code, Plumbng Code and Fre Preventon Code. Land use controls are proposed as Zonng and Subdvson Ordnances. Zonng establshes the permtted uses by dstrct as well as the arrangement of buldngs on the land and the requred supportng facltes. The Subdvson Ordnance seeks to assure that new development ncludng desgn and mprovements s consstent wth and supplementary to the exstng development. The effectveness of the Plan ncludng the mplementaton of the mprovements, code enforcement and the admnstraton of the Subdvson and Zonng Ordnances can best be measured by the support receved from the Communty leaders and the resdents. Effectve Plan mplementaton 'can help Mdland acheve an organzed controlled rehabltaton and growth pattern. The Plan merely recommends that mplementaton s the responsblty of the dedcated ctzenry led by progressve offcals. f

6 SUMMARY OF EXSTNG CONDTONS n order to provde a sound bass for the preparaton of the Mdland General Development Plan, thorough studes wll frst be made of the factors whch have nfluenced the Borough's growth pattern to date. The fndngs of these studes wll then be related to current and projected trends and serve as a foundaton for the proposals and recommendatons presented n the Development Plan. Ths Plan s ntended to serve as a means of mprovng the physcal, socal and economc envronment wthn the Borough of Mdland. LAND USE One of the most mportant products of ths study wll be the preparaton of a Land Use Plan whch wll delneate the most desrable way land could be utlzed to acheve the maxmum good for the Communty as a whole. However, a thorough understandng of past growth factors and current development trends s prerequste to the preparaton of such a Plan. DeveloDmental nfluences The exstng land use pattern n each communty s a result of nteractng physcal and human forces. ntally, the physcal elements that have nfluenced the land use pattern must be recognzed. As part of the Pttsburgh Regon, Mdland has benefted from the geographc factors that were decsve n makng Pttsburgh an ron and steel center. Access to cheap rver transportaton made the shpment of ron and coal to varous steel producng stes along the rver banks practcal. Ths combned wth the avalablty of adequate level land for extensve ndustral development was the bass for the orgnaton of the metal ndustry n Mdland. The slopng hllsdes beyond the ndustral stes were utlzed by the steel company to provde housng and the related servces and facltes for ts employees. Land n proxmty of the rver bank was retaned for ndustral purposes. As the ndustry prospered, the complex grew. Eventually the steel company relnqushed ts responsblty of provdng communty servces to a Borough government derved from the orgnal steel company developed town. Today, the Mdland development pattern s somewhat "fenced n" along the rver by the nearby steep hllsdes. Whle the ndustral development pattern was largely determned by the requrements of nternal crculaton between the rver and the ralroad lnes, the busness, resdental and related areas were lad out n an ntense pattern wthn the remanng sutable contours of the slopng hllsdes. Ths development pattern exsts n a majorty of the rver towns. An nvestgaton of the lay of the land, n terms of slope, provdes a measure of the amount of land that s sutable for development. The four categores used to classfy the land use potental nclude the followng: Degree Of Slope -8 Percent 9-5 Percent 6-24 Percent Over 25 Percent SLOPE CLASSFCATONS Recommended Use Hgh densty resdental, commercal, ndustral agrculture Medum densty resdental, commercal, agrculture Low densty resdental, agrculture Pasturage, forestry, conservaton ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 2

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8 The categores as defned can be used to evaluate the Borough land, ndcate the degree to whch the Borough s developed and ts potental for future development. The Correlaton Of Slope And Development Desrablty Table below s derved from the Slope And Developable Areas Map. t s useful n determnng areas avalable for development and schedulng ther future use accordng to present trends and needs. CORRELATON OF SLOPE AND DEVELOPMENT DESRABLTY Category Acres Percent Of Total Desrablty Factor Developed Area Undevelopable Area % Slope 9-5% Slope 6-24% Slope 25% and Over Preferred Sutable Dffcult Unsutable Totals,7 Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Further refnement of the slope area calculatons ndcates those portons of Mdland faced wth the most serous developmental constrants. NEGHBORHOOD SLOPE TABULATON (n Acres) Percent Of Slope Neghborhood Neghborhood 2. Neghborhood 3 Neghborhood 4 Neghborhood 5-8% % % % and Over Total Area Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. To assure the maxmum realzaton of land values n relaton to the long-term and proper development of the communty, allocaton of land ufes must be made ac.cordng to the slope and development potental. Ths pattern has been largely followed n Mdland where commercal and ndustral uses are found on the generally level land. Resdental areas have developed n conflct wth the desrable pattern, n that hghdensty resdental areas are found n steeply slopng areas, whle relatvely low- densty housng developed on the more preferred and moderately slopng land. The few remanng open lands of the Borough are those qute steep areas best suted for recreaton, consefvaton and other smlar uses. The nsuffcent amount of level land nearby the Borough s demonstrated by the u$ of hlltop plateau areas for the most recent housng developments. Exstns Pattern The present land use pattern s one of a mature and hghly developed communty n whch solutons to present problems wll requre the rearrangement of exstng development patterns. n order to be successful, any efforts at brngng the communty nto focus wth desrable standards must lean toward adaptaton and modfcaton of present crcumstances. The accompanyng Exstng Land Use Map ndcates the current status of the Borough's land use pattern. By categorzng the varous land uses, comparsons can be made wth standards for proper land development. 5

9 Full development of the lesser slopng areas and the orentaton of the Borough toward the level land s demonstrated agan on the table of Land Use Computatons. The area devoted to each land use s broken down by neghborhood and the total s gven for the Borough. Approxmately 72.2 percent of the Borough's land area s used for development purposes. Land that s ether vacant or wooded s consdered undeveloped. The area of development s very close to the amount of land ncluded n the -8 and 9-5 percent slope categores. Agrculture s not found as a prmary use on any Borough parcel, and the major porton of the undeveloped land s wooded. Whle the neghborhood breakdowns ndcate wooded land s found n each neghborhood, t s obvously concentrated on the northern slopes along the entre Borough lmts. Revew of the total fgures for the Borough show that a farly normal dstrbuton of urban land uses s present. Resdental uses occupy 3 percent of the developed area, commercal 2.2 percent, publc 6.2 percent and transportaton 8.5 percent of the developed land. The extensve ndustral area s the only outstandng devaton from a normal stuaton, prncpally due to the large acreage requrements of major metal manufacturng facltes. Communty uses also utlze more Borough land than s generally found elsewhere. The large Crucble recreaton area n Neghborhood 5 and the hllsde area acqured for use n conjuncton wth the new Seventh Street School n Neghborhood 2 are the caustve factors. Although the latter s avalable for use, the School Board property actually contrbutes lttle as an amenty n Mdland, snce t has not yet been developed for recreaton and the terran s prohbtvely steep.! f.. Further ndcaton of the ntensty of development n the Borough s gven by the area devoted to double- and mult-famly housng. As noted above and documented by the detaled neghborhood fgures.the problematc stuaton of havng hgh-resdental denstes on steeper slopes exsts partcularly n Neghborhoods 2 and 3. Publc acceptance of mult-famly housng s a vtal step n mprovng condtons n already hghly developed areas such as Mdland. Examnaton of the Exstng Land Use Map gves notce of another potentally negatve aspect of development. n contrast to the domnantly commercal character of the downtown Mdland Avenue area, many commercal operatons exst along Wood Lane and Beaver Avenue where they are nterspersed wth the resdental uses. Ths detracts from the resdental qualty of the area due to conflctng purposes. A summary evaluaton of the Mdland land use pattern can be made by comparng the total use dstrbuton fgures wth the averages for several communtes as shown below. SUMMARY OF LAND USE RELATONSHPS FOR AVERAGE SATELLTE COMMUNTES Percent Of Percent Of Developed Acres n Land Use Developed Acres * Mdland Borough Resdental Commercal ndustral Communty Servce (Recreaton, Publc Utltes) Roads and Ralroads Total *An average of several satellte communtes rangng from, to 25, n populaton. Source: Harland Bartholomew, Land Use n Amercan Ctes, 955. L. t L 6 t

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11 LAND USE COMPUTATONS - MDLAND BOROUGH Neghborhood Neghborhood 2 Percent Of Percent Of Developed Percent Of - Developed Percent Of Category Acres Area Neghborhood Acres Area Neghborhood Resdental Sngle Famly Double Famly Mult-Famly Commercal C8D Hghway Mxed _ o Communty Uses 44 Publc and Sem-Publc 9 Ut t es Parkng Recreaton Storage and ndustral o Transportaton Streets R al roads Total Developed Area Open Spaces Vacant wooded Total Land Area

12 LAND USE COMPUTATONS - MDLAND BOROUGH (Contnued) Neghborhood 3 Neghborhood 4 Percent Of Percent Of Developed Percent Of Developed Percent Of Category Acres Area Neghborhood Acres Area Neghborhood Resdental Sngle Famly Double Famly Mult-Famly a -_ Commercal CBD Hghway Mxed 3 2 -_ _ _ L Communty Uses Publc and Sem-Publc Ut tes Parkng Recreaton _- _ _._ 2.3 Storage and ndustral Transportaton Streets Ral roads Total Developed Area Open Spaces Vacant Wooded Total Land Area _ ," l ,-----

13 LAND USE COMPUTATONS - MDLAND BOROUGH (Contnued) Neghborhood 5 Total Borough Resdental Percent Of Percent Of Developed Percent Of - Developed Percent Of Category Acres Area Neghborhood Acres Area Total Borough Sngle Famly Double Famly - Mult-Famly -- _ _ Commercal CBD Hghway Mxed Communty Uses 42 Publc and Sem-Publc Utltes Parkng 24 Recreaton 8._ 8.3 _ Storage and ndustral Transportaton Streets Ralroads Total Developed Area Open Spaces Vacant wooded Total Land Area 58 Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc ,7

14 Several of the more mportant land use characterstcs are summarzed below:. Acreage requrements for buldng on steeply slopng areas are not beng met; 2. nharmonously mxed land uses are not protected from each other; 3. Publc uses are largely concentrated n Neghborhoods and 2; 4. The prevalence of mxed uses n the busness dstrct ndcates that addtonal commercal acreage s unnecessary; 5. Adapton and varaton of the exstng road pattern s needed to open any remanng developable land; 6. Hghwaycommercal and CBD commercal uses are not desrably separated; and 7. The relatvely small area of roads could ndcate an nadequate crculaton system': POPU LA T N ANA LYSS An analyss of the exstng populaton, ts characterstcs and potental are basc necesstes for projectng the sze and nature of future populatons and understandng future communty needs. Only then can provsons be made for properly accommodatng the future ctzenry. Populaton Growth Trends The extreme growth of Mdland's populaton, pror to 92, resulted from the establshment of Crucble Steel n Mdland and expanson of the prevously establshed Mdland Steel Company employment base. Company employees were largely housed wthn the communty. Ths factor and the partcpaton of the steel ndustry n the expanson of the Natonal economy caused the steady populaton ncrease that contnued through the depresson years of the 93's. Durng the 94's, out-mgraton began stemmng from the stablzaton of the labor needs and the trend toward lvng n the less congested, rural areas of the County. Out-mgraton has contnued as outlyng townshps and communtes have developed ncreasngly attractve lvng envronments. As shown on the Populaton Trends Table, Mdland has been loosng populaton snce 95; and the loss between 96 and 97 s partcularly sgnfcant. A lack of housng, a lack of varety n the housng avalable, lack of developable land and an ncreasng nablty to compete wth the attractve resdental areas outsde the Borough has resulted n the loss of Borough populaton. n that the surroundng muncpaltes and the County have contnued to gan populaton throughout the perod, t can be assumed that former Mdland resdents are lvng n surroundng areas of the County that are consdered more attractve. MDLAND POPULATON TRENDS Year Populaton Percent Of Change 9, , ,7 94 6, , , Estmate 5, Source: U.S. Census of Populaton; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc.! 2

15 BOROUGH OF MDLAND BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA POP U L AT ON D S TRlBUTlON /' /,/ L E G E N D ONE DOT = 25 PERSONS

16 Populaton Dstrbuton The accompanyng Populaton Dstrbuton Map s desgned to show the areas that are most densely populated. The estmated populaton fgure for each of the neghborhoods reveals the current densty of populaton of each resdental area of Mdland. These are shown on the Current Populaton Denstes Table. The predomnantly sngle-famly area of Neghborhood contans the lowest number of persons per resdental and developed acre. Neghborhoods 3 and 4 have respectvely hgher numbers of double- and mult-famly housng and the hghest denstes. Note, however, n Neghborhood 3 nearly 5 percent of the developed land s n housng, whle n Neghborhood 4 less than 33 percent s developed resdentally. Neghborhood 3, therefore, s the most ntensely developed Neghborhood. Because steeper sloped areas have been used for development n Neghborhood 3, t s most subject to the consequences of nadequate land use controls and defcent land use plannng. CURRENT POPULATON DENSTES Total Net Plannng Estmated Total Gross Developed Developed Resdental Resdental Neghborhood Populaton Acres Densty Acres Densty Acres Densty, , , , Note: Acreage fgures do not nclude ndustral Neghborhood 5. Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Age G roum Concentratons of partcular age groups may have a decded mpact on plans beng prepared for the future of the Borough. An awareness of present and future age group concentratons s necessary for plannng for future school needs, recreaton needs, faclty and housng requrements. The age and sex dstrbuton of the 95, 96 and antcpated 97 populatons are graphcally shown on the accompanyng AgeSex Dstrbuton Charts. Male age groups 5 to 64 show the mpact of out-mgraton; smlarly the female groups 5 to 34 also declned between 95 and 97. The less moble older age groups expanded as dd the groups under 4 years of age. These young and old-age cohorts offset the mddle age out-mgraton helpng to mnmze the total decrease. The contnued out-mgraton antcpated for 97 s shown to have affected all age groups between fve and 65 years of age. The ncreasng numbers of retred persons requre that specal attenton be gven to ther partcular needs. The smaller school-age populatons contrast normal expanson pressures faced by other school systems. However, the qualty of the school system and ts efforts to serve an expanded segment of the populaton must be kept hgh as a factor n retanng resdents. That the most severe group decrease s among the 25 to 34 and successvely through to the 64 year olds, underles the declne of the Borough commercal dstrct. Ths group encompasses the wage earners, homemakers and basc buyng publc. Populaton Projectons Projecton of the populaton for the succeedng 2-year perod nvolves usng what s known of past and present crcumstances and transformng the current populaton through the antcpated crcumstances of the future. n dong so, brth and death factors are generally mantaned at ther current level, but the results of mgraton contnue to have the most serous effect. Four of the possble future populatons that were developed are shown on the Populaton Projectons Table n seres. These have been compared wth the projectons of the Beaver County Plan whch antcpated contnued populaton growth n the Borough. Because of the scale of the County Plan, adequate allowances could not be made for severe devatons from the norm set by the County. 5

17 AGE-SEX DSTRlBUTlON AGE GROUF 65 YRS 8 OVE MALE N HUNDREDS FEMALE N HUNGREOS O l l l t AGE GROUP 55 YRS 8 OVER JNDER 5 YRS 65 VRS 8 OVER UNDER 5YRS 5 YRS d OVER NOER 5 YRS Sourca: 94, 95 U.S. Census of Popuaton, Mdland Comprehensve Plan 959,Report Number Research 8 Surveys Page 55

18 AGE-SEX DSTRBUTON AGE GROUP 65YRS 8 OVEf UNDER 5 YRS MAL l- :DS 9 r AGE GROUP 65YRS 8OVER UNDER 5 YRS 65 YRS %OVER UNDER 5 YRS. SYRS (t OVER lnder 5 YRS. Source : 96 U.S. Census of Populaton 8 Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc.

19 POPULATON PROJECTONS MDLAND BOROUGH Seres A 6,934 7,44 7,972 8,536 9,92 9,627,2,6 Seres B 6,76 7,6 7,497 7,894 8,34 8,749 9,94 9,654 SeresC 6,25 5,9 6,289 6,532 6, , Seres D 6,389 6,337 6,265 6,9 6,42 6,8 6,3 5,976 Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Whle a porton of the County's muncpaltes wll grow faster than ndcated by the County growth rate, others wll grow more slowly, stablze or declne, thus balancng the rapd expanson n other areas. These consderatons and the decrease n school enrollments durng the 96's lead to the selecton of Seres "C" for plannng purposes. Seres "A" and "B" reflect substantal growth that s not corroborated by evdences snce 965. n contrast, Seres "D" s currently realstc but calls for a long-term populaton & that s unsupported by area and County populaton forecasts. Detal of the Seres "C" age group structure s presented n the Seres "C" Projecton Table.! SERES "C" PROJECTON AgeGroup MALE Subtotal , , ,76 3,284 FEMALE ,352 3,433 3, , Subtotal 3,69 2,93 3,3 3,248 3,349 3,46 3,583 3,726 L TOTAL 6,25 5,9 6,289 6,534 6,7 6,893 7, Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 7,369 n as much as statstcally vald U.S. Census nformaton wll be avalable by 972, the Borough Councl should revew the projectons made and update them where necessary. To mantan the valdty and utlty of the plan projectons, revew should be an ongong practce as nterm nformaton becomes avalable. 8,

20 ~ ~~~ ~ - ' - (7 School Enrollments School facltes are a major communty nvestment, hence, t s mportant to have usable projectons of future school faclty needs. Below are the total fgures for the elementary grades K through sx ana secondary grades seven through 2. An estmate could also be made of communty college partcpaton by applyng current and antcpated user ratos to the detaled projecton fgures. Labor Force The maxmum sze of the future labor force has been broken out of the 2-year projecton. Slow expanson of the work force after 975 requres that efforts be made to assure an ncreasng number of jobs n the Borough. Senor Ctzens As ndcated, the number of retred persons n the Borough s expected to rse. The ncreasng lfe span n Amerca places a responsblty on local governments to assure older ctzens of ample opportuntes to contrbute to the communty. n addton, ther specal requrements for recreaton, housng and communty facltes must be consdered. PROJECTED SPECAL GROUP POPULATONS (Cohort Survval Method) Category, SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS Elementary (K-6) Secondary (7-2) ,3,4, , Total,743,445,545,632,677,77,749 LABOR FORCE,794 Prme (9-34),25,68,292,43,482, ,768 Secondary (35-44) Agng (45-64),346,289,389,375,3,273,33,349 Total 3,424 3,2 3,4 3,483 3,535 3,658 3,83 4,42 GER ATR CS Senor Ctzens (65+) Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. ECONOMC POTENTAL Dscusson of the Mdland populaton trends ndcated that there are many nterrelated aspects between the populaton and economcs of a communty. n the past, growth of the Natonal economy provded Mdland wth a secure employment base. The tax base of the Borough as well as the employment focus of the Borough rests upon the economc vtalty of the basc metal manufacturng plants. The followng table shows that these frms are hghly reactve to changes n the Natonal economy. Lttle addtonal land exsts n the Borough to allow the growth of ndustres that are not affected by Natonal cycles to broaden and strengthen the economc base. 9

21 STABLTY OF VAROUS NDUSTRES N () HGHLY NSENSTVE Tobacco Manufacturers Ar Transportaton (common carrers) Relgous Organzatons Educatonal Servces Nonproft Membershp Organzaton Legal Servces Utltes: Electrc and Gas Local Ralways and Bus Lnes Telephone, Telegraph and Related Servces Medcal and Other Health Servces Hghway Freght Transportaton and Warehousng (2) MARKEDLY NSENSTVE Personal Servces Local Utltes and Publc Servces, Not Elsewhere Classfed Ppelne Transportaton Real Estate Food and Kndred Products Prntng, Publshng and Alled ndustres Hghway Passenger Transportaton, Not Elsewhere Classfed Busness Servces Engneerng (3) AVERAGE CYCLCAL SENSTVTY Chemcals and Alled Products Leather and Leather Products Water Transportaton R a roads Paper and Alled Products Amusement and Recreaton Wholesale Trade Retal Trade and Automoble Servces Apparel and Other Fnshed Fabrc Products Servces Alled to Transportaton (4) MARKEDLY SENSTVE Textle-Mll Products Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Producton Btumnous Coal Mnng Rubber Products Furnture and Fnshed Lumber Products Mscellaneous Manufacturng ndustres Contract Constructon Electrcal Machnery Nonmetallc Mnng and Quarryng Transportaton Equpment Nonferrous Metals and Ther Products Stone, Clay and Glass Products (5) HGHLY SENSTVE Automobles and Automoble Equpment Machnery ron and Steel and Ther Products Lumber and Tmber Basc Products Products of Petroleum and Coal Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.

22 Thus, t s mportant that the Borough cooperate wth the two metal ndustres so as to support ther compettve postons. To further protect ts ctzens and ts tax base the Borough and School Dstrct should encourage and assst resdents to fnd jobs n nonmetal related occupatons. The Borough and School Dstrct should also strve to be compettvely attractve, convenent, and modern to attract new resdents to the Borough who may be employed elsewhere but could afford to acqure and mantan property n sound condton and thus help support the Borough tax base. n that the General Development Plan s desgned to update the 959 Comprehensve Plan, the followng commentary s orented toward ponts covered n the 959 Economc Base Study. Between 94 and 95, the sze of the Mdland labor force rose as dd both male and female partcpaton wthn t. Thereafter, however, contrary to antcpated contnued ncreases, the sze of the total labor force dropped. Whle the number and rate of female employment rose, male employment declnes lowered the total. Male partcpaton dropped from 85.3 percent to 77.2 percent, and the number employed dropped from 2,46 to,63. Ths change can be partally attrbuted to the out-mgraton of many employed resdents who could afford to seek better resdental areas. The result would be to lower the sze and rate of labor partcpaton snce retred persons and low-ncome and unemployed persons would be unable to afford a change. Contnued declne of the populaton through 97 should extend the trend unless economc expanson durng the 96's began a reverse of ths trend. The 96 Mdland rates of partcpaton are n lne wth those for the Pttsburgh SMSA, and durng the md-96's Pttsburgh was taken off the lst of hgh unemployment areas. EMPLOYMENT STATUS Category Males Females Males Females 4 years and over 2,573 2,284 2,285 2,245 Labor Force 2,94 59, Partcpaton Rate Employed Cvlans 2,46 48,63 42 Unemployed Percent of Labor Force Source: 95 and 96 U.S. Census of Economc Characterstcs, Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Occupaton Patterns The table of Employment By ndustry Group shows the employment dstrbuton durng 95 and 96 n comparson wth that of the Pttsburgh SMSA for 96. Employment n the Borough contnues to be domnated by manufacturng and the metals ndustry. Durng the decade the percentages n both manufacturng and the dependent trade and transportaton ndustres declned. Servce ndukres dd expand n keepng wth the natonal trend. EmDlovment Bv OccuDaton The table of Employment By Occupaton ndcates that the largest number of Borough resdents are employed n the mlls as blue-collar workers (craftsmen, operatves and laborers). The percentage dstrbuton shows how the Borough s orented to ndustral employment n contrast to the broader based Pttsburgh SMSA economy. Snce 95, the percentage of professonal, trade and servce employees has ncreased; but the communty s stll hghly subject to the economc fluctuatons of the major employers and the Natonal economc stuaton. 2

23 EMPLOYMENT BY NDUSTRY GROUP Pttsburgh Mdland Borough SMSA Cateaorv Agrculture, Forestry, Fsheres Mnng Constructon Manufacturng Transportaton, Commercal Utl tes Wholesale and Retal Fnance, nsurance, Real Estate Busness and Repar Servces Personal Servces Entertanment and Recreaton Professonal and Related Publc Admnstraton Not Reported Percent Percent Percent Number Of Total Number Of Total Of Total 8.3 _-.o , , ' Total Source: 96 U.S. Census of Economcs; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. EMPLOYMENT BY OCCUPATON - 96 Percent Of Total Pttsburgh ' Mdland Borough SMSA - 96 Category Males Females Total To ta Professonal Managers C erca Sales Craftsmen and Foremen peratves Household Workers -_ Servce Workers Laborers Occupaton Not Reported L Source: 96 U.S. Census of Economc Characterstcs; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. An ndcaton of whch ndustres are most effected by the changes n the Natonal economy s gven by the lstng of senstve ndustres. Note that basc metal fabrcatng and constructon are marked by senstve. 22

24 7 8. Trades And Servces The trades and servces ndustres are hghly reflectve of the purchasng power of the local shoppng populace. Populaton declnes n the Borough result n fewer customers and fewer proftable stores. The rate of vacances along lower Mdland Avenue s reflectve of the lower sales volume n the communty. Ths stuaton often has a compoundng effect n that remanng stores are forced to cut back on the varety and qualty of merchandse carred. Customers are then attracted to compettve, large-scale chan stores n shoppng centers and larger communtes. To reman successfully compettve, local stores yet n busness must make a decded effort to present an attractve exteror and nteror to the customers, provde adequate nearby parkng, offer credt servces, carry a current and vared stock and keep prces down. Attanment of these goals s frequently possble only n cooperaton wth the neghborng establshments of the busness dstrct. Such a broad front approach s necessary snce the ndvdual stores must now compete wth corporate merchandsers offerng these servces. Only by competng on the same bass, as a unfed busness dstrct n cooperaton wth the local government, can small local busnesses reman vable. From 954 to 963 the US. Census of Busness reported a loss n the total number of retal stores and the number of employees. Sales rose, however, approxmately seven percent. Ths s a factor of nflaton, a natonally lower rato of savngs and ncreased purchasng power. Only the number of gasolne servce statons, drugstores and general merchandse stores dd not drop durng the nne-year perod. At present, a contnuaton of condtons exstng durng the early 96 s does not ndcate a reversal of the downward trend. The number of servce and wholesale establshments, and employees also dropped durng ths perod. The servce sales volume also dropped some 2.5 percent. Ponts lsted n the 959 Comprehensve Plan as necessary for the revtalzaton of the CBD have not been mplemented and are stll vald. ntensfcaton of ths stuaton warrants repetton of the ponts.. Open space n the CBD s nadequate to permt proper crculaton and offer a pleasant envronment. 2. Congeston resultng from the combnaton of local, shopper and through traffc on nadequate Pa. 68 s detrmental to sales because of the nconvenence caused to shoppers. 3. Off-street parkng contnues to be needed n the busness dstrct. 4. The strung-out character of the shoppng area defeats the prncpal of havng a communty busness dstrct. A well-defned localzed center wth off-street parkng and loadng facltes s necessary. 5. Commercal structures are nadequate, contan mxed uses and are generally unattractve. ncome Characterstcs The dscusson of ncomes n the Neghborhood Analyss secton ndcates that amounts earned by Mdland resdents have rsen to new levels. The medan rose from $2,89 n 95 to $4,92 n 96. The medan wll also have rsen by 97. There was a sgnfcant ncrease n the number and percent of persons earnng over $7,. As noted n the 959 Comprehensve Plan, an ncreased ncome usually results n an ncreased desre for an amenble lvng envronment. To acheve ths, people contnue to move to the outlyng townshps. That rsng ncomes result n ncreased aspratons and demands for publc servces s a fact that must be noted. ndustral Base The heavy domnance of manufacturng employment and laborarented occupatons reflects the mportance of manufacturng n the Borough. The table of Prmary Metal ndustry Statstcs ndcates that employment s gradually droppng n the ndustres, however, only,33 resdents of Mdland were employed by local manufacturers n 967 despte the avalablty of 6,48 jobs. Hgh rates of value added by manufacturng 23

25 l and "captal nvestment" demonstrate the compettve strength of the companes and ther probable longevty n the communty. The economc well-beng of Mdland Borough then depends on ts ablty to hold and attract resdents. Mdland offcals should also gve consderaton to the facltes and servces that are offered to attract new ndustres. No communty can afford to become lax n ts atttude toward potental new employers. Ths pont s related to the loss of three smaller ndustres from the Borough n the last ten years. The Producton Employment By Major ndustres Table reveals ths stuaton. Ths Table also ndcates that there s very lttle horzontal ndustral development wthn the Borough. The Ar Reducton Sales Company and Mdland Slag Company are examples of such operatons. Ther presence s generally ndcatve of an expandng ndustral market whch could provde addtonal jobs drectly and n the servce ndustres. The closure of these related ndustres, as n the case of Treadwell Constructon Company, should be offset by communty efforts to attract new ndustres. PRMARY METAL NDUSTRY STATSTCS tem Number of Establshments All Employees Number 7,27 7, 6,48 Payroll ($,) 32,696 58,8 52,99 Value Added Ry Manufacturer ($.) 57,33 2,32 5,33 Captal Expendture New ($.) 4,924 7,53 24,645 Source: - Beaver County ndustry Report - 954,965,967. PRODUCTON EMPLOYMENT BY MAJOR NDUSTRES ndustry Crucble Steel (Colt) 6,347 6,65 5,973 MacKntosh-Hemphll Company Areadwell Constructon Company 3 /Ar Reducton Sales Company 3 Adland Slag Company 2 c Brown Brothers nc Whte Front Dary *Out-of -busness. - Succeeded those companes that dscontnued operatons. Source: Pennsylvana ndustral Report - 96, 967, 968. n an economcally expandng communty the usual rato of basc sector employees to servce (tertary sector) employees s one to four. n 95 and n 96. the rato among Mdland resdents was one to two. The ndustral base should, therefore, be able to support addtonal persons. n that Mdland s beyond the pont of physcal expanson, t s reasonable to assume that such addtonal servce and trade jobs that should exst n the Borough have located elsewhere. The steady growth of regonal shoppng centers n outlyng undeveloped areas s evdence of ths process. Mdland resdents and governmental bodes must, therefore, make a crtcal decson regardng the drectons to be taken by the Borough. Only by revtalzng the CBD and provdng an expanded supply of upgraded housng n attractve settngs can the out-mgraton and downward economc trends be halted. 24

26 COMMUNTY FACLTES The exstence of qualty communty facltes s drectly related to the presence of ctzens who can contrbute to the communty by mantanng ther propertes, deterrng blght and contrbutng to the real estate tax base. f the envronment of a communty s to be of suffcent qualty to attract and hold resdents, the communty facltes and servces must be adequate. Communtes wth nadequate facltes hold and attract only famles wth low ncomes who cannot afford to be selectve n ther choce of homes and often cannot afford the cost of mantanng ther propertes n sound condton. 7 t s the purpose of ths secton to evaluate all the communty facltes and ndcate ther nadequaces. ncluded n ths examnaton of present condtons are schools, recreaton, fre and polce protecton and utltes. The accompanyng Exstng Communty Facltes Map llustrates the locaton of the facltes dscussed heren. Educatonal Facltes Mdland Borough comprses and operates ts own school system whch s used exclusvely by Borough resdents. There are three elementary schools and one junor-senor hgh school. The Borough also has a parochal system for grades one through eght operated by the Presentaton Catholc Church on Oho Avenue. Data on each of the schools s presented n tabular form on the followng School Plant Facltes Table. As ndcated n the table, the publc elementary schools are each over 5 years old and are past the normal perod of economc usefulness. They have been very carefully mantaned by the school system and updated wth furnture and lghtng. However, ther age, basc constructon and lack of parkng and recreatonal space has led tb the development of plans for a new elementary school. t s to be constructed at the ste of the present Seventh Street Elementary School wth recreaton and parkng areas north of Vrgna Avenue n the Greenbelt Park. Enrollments for the school year are under the capacty of each school even though two kndergarten sessons are conducted each day and ther enrollments ncluded. The low enrollment fgures, stemmng from decreased populaton n the Borough, make t possble to have very low students per teacher ratos. Ths -s especally true n the secondary school whch s extremely well equpped wth facltes and equpment for specalzed and techncal courses. The new elementary school s desgned to house the entre K-6 publc school populaton nstead of havng the current K-3 and 4-6 splt n two separate schools. t wll have 8 classrooms, fve specal purpose rooms, one lbrary, one mult-purpose room, a ktchen, stage, health room, a semnar room, large group nstructon room and a full admnstratve unt. Parkng and recreaton wll be developed on the 25-acre green belt porton of the grounds. Constructon of the school wll be completed n 972. Followng s a projecton of the total elementary and secondary school student enrollments through the year 2. Based on the projected enrollments, the table, Summary Of Classroom Needs, ndcates that a total of 39 elementary classrboms wll be needed n 98 to accommodate the projected enrollments shown on the Summary Of Projected Enrollments Table. Actual publc school enrollments may be smaller because kndergarten attendance s less than percent and because the projected enrollments nclude the porton of school-age populaton attendng the parochal schools. Total possble classroom need fgures shown on the table, Summary Of Classroom Needs, are, therefore, generalzed for the maxmum enrollment possble. n that the new elementary school wll have 8 classrooms and seven specal facltes, the kndergarten classes are expected to contnue both n the mornng and afternoon, and classrooms are provded n Presentaton Parochal School. The publc school facltes should be adequate through 98. Because secondary school enrollments are sgnfcantly below the projected levels, t s antcpated that the present junor-senor hgh school wll be adequate n sze for the duraton of ts economc lfe span. 25

27 SCHOOL PLANT FACLTES Elementary Secondary Total Presentaton Elementary Mdland Junor- Total Publc Parochal Category Frst Street Fourth Street Seventh Street F acl t es Senor Hgh School Facltes School C assroo ms Regular Specal (5) Teachng Statons Teachers Enrollment () () ,84 35 StudentsfTeacher (2) Maxmum Student Capacty ,5 33 N 9-2 facltes Lunch and Play Room Audtorum Health Room Lbrary Gymnasum (3) 2 Year Bult Addtons Ste Sze Condton Satsfactory Satsfactory Satsfactory Good,'. 5 Good Good Grades Served K K K-2-8 Recreaton Area.5 acres.25 acres.3 acres.7 acres 8.3 acres (4).3 acres -.- x _._. _ ( ncludes mornng and afternoon kndergarten class enrollments (2) The rato of students per teacher s a general average whch vares due to enrollments n requred and specal courses and schedulng varatons. (3) The hgh school s equpped wth specally equpped rooms for art, musc, chemstry, bology, home economcs, metal, wood and draftng shops and commercal courses. (4) Off-ste recreaton area. (5) Seventh and eghth grade students take musc, lbrary, shop, home economcs, health and gym classes at Mdland Junor Senor Hgh School. Source: 959 Mdland Comprehensve Plan, Mdland Borough School Dstrct;and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc ~., _

28 BOROUGH OF MDLAND BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA EXSTNG COM MUN TY FAC L T ES /' / L E G E N D PUBLC BULDNGS -3 MUNCPAL SERVCE BULDNG PUBLC SERVCE BULDNG SEM-PRVATE USE BULDNG EDUCATONAL FACLTES ELEMENTARY SECONDARY

29 7 SUMMARY OF CLASSROOM NEEDS Category Elementary (K-6) Secondary (7-2) Note: Classroom needs were calculated accordng to 25 students per elementary class and 22 students per secondary class. Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. SUMMARY OF PROJECTED ENROLLMENTS Category Kndergarten Elementary Secondary Total,743,445,545,632,677,77,749,794 Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Calculaton of the classroom needs accordng to the dea of 25 students per elementary class and 22 students per secondary class, served to nflate the projectons of classroom requrements to a degree snce 3 students per classroom s a common occurrence and may be consdered as the permssble maxmum. Ths s ponted out snce t s generally unfeasble to provde the optmum number of classrooms for a fluctuatng school populaton. The cooperaton and mutual support of Borough, School and ndustral admnstrators s benefcal to the entre communty and crucal to the contnung mprovement of the educatonal facltes. Use of specalzed and modern technques and facltes are encouraged n the Mdland Publc School System. Attenton s devoted to homeschool relatonshps, elementary and secondary level gudance personnel are employed to assst students, and great emphass s placed on adult educaton and vocatonal tranng. Consderable school fnancng s used n the Borough recreaton program. Through the summer recreaton program, under-prvleged and dsadvantaged chldren are gven year-round educatonal exposure. The well-fnanced educatonal system must be vewed as a communty asset snce the students are well prepared for mmedate employment or college and further tranng upon graduaton. n ths era of heavy emphass on educaton, full recognton should be gven to the value and qualty of ths servce snce t s made possble by the presence of the heavy ndustral sector of the Borough economy. Reuse of the property at the Frst and Fourth Street school stes wll be recommended n the Plan phase of ths report. Proposals for the ongong development of the educatonal system wll also be presented. Recreatonal Facltes The need for recreaton as a necessary part of communty lfe s now well recognzed n today's socety. Snce land n Mdland s ntensely developed and sgnfcant portons of the populaton have lttle access to prvate back or front yard play areas, land specfcally developed for publc recreatonal purposes must be provded as one of the communty servces expected by the resdents. The Amercan Publc Health Assocaton and the Natonal Recreaton Assocaton recommend that at least one acre per resdents be set asde for recreatonal purposes. When the areas set asde are accessble, ths space rato s consdered adequate for both actve and passve recreaton needs. n addton to allocatng space for recreaton, the equpment and facltes for utlzaton of the land must also be provded. 29

30 Beyond these physcal aspects of recreaton, t s also very mportant for the communty to have a recreatonal actvtes program that encompasses the recreatonal needs of all age groups. ncluded would be the actve forms of recreaton for youngsters, teenagers and adults; quet, passve areas for sttng, walkng or vstng sutable for all age groups; vared wnter and summer and ndoor and outdoor facltes; and programs that allow persons to develop specal nterests such as talent, craft, self-mprovement, entertanment and hobby groups. Whle persons of all ages should be encouraged to develop, the often overlooked nterests of grls, adults and senor ctzens must be provded for to counter-balance the actve sports facet of recreaton. Borough Recreaton Facltes - The recreatonal land areas and equpment exstng n Mdland are summarzed on the table of Recreaton Facltes. Snce publcaton of the 959 Comprehensve Plan, the small playground n the Mdcrest area of Mdland Heghts and the tenns courts at 3th Street and Mdland Avenue have been developed. An approxmate total of acres of recreatonal land s now avalable for use. Whle the recreaton stuaton has mproved over the last ten years, recognton should be gven to the lmtatons placed on the use of the recreaton areas. The column headed "Authorzed Use" on the table of Recreaton Facltes ndcates f the ste s open for use by the general publc. The facltes lsted as publc and.sem-publc are owned by ether the Borough or the School Board and are open to the publc at all trnes.:fhe School Board may, however, restrct the use of the school playgrounds f ths s warranted. Further, the School Board may close any of ther school playgrounds and use or sell the property for another use, whereas the publc, Borough-owned facltes are permanently establshed for all practcal purposes. A sgnfcant porton of the total acreage s avalable for use on a sem-prvate bass. Memoral Stadum s closed to the publc except for attendance at school athletc events, although t s used for school gym classes and sports. Crucble Park s generally open for publc use and s also utlzed for school gym classes; but one baseball feld s reserved for use by sem-professonal baseball team, and there s a contnung possblty that the Company wll need the park space for ndustral expanson. Hence, 28.3 acres of the avalable recreaton space must be partally dscounted n calculatons determnng the comparatve adequacy of the recreatonal land area. Based on the 97 estmated populaton of 5,9, the Borough has a defcency of 34 acres of recreaton space. n practcal terms, however, Crucble Park and Memoral Stadum are avalable and can be counted on a bass of 5 percent of ther nput value so that the realstc Borough recreaton area defct s equal to 2 acres. The total acreage needed to meet the standard recommended s 59 acres. The second major consderaton s accessblty or the dstrbuton of the recreaton facltes relatve to the populaton. n that condtons have been nearly statc snce the 959 Recreaton Analyss was publshed n the Comprehensve Plan, the evaluaton ncluded theren remans vald. The facltes n the Mdland Heghts area or Neghborhood 4 are prmarly for chldren. Adequate provsons are not made for teenagers, adults or famles as a whole. The playgrounds should be expanded so that the age groups usng the play equpment, basketball courts and shuffleboard courts are not n conflct. A playfeld to accommodate the older age groups, a wder range of actvtes and larger groups of people s needed. Smlarly, a neghborhood park wth passve and famly areas would also provde some needed varety. Wthn the man townste of Mdland (ncludng Neghborhoods, 2, 3 and 4), recreaton facltes are avalable but wth the followng assocated shortcomngs. Frst, preschool chldren have no sutable play areas except n Neghborhood, where lots are large enough to accommodate backyard play and the small playground area assocated wth Memoral Stadum can be utlzed by mothers takng the chldren to play. Such facltes are unavalable to chldren n the hgher densty areas of Neghborhoods 2 and 3, where the ncdence of publc ana prvate open space s qute low. Playgrounds desgned to serve the actve recreaton needs of chldren from fve to 5 years of age are avalable wthn one-quarter mle of all areas of Mdland, however, access for chldren under nne years of age s frequently hndered by traffc hazards and steep hlls. Further, the layout, sze and topography of the playground stes have made the separaton of varyng age and partcpaton group actvtes extremely dffcult. t has also! 3

31 - RECREATON FACLTES Populaton Facltv Tvpe Neqhborhood Acreaqe Park Can Serve Omrated Bv Authorzed Use Passve Area Plav Eouoment Football Baseball Basketball Pcnc Facltes Swmmng Pool 7 Mdland Heghts Crcle Playground School Board Publc Yet Yes Mdland Heghts Undeveloped 4 SO 5 Mdland Homes nc. Publc Y es Mdcrest Playground 4. Mdland Homes nc. Publc Yes Y es West End Park Playground 4. School Board Publc Yes Yes Yes Shelter Frst Street School Undeveloped 3.O O School Board Sem.Publc Yes Fourth Street School Playground School Board Sem-Publc Yes Yes Y es Seventh Street School Playground School Board Sem.Publc Yes Yes Yet Shelter ce skatng Lncoln Park Neghborhood Park 9. 9 Borough Publc Yes Bandstand Hgh School Park Playground.5 5 School Board Sem.Publc Yes Y es Muncpal Park Communw Park Borough Publc Yet Yes Yes Tenns Courts Playground.5 5 Borough Publc Memoral Stadum Playfeld School Board Sem.Prvate Y es Y es Y es Track Bleachers... Memoral Playground Playground.5 Crucble Patc Communty Park 5 2 Source: 959 Mdland Comprehensve Plan; and Urban Plannng Dvson. Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 5 School Board Publc Yes Crucble Steal Sem-Prvate YeS Yes Yes. Yes

32 7! 7 ' J :! been mpossble to provde an adequate varety of game or play areas. These factors dmnsh the usefulness of the facltes for all age groups, cause a lowered rate of partcpaton, reduce the servce area to nclude only those youngsters who lve near enough to use the playground frequently and necesstate adjustments that must be made n play areas and games to adapt to the mxed use of the small spaces. Playfeld facltes are needed to provde a wder range of actvtes where entre famles can spend up to fve hours. The facltes of Memoral Stadum are large enough to accommodate playfeld actvtes, but they are lmted to use by school gym classes and sport events. n effect, the Borough does not have a playfeld faclty. Part of the need created by ths vod s flled by the muncpal tenns courts, the swmmng pool, the Vrgna Avenue bocce courts and the baseball damonds at Crucble Park. The actve recreaton needs of adults are the most serously neglected by ths shortcomng n the recreaton program, and, consequently, an addtonal porton of the recreaton burden s placed on the playgrounds. Communty park requrements are well met n terms of land area. Lncoln Park, Muncpal Park and Crucble Park functon as communty parks. Consdered as a whole, they provde the varety of actve and passve recreaton necessary for all age groups. However, nstead of beng dstrbuted throughout the populated area as areas of open space for famly recreaton, the parks are concentrated n Neghborhood. There are no quet, passve places of natural beauty n the hgher densty neghborhoods where the need s greatest. Even the Muncpal Park area for pcncs s relatvely naccessble for a sgnfcant porton of the Borough populaton. ndoor recreaton facltes are necessary to round out the scope of the Borough recreaton program. For ths purpose, rooms, halls or audtorums for meetngs should be avalable n addton to gym, table games, spectator sports and storage facltes. The followng facltes are avalable for such purposes: the communty center for meetngs n Mdland Heghts; the Muncpal Buldng thrd floor for specal dances or gatherngs; the West End playground shelter for summer crafts; the hgh school and Memoral Stadum for spectator sports; a musc forum; the hgh school audtorum for specal presentatons; the swmmng pool wth a bathhouse and concesson stand; Lncoln Park contans a covered stage for plays or muscal performances and varous rooms n the schools are made avalable for use by Grl Scouts and Boy Scouts. These facltes accommodate varous nterest groups and encourage spectator sports. However, ndoor or wnter athletc facltes for the general publc are not avalable.! The content and coordnaton of the recreatonal actvtes and programs s provded prmarly by the School Board, although many of the programs are possble only wth the partcpaton of nterested adults. The organzed and nonathletc recreatonal programs nclude the followng: supervsed summer playground programs; three levels of scoutng programs for grls and boys; lttle league; mdget football; Saturday and summer classes n arts and crafts, nstrumental musc, typng, readng mprovement and lbrary usage and adult courses n sewng. Englsh and hgh school equvalency test preparatons are avalable to resdents wshng to partcpate. Other recreatonal opportuntes for adults exst n the form of socal, communty and cvc clubs and organzatons.! Funds to support the varous programs are derved from the Borough, the School Board and State and Federal school assstance funds. As recreaton coordnator, the School Board admnsters the funds avalable to support the recreato,; ;actvty programs. The contnued mantenance of the recreaton facltes s largely handled by the Borough. Communty Buldngs And Servces The condton of buldngs housng publc servces tends to reflect the adequacy of the servces offered and the atttude toward publc servces that exsts n the communty. Publc buldngs are also the most sgnfcant creators of a communty mage. n ths revew, the physcal condton and adequacy of both publc buldngs and publc servces wll be examned. 33

33 The Mdland Muncpal Buldng s located n the eght hundred block of Mdland Avenue where t stands out as a communty focal pont. Structurally, the buldng s n very good condton; snce the orgnal structure, bult n 96, was substantally remodeled n 956. The Borough polce staton and number one fre staton are located n separate areas of the frst floor. Borough government offces are on the second floor ncludng the Councl Chamber, Secretary's Offce, Mayor's Offce and Engneer's Offce. The thrd floor was remodeled for use as a youth group recreaton center, although t s now reserved for use on specal occasons by Borough groups. The usefulness of the muncpal buldng s dmnshed by the lack of assocated off-street parkng facltes. A small lot n the rear of the buldng accommodates sx cars and s generally occuped by the Borough employees. Hence, vstors must occupy the on-street metered spaces along Mdland Avenue. Polce protecton s funded completely by the Borough. The polce force ncludes 3 full-tme men and sx part-tme men who provde protecton 24 hours a day. Courses n polce work are offered by the State Polce and n the local colleges. Members of the force attend such courses on ther own tme but are encouraged to do so through the schedulng of ther work hours. The polce have two patrol cars whch are,:replaced every two years and kept n excellent operatng condton. Presently, the force has a 969 Ford patrol car, a 969 Dodge patrol car and a 969 Cushman, three-wheel motorcycle. These moble unts are equpped wth rados, and the men walkng beats use walke-talkes to mantan communcatons. The polce rado system s connected to the Rochester, New Brghton and East Lverpool polce communcaton network. Mdland polce also partcpate n the County rado alert system that relays bulletns on stolen cars, fugtves and other polce data. The polce offce and detenton facltes n the Muncpal Buldng are descrbed as adequate by the Chef of Polce. n addton to a polce servce desk, there s an offce for the Polce Chef and four jal cells. One of the cells s equpped for retenton of juvenles. Polce protecton n the Borough s consdered adequate n terms of equpment and facltes. n terms of staffng, the Unversty of Pttsburgh, nsttute of Local Government recommends that 2.5 full-tme polcemen be on the staff for every, populaton. Accordng to the 97 populaton estmate, Mdland should have a fulltme force of 2-3 members. t s felt that the avalablty of sx part-tme personnel makes the force more than suffcent n sze snce suck personnel fulflls the need for two full-tme polcemen. Borough polce also work cooperatvely wth the area State Polce and the ndustral plant guards at Crucble Steel Company. There are two fre statons n Mdland to provde adequate protecton to the varous areas of the Borough. Fre Staton Number One occupes the western half of the Muncpal Buldng frst floor. Fretrucks stored there nclude a 948 LaFrance pumper truck, a 954 LaFrance pumper truck, a 956 LaFrance aeral truck and a 966 emergency truck, all of whch are n good condton. The trucks leave the rear of the Muncpal Buldng by way of Wood Lane and have good access to all portons of the Borough except the Hllcrest area whch s solated by the steep topography. There are approxmately 25 volunteer members at Staton Number One who are pad $2.5 per hour when called upon. The Fre Chef draws a full-tme salary. Fre alarms are telephoned nto the Muncpal Buldng from whch the four fre alarms are sounded. The Borough partcpates n a mutual ad system wth the surroundng communtes and asssts the Crucble Steel fre protecton group. Volunteer Fre Staton Number Two s stuated n Mdland Heghts and s readly accessble to the homes n the Mdcrest area. The buldng s owned by the Mdland Heghts Homes Assocaton and was recently refurbshed and s n satsfactory condton. The two pumper trucks statoned there are operated by the members of the volunteer group. A muncpal garage, used to house street and refuse collecton equpment, s located along Ralroad Avenue between Seventh and Eghth Streets. As expanded, the garage s consdered adequate to store the Borough's machnery, and t s n good condton. Recently, larger garage doors were nstalled to accommodate the refuse collecton trucks. Stores of ashes for use n wnter are kept behnd the garage. Snce 959, the lot n the eght hundred block of Ralroad Avenue, prevously used for ash storage, has been sold; and the barn used for storage on the Lncoln Park property was razed.! 34!

34 Consdered from the standpont of appearance, the muncpal garage blends fully wth the surroundng structures and uses. But n contrast to the hghly vsble water plant whch presents an attractve, neat and busness-lke appearance, the garage does not provde a standard of appearance to be emulated. Equpment owned and used by the Borough for the collecton of refuse, street and sewer mantenance s lsted on the table below. The Borough does not need any specal addtonal equpment and has a polcy replacng equpment as t becomes necessary. Most recently, the 956 refuse packer truck was replaced by a larger 97 packer truck. CHAR ACTE R lstl CS OF MU N C PAL EQU PM EN T Equpment Year Model Condton Packer Truck 956 Dodge Obsolete Packer Truck 97 Chevrolet Excel lent Truxmore Packer 964 Dodge Satsfactory Dump Truck (Loader and Spreader) 967 Mchgan Good Dump Truck (Has Vacuum Street Cleanng Attachment) 963 Ford Far Pckup 967 Ford Good Pckup 96 Ford Far Hgh Lft 966 Mchgan Good Hgh Lft 959 Far Street Sweeper 965 Auston-Weston Good Source: Borough Secretary. By provdng ts own street mantenance and refuse collecton staff and equpment, the Borough s able to realze a cost savng by fully drectng the program of street and Sewer repar and mantenance. Servce s also mmedately avalable to handle emergency stuatons whch may arse. Both the water fltraton and the sewage treatment plants are comparatvely modern buldngs that are kept n good condton, have adequate offce and parkng space and that reflect the Borough's capacty to mantan ther servces on an up-todate level. Buldngs housng servces offered to the general publc and not drectly funded by the Borough are the lbrary and post offce. There are two floors n the lbrary buldng whch s located on Park Place West adjacent to the Hgh School. The ground floor s utlzed for the Mdland School Lbrary, and the second floor s occuped by the Carnege Free Lbrary of Mdland. The stone buldng was constructed n 96 and stands wth the muncpal park and hgh school as a communty and cultural landmark n the Borough. Although t s 54 years old, the lbrary s adequate to house the basc functons of a lbrary. However, the books of the school lbrary on the ground floor are damaged by dampness, and addtonal space s needed to house expandng lbrary servces such as audo-vsual equpment and other nonbook learnng materals. Accordng to the commonly used ndexes of adequacy (the number of volumes n the lbrary, the rate of crculaton and the number of volumes per regstrant) the publc lbrary appears to fall below the standards. The Amercan Lbrary Assocaton's Publc Lbrary Servce - A Gude To Evaluaton Wth ndcates that a communty wth a populatton of 5,9 should have 6,8 volumes n ts lbrary; or 25, volumes per 3, regstrants. The Mdland Publc Lbrary should then contan 26, volumes and have an average yearly crculaton of ten books per capta or 57,. n comparson, the lbrary contans 6,4 volumes, crculatng at a rate of 36, per year through a regstraton of 3,264 persons. These seemng nadequaces are 35

35 offset by the followng factors. n 96 the medan educatonal level of all persons over 25 years of age n Mdland was 9.3 years. The Amercan Lbrary Assocaton estmates that among persons wth ths educatonal level only 3. percent use lbrary facltes. Ths fgure would tend to reduce the sze of the potental servce populaton exstng n the Borough. However, the rate of regstraton wth the publc lbrary equals approxmately 52 percent of the Borough populaton. Ths hgh rate of usage largely stems from the number of students usng the faclty, snce t s so readly accessble to them. n vew of these consderatons, the sze of the book collecton avalable through the publc lbrary s felt to be adequate. n other areas of concern ncludng the suffcency of table and sttng space, space around the card catalogs, browsng space, lghtng n the shelve areas and the separaton of adult and chldren's areas, the faclty s termed as good. Shortcomngs of the publc faclty nclude nadequate soundproofng to keep the nose level at a mnmum, and a lack of space and specally equpped areas for meztngs, audo-vsual and other nonbook materals. mprovements desgned to accommodate these addtonal facltes wll be ncluded n the expanson of the lbrary buldng whch s to be constructed when t s fnancally feasble. n addton to the structural mprovements, the lbrary would be better equpped to serve the communty wth a'n expanded staff and extended lbrary hours. The school lbrary located on the ground floor of the lbrary buldng s admnstered entrely by the School Board for purposes adjunctve to educaton. t provdes a full range of reference, resource and fcton materals for use prmarly by the junor and hgh school students. Each of the elementary schools has an ndvdual lbrary so that 'dse of the hgh school lbrary by elementary students s lmted. Although the two lbrares are stuated n the same buldng, ther purposes dffer and the two functons are kept as separate as posble. Ths separaton s maortant snce t has been determned that combnaton publc and school lbrares does not serve both groups satsfactorly. Several factors also medate aganst havng the two lbrares located n the same buldng. Among them s the dffculty of havng a ste that s a good locaton for both types of lbrares. Censorshp of adult materals occurs because of possble exposure to young people and Provson of adequate professonal and clercal personnel for both lbrares s not made. Hence, the potental economcs of housng both lbrares n a sngle structure are not actually realzed so that the School Board s well advsed n consderng the relocaton of the school lbrary wthn the hgh school buldng. Postal servce s provded by the U.S. Government through the Mdland Post Offce located besde the Muncpal Buldng on Mdland Avenue. The buldng s now 32 years old but s large enough to readly accommodate the postal servce and mal processng requrements. A loadng area and employee parkng area s n the rear of the post offce. Resdents usng the post offce must utlze the curb parkng spaces on Mdland Avenue. n addton to dstrbutng mal through the Borough, the Mdland Post Offce now serves the Smths Ferry Area. Although the nteror of the post offce s rather dated n appearance, the buldng s adequate to provde the servces and facltes necessary. The sem-prvate buldngs noted on the Exstng Communty Facltes Map nclude those owned by varous clubs, organzatons and assocatons for use by ther members. The actual adequacy of the buldngs to meet the needs of the organzatons wll not be revewed heren. But serous recognton must be gven to the fact that the appearance and structural condton of these buldngs are potent factors n shapng the communty dentty. Furthermore, they can ether contrbute or detract from the mmedately surroundng envronment. Efforts should, therefore, be made to nsure that yard space and buldng exterors are well mantaned, that suffcent off-street parkng s provded to avod nconvenence to surroundng resdence and that the buldngs are soundproofed and ventlated n a manner that does not create nusances n the neghborhood. 36

36 Medcal hosptal requrements of the Borough contnue to be met by the hosptals of East Lverpool, Oho and Rochester, Pennsylvana. Because of the populaton concentrated n Mdland and the problems of access to the exstng hosptals, the 965 Beaver County Comprehensve Plan recommended constructon of an 8-bed hosptal faclty n the Borough. The sgnfcant costs of hosptal equpment and staffng are extremely serous roadblocks to hosptal constructon and contnue to undermne any justfcaton for constructon of a hosptal wthout large-scale Federal or State fundng. Publc Utltes The condton and adequacy of the publc utltes ncludng water, storm sewers, santary sewers and refuse collecton s revewed heren because of ther mpact on the communty. The presence of adequate utltes encourages development of sound long-term value. Whle the provson of utltes s a costly undertakng, nadequate utltes tend to stfle growth and are expensve to then later upgrade. n Mdland, however, the greatest emphass must be drected toward the physcal condton of the exstng utlty systems and ther ablty to meet future ncreasng needs and standards for safety and polluton control. Water System - The publc water system n Mdland s operated by the Muncpal Water Authorty. The fltraton plant and dstrbuton system were orgnally constructed by the Crucble Steel Company. They were donated to the Borough n 953, and n 955 the present Authorty was establshed to operate the servce. The fltraton plant, located on Ralroad Street between Nnth and Tenth Streets, s n very good condton and fully adequate to provde the treatment necessary. Fltraton capacty of the plant s four mllon gallons per da;, and the current daly rate of flow averages 3,437,983 gallons per day based on the 968 yearly consumpton fgures. The sgnfcant ncrease n the rate of water usage durng the last ten years s prmarly a result of the mllon gallon per day ncrease n the consumpton by the Crucble Steel Company; the rsng rate of commercal, domestc and publc usage; and the sale of.2.89 mllon gallons of water per year to Ohovlle Townshp for domestc use. Due to the ncreased demand for ndustral water, the Authorty expanded the fltraton capacty of the plant n 964 from three to four mllon gallons per day. Based on the current four mllon capacty, the plant has an excess capacty of approxmately 87, gallons per day. Water dstrbuton lnes extend servce throughout the Borough. The majorty of the lnes were nstalled pror to 93, however, they are consdered to be n good condton. n 958 a lne mprovement program was ntated. To mprove the low water pressure n the area of Oho and Vrgna Avenues, an expanded lne of eght nches was nstalled along Mdland Avenue west of Thrd Street, and a new 2-nch lne was lad along Vrgna Avenue and Fourth Street. Water pressure throughout the Borough s now consdered adequate, and no further plans have been developed for replacement and expanson of the water dstrbuton lnes. Supples of treated water are stored n fve storage tanks wth a total capacty of 4,3, gallons. Two tanks of 5, gallons are stuated at Mdland Heghts, two tanks of.5 mllon and 5, gallons are stuated above Eghth Street, and one tank of two mllon gallons s stuated above the Hllcrest development. These stored reserves assure the exstence of adequate supples for fre protecton. They also provde an adequate reserve for emergency needs, although the amount of water used for ndustral purposes durng an extended emergency would have to be curtaled. Sewerage System - To comply wth State Department of Envronmental Resources requrements to provde sewage treatment for Borough wastes, a santary waste treatment plant was constructed by the Borough n 963. t s operated by the Mdland Muncpal Sewer Authorty. The plant provdes prmary treatment of the wastes before the effluent emptes nto the Oho Rver. Plans have been developed for provdng a secondary treatment phase whch wll be constructed subsequent to fnalzaton of the fnancng. t s expected that the second phase treatment process wll be n operaton by 973. Capacty of the sewage treatment plant s.5 mllon gallons per day. The average daly flow s currently one mllon gallons per day allowng a servce expanson of 5, gallons per day., 37

37 T Collecton OF the santary wastes s va the orgnal system of santary sewerlnes. Gravty flow s utlzed, snce the majorty of the Borough s n a sngle dranage basn and the treatment plant s stuated at the Borough's lowest pont. The most sgnfcant problem faced concernng waste collecton s the use of santary sewerlnes for storm water runoff. Separate storm and santary systems were constructed, but storm water catch basns and roof drans are stll frequently connected to the santary system creatng problems of cellar floodng and neffcent operaton of the sewag? treatment plant durng perods of peak runoff. To offset these problems, the Borough has undertaken a program of nstallng back check valves n the santary sewers to prevent backup and cellar floodng. Also, the Mdland Avenue catch basns have be,?n drected nto the storm sewers. Where possble, other lne nterconnectons have been elmnated. t s not feasble to elmnate all roof dran connectons, however, such connectons are prohbted n nstances of new constructon. Santary wastes from the extensve Crucble Steel Company are treated n the muncpal system; however, facltes for treatment of the ndustral wastes are now beng developed accord-ng to the State Health and Polluton Control Board requrements. Storm Dranage System - Adequate storm sewers are of equal mportance wth publc santary sewer and water systems n supportng development. The entre Borough s draned by storm Sewers whch are constructed and mantaned by the Borough Street Departmet. A porton of the storm sewers are draned through the santary sewer system. The deleterous effects of :hs stuaton have been controlled where possble as noted under the santary sewer revew. Durng 966 the Crucble Steel Corporatoq began developng programs for treatment of ther ndustral wastes whch were partzlly dsposed of through the Borough storm sewers. Ths problem s beng corrected n successve stages so that the completed facltes wll prevent acd and other ndustral wastes from creatng a polluton problem n the Oho Rver. The ongong mantenance program and correctve work done on the problems of lne separaton and ndustral wastes protect the condton of the lnes and the system's ablty to adequately dspose of runoff from the developed areas of the Borough. Muncpal Refuse Collecton - Refuse s collected n the Borough as a muncpal servce. Domestc collectons are made once a week, and commercal collectons are made twce a week. The combustble materals are presently burned n the muncpal ncnerator outsde the Borough. Remanng materals are dsposed of n an approved santary landfll n Brghton Townshp. Currently, the ncnerator s n far condton but has been cted for causng ar polluton. Consequently, t must be shut down or elmnated as a source of polluton durng 97. Studes made for replacement of the faclty ndcated that the cost would be prohbtve so that both refuse and garbage wll have to be taken to the Brghton Townshp Santary Landfll whch s descrbed as havng suffcent capacty for 3 years. Alternately, the Crucble Steel Company s consderng constructon of an ncnerator adequate to dspose of ther wastes and those of the Borough. The practcalty of such a faclty wll determne whch method of dsposal wll be utlzed. The Borough uses three trucks to collect refuse ncludng a 956 Dodge, 6-yard packer; a 964, 6-yard packer; and a 97 Chevrolet 8-yard packer. They are descrbed respectvely as beng n obsolete, satsfactory and good condton. Although the number of weekly collectons has been reduced n order to free the crews for other muncpal cleanup and mantenance operatons, a satsfactory level of servce s mantaned and the potental problems of health hazards and unsghtly home trash collectons do not exst. The muncpal collecton also serves to lessen local polluton levels that would arse from the on-lot burnng of combustbles and problems of uncontrolled commercal refuse collectons. 38

38 STREETS AND TRAFFC An ntegrated.and well-mantaned system of streets and roads s vtal f the ndustral, commercal and resdental sectons of Mdland are to be nterconnected and related functonally to traffc patterns outsde the Borough. Even after a crculaton system s establshed, ts ablty to accommodate an ncreasng volume of traffc and meet the needs of changng land use patterns must also be contnually assured. Only by conscentously developng a plan for the road system and a program of mprovements can the ntal and long-term adequacy of the roads be assured. An evaluaton of the. streets and roads n the Borough s made here n accordance wth the purpose performed by each. There are four road classfcatons whch are defned as follows:. Expressway - An expressway s a lmted access, hgh-speed, gradeseparated, nterchange road. The expressway s desgned to carry traffc through an area wth mnmum dsturbance to local traffc movements. Beng thus specalzed wth no on-street parkng, no grade ntersectons and no traffc sgnals, t s a hghly effcent traffc carrer Arteral - An arteral s desgned to move large volumes of traffc from one cty or area to another wth as lttle nterference wth local traffc as possble. Access to arterals s not lmted nor s the nstallaton of traffc controls. As a result, the traffc-carryng capacty can be greatly reduced by these factors affectng the flow of traffc. 3. Collector - A collector street gathers vehcles gong to or from local streets. Traffc may be fed to an arteral or carred to local traffc generators such as schools, shoppng areas or communty centers. They do not accommodate long, through trps and are not contnuous for any apprecable length Local - The local street s sole functon s to suppty access to mmedately adjacent land. Such streets occupy a large percentage of total street mleage but carry a small porton of the total mles traveled daly. Due to nadequate access controls, varous classes of streets frequently must accommodate two or more functons. Ths practce encourages traffc congeston, poses safety hazards and creates other crculaton dffcultes because they are not desgned to undertake dual functons. Accordng to the functonal classfcatons, Mdland Avenue (Pa. Route 68) along ts entre length through the Borough s an arteral or the man carrer of traffc through the Borough. Mdland Avenue also functons as a collector street snce t drans all the traffc procedng from the local streets connected to t. Smlarly, Farvew Road (Pa. Route 68) and Murphy Hll Road (L.R. 48) are collectors brngng traffc from the hllsde areas to Mdland Avenue. All of the remanng streets are classfed as locals snce ther prmary functon s that of property access. Most of these have steepgrades, and one-way traffc flows are often necesstated by the narrowness of the streets. As noted above, the utlzaton of roadways for dual purposes wthout makng the necessary desgn accommodatons results n safety hazards and the neffcent flows of traffc that exst on Mdland Avenue. The capacty or number of cars that can be accommodated on a street s determned by ts wdth, surface condton and the traffc controls requred for ntersecton. The accompanyng map, enttled Exstng Street and Road Condtons, llustrates the condton of roadways n the Borough. They are graded as beng Class roads n generally good condton and needng only normally antcpated repars such as the fllng of potholes, street sweepng and lne pantng; Class 2 roads requrng mnor repars such as resurfacng of certan areas n addton to regular mantenance; or Class 3 roads f major repars such as regradng, pavng, repavng or...

39 realgnment are necessary. Neghborhood roads are n generally good condton. Wthn Neghborhoods 2 and 3, the majorty of the streets need major or mnor repars. Notably, the majorty of the Mdland Avenue access streets need repars. Roadways needng repars are prmarly those surfaced wth brck, under whch the subsurface has gradually deterorated causng roughness and potholes. Mantenance of the Stateawned roads (Mdland Avenue, Pa. 68 and L.R. 48) s the responsblty of the State Department of Transportaton. Mdland Borough s responsble for all the remanng streets except the prvate roads nsde the Crucble Steel Plant. The capacty or number of vehcles that can be carred on a local street s not sgnfcantly affected by the number of ntersectons or necessary traffc controls snce local access s ther prmary purpose. However, n the case of Mdland Avenue whch must carry both local and through traffc, the volume that can be safely accommodated s lmted by the severe speed reducton requred to allow for turns, exsts.and enterng traffc. n contrast, there are few traffc controls on Pa. 68 or L.R. 48 to nterrupt the flow of-traffc from the hllsde areas nto Mdland proper. Durng the nne-year nterval snce publcaton of the 959 Comprehensve Plan, the volume of traffc has rsen on all of the State roads except Pa. Route 58 at the western end of the Borough where the total number of cars over a 24-hour perod fell by seven percent fom 8,8 vehcles to 8,6 vehcles. Current traffc levels are llustrated on the Traffc: Volumes Map. On Farvew Road the volume rose 4 percent from 2,3 to 3,26 vehcles. Through the CBD on Mdland Avenue, the traffc count rose from 8.9 to,7 vehcles per day or 3 percent; a porton of ths ncrease can be attrbuted to a shft n use of plant entrances from Thrd to Tenth and 3th Streets. The eastern secton of Mdland Avenue carred 7,48 vehcles n 967, an ncrease of 3.5 percent snce 958. An aedtonal 7 vehcles accowted for a 35 percent ncrease n traffc on L.R. 48 durng ths perod. Approxmateb 27 vehcles travel Murphy Hll Road each day. Other traffc condtons nclude the fact that shft traffc gong nto Crucble Steel creates promnent traffc peaks and that these traffc flows are consstently nterrupted by turnng traffc at the ntersectons due to the use of Mdland Avenue for local access, collector and arteral purposes. All of the factors dscussed above that affect the traffc capacty of a gven street come under the headng of prevalng roadway condtons. All of these condtons react on the practcal or desgn capacty whch s the maxmum number of vehcles that the street was orgnally developed to carry wthout undue delays or safety hazards. TWENTY-FOUR HOUR CAPACTY OF MAJOR STREETS Desgn Capacty Of Two-way Major Thoroughfare Terms of ADT Number Of Traffc Lanes Wthout Parkng Lanes Plus Two Parkng Lanes f Urban Traffc Hgh volume of cross and turnng traffc, requrng traffc sgnal control 2 4 3, to 6, 6, to 3, 3, to 6, 6, to, Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 4

40 BOROUGH OF MDLAND

41 BOROUGH OF MDLAND BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA TRAFFC VOLUMES *f.."lo B MCHAEL BAKER. JR.. NC CO"S"L!NB LN6*EEs-PLU*E)* *OL*frEl. L**.lrL".*. L E G E N D O.OOO a Oror AVERAGE DALY TRAFFC ADT-966 sourca: Pa. Dapt. of Hghway8 Unt Rood LOO, Dstrct--. July L967 _-

42 The table showng the 24-hour average daly traffc capacty of two. and four-lane urban roads ponts out the nadequaces of the man traffc carres n Mdland. Specfcally, Mdland Avenue s far over capacty. t s estmated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Publc Roads, that a two-lane rural road n rollng terran carryng 75 percent passenger cars can carry 5, vehcles per 24-hour perod. Thus, Farvew Road and Murphy Hll Road and ther outlyng connectons wll reman adequate through the next ten-year perod. Yet, n the case of Pa. 68 and L.R. 48, the assumpton that the roads were orgnally constructed wth lanes of adequate wdth, satsfactory berms or shoulders and proper vertcle and horzontal algnments s not vald. These two collectors are not over capacty; but the safety, convenence and utlty of the routes s severely lmted by the nadequate orgnal desgn and constructon. The 959 Comprehensve Plan llustrates the rght-of-way wdths and pavement wdths of all Borough streets, Except Mdland Avenue, the rght-of-way wdths are adequate to handle the traffc pattern as establshed. However, accommodaton of the exceptonally large traffc volumes usng Mdland Avenue wll requre modfcaton and restructurng of the traffc pattern and wll necessarly nvolve wdenng and/or relocatng the major traffc carrers. mplementaton of an mproved traffc pattern wll also requre consderaton of the ncreased traffc volumes that wll be travelng through the Borough n the future. Volumes are expected to rse wth the natonally ncreasng rate of vehcular usage, resdental growth, and on a long-term bass, n response to the mproved access to Mdland and Pa. Route 68 from Pttsburgh and the central County area va the proposed thoroughfare connectng the Shppngport Brdge wth the Beaver Valley Expressway at Alquppa. NEGHBORHOOD ANALYSS Ths Neghborhood Analyss, together wth the background studes and the proposed General Development Plan, s desgned to supplement and update the 959 Comprehensve Plan for Mdland Borough. Long-range gudelnes for physcal growth and mprovement were provded n the Comprehensve Plan n the form of recommendatons for housng, utltes, roads, schools, recreaton and fnancng. n updatng the 959 Comprehensve Plan, attenton s drected toward the accomplshments of the nterm ten years, adaptaton of the Plan and ts recommendatons to present condtons, and relatng applcaton of Plan recommendatons to Communty growth and mprovement programs. The Neghborhood Analyss offers a detaled nvestgaton of current housng condtons and why they exst. t s orented beyond the scope of a housng analyss to nclude the socal and economc envronment of each neghborhood n Mdland. t s currently recognzed that physcal condtons have sgnfcant bearng on the qualty of human lfe. Thus, to fully evaluate the resdental envronment requres that a thorough examnaton of communty facltes, soco-economc condtons and nonresdental structural condtons be undertaken and these fndngs correlated wth the structural condtons and characterstcs of the communty housng stock. The nformaton thus derved s used as the prem.m for plannng wholesome lvng envronments that contrbute to the qualty of resdents' lves. Due to the magntude of the several adverse factors that affect Mdland Borough, lttle has been acheved n the areas of expandng the employment base, haltng out-mgraton, retanng an attractve shoppng center and mprovng resdental envronments. Recognton of the need for remedal acton and the avalablty of governmental assstance dctates that the 959 Comprehensve Plan be brought up-todate and orented to the use of modern mprovement and redevelopment technques. By puttng the recommendatons of the Neghborhood Analyss and General Development Plan nto effect, the communty housng stock and overall attractveness of the Borough wll be mproved. n turn, the commercal dstrct wll be stmulated and revtalzed. However, the recommendatons of the orgnal Comprehensve Plan and these two updatng documents are useless untl acton s taken. Only the responsble, long-term efforts of Borough Councl and related governmental bodes can accomplsh the goals of the Plan.

43 Envronmental Analyss - Preparaton for the future well-beng and mprovement of Mdland Borough requres that present condtons be carefully analyzed to reveal the current status of the physcal envronment and the qualty of resdental areas as places to lve. t s not suffcent that only new roads and houses exst; the communty must also offer polce and fre protecton, adequate schools, nearby recreaton areas and medcal facltes. n addton, resdents must also be fnancally capable of determnng ther future and affectng the appearance and lvablty of ther own neghborhood. Mdland has four resdental neghborhoods. The ndvdual problems and nadequaces found wthn them wll precptate the mprovements made to reestablsh them as stable, enjoyable envronments. Wthn the four resdental neghborhoods each home s affected by the surroundng homes, and each person s affected by the same pleasurable or negatve nfluences as hs neghbors. Hence, the property owners and resdents n each neghborhood should be nterested n ther mmedate neghborhood and, thus, be able to partcpate n mprovement programs to a smlar degree. By the same token, neghborhood dfferences requre that the respectve needs and shottcomngs of each be met ndvdually n order for the soluton to be satsfactory. - The Neghborhood Analyss dscusson wll nclude the locaton and extent of substandard housng, causatve factors of blght, characterstcs of the famles affected by poor housng, nonresdental structural condtons, the affects of the nonresdental buldngs on the surroundng homes, and the adequacy and mpact of communty facltes n each neghborhood. Correctve steps wll then be enumerated n the form of a Housng Plan. To make the Housr g Plan fnancally feasble, aroposals wll be made for the use of governmental assstance programs and prvate nvexment n the communty. Neghborhood Delneators - n order to evaluate Borough data as t apples to the ndvdual neghborhoods, fve specfc plannng neghborhoods have been delneated accordng to a smlarty of housng types, housng condtons, the lmted area n whch small chldren wll travel to play and the area wthn whch adults are generally related socally and economcally. The neghborhoods descrbed wll also be used for other purposes of analyss and plannng throughout the General Development Plan. Because neghborhoods were not determned n the 959 Comprehensve Plan, ther use wll result n a refnement and localzaton of early recommendatons as well as an updatng of them. Neghborhood s located northeast of the Penn-Central Ralroad lne, and t ncludes the area bordered by Eghth Street and the new elementary school property n the Borough park on the west and the Borough lmts along the northern and eastern sdes. A total of 24.4 acres are ncluded n Neghborhood. The southern developed porton of the Neghborhood s on land wth lttle slope whle the northern area s largely n slopes consdered too steep for buldng purposes. Neghborhood 2 occupes the central developed porton of the Borough. t s bounded on the south by the Penn-Central Ralroad and extends north to the Borough lmt along Ffth and Eghth Streets. The majorty of the newly developed elementary school property on the hllsde s ncluded n the 8.8 acres. The Borough park and school propertes are largely on qute steep terran. Neghborhood 3 takes n all of the remanng housng and commercal outlets from Ffth Street on the east along the Penn- Central Ralroad west to the end of resdental development on Pa. 68, north to Farvew Road, east to Frst Street and then north to the Borough lmts. The steep hllsde north of the Borough contnues through ths Neghborhood. Slopes that can be used only cautously for resdental purposes characterze most of the area. 46

44 Neghborhood 4 takes n the remander of western Mdland ncludng the wooded land and housng development at Mdland Heghts and Mdcrest West End Park and the hghway-commercal area are ncluded n the Neghborhood, although the actual resdental area s connected to the Borough proper by the steep Farvew Road. The Central Busness Dstrct (CBD) extendsfrom Fourth and Ffth Streets along Mdland Avenue, from Ffth to Nnth Streets along Wood Lane and from Fourth to Nnth Streets along the length of Ralroad Lane to the south. Land ncluded n the CBD was calculated for land use purposes n the respectve Neghborhoods,2 and 3. Smlarly, the ndustral, commercal and parkng uses along Ralroad Lane are not functonally related to the resdental neghborhood but were ncluded n land use calculatons. Thus for the purposes of the Neghborhood Analyss, only the resdental areas bounded by Wood Lane n Neghborhoods 2 and 3 wll be consdered. An extensve area of flat ground along the rver bank was left when the rver formed ts present bed. The ground s techncally n the flood plan but s protected by Oho Rver flood control measures and s occuped entrely by ndustral actvtes. A dstnct regon s thus created to the south of the PennCentral Ralroad. Ths area consttutes Neghborhood V. Although there s no housng n the area, ths largest dstrct extends the length of the Borough and nfluences the total communty envronment. Adeauacv Of Communtv Facltes And Servces An evaluaton of communty facltes and servces s vtal to the purpose of a Neghborhood Analyss. nadequate or ponexstent servces can generally be drectly correlated to physcal, socal and economc problem areas. n a very pragmatc manner the presence of communty facltes and servces contrbute to the varety, nterest and enjoyment of lvng n a partcular area. Educatonal facltes, recreatonal facltes, utltes, publc buldngs and nsttutons are ncluded n ths revew. Educatonal Facltes - The calber of a communty's educatonal system s frequently a vald ndcator of ts cvc vtalty, health and progressveness. Educaton s the most mportant sngle means of human advancement; and, as such, communty stablty and growth s closely correlated to the qualty of the educatonal system. The reservor of educated, responsble ctzens and personnel assocated wth an educatonal system greatly contrbutes to the effectveness of the local government and offers a source of employment for local resdents. n order to acheve equalty n educatonal opportuntes, school plants should be dstrbuted relatve to the populaton dstrbuton. Nurseres, kndergartens and elementary schools are located on a local neghborhood bass. Junor and senor hgh schools must be accessble from several neghborhoods where they can draw from the larger populaton base requred for ther support. All school facltes should be desgned wth adequate classrooms and n B tasteful style that wll harmonze wth the surroundngs thereby enhancng the surroundng envronment and strengthenng the communty mage. Outdated and substandard buldngs contnue to be neghborhood landmarks but have a substantally detractve effect on the communty mage. Such structures only deter the n-mgraton of new resdents, partcularly ones wth medum and hgher ncomes and encourage the exodus of present resdents. Mdland's educatonal system wll be dscussed n ths Neghborhood Analyss accordng to the mpact of the schools on ther specfc neghborhoods. The Mdland School System serves the entre Borough wth three elementary schools and one junor-senor hgh school. The three elementares are located on Mdland Avenue at Frst Street, Fourth Street and Oho Avenue, and Seventh Street and Oho Avenue. Mdland Junor-Senor Hgh School and the system's admnstratve offces occupy the block between Nnth and Tenth Avenues between Lncoln Park and Mdland Avenue. All of the schools' are over 4 years old havng been constructed n 95, 47

45 , 98, 93 and 926 respectvely. Due to ther age, the structures are generally unnvtng and appear outdated despte school system programs to keep them structurally sound and equpped wth modern furnture, lghtng, equpment and facltes. Further, the elementary schools appear to be crowded on ther stes because of the steep terran. Because each of the schools s n mmedate proxmty to the resdents of the communty, the solaton and aloofness assocated wth many new schools s not a factor. nstead, the three elementary schools provde a needed degree of relef n the hghly developed resdental area. Development west of Eghth Street s very much constraned by the st;ep terran, hence, denstes are hgh and yard space s mnmal. Therefore, the school playgrounds provde much needed recreaton land and break up the settlement pattern; but ther dark exterors, outdated desgns and the lack of effectve landscapng contrbute to the hgh densty and declnng value character of Neghborhoods 2 and 3. Though narrow streets, double parkng and small lots appear to offer lttle open space, the school stes do provde needed recreaton opportuntes and a degree of openness. Note, however, that there are no school buldngs n ether the Mdland Heghts or Hllcrest areas. Due to the avalablty of transportaton facltes and the steepness of topography n the two areas, t s not practcal to construct schools n ether of these areas. Thus, the nconvenence of havng to travel ddwn to Mdland proper n order to use practcally all the basc facltes and servces s faced by the ch!dren as well as the adults of these areas. The result s that chldren from the Heghts lave the dffcult problem of fndng ther own way home f they wsh to partcpate n extracurrcular or after-school actvtes; and the phvscal solaton of the Heghts areas creates a socal solator recognzed by the resdents of Mdland proper as well as present and prospectve resdents of the Heghts a ea. The hgh school buldng s well stuated wthn the Borough so as to be accessble from all ponts. t s protected from the traffc: on Mdland Avenue by tle admnstraton buldng and assocated wth the attractve open space area of Lnco!n Park. Although bult n 926, the hgh school has been carefully mantaned and s well equpped. Because t s assocated wth the recently constructed Admnstratve Buldng and has an uncrowded ste, the effect s one of stablty. The school tself s consdered physcally adequate. Elementary school locatons should offer safety from traffc and health hazards. Frst Street and Fourth Street Schools are on very steep hlls and are surrounded by poor street condtons. The Seventh Street School and the Junor-Senor Hgh School both are on usable terran and are served by adequate streets. Dspersal of the four schools through the Borough results n each area havng a school except for the small number of chldren n the Hllcrest or Mdland Heghts area, but these chldren are close enough to the elementary schools that the bus travel tme lmt of 5 mnutes can be met. The exstng elementary schools wll be replaced by the new Seventh Street Elementary School by 972 whch wll be equally accessble from all parts of the Borough and an asset to the Neghborhood as a publc buldng. Enrollments at the three elementary schools are wthn the recommended capactes but generally below the enrollment number of 25 whch s recornmended as beng necessary for an economcal elementary school operaton. Ths factor, the age and outdated desgn of the schools, mantenance expenses, the nadequate ste szes and steep terran have resulted n the School Board's decson to construct the sngle new elementary school. Addtonal land, north of Vrgna Avenue, wll be used to accommodate adequate recreaton and parkng areas for ths school. Total ste area wll be 27.5 acres ncludng the separate recreaton and parkng facltes. ts recommended capacty wll be 875 students makng t adequate for at least the next ten years. Ths structure wll be an asset to the communty snce t wll have an adequately szed ste, modern desgn and the ste terran has been approprately adapted for use. ts central locaton wthn the Borough should have the effect of wdenng the horzons of neghborhood dentfcaton as perceved by the chldren. Constructon of a modern educatonal 48

46 wth Neghborhood, the hgher densty of development n Neghborhood 2 s further ndcated by the small lots that afford less space for yards around the houses, the presence of double-famly houses and the nonresdental uses that confuse the development pattern. A hgher rato of on-street parkng n Neghborhood 2 further aggravates the scarcty of open space n the Neghborhood. Because these factors of crowdng are not Offset by open space or green areas, the Neghborhood has apprecably less appeal to prospectve property buyers and resdents. The less desrable aspects of the Neghborhood envronment are reflected n lowered property values that are dffcult to offset despte the number or cost of repars and mprovements beng made to the ndvdual propertes. The actve recreatonal areas and passve open space areas n Neghborhood 3 nclude the Fourth Street School playground. the West End playground and the yard space of the Frst Street School. The West End playground was ncluded n land use calculatons for Neghborhood 4 but s so removed from the Mdland Heghts area that t s a functonal part of Neghborhood 3 and s dscussed as such. Approxmately.5 acres s nvolved n the three areas whch provdes adequate recreatonal space for 5 persons. Populaton denstes for the Neghborhood are over 5 persons per acre. The two playgrounds are orented to elementan/ chldren and basketball and baseball playng teenagers. Frst Street School has no equpment but s an open grass area where chldren can play yard games. As n Neghborhood 2, the hgh level of development s substantally unbroken by open space areas. The resultng mpresson of crowdng s substantated by the narrow lots, lack of yard space, the hgh ncdence of double-famly housng and cars lnng both sdes of the streets for lack of garage or other off-street parkng space. The shortage of open space and ts detrmental effect on the envronment are aggravated by the steep terran of the Neghborhood. Wthn Neghborhood 3 mxed commercal and resdental uses extend further beyond Wood Lane than n Neghborhoods and 2. West of Fourth Street, resdental uses extend down to and along Mdland Avenue where the resdents are exposed to the full mpact of the heavy traffc, nose and fumes from Mdland Avenue and the steel plant. The severe lack of resdental amentes n the Mdland Avsnue area s not releved by the presence of the West End Park and Frst Street School snce they are effectvely solated by locaton and terran. t s easy for prospectve resdents and/or property owners to recognze that the area s crowded,for most of the chldren must play on the streets; traffc crculaton s poor due to deadends and steep hlls; and the lbrary, the swmmng pool and most adult, famly and natural recreaton areas are readly accessble only by automoble. The cumulatve result s the reducton of property market values n the Neghborhood whch s generally nhabted by persons who are not economcally capable of choosng a better or more compettve resdental envronment. As n Neghborhood 2, nvestments made n home repars and remodelng do not brng a full return because a comparable publc nvestment has not been made equal to the need for open space, greenery, recreatonal equpment and natural beauty created by the hghdensty development; and more specfcally, the extremely hgh rato of land area coverage. Because more sngle-famly homes were crowded together n Neghborhood 3, n order to provde more housng, more of the land area s covered than when apartment buldngs are constructed on larger lots n order to provde both addtonal housng and the open space yard areas that are desrable. Wthn Neghborhood 4 are three offcal recreatonal areas; they are the Mdland Heghts playground servng youngsters and adults, the Mdcrest playground for chldren and an undeveloped playfeld used for feld games. The total 3.5 acres wll, accordng to the / standard, serve 35 persons. Ths amount s not suffcent to meet the basc requrement. but the envronment of the Neghborhood s not harmed sgnfcantly for the followng reasons. Each of the mult-famly unts s surrounded by open space. The land and the envronment s not crowded by buldngs, automobles or pavement. Commercal uses and ndustral nusance factors do not conflct wth the resdental development, and traffc s controlled so that the nose and speed of autos are not hazardous or annoyng. Thus, whle the overall attractveness of the Neghborhood could be upgraded by the provson of adequate recreatonal facltes for all age groups, the powers of orgnal desgn, control over development and upkeep possessed by the two assocatons serve to protect the open qualty of the envronment.

47 faclty wll also make t possble for an expanded emphass to be placed on advanced methods and specalzed facltes that wll beneft all the students. However, reuse of the Frst and Fourth Streets School stes for nonschool and recreatonal purposes could elmnate the only recreatonal facltes avalable to chldren n Neghborhoods 2 and 3. n effect, the balance of communty and recreatonal facltes n the communty wll be shfted further toward Neghborhood. Abandonment of the Frst Street and Fourth Street schools wll have the effect of further alenatng the resdents of Neghborhoods 2 and 3 from the school system..! The Junor-Senor Hgh School s wthn seven years of attanng the 5-year lfe span that s average for secondary schools. Although there s a degree of nconvenence n havng the outdoor physcal educaton facltes approxmately two blocks away, and the ste s more accessble to students from eastern Mdland than from western Mdland and the Mdland Heghts area, the dsadvantages are not severe enough to reduce the school's effectveness or status as a communty focal pont. Replacement of the secondary school s thus deemed unnecessary untl ts economc mantenance s no longer feasble. Recreatonal Facltes - Because today's socety s marked by automaton, personal compettveness and emphass on the ndvdual, recreaton plays a vtal role n daly lfe. The value of recreaton les n the opportuntes t offers for dverson, relaxaton, and actve and personal nvolvement. As such, recreaton s benefcal to the physcal welfare of the resdents and necessary for the socal well-beng of the communty. All ' &e groups can.beneft from vared and magnatve recreaton programs, and recreatonal facltes frequently add to the aesthetc appeal of the neghborhoods. Recreaton s a wse nvestment, and the avalablty of facltes s serously consdered to both prospectve ndustres and homeowners. Communtes and neghborhoods wth adequate and a,ppealng recreatonal facltes and open space also have the advantage n retanng resdents. Both actve and passve recreatonal facltes are needed to fulfll the changng recreatonal needs of the varous age groups. Actve facltes nclude ball courts, totlots and playgrounds desgned for physcal actvtes. Passve recreaton areas encompass parks and open areas wth benches, paths and greenery for merely sttng or strollng; and grandstands are set up for the vewers of sports events. t s notable that a relaxng mpresson of pleasantness and well-beng s ntroduced to resdental and commercal areas where the quet dverson of quet, green areas s possble. Wthn Neghborhood a full range of recreatonal facltes, both actve and passve, for all ages and famly groups s mmedately avalable. Approxmately 26.8 acres of land provded partally by the Borough and partally by the School Board are dspersed throughout Neghborhood. Accordng to the standard of one acre per hundred people, the facltes are suffcent for 2,68 persons. These facltes, assocated wth the relatvely wde streets and suffcently szed sde and backyards of predomnantly sngle-famly homes, help bolster and protect the establshed poperty values of Neghborhood by varyng the land use pattern, lowerng development denstes and makng t mmedately possble to enjoy the dverson of recreatonal facltes. Convenences and attractve features such as these uphold the qualty and desrablty of ths resdental neghborhood even though the structural qualty of the homes may gradually deterorate as a result of the homes averagng more than 4 years n age. Neghborhood 2 ncludes the area from Eghth to Ffth Street and s served only by the recreatonal equpment provded by the School Board at the Seventh Street School. Ths playground s centrally located wthn the Neghborhood except for persons lvng along or below Wood Lane. t s equpped for use by elementary chldren and can be used by teenagers for basketball. The recreatonal facltes of the new elementary school wll be nearby but north of Vrgna Avenue and less accessble to the major porton of Neghborhood resdents. At present, the recreatonal acreage s suffcent for 5 persons. The only passve recreatonal faclw that s readly accessble to Neghborhood 2 resdents s Lncoln Park n Neghborhood. Throughout the entrety of Neghborhood 2 there are no open space areas to dversfy or break up the pattern of development. n contrast 49

48 ! l Neghborhood 5 contans a sngle recreaton area whch serves resdents from the entre Borough. Because Crucble Park s farly dstant from the focus of Neghborhood, t cannot be sad to contrbute to the envronmental qualty of that Neghborhood. However, the presence of the Crucble Park adjacent to Neghborhood does prevent the Neghborhood from beng subjected to the same degree of nose, smoke, fumes and dust that affect Neghborhoods 2 and 3. n partcular, the apartments and houses along Mdland Avenue and Ralroad Lane are the most serously affectxl by the pall emanatng from the ndustral area. Throughout the busness dstrct and ndustral area, only the greenery and landscapng at the post offce exst to soften and add nterest to the expanse of concrete and buldngs. Today t s well recognzed that attractve surroundngs ncrease productvty and busness values n commercal and ndustral areas. Mdland, however, contnues to be somewhat domnated by the steel plant wth ts problem of smoke and drt. Ths contrbutes to the sense of crowdng and closeness n the neghborhoods, thus, ntensfyng the need for open spaces, trees and recreatonal areas. Makng the employment area of the communty attractve would tend to ntegrate the workng and nonworkng hours of the resdents. By relevng the mllaented aspect of lfe n Mdland, the Borough s attractveness as a place of resdence would be ncreased. From ths vew, t s apparent that an expanson and wder dstrbuton of recreatonal facltes s greatly needed to mprove envronmental condtons. n addton to expandng the recreatonal acreage, specfc facltes desgned for use by partcular age groups must be establshed. Recommendatons concernng partcular stes and the recreatonal program wll be made n the Development Plan. Wthn the focus of analyzng the neghborhood envronment, however, t s ndcated that Neghborhoods 2 and 3 are the least affected by nadequate recreatonal facltes. Utltes - Good qualty utlty servce and envronmental qualty n neghborhoods are drectly related, for the health and welfare of the resdents s dependent on sound utlty systems. Neghborhoods havng poor water servce are subject to ncreased fre hazards as well as nconvenence. Poor sewage systems are a health hazard and can dsfgure the neghborhood wth puddles, cellar water and eroson. Publc water servce s avalable throughout each of the neghborhoods. The low water pressure areas that exsted have been remeded by the nstallaton of larger waterlnes and the addton of water storage tanks. Fre hydrants are well dstrbuted throughout the Borough and checked perodcally so that adequate supples of water and pressure are avalable for fre protecton. Effcent collecton of santary and storm water wastes has been mproved by funnelng all the storm drans possble nto the storm sewers. These sewers are adequate to handle large volumes of runoff. Thus, backup on streets and n cellars s avoded. Publc Buldngs and nsttutons - The basc purpose of muncpal government s to provde publc servces and nsttutons for ts ctzenry. To be effectve, publc buldngs should be so located as to offer complete neghborhood and general communty servces wth the greatest convenence for all resdents wth the least amount of duplcaton. They must also be desgned and mantaned n a manner contrbutng to the communty s mage dnce they are frequently a focal pont of communty lfe. Muncpal Buldng: The Mdland Borough Muncpal Buldng s well stuated n the busness dstrct near Eghth Street. t was bult n 96 and repared between 953 and 956. The structure s n sound condton and reflectve of the organzatons and stablty that s characterstc of the Borough. Housed at ths central locaton are the admnstratve offces, polce, jal and volunteer fre company. The nteror facltes for these offces are adequate. The requrement of ready egress for fretrucks consumes the major porton of the parkng area, and lttle room s left for employee and polce parkng. Vstors to the Borough Buldng must, therefore, use on-street parkng. n that muncpal buldngs exst to serve the resdents, the lack of parkng space s adefnte hndrance to full utlzaton of the faclty by ctzens. 5

49 Post Offce: Federal postal facltes are housed next to the Muncpal Buldng. The offce was bult n 938 and presents a well kept up appearance due to careful mantenance. Lke the Borough Buldng, the post offce has no publc parkng area, and ths greatly reduces the convenence factor normally assocated wth a post offce. The ste of the post offce s landscaped wth flowers, trees and grass; and, as such, t and the hgh school offer the only areas of natural beauty and attractve open space that exst along the Mdland Avenue busness dstrct. All mal n the Borough s delvered by carrer. Hence, the servce offered s at an acceptable level, although the solaton of Mdland Heghts requres resdents of that area to make specal trps by car to buy Ramps and mal packages, etc., whch s an addtonal nconvenence for them. Publc Lbrary: An attractve stone buldng across Park Place West from Lncoln Park and Mdland Hgh School houses the Carnege Free Lbrary. The second floor of the buldng s used for the publc lbrary, and the ground floor s used for the school lbrary. Ths ste s well suted for the school lbrary, however, the publc lbrary s relatvely dstant from Neghborhoods 3 and 4. Normally requred servces are adequately provded by the lbrary wth specal &vces beng avalable through nterlbrary loan servce. The 959 Comprehensve Plan contans a proposal for a branch lbrary n the Mdland Hegh:s area. mplementaton of ths proposal would have broken the pattern that has concentrated the Borough cultural and recreatonal facltes n Neghborhood. Locaton requrements for a publc lbrary emphasze pedestran accessblty and proxmty to shoppng and busness areas. The present ste of the publc lbrary s wthn the range of resdents of Neghborhoods and 2, but resdents of Neghborhoods 3 and 4 must make specal trps to use the lbrary. Also, the ste s not close enough to the shoppng area to encourage combnaton shoppng and lbrary trps whch, generally speakng, are made by most adults usng lbrares. Utlty Buldngs: The Water Authorty Plant, stuated south of Mdland Avenue, has a modern functonal appearance and s an asset to the area of nondescrpt commercal and ndustral structures. The buldng and treatment plant are adequate, and off-street parkng s avalable for employees and vstors. The Muncpal Garage s a cement block buldng. n 956, an addton was added to house the garbage truck makng t adequate for Borough storage requrements. Part of the structure s used by the Water Authorty whch does place a stran on the space avalable. ts locaton along Ralroad Lane s well suted for the purpose of housng Borough street and garbage equpment. Fre Staton Number Two s a cement block buldng centrally located n Mdland Heghts. The appearance of the staton contrbutes lttle to the surroundng resdental envronment. t does, however, serve a defnte need snce the ntervenng dstance and road condtons prevent the Number One Staton from provdng needed fre protecton. Resdent Soco-Economc Condtons Whle hgh ncomes generally permt famles a wder choce of resdental envronments, hstorcally n Mdland, very lttle emphass has been placed on the qualty of the envronment n whch houses are constructed. As a result of ths stuaton, the qualty of envronments n urban areas s largely proportonal to the ncome levels of each area. Ths pattern tends to renforce and compound tself for poor envronmental qualtes, put a celng on property values and lmt the reasonable nvestment that can be made n home mprovements. Hence, famles - wth rsng ncomes that permt moblty wll move nto areas wth better envronments; whereas, famles that cannot afford to move out, and n many cases cannot afford to repar and mprove ther homes, reman n poor envronmental areas. Ths lack of housng mprovements, the structural deteroraton whch accompanes t and the nadequate constructon of housng for lower ncome markets gradually contrbutes to the poor envronmental qualty of the area. 52

50 The nadequaces of the envronments n each of the four resdental neghborhoods n Mdland have been revewed above. Succeedng sectons revew the soco-economc characterstcs of the neghborhood resdents n order to determne the correctve actons that need to be taken n order to offset the trends n exstence. Famly lncomes - The sze of the famly ncome s a sgnfcant factor n determnng f the famly wll be able to afford to buy or rent a home of adequate sze, that s n sound condton, has yard and parkng space and that has playgrounds, schools, muncpal servces and stores wthn a convenent dstance. The sze and adequacy of the famly ncome also affects the famly's ablty to make repars necessary to mantan the house n sound condton. The famly ncome level, however, s not a completely vald ndex of the qualty or sound condton of housng. Below s a Famly ncome Dstrbuton Table. - FAMLY NCOME DSTRBUTON TABLE MDLAND BOROUGH ncome Number Percent Number Percent Under $, $,-$, $2,-$2, $3,-$3, $4,-$4, $5:-$5, $6,-$6, $7,-$9, $, and Above Not Reported 4.4 Medan $2,89 $4,92 Source: 95 and 96 U.S. Census of Economc Characterstcs; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Durng the decade of the 95s, medan ncomes n Mdland Borough rose $2, and a sgnfcantly larger percentage of famles began earnng above the $4, level. The 96s have also been a perod of natonal economc expanson. Hence, t s antcpated that ncome levels have contnued to rse and that a sgnfcant porton of these ncreases s attrbutable to nflaton. Although the ncome levels for 97 are not avalable, the Socal Securty Admnstraton determned that n 969, a famly of four must earn above $3,553 to exceed the poverty level. n estmatng the percentage of low-ncome famles n the Borough, t s recognzed that the populaton has contnued to drop,due to the out-mgraton of prmarly the young adults and hgher nccme famles. As a result, the proporton of lower ncome famles remanng n the Borough s ncreased. Thus, t s estmated that approxmately 5 percent of the Borough's famles have ncomes below $4, n 97. t s also notable that n 96 approxmately 6 percent of the famles had ncomes of less than $6,. Between 95 and 96, the cost of lvng ndex rose 22 ponts. Durng the 96 and 969 perod, the ndex rose 23 ponts ndcatng that the average ncome n 97 would have to be approxmately $8,5 to mantan the status quo. Thus, despte the escalaton of ncomes durng the 96s, the reduced buyng power of the 97 dollar can be expected to make t dffcult for homeowners to provde adequate mantenance and make mprovements to ther propertes. Renter famles are not generally responsble for repars, yet, restrctve ncomes lmt the qualty of rental unts that can 53

51 be afforded. Often, where mantenance standards are not legally enforced, the poor must lve n unts that are substandard at the outset. Allevaton of the problem of lmted sound housng supples through constructon of housng n Mdland Heghts, Mdcrest and Hllcrest wll be dscussed n the Occupancy and Vacancy Secton. Educatonal Attanment - Levels of educatonal attanment by Borough resdents s a factor related to the ncome levels. The dstrbuton accordng to the number of years of educaton attaned by persons over 25 years of age s shown on the table of Educatonal Attanment. EDUCATONAL ATTANMENT 95 Persons Over Persons Over 25 Category Number Percent Number Percent No School -4 5 and College -3 College ,76 3,587 Medan 8.7 Years 9.3 Years Source: 95 and 96 U.S. Census of Populaton; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr.. nc. Between 95 and 96, the medan levels of attanment rose by half of one grade level. Because there were fewer correspondents n 96 than n 95, t s possble that a number of less well-educated people moved from the Borough. However, the death of older resdents durng the perod s consdered to be the most nfluental factor for ths change. Snce 96, the mpact of compulsory educaton s expected to have rased the average level of educatonal attanment as have the school programs of adult educaton and the avalablty of the expanded college facltes n the County. Educatonal levels are mentoned here because earnng power s largely related to the ndvdual's educatonal achevement level. Labor hrng practces tend to offset ths to a degree, however, a rsng educatonal level generally ndcates an ncreasng earnng power not dscernble n rsng ncome fgures whch may only reflect nflatonary ncreases. Realzaton of an amplfed earnng power s sgnfcant because t generally makes mproved lvng condtons and repars more readly affordable. As such, ths may be a factor contrbutng to rn proved housng condtons. Neghborhood Housng Characterstcs Housng characterstcs frequently ndcate adverse soco-economc and housng condtons, and knowledge of ther nterrelatonshps reveals factors that have contrbuted to the status of the current housng market and ndcates future housng needs. L 54

52 The followng sectons revew data and the mplcatons of housng occupancy, housng values, the age of the housng and the adequacy of housng n terms of rooms and equpment. Housng Occupancy - Resdental unts are ether owner-occuped, renter-occuped or vacant. Avalable data on the occuped unts s presented on the table of Housng Characterstcs Of Occuped Unts. HOUSNG CHARACTERSTCS OF OCCUPED UNTS MDLAND BOROUGH -7! Percent Percent Percent Of Total Category Whte Occuped Nonwhte Occuped Total Unts Occupancy Status - 96 Owner Occuped , Renter Occuped TOTAL, ,83 Occupancy Status - 95 Owner Occuped Renter Occuped TO TA L,42 9,592 - Source: 95 and 96 U.S. Census of Housng; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc.!! Owner-Occuped: A hgh rate of owner-occupancy s usually found n conjuncton wth sound condtons. Ths stems from the care and mantenance that owners gve ther homes because of ther nvestment n t, the legal and fnancal tes. Homeowners also have stable and relatvely substantal ncomes that permt the purchase of homes and underwrte ther mantenance. U.S. Census of 96 fgures for the Borough show that 55.9 percent of the unts were owner-occuped. Ths s below the natonal average of 62 perceht. The fgure s prmarly swayed by the rental unts of Mdcrest, Mdland Heghts and Hllcrest.. The majorty of housng n Mdland was constructed by prvate developers (excludng Mdland Heghts, Mdcrest and Hllcrest) although a sgnfcant proporton was constructed by the Crucble Steel Company. Pror to the 94s much of the steel company housng was for rental only. After that tme, the housng was made avalable for sale. Between 95 and 96, the percentage of houses occuped by owners rose by fve percent, and an addtonal 27 unts were constructed or purchased for owner occupancy. Ths may be consdered ndcatve of an ncreasng fnancal capacty of Mdland resdents to afford homeownenhp. Durng the-95's. the number of homes owned by nonwhtes rose from 92 to 22. However, the rate of nonwhte homeownershp among all the occuped Borough resdences showed a mnmal ncrease from 5.7 percent to 6.6 percent n 96. The mpact of ths declne s partcularly sgnfcant n vew of the fact that the nonwhte percentage of the populaton rose from 2.6 percent to 7.6 percent. Ths stuaton may be a result of the tght housng market n Mdland whch forces the prce of housng up, reducng the number of nonwhtes who can afford homeownershp..- 55

53 Snce 96, ndvdual homes have been constructed n Mdland, but the number has not been sgnfcant. However, the populaton declne s expected to have softened the housng market, potentally allowng an ncreased number of famles to purchase homes. Ths s partcularly desrable because of the stablzng nfluence on the neghborhoods and because homeowners are frequently n a much better fnancal poston to provde necessary mantenance than are landlords. Partcularly as dwellngs ncrease n age, owners are n a better poston to properly mantan ther homes snce the proft motve s not a constant factor and owner resdents usually practce preventatve mantenance. Renter-Occuped: Rental unts are a necessary part of the housng market. Not only are they utlzed for young couples and famles whle they accumulate home purchasng funds but they accommodate sngle adults, persons not wshng to purchase homes and allow elderly persons who can no longer afford homeownershp or no longer wsh to mantan a home. Between 95 and 96, an addtonal 24 dwellng unts were constructed n Mdland. Wthn the total supply of housng an addtonal 33 rental unts were establshed. All of the rental unts n Mdland are for use by the low- and mddle-ncome market. Approxmately half of the rental housng facltes are beyond the man townste n Mdland Heghts, Mdcrest and Hllcrest. The County Housng Authorty rents and mantans the 332 unts n Mdland Heghts and Mdcrest. Hllcrest Manor s a prvately rented and mantaned faclty of 85 unts. The remanng half of the rental housng s dspersed throughout the man townste wth 85 unts of mddle-ncome prvate housng at the Mdland Apartments. A number of rental unts are avalable n the duplex housng along Sprng Lane, and numerous apartments are located above the commercal outlets along Mdland Avenue. The onus of poor physcal or structural condtons has frequently been assocated wth rental housng n the past. Such condtons have generally been attrbuted to mproper treatment by tenants. Lttle attenton was gven to the fact that low- and mddle-ncome rental unts were frequently constructed of low-qualty materals n order to keep down the cost or that rental unts are often old apartments and houses that had been constructed soundly but are sufferng due to age and a gradual deteroraton. Rentals that can be afforded by low- and mddle-ncome tenants do not cover the upkeep, proft and tax expenses, hence, upkeep s neglected. Enforcement of a housng code requrng mantenance of all housng n sound condton s one means of nsurng proper mnmal mantenance, however, such costs mght remove rental unts from the market. As experence has shown n Mdland, constructon of rental housng through the County Housng Authorty or a Federally aded fnancng program s one of the few means avalable for constructon of adequate low- and mddle-ncome rental housng. The supply of housng expanded durng the 95 s. however, large-scale projects have not been constructed snce 949 and nearly all new rental unts were prevously owner-occuped unts. The bulk of new constructon has been n the form of sngle- famly, owner-occuped unts from the 95 s through 97. Hence, the pattern of occupancy and supply that developed through the 95 s s expected to have contnued through the 96 s. However, between 95 and 96 a potentally problematc pattern was establshed. t was noted above that the nonwhte porton of the Borough populaton rose from 2.6 percent to 7.6.percent of the total, but the rate of nonwhte homeownershp dd not rse proportonally. nstead, the nonwhte famles are becomng concentrated n rental housng. Durng the 95 s the percentage of nonwhte occuped unts among the total n the Borough rose from 6. percent to 8.8 percent. Among the rental unts the nonwhte rental occupancy level rose from 2.6 percent to 2 percent. 56

54 nstead of beng evenly dspersed through the communty housng market, nonwhtes are largely concentrated n the rental unts. The preponderance of rental facltes n the solated areas of Mdland Heghts and Mdcrest results n concentratons of nonwhtes n these areas. n that the percentage of total unts occuped by whtes fell durng the 95 s. t s assumed that the more economcally and socally moble whtes moved out of the Borough. Allevaton of some pressures on the housng market may permt nonwhtes mproved access to sound housng throughout the Borough. Dspersal of purchase and rental housng throughout the Borough s necessary to nsure the equal provson and accessblty of servces and facltes to all groups and famles. The present concentraton of rental facltes n the hlltop areas solated by topography and dstance should not be extended snce provson of the servces and facltes needed there s qute costly and consequently unlkely. The hlltop locaton of the majorty of rental unts s qute nconvenent and gves house and apartment owners n the man townste a slght sales advantage. Therefore, t s desrable to plan for the locaton of future rental unts where they are accessble to enable the resdents to partcpate fully n the actvtes and programs wthn the communty. The table of Housng Characterstcs ncludes nformaton on vacances, housng values and the age of housng. HOUSNG CHARACTERSTCS MDLAND BOROUGH ~ Category Number Percent Number Percent Vacances Avalable Vacant Unavalable Vacant Total Vacant Housng Values Under $5, $5,-$9,999 $,-$4,999 $5,-$9,999 $2, and above Rental Values Under $2 $2-$39 $4-$59 $6-$79 $8-$99 $loo-$l9 $2 and above * * Age of Housng 939 or before Total, , ,988,6 * 95 Census groupngs Source: 95 and 96 US. Census of Housng; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc.

55 Vacant Propertes: Vacant housng can be ndcatve of several factors. A sgnfcant number may ndcate no demand for housng, serous out-mgraton wthout compensatory n-mgraton, or the type or condton of avalable housng s not desred or ft for use by any partcular group. The average vacancy rate ncreased from.25 percent n 94 to.38 percent n 95. These fgures reflect the very lght housng market that normally accompanes a growng populaton. However, durng the 95s approxmately addtonal rental unts were constructed n Hllcrest and ncludng the addtonal sngle-famly unts that were constructed, a total of 289 unts were added to the housng market. Durng ths same decade, Mdland ncurred ts frst populaton loss equalng one percent of the populaton as compared wth a housng supply ncrease of 5 percent. The surplus resulted n an ncreased vacancy rate of approxmately 5.7 percent n 96 and an 8 percent decrease n the average populaton per unt from 4.5 persons n 95 to 3.2 persons per unt n 96. Examnaton of area US. Census data for 96 shows that the vacances occurred throughout the Borough, however, the greatest concentratons exsted n Neghborhoods and 2, where houses, converson apartments and storefront apartments are the predomnate form of housng on the market. Very few of the vacances were sale unts. nstead rental unts, whch tradtonally have a hgher turnover rate than houses and can be sgnfcantly affected by perodc changes n the local economy and labor force, comprsed the majorty of vacances. Current fgures are not avalable to fully update the 96 Census fgures on vacancy rates to 97. Durng the 96's the populaton declned 9 percent. Housng constructon was mnmal due to the scarcty of buldable land and the tendency of persons buldng homes to move to the outlyng Townshps. Some houses were demolshed by the Borough's program to elmnate dlapdated structures and due to road constructon n the Borough. Much of the populaton loss n the Borough s projected to have occurred n the young adult groups causng a further drop n the average number of persons per unt, but not causng a sgnfcant ncrease n the number of vacant unts snce many young adults leave before establshng separate households. Data on rented sngle-famly houses and converson apartments through the man townste s extremely lmted. However, nformaton from communty rental agences and the Mdland Heghts Homes Assocaton ndcates that the vacancy rate of Mdcrest. Mdland Heghts, Mdland Apartments and Hllcrest has fallen consstently snce 967. The Homes Assocaton currently has a percent occupancy rate, the Mdland Apartments mantan an average percent occupancy, the Hllcrest Apartments now average approxmately fve percent vacancy rate whle the Mdcrest housng had a 7 percent vacancy rate for the fscal year of 969, however, ths too fell from 3 percent n fscal 968. Many of the rental unts n Mdland are now beng occuped by constructon workers on the Shppngport project so that a future rse n vacancy rates can be antcpated. The currently low vacancy rate s also partally due to the Natonally and locally ncreased need for adequate housng that s low or moderately prced. Ths s partcularly true of young couples, senor ctzens, famles wth a female head of household and famles whose ncome may not rse n proporton to the current rate of nflaton.! Housng Values - Property values and the rents pad on propertes reflect market and structural condtons except n the case of dwellng unts operated by the County Housng Authorty. The U.S. Census fgures from 95 and 96 show an apparent ncrease of values. Ths s partally true snce housng ncreases n value f t has not deterorated structurally or s not n an envronmentally deteroratng neghborhood. However, a porton of the value ncrease s a result of nflaton. t s antcpated that at least a parallel ncrease n values should have occurred durng the 96's. 58

56 Age Of Housng - The age fgures are useful n determnng the amount of housng that has been constructed durng the ten-year perod. Data for 95 and 96 reveals a sgnfcant amount of constructon durng the 95's, whle approxmately 89 unts were destroyed durng that same perod. Durng the 96's, 7 percent fewer houses were constructed prmarly due to the lack of buldable land. Resdental Condtons - The structural condton of a dwellng unt ndcates ts ablty to provde the nhabtants wth adequate shelter and the facltes necessary for healthful santaton, heatng and food preparaton. Structural condtons have a heavy bearng on the tax base of the communty and thus are mportant to the ndvdual resdents and to the communty admnstraton. However, the reasons for substandard or poor structural condtons are complex, snce they are affected by the occupancy status, age, orgnal constructon, the ncome and values of the occupants, the condton of the local housng market, the Natonal economy, the method of taxaton and the nvestment or lack of nvestment made by the local communty government. The complexty of the stuaton precludes the applcaton of smple solutons. Substandard condtons cannot be elmnated or prevented by requrng, for example, that all rental unts be sold to the occupants. Rather, the communty government must commt tself to usng all the programs and approaches at ts dsposal, both to act on ts own and to encourage prvate acton to brng about mproved condtons. Statstcs from the 95 and 96 Census perods for resdental condtons are not cornparable except for the ncdence of dlapdaton. n 95, approxmately 73 unts amountng to percent of the housng were dlapdated. By 96, ths fgure had dropped to 53 dwellng unts, equalng approxmately 2.7 percent of the housng. t s antcpated that 97 U.S. Census data wll ndcate at least a percentage of dlapdaton comparable to that of 96 whch revealed that 82.6 percent of the housng was consdered sound and 9.7 percent was classfed as deteroratng. Durng the summer of 969, an exteror survey of the structures n Mdland was made. Data resultng from the survey cannot be used to accurately update US. Census data but s comparable on a general bass. Survey data relates prmarly to the mpact exteror condtons have on the envronmental qualty and desrablty of the neghborhood. n summary, approxmately 4.9 percent of the 973 total structures surveyed were dlapdated; 26.9 percent or 262 structures were n the state of deteroraton; and 68.2 percent or 663 resdental structures were n sound condton. The effect of countng structures rather than unts s obvous n Neghborhood 4, where there are 77 mult-famly structures contanng an average of four unts whch s not reflected n the percentage dstrbuton. The table of Resdental Structural Condtons presents the structural data accordng to neghborhoods. The ndustral dstrct, Neghborhood 5 contans no housng. As presented n summary form above, the survey ndcated that condtons had not mproved materally durng the 96's, rather that localzed deteroraton s becomng more severe. R ES DEN T AL S TR UC TU R A L CO ND TlONS MDLAND BOROUGH Percent Percent Percent Of Of Of Neghborhood Sound Total Deteroratng Total Dlapdated Total Total Percent Neghborhood Neghborhood Neghborhood Neghborhood Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 59

57 The data shown on the prevous table s vsually llustrated on the Structural Condtons Map. Nonresdental structural condtons are also presented accordng to ther locaton n the Borough. Few double- or mult-famly structures exst n Neghborhood where few substandard unts are found. Hence, the fgures are farly representatve. Deteroraton along Mdland Avenue s the major problem. n Neghborhood 2, houses that need repars but can be restored to sound condton, comprse over one-fourth of the housng stock. Houses that requre substandard nvestment n exteror repars and consdered to be dlapdated are prmarly found along Ralroad and Wood Lanes and Beaver Avenue. Ths area of problem housng extends nto Neghborhood 3 where there are 25 structures that do not appear to be economcally reparable. When condtons exst where exteror repars are badly needed but cannot be readly afforded or wll not return a suffcent proporton of the nvestment t s ndcated by the hgh percentage of deteroraton, e.g., 53.3 percent. n Neghborhood 4, the responsblty retaned by the Housng Authorty for the basc condton of the unts s represented by the lack of fgures on deteroraton. The mpact of substandard exteror condtons on the envronment s readly affparent to anyone vstng the respectve neghborhoods. However, severely substandard exteror condtons may also be strongly ndcatve of nteror structural nadequaces. Further, the numerous mnor defects that must be present to ndcate deteroraton can readly combne so as to result n severely hazardous housng for the occupants. The need for mproved condtons n both Neghborhoods 2 and 3 s thus apparent. Underlyng causes for deteroraton and dlapdaton are dscussed under Characterstcs Of Famles n Substandard Housng. Neghborhood Nonresdental Structural Condtons There are a number of nonresdental structures wthn the Borough n varyng condtons, but as part of the communty they have a decded effect on ts appearance and envronment. When mxed wthn resdental areas, commercal structures tend to have a detrmental effect, partcularly when they are n deterorated or dlapdated condton. n ths analyss, the category of mxed resdental-commercal structures wll be consdered as nonresdental land uses. Such structures generally contan one or more resdences and some commercal operaton. The same evaluaton system used for the survey of resdental structures has been utlzed for the nonresdental structures. Neghborhood - The large majorty of nonresdental structures n Neghborhood are wthn the central busness dstrct (CBD). Central Busness Dstrct uses extend west from Nnth Street along Mdland Avenue; ndustral and warehouse uses extend along Ralroad Lane; and hghway uses extend along the southern sde of Mdland Avenue from Tenth Street to 2th Street. The hgh school faclty and Mdland Apartments that face Mdland Avenue serve as buffers between the Mdland Avenue commercal uses and the resdental porton of Neghborhood. Wthn the predomnantly commerca! area along Mdland Avenue, the nonresdental structures are largely n good condton. (See the Nonresdental Structural Condtons Table.) The only resdences of the Neghborhood adversely affected are those apartments above commercal establshments and the homes along southern Mdland Avenue. However, the lack of resdental amentes facng persons lvng theren stems from the napproprate locaton of the houses.! The presence of four deteroratng nonresdental structures along Mdland Avenue s not serously detrmental to the overall envronment; rather they are ndcatve of a weak commercal clmate n the Borough. Ths s substantated by the fact that commercal uses have not taken over the ntersperced resdental propertes. 6

58 BOROUGH OF MDLAND BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA STRUCTURAL CON DlTlONS -.- 4,o 37 MCHAEL BAKER. JR., NC S"~"LNG EN:lNEE95-?L**ER "OC*C,L.."*PL,.*. /. ' / /' /' '\! L E G E N D RESOENTAL n SOUNO DETERORATNG m OLAPOATEO NON-RESOENTAL m

59 - - J NONRESDENTAL STRUCTURAL CONDl TlONS Sound Deteroratng Dlapdated Total Neghborhood Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Neghborhood Neghborhood Neghborhood Neghborhood Total Note: CBD structures are ncluded n the ndvdual neghborhoods. Source: Feld Survey - Summer, 969; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. Wthn the resdental porton of Neghborhood, only publc and sem-publc buldngs ncludng a church, swmmng pool, school and lbrary exst as nonresdental buldngs. These are all n sound condton and assocated wth suffcent parkng so as to be assets to the resdental envronment. Neghborhood 2 - Between Ffth and Eghth Streets there s an ncreasng prevalence of commercal uses and mxed uses north of Wood Lane. Wthn the CBD along Mdland Avenue, the resdents of the second and thrd floor apartments are faced wth the problems of parkng, fumes, nose and lghts as are those n Neghborhood. But practcally speakng, these are self-nduced problems that can only be allevated wth a supply of compettvely prced housng n an attractve area. n contrast, the ntroducton of commercal actvtes nto the resdental area above Wood Lane s lsted n substandard condton. Establshment of stores, servces and off ces n ths Neghborhood, where parkng s already crtcal, causes the resdents addtonal nconvenence. ntruson of such uses and the assocated problems of parkng, nadequate remodelng, storage, ltter and lghts has the effect of devaluatng the market prce of adjacent propertes. The publc and sem-publc uses n Neghborhood 2 are churches and schools; all of whch are n sound condton. Due to the proxmty of buldngs n the Neghborhood and the heavy demands placed on the avalable parkng spaces, the churches probably have a mldly detractve effect on the neghborng housng values. Some prospectve buyers may not apprecate the musc of church servces and the loss of ther prvacy to persons gatherng outsde the churches before and after servces. However, the churches would have lttle mpact on the overall qualty of the Neghborhood f the fabrc were not already serously straned by the presence of mxed and commercal uses. Neghborhood 3 - Nonresdental structural condtons are most nfluental n Neghborhood 3. Commercal CBD uses are restrcted to the southern sde of Mdland Avenue between Fourth and Ffth Streets. Wthn ths area a large percentage of deteroraton exsts. Ths s detrmental to the houses and other buldngs on the block, and the number of vacances reflect the economc stagnaton and contrbute to t by makng the area less appealng... n contrast to the nonresdental structures along Mdland Avenue n Neghborhood, those n Neghborhood 4 are largely deteroratng and are heavly ntermxed wth houses. Both types of usesface Mdland Avenue and are subject to the assocated nose, fumes and parkng problems. Whle the deteroraton of the commercal buldngs s largely due to the declne of busness n the area, the resultant shabbness strongly reflects on the adjacent houses. North of Mdland Avenue relatvely few nonresdental buldngs of a commercal nature have been establshed. Whle havng a grocery store mmedately accessble n the Oho Avenue area s a convenence, the detractve factor dscussed n Neghborhood 2 stll exsts. Further, the blght-nducng characterstcs of these scattered nonresdental uses s compounded by the fact that 32 of the substandard structures are adjacent to substandard resdental structures. 63

60 Neghborhood 4 - The rental offce, communty hall, fre staton and mantenance garage n Mdland Heghts and Mdcrest are n sound condton. The mantenance garage would be better stuated on a more solated spot; but n general, these are necessary auxlary buldngs. Rather than beng detractve, they wll support the qualty of the envronment as long as they are carefully and attractvely mantaned. Characterstcs Of Famles n Substandard Housncl Envronmental qualty n a resdental neghborhood s determned by the structural condton of houses and nonresdental buldngs and the presence of amentes such as street trees, adequate street lghtng, sdewalks n good repar, nearby recreaton facltes, good schools, etc. The types and condton of houses reflect the lfe styles and socal values that predomnate n a gven communty. Havng a hgh ncome s an accepted goal n Amercan lfe as s the ownershp of a larger, better equpped house on a large lot. Although a certan percentage of the populaton s not orented toward ths goal, n most nstances, famles lvng n substandard housng do SO because they cannot afford or gan access to sound housng. t s mportant to determne f there are partcular factors or stuatons that need to be modfed so that resdents of substandard houses can ether have ther houses repared or move to sound housng. -- r! j!! To clarfy the partcular factors whch may contrbute to the presence of substandard housng n Mdland, the characterstcs of the famles lvng n substandard housng have been tabulated. At best, such data can only be nterpreted on a general bass. The fndngs wll be useful, however, f the avalable Federal, State and prvate ad programs can be more fully and sutably utlzed. As wth the foregong portons of ths Neghborhood Analyss, emphass s placed on nformaton that wll assst n the ratonal and effectve mprovement of the neghborhoods. The table, Characterstcs Of Famles n Substandard Housng, s dvded accordng to the boundares of Neghborhoods, 2 and 3. Housng n Neghborhood 4 s under the jursdcton of the County Housng Authorty and has been classfed as beng n sound condton. The varous characterstcs were tabulated accordng to whether the housng was deteroratng or dlapdated and whether the famly was nonwhte or whte. Accordng to these categores, nformaton on the dstrbuton of famly szes, ncomes, age of the head of household and educaton of the head of the household was developed n conjuncton wth assocated'data on the number of persons per room, the number of ndvdual dwellng unts n the structure and the occupancy status of the house. These are the most fundamental statstcs upon whch relable, objectve nformator can be obtaned. The bulk of the data was extrapolated from the 96 U.S. Census and updated wth feld surveys and recently collected socal data. Neghborhood - Data on famles lvng n substandard housng n Neghborhood s gven n the frst groupng of fgures on the table. As shown, none of the 22 substandard dwellngs n Neghborhood are occuped by nonwhte famles. Of the total 22 unts, 7 are deteroratng and n need of one or more major repars or numerous mnor repars rather than beng beyond the pont of economc repar. The famles lvng n the fve dlapdated dwellng unts are prmarly older couples havng adequate lvng space. Three of the unts are owned by the occupants who apparently rent out other dwellng unts n ther houses. Because these persons are elderly and have generally suffcent but lmted ncomes, they probably cannot afford to relocate nto sound housng and do not feel themselves to be n suffcently dre crcumstances to move nto housng for the elderly that may be avalable elsewhere n the County. n contrast, the deteroratng houses are largely sngle-famly homes, owned by the occupants. Whle two of the 7 homes are overcrowded (above. persons per room) the household heads are adequately educated and earn adequate ncomes. Under these crcumstances, t could be assumed that a lack of proper mantenance s the prmary cause of deteroraton. The cost of adequate mantenance may be lost because the market value of the unts s lowered by the poor resdental envronment; ths s partcularly the case n unts along Ralroad Lane. L 64

61 CHARACTERSTCS OF FAMLES LVNG N SUBSTANDARD HOUSNG MDLAND BOROUGH Neghborhood Neghborhood 2 Neghborhood 3 Deteroratng Dlapdated Deteroratng Dlapdated Deteroratng Dlapdated Related Factors Whte Nonwhte Whte Nonwhte Whte Nonwhte Whte Nonwhte Whte Nonwhte Whte Nonwhte Average Famly Sze o Famly ncome Under $2.999 $ $5..$9,999 $lo,ooo and above Medan Age of Head of Household 'm 'V Structures wth: One Unt Two or Three Unts Four or More Unts Persons Per Room.5 or less.5 to to.. or more Educaton Level Less than 8th grade Completed lth grade Completed 2th grade More than Occupancy Status owned Rented B TOTAL Source: 96 US. Census of Housng and Soco-Economc Characterstcs; and Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr.. nc.

62 Neghborhood 2 - Of the 93 substandard unts n Neghborhood 2, 8 are dlapdated and 75 are n the deteroratng stage. Percentage wse, 74 percent of the deteroratng unts are occuped by whtes and 72 percent of the dlapdated unts are occuped by whte famles. The characterstcs of the famles lvng n substandard housng n Neghborhood 2 does not permt the generalzaton that only poor famles lve n unsound homes. As n Neghborhood, factors other than smply low ncomes have bearng on these housng stuatons, partcularly when deteroratng unts are nvolved. The majorty of whte and nonwhte famles have less than two chldren, ncomes over $5, and lve n sngle-famly homes contanng suffcent space to avod overcrowdng. At the same tme, 2 of the famles earn less than $5,, overcrowdng exsts n eght unts, the majorty of household heads dd not complete hgh school and sx have less than eght years of educaton. n many nstances, the lack of hgh school educaton lowers the earnng capacty of the ndvdual and, hence, lowers hs ablty to afford sound housng. However, there are also persons and ther famles earnng over $, and other persons who have attended ether college or a techncal tranng school. These persons may have unusual expenses encumberng thec. vcomes so that they are unable to afford sound housng. Large famles or other partcular housng requreknts also contrbute to ndvdual dffcultes of obtanng sound housng. The fgures on Occupancy Status, when compared wth the Unts n Structure fgures, generally support the assumpton that the sngle-famly homes are owner-occuped, but some are rented and double- and mult-famly unts are rented by the persons lvng n these same dwellngs. Because a market exsts for housng n Mdland and there are no legal standards for housng condtons, unts are allowed to become run down. n that many of the substandard unts are located along Beaver Avenue and over commercal structures along Mdland Avenue, the envronmental condtons are not attractve to persons who can afford to be selectve. Consequently, the return on costly repars s nsuffcent from the nvestment standpont of many owners. Wth partcular regard to the nonwhte famles lvng n the deteroratng housng of Neghborhood 2, a slghtly hgher ncdence of potentally problematc characterstcs exsts. These are factors whch reduce the famles' ablty to compete economcally for sound housng even n nstances when the housng market s open. A percentage comparson ndcates that fewer nonwhte famles earn $, or more annually. Whle the percentage lvng n mult-famly housng and other rentals s hgher, the percentage of overcrowdng s hgher and also the percentage of household heads who dd not complete hgh school s hgher. Although the percentage dfference between the whte and nonwhte groups s relatvely small, t s ndcatve of the addtonal dffcultes faced by nonwhtes n the housng market. The nstances of dlapdaton exstng n Neghborhood 2 prmarly stem from the presence of sngle-person housng unts that are nadequately equpped and cannot be economcally mproved. These unts are prmarly occuped by whte, sngle males. Of the total 8 dlapdated unts, fve or 28 percent are occuped by nonwhte famles. The average famly sze fgure of 23 ndcates that these are generally couples who may be elderly and have few chldren. Neghborhood 3 - n contrast to Neghborhood 2 n whch substandard dwellngs are n large part concentrated along Ralroad Lane, Mdland Avenue and Beaver Avenue, the substandard dwellngs are dspersed throughout Neghborhood 3. Ths reflects a hgher ncdence of house rather than apartment dwellers, famles rather than ndvduals or chldless couples, and the deteroratng affect of poor envronmental condtons. A total of 95 substandard dwellng unts were found to exst n Neghborhood 3. Slghtly over 2 percent or 25 of the total are dlapdated, but the majorty of these are stuated along Mdland Avenue smply ndcatng an extenson of the problematc factors related to substandard housng n Neghborhood 2. Examnaton of the data on deterorated housng reveals a dfferent pattern. As compared wth Neghborhood 2, the nonwhtes lvng n deteroratng housng n Neghborhood 3 have more educaton, earn hgher ncomes and are more frequently homeowners. Whle overcrowdng and the lack of a hgh school dploma s a problem of many nonwhtes, the dstrbuton pattern among all characterstcs s more nearly parallel that of 66

63 the whtes n Neghborhood 3 than n Neghborhood 2. The most comprehensve explanaton of the pattern s that the nonwhte household heads have generally adequate ncomes, have not been barred from the neghborhood housng market and are able to buy or rent housng at affordable levels. Such housng s not always n sound condton or t may deterorate because of overcrowdng and nadequate mantenance. But nteror mprovements are gradually made n many of the unts, and ths procedure s more desrable to the resdents than movng nto publc housng n the sem-solated Mdland Heghts area. Many of the whte occupants of deterorated housng own ther propertes and reman there because of the low sales value of housng located n a weak envronmental area. However, the low sales value also makes owners reluctant to make mprovements n ther homes. Numerous whte and nonwhte famles also reman n deteroratng and dlapdated unts because unts of adequate sze are not avalable n the County Housng Authorty facltes. The overall stuaton ndcates that although a small percentage of famles are unwllng to mantan the structural qualty of ther homes, the majorty of substandard housng resdents are confned by the housng market, lmted ncomes, unusual fnancal burdens or famly szes. Summary Ths Neghborhood Analyss has focused on the ablty of Mdland to meet the varous needs of ts resdents. The purpose s to determne f the provsons made for the safety, santaton, government, educaton, transportaton, recreaton and housng were arranged so that any gven famly could enjoy lvng n any resdental neghborhood. To adequately nterpret the physcal structure, whch s largely a response to socal values, both the physcal nadequaces of the Borough and the soco-economc characterstcs of the resdents were revewed. On a neghborhood bass the Analyss ndcated that the resdental envronment of Neghborhood s supported by hdequate streets kept n good repar; the mmedate accessblty to numerous educatonal, recreatonal and publc servce buldngs; comparatvely low denstes; a lack of nharmonously mxed commercal uses; a hgh rate of homeownershp; a slow market turnover; and consstent and adequate employment of household heads. The orgnal structure of Neghborhood 2 has changed lttle snce ts constructon. The orgnal buldngs were constructed more densely than n Neghborhood and support a hgher net resdental densty. Ths places a greater stran on the parkng capacty and condton of the stree?; and because space was not reserved for recreaton, the resdents must utlze the avalable facltes n Neghborhood. Proxmty to the busness dstrct s a convenence but has resulted n the use of neghborhood resdental propertes for margnal commercal actvtes. Ths ncreases the number of vehcles crculatng through the Neghborhood to and from Mdland Avenue. These factors have resulted n a less attractve resdental envronment, partcularly n areas adjacent to Mdland Avenue, whch lowers property values, contrbutes to structural deteroraton and slows spontaneous renewal by prvate captal n the Neghborhood. Neghborhood 3 has the hghest rate of structural deteroraton. ts nadequate streets, hgh denstes and lack of accessble recreatonal or cultural facltes all contrbute to the low stature of ts recreatonal envronment. The undesrable envronmental qualtes lower the desrablty of the area'whch keeps property values down and prec;des revtalzaton of the Neghborhood by depressng ts nvestment potental. n.,,.contrast to the older prvately developed areas, Neghborhood 4 was desgned for mult-famly dwellngs wth provson made for open space, a small quantty of recreaton facltes and adequate roadways. Physcal solaton and nconvenence n reachng stores, schools and governmental off ces deprecates ts potental attractveness. But Housng Authorty control over further development and the sound structural condtons should prevent deteroraton of the resdental envronment whle maxmzng the potental for future prvate development. 67

64 GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN BASS FOR PLANNNG Problematc condtons and stuatons presently exstng n Mdland are concrete evdence that sound and lastng communty- wde growth does not occur spontaneously. Long-range plans and comprehensve mprovement programs must be developed f both prvate nvestments and publc assstance programs are to mprove and consstently beneft the total communty. The underlyng phlosophy of plannng calls for a consderaton of all the forces n acton so that they can be manpulated to result n the long-term upgradng of the communty. Although, n some cases, ths calls for controllng or even elmnatng the operant forces, the overrdng purpose must be the long-term beneft of all communty resdents. A smple statement of the purpose for all plannng actvtes nforms all communty resdents of the reasons for governmental actons, provdes crtera for evaluaton of possble alternatve actons and encourages prvate nvestment by elucdatng and stablzng the long-term stuaton. Governmental offcals beneft most decsvely from havng a statement on long-range communty goals avalable to them snce they are most frequently faced wth demands for and effects of short-term nfluences. An example of ths s the daly admnstraton of the proposed zonng ordnance whch s expressly desgned to carry out the land use plan and the underlyng goals of the total Plan. Lsted below are the goals toward whch the General Development Plan s orented :. Establshment and mantenance of dstnct land use regons n a harmonously related pattern. 2. Establshment of a convenent transportaton system to ntegrate the resdental, commercal and ndustral areas wthn the communty. 3. Coordnaton of the Borough transportaton system wth roads n mmedately surroundng areas and the major traffc network of the Pttsburgh Regon. 4. Achevement of an equally accessble dstrbuton of publc facltes (educatonal, recreatonal and governmental) among all the neghborhoods. 5. Creaton of a clean physcal and atmospherc envronment wthn the Borough and adjacent areas. 6. Establshment of an open housng market wth a vared supply of housng types sutable for all ncome brackets. 7. Creaton of a more secure and vable communty through a broadened economc base and expanded employment opportuntes. 8. Recreaton of an attractve and proftable busness dstrct. Attanment of these goals wll proceed n numerous steps through the plannng perod. Durng that tme, many decsons concernng the vared aspects that make up the communty and ts envronment wll have to be made. The followng objectves provde more specfc gudelnes that can be followed n such decsonmakng mplementaton of the Plan proceeds toward achevement of the overall goals.! L 68

65 Commercal Objectves Revtalze the CBD by elmnatng nterspersed resdental uses; Concentrate CBD actvtes to create a defned and recognzable busness dstrct; Upgrade and repar commercal propertes accordng to one predomnant theme n desgn and decoraton to demonstrate a cohesve or unfed appearance; Provde suffcent off-street parkng n small lots nterspersed throughout the CBD; Provde lberal street setbacks for hghway commercal uses to protect patron safety and the traffc capacty of Mdland Avenue; and Control outdoor advertsng to enhance and beautfy the landscape accordng to the predomnant theme of the commercal area. ndustral Objectves. Prevent development of nonndustral uses n ndustral areas; Promote growth of nonmetal related ndustres;, Assst Borough ndustry n stoppng the emsson of pollutants nto the envronment; and 4. Encourage ndustral growth by creatng an attractve resdental envronment for potental employees. TransDortaton Obectves. Separate through traffc and mll traffc from the local and collector traffc; 2. mprove and mantan Borough streets n good condton; 3. Construct and mantan streets necessary for adequate crculaton n the developed slope areas; and 4. Program street utlzaton for traffc crculaton rather than vehcular parkng purposes. Communtv Facltv Obectves. 2. Dsperse recreaton facltes n each of the neghborhoods to meet the needs of all age groups; Recognze the prorty need for land on whch to locate new facltes above that of addtonal resdental space; 3.. Utlze small lots, block nterors or alleys to meet the need for recreaton space f necessary; 4. Establsh communty recreatonal programmng to meet the varyng needs of dfferent sex and age group nterests; and 5. Upgrade the varous areas of the Borough by stuatng servce buldngs, parks or cultvated open green spaces through commercal and resdental dstrcts. 69

66 Regonal Relatonshp Objectves. Coordnate Borough mprovement programs wth actvtes n the County and Regon that relate to Mdland; 2. Support and encourage extra-borough programs that wll beneft the Borough as a commercal and employment center; and 3. Support adopton or modfcaton of legslaton to ncrease local and County-wde applcaton and use of developed plans. Budgetng Objectves. Allocate suffcent publc funds to ensure permanent attenton toward plannng goals; 2. Understand and utlze all avalable and applcable Federal, State and County ad programs; and 3. nvolve prvate nterest and captal n the Plan mplementaton process. Over the last 2 years Mdland resdents and governmental offcers have been aware of problems facng the communty and have taken steps toward ther soluton. The most formal of these was development of the 959 Comprehensve Plan. Proposals for communty mprovement contaned theren ncluded the upgradng of the CBD and soluton of the traffc problem va urban renewal, Borough and adjacent communty acton to assure proper development of the Mdland Regon, dversfcaton of the economc base and envronmental mprovement through smoke control. The goals of these proposals are accepted and generally agreed upon. However, durng the ntervenng ten years the economc and employment base has constrcted, traffc and busness problems have ntensfed, housng and envronmental condtons have deterorated and the coordnated regonal approach to mutual problems and nfluences has not materalzed. The goals and mplementaton objectves of ths 97 Plan, therefore, correspond closely wth those of the 959 Plan. However, more emphass s placed on the human and envronmental aspects of the Communty. Populaton declnes ndcate that Mdland must serously compete wth outlyng suburban areas as a place to lve. Ths requred that the qualty of the lvng envronment be rased. n ths process, attenton s necessarly focused on traffc, the busness dstrct and ar polluton control. But the attenton s focused from the present and potental resdent s pont of vew rather than from busness or ndustry s pont of vew. LAND USE PLAN The General Development Plan s a synthess of the Land Use Plan wth the Communty Facltes and Thoroughfare Plans. n ths coordnatng functon the Communty Facltes Plan seeks to place facltes where they are needed by the people and wll best serve the entre communty. The Thoroughfare Plan provdes the varous land use actvtes wth the access and transportatonal servces necessary. n structurng the Land Use Plan, the followng crtera have been employed as gudelnes. Snce the Land Use Plan s the foundaton of the Zonng Ordnance, these objectves take on an authortatve aspect.. Openng of addtonal land for development wherever ratonally possble wthout envronmental conflct. 2. Locaton of facltes and servces where convenently accessble to resdents. 7

67 3. Development of a dversfed resdental pattern whch accommodates a wde range of age and ncome groups. 4. Strct control of commercal and ndustral uses accordng to the long-term needs of a self-contaned and well-balanced communty. Land Utlzaton Essentally, the General Development Plan Map s a vsual llustraton of the General Development Plan, and the text s a more detaled explanaton of ts contents. The map portrays the development pattern recommended for development by 99. Realstcally, however, the fnal culmenaton may not occur before 2. The acreages proposed on the General Development Plan Map are ncluded n the followng table. ' PROPOSED LAND USE DSTRBUTON Percent Of Percent Of Category Acres Developed Land Total Land Resdental Low Densty Medum Densty Commercal CBD Hghway Publc 92.3 Recreaton 55.5 Publc Facltes 34.9 Parkng Facltes a ndustral Roads Total Developed Conservaton Total Land Area,7.OO Source: Urban Plannng Department, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc... The hghly developed character of Mdland forestalls the possblty of any major change n the amounts of land used for specfc purposes. However, t s antcpated that the 2-acre Crucble playfeld wll be utlzed for ndustry. Ths area of recreatonal ground cannot be readly replaced although numerous small parks have been added. The exstng land use calculatons for commercal property ncluded many mxed uses. These have been elmnated and the area of the CBD proper restrcted. Ths change and the restrcton of hghway commercal uses have contrbuted the land avalable for housng and publc uses. Specfc areas desgnated for parkng along Mdland Avenue have expanded the publc category partcularly wth a correspondng ncrease n the number of publc servce buldngs beng proposed...

68 The largest sngle change s n the declne of undeveloped areas. Utlzaton of the hllsde for school assocated purposes and housng whenever possble wll consume up to 2 acres of ths formerly unused area. Resdental Uses The major goal of the resdental land use plan s to establsh optmum condtons n whch sound housng and envronmental condtons can be establshed and mantaned. Because the Mdland housng market s largely stfled by envronmental condtons, they wll be the concern of succeedng elements of ths Plan. The prmary concern from a land use pont of vew s that development by ether publc or prvate nvestors not be restrcted by unrealstc standards. Space s absolutely mnmal n Mdland. f each famly s to have the house and the yard space necessary to retan communty appeal, then the populaton must ether be reduced or a porton of the present and antcpated populaton must be housed n mult-famly housng facltes. Also, because of the extreme shortage of readly developable open land n the Bcrough, utlzaton of the hllsde area s proposed. But, the slope and subsol structure requre that such potental-stes be carefully tested and prepared. Because of the constructon dffcultes, ths land has been held off the market to date. However, because of the scarsty of land n the Borough, the area s proposed for ndvdual large lot development for snglefamly houses and for recreatonal uses. Housng constructon would be expensve, yet f permtted, even slow development of a few scattered stes would expand the tax base and provde addtonal housng. Wthn the developed areas of Neghborhood, sngle-famly uses are expected to reman predomnant. However, the larger lot and yard areas exstng there make t possble for the area to accommodate doublefamly and garden apartments wthout over- crowdng or destroyng the green and open character of the neghborhood. The supply of housng n the Borough can thus be expanded. More mportantly, the publc facltes n the Neghborhood can be more fully utlzed, and the burden of hgher denstes wll be dstrbuted nto the area where they can best be accommodated. The hghest densty resdental area contanng the wdest varety of housng types wll be found n Neghborhoods 2 and 3. n redevelopng the Mdland Avenue area and replacng substandard housng, publc and prvate nvestment can most readly be stmulated by contnung to permt a wde lattude of denstes and housng types. However, heavy emphass should be put on the provson of off-street parkng and permanent Openyard space. These requrements are necessary to offset the exstng pattern of sngle- and double-famly unts crowded aganst one another. A range of denstes should also be permtted n Neghborhood 4. Further development of ths Neghborhood s not foreseen. However, any future developers n ths area should have all possble optons, through whch satsfactory housng can be constructed, open to them. The range of denstes and housng types recommended for use n each neghborhood are ndcated on the table below. SUGGESTED RESDENTAL DENSTY STANDARDS Resdental Area Dwellng Type Famles Per Acre Low Densty Resdental Sngle Famly 6 Double Famly 8 Townhouse Medum Densty Resdental Double Famly Townhouse Mult-Famly 4 24 Source: Urban Plannng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc. 72

69 ALT ERN ATE A L G N ME N T..

70 COMMUNTY FACLTES PLAN - PROPOSLO t HGH SCHOOL NONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUNCPAL SERVCES A. LBRARY 8. FRE STATON RECREATON QPLAVGROUNO PLAYLOT COMMUNTY PAR THOROUGHFARE PLAN. - Pl)OWLD NONE ARTERALL+SE PBl...e COLLECTOR.. '.: = LOCAL ;=== MOYC anas CUL-DE-SAC PRVATE 3 NONE

71 Commercal Uses Two categores of commercal development are desgnated to contan varous busness actvtes n the Borough. They are CBD commercal and hghway-orented commercal. The CBD or Central Busness Dstrct wll be lmted to retal sales and servces of varous knds, offces, publc buldngs and assocated parkng areas. The area represents the communty center for the provson of goods and servces, and also the fnancal and governmental center. Further economc and physcal deteroraton of the CBD s to be offset by the elmnaton of noncommercal uses n the CBD; elmnaton of through traffc and restrcton of commercal actvtes n the Borough to the CBD so that commercal mpact and appeal s not weakened by scattered and margnally compettve actvtes. Redefnton of the CBD wthn the area between Nnth and Sxth Streets along Mdland Avenue wll be accompaned by a prvately sponsored CBD refurbshment program, ncludng storefront remodelng and repars, sgn control and creaton of necessary off-street parkng areas. The General Development Plan Map ndcates the proposed parkng areas wthn the CBD, and the followng llustraton of storefront remodelng technques ndcates what can be done to update, unfy and beautfy the Mdland CBD. n assocaton wth both the mprovement of resdental housng condtons n Neghborhoods 2 and 3 and the CBD refurbshment program, the ntensely mxed and deprecated strps of housng, garages and assorted other actvtes along Ralroad Alley and Wood Lane Alky should be regulated. Requrements should ensure that proper and necessary facltes are provded n assocaton wth housng unts that are to reman and that accessory buldngs be mantaned n a sound condton, contrbutng to the overall appearance and commercal appeal of the CBD. Wheever possble, off-street patron parkng areas should be nsttuted n the rear of Mdland Avenue busnesses wth access from the respectve alley. Stores exstng n the resdental dstrcts that serve as neghborhood convenence shoppng ponts wll not be offcally sponsored under the land use plan. The mmedate proxmty of resdents n Neghborhoods,2 and 3 to the CBD elmnates the need for convenence shoppng areas wthn the resdental sectons. Hghway commercal areas were created from 2th Street to Tenth Street and from Ffth Street to Frst Street along the southern sde of Mdland Avenue. These two areas are desgned to meet the partcular needs of vehcle sales and servce centers and persons who seek entertanment, shop or do busness by automoble. Users of the CBD are generally pedestrans vstng two or more of the busness actvtes, whereas, the customer n a hghway-orented commercal area may or may not leave hs car and makes only one stop. For ths reason, the convenent and safe access and egress areas for each busness are extremely mportant; and the elmnaton of through traffc from the access street, Mdland Avenue, s vtal to the success of the hghway-orented busnesses. Publc Uses The mnor change n the publc use acreage s ndcatve of the strong publc servce base that presently exsts n Mdland. A.new publc lbrary s proposed for constructon n the fve hundred block of northern Mdland Avenue n conjuncton wth the urban renewal project. As presently stuated, the current publc lbrary s adequate for school use although not optmal. However, a publc lbrary should be stuated wth equal deference to the access needs of all Borough resdents. Whenever possble, t should be wthn or adjacent to the central shoppng area to assure equal accessblty and ntensfy publc exposure. The proposed ste wll offer an opportunty to meet the ncreased space requrements of the lbrary, wll have nearby off-street parkng and wll be accessble. mprovement of atmospherc condtons n the communty, refurbshment of the CBD and attractve reuse of the lower Mdland Avenue area wll greatly enhance the desrablty of the proposed lbrary ste as a place for persons of all ages to vst, makng the lbrary an up-todate part of communty lfe. 75

72 EXSTNG CONDTONS STOREFRONT RENOVATON TECHNQUES RECOMMENDED MPROVEMENTS U Source: Hear of Georqo Plannng 8 Development Commsson, Storefront Renovoton -A Oesqn Demonsraton, Eostmon, Georgo, 966.

73 No other major changes n publc facltes are proposed. The Muncpal Buldng and Post Offce Buldng are adequate. Ther usefulness to the publc wll be ncreased by the avalablty of nearby off-street parkng as proposed n the next block. The abandonment of the Frst and Fourth Streets Elementary Schools, after completon of the new and expanded Seventh Street Elementary School, s already programmed. The Frst Street Elementary School ste wll be utlzed for realgnment of Pa. Route 68. The Fourth Street Elementary School ste s proposed for reuse as a playground to both expand and better dstrbute recreatonal facltes n the communty. Other new recreatonal facltes proposed for constructon are detaled below under recreatonal land uses. Property proposed for use as off-street parkng lots are shown throughout the CBD and the length of Mdland Avenue. These parkng lots are generally small and hold less than 25 cars. Ther dspersed locatons ncrease convenent access to varous stores, reduce assocated traffc congeston and smplfy gradual establshment of the lots as opportuntes for prvate, governmental or cooperatve acton arse. Responsblty for provdng addtonal parkng space may be assumed by a parkng authorty sponsored by the Borough. Jont acton by Borough government and the CBD busnessmen wll be requred to brng the parkng lots nto beng and can be coordnated through an authorty. The renewal project wll provde an exceptonal opportunty for the creaton of a parkng faclty to serve the adjacent CBD. Recreatonal Uses Creaton of the varety of recreatonal parks needed to meet dfferng age group needs s the prmary reason for the Pumerous proposed parks shown on the General Development Plan Map. The majorty of these are small playlots for preschool chldren. Playlots are proposed for nstallaton throughout the Borough, however, the prmary need for parks s n Neghborhoods 2 and 3. A passve park s also proposed for the lower Mdland Avenue area to meet the serous ne& for greenery and natural beauty n the downtown area. ndustral Uses The entre area south of Ralroad Lane s reserved for ndustral uses. t s antcpated that the Crucble Dvson of Colt ndustres wll utlze the entre area south of the Penn-Central Ralroad lne plus the establshed areas north of the tracks for employee parkng. However, warehouse and storage actvtes could effectvely utlze the remanng area. Thoroughfare Uses Constructon of the Pa. Route 68 Bypass wll utlze land that s now occuped by an undstngushed mxture of commercal, warehouse, parkng, utlty and resdental uses. Ths underles the sgnfcant ncrease n the category of roads and streets. The only other extensons wll be for local streets servng Neghborhoods 3 and 4. Conservaton Uses - Hllsde areas consdered too steep for development are to be left n conservaton. Ths land should be cleared of ground brush and made avalable for pcnckers and/or hkers f at all possble; and as noted above, ndvdual buldng stes should also be utlzed. t s unrealstc for a communty so much n need of usable land to completely gnore the potental use that may be made of the area. Although legal and admnstratve dffcultes may hnder ecologcally satsfactory use of ths land, they should not be consdered nsurmountable. 77

74 Concluson Land use proposals as presented on the General Development Plan Map represent a set of land use relatonshps that are compatble, desrable and feasble for realzaton by 99. The exstng pattern s not changed but refned, defned and wll be controlled so that optmum condtons can be mantaned. The Pa. Route 68 bypass s a vtal aspect of the plan but wll not affect the majorty of resdents n the Borough. Ths was a major consderaton n route selecton snce the Borough contans no expendable land. Redevelopment of lower Mdland Avenue, the openng of selected hllsde areas for resdental use and creaton of new parks and parkng lots are the secondary land use proposals to be mplemented. REDUCTON OF ATMOSPHERC POLLUTON Effectuaton of the Land Use Plan and the succeedng Communty Facltes, Transportaton and Housng Plans s antcpated to produce an attractve and functonal communty. However, to acheve ths goal, mprovement of the atmospherc condtons must at least parallel other steps taken to mprove the communty's lvng envronment. The Pennsylvana Department of Envronmental Resources, Bureau of Ar Polluton Control has establshed a tme schedule whch Colt ndustres s to follow n controllng the emsson of varous pollutants from the Crucble plant. The standards to be met are determned by the State and should sgnfcantly decrease the pall of smoke and grme that envelopes the communty. To encourage ths foster progress, the Borough could consder foregong any tax ncreases on ndustry or schedulng a reducton of ndustral taxes to reflect the Borough's apprecaton of the large captal nvestment necessary for polluton control. The Borough should concurrently pass strngent ordnances to stop ar polluton from other sources such as trash burnng, coal furnaces and engnes of the Penn-Central Ralroad. Such ordnances would be n the form of nusance abatement regulatons. Model ordnances for ths purpose have been proposed and are avalable from the Bureau of Ar Polluton Control, but they would have to be adopted and enforced by the Mayor and Councl. Ctzen support for such measures should be readly forthcomng and could be moblzed by the Ctzens Advsory Commttee and Plannng Commsson. Publcty for such measures could well be used to educate the ctzenry concernng ther responsbltes and the benefts accrued through planned and progressve acton. Wthout a halt to the smoke and soot from the ndustres, the ncome earnngs or nvestment potental of the Borough wll contnue to be low and preclude growth and desrable redevelopment despte the commtment of Federal and State funds.! COMMUNTY FACl L TES PLAN The Communty Facltes Plan formulates workable measures by whch exstng facltes may be mproved to meet present and future muncpal servce needs. The Summary of Exstng Condtons nvestgated the present status of the schools, recreatonal facltes, utltes, polce protecton, fre protecton and other publc servces and noted where defects exsted. The Neghborhood Analyss examned the effect of adequate and nadequate facltes on the qualty of the resdental envronment. Remedal and long-range programs for both aspects of the communty facltes are offered n ths Plan. Educaton As prevously noted, the Mdland Junor-Senor Hgh School was bult n 926 but s kept up-todate and n sound condton. The buldng's maxmum capacty s 8 students whch makes t adequate for the maxmum of 73 secondary students projected to be lvng n the Borough by 99 and 744 by 2. The satsfactory condton, locaton and capacty underle the decson to retan the senor hgh through the plannng perod. By the end of the plannng perod, both the elementary and secondary school plant needs should be thoroughly revewed so that new schools can be planned well n advance of possble need. Although consderaton has been gven to movng the school lbrary nto the school proper, ths s not recommended. Rather, the school lbrary can be expanded wthn the present lbrary buldng when the proposed new publc lbrary s constructed. Possbly, a fnancal arrangement can be made between Presentaton Parochal School and the publc school to expedte ths transton. 78

75 Constructon of the new Seventh Street Elementary School s scheduled for completon n 972. t wll then be the sole publc elementary school replacng the present Frst, Fourth and Seventh Streets Schools. The present elementary enrollment n the publc schools s approxmately 2 students under the number projected for 97. The dfference may be attrbuted to the number of preschool chldren not attendng kndergarten, the number attendng parochal school and a larger than antcpated loss of populaton from the Borough. The combnaton of these factors makes possble the assumpton that the 8-classroom school to be constructed by 972 wll be adequate. School enrollment projectons for 98 and 99, however, ndcate that addtonal classroom facltes may be needed. Because only token expanson of a new elementary school wll be possble due to ste lmtatons, a second elementary school wll have to be bult n the Borough. A ste n Neghborhoods 3 or 4 should be selected for dstrbuton of access purposes, or a jonture wth Western Beaver School Dstrct may be reconsdered. Consstent checks on the school and Borough populaton wll ndcate the optmum tmng and possbly allow coordnaton wth the lower Mdland Avenue urban renewal project. Ths area s recommended to help shft the balance of communty servces nto Neghborhoods 3 and 4. f the need for the second elementary school s delayed by slow populaton growth untl approxmately the year 2, use of the present hgh school ste for the elementary school, after constructon of a new hgh school possbly n Neghborhood 4, should be consdered. However, ths hlltop ste mght cause access problems for most students. But access s less problematc for secondary than elementary students and the extensve space requrements of a new hg;. school cannot be met n the man townste. The possblty of jonng the Western Beaver School Dstrct can also be reconsdered when constructon of a new hgh school becomes necessary. A thrd alternatve s to buld the new hgh school on the exstng athletc feld. A new athletc feld would then be requred, but to overcome the present severe mbalance of facltes should be the most sgnfcant consderaton. Recreaton Fac tes To meet the theoretcal basc requrement for recreaton facltes, Mdland should have 69 acres devoted to such purposes by 99. Scarcty of usable land makes the fgure sgnfcant and requres that approaches and facltes ndvdually adapted to Mdland be utlzd.! Recreatonal areas n the form of playlots for preschool chldren can be provded most easly snce dstrbuton and safe accessblty are ther most mportant characterstcs. The only area that presently could be consdered a playlot s the alcove area on the school athletc feld property. Consequently, stes are needed throughout the Borough. To be sutable, the stes may be qute small coverng only one or even one-half of a lot, and the terran need not be level. Basc requrements are that the area be fenced or hedged, that t be covered wth grass, sand or a sold surface and that benches be provded for the mothers who brng ther chldren. Play equpment must be specfcally selected and suted to the user age group, but need not be expensve snce ths age group s not organzed or coordnated, but prefers to learn, explore, practce and manpulate the envronment sngularly rather than as part of a group. Lots contanng dlapdated structures that wll be demolshed or lots too small for constructon are qute sutable. As llustrated on the General Development Plan Map, the greatest emphass s on creatng playlots n Neghborhoods 2 and 3 where the ncdence of chldren s hghest and where ndvdual yards and play equpment are least avalable. Playgrounds are for chldren of school age and older, should be at least one-half acre n sze and desgned for actve recreaton perods of one to three hours. Because they are used by older chldren the playgrounds can be located further from the populaton served. However, the sze of each playground wll lmt the number of famles that can be served and must be consdered when the placement of each new playground s beng determned. All the exstng playgrounds have been retaned n the Plan exceptng the Seventh Street School faclty whch wll be relocated. The Fourth Street School playground s to be expanded to cover the block when that buldng s vacated. Only the playground proposed for constructon as part of the urban renewal project, south of Mdland Avenue between Thrd and Fourth Streets, wll be mmedately accessble to the Sprng Lane 79

76 and Neghborhood 3 chldren. Provson of ths faclty and the expanson of Fourth Street playground wll requre a serous commtment by Councl but are necessary to provde the resdents of Neghborhoods 2 and 3 wth adequate facltes snce West End playground wll be taken out by hghway constructon. Placement of the Mdland Avenue playground anywhere wthn the renewal project area wll be satsfactory, and t could be on the roof of an underground parkng garage or other buldng as long as t s freely usable by all resdents of the surroundng area. Wthn the playgrounds, separaton between the facltes for varous age groups should be acheved wth screens of hedgng or fencng. Dvson between the followng age groups should be provded; 6 to years, to 4 years, and 5 years and over. Game facltes should nclude sldes, clmbers, merry-go-rounds, swngs, etc.. for the youngsters and basketball, baseball, shuffleboard, bocc and badmnton areas for the older groups. A grassy area for free play and a shelter for crafts, etc., should be created n one of the new parks to ease the burden now carred at the West End Park. A crafts shelter could also be nstalled and operated n Lncoln Park. t s also assumed that the Mdland Heghts playground wll be more fully developed. Playfelds are areas of ten acres and up n whch persons of all ages can play for up to sx hours. To meet ths goal space for a wde varety of actvtes s necessary. Such space s almost nonexstent n Mdland. Development of a playfeld n Mdland Heghts and the openng of at least portons of the school athletc feld are, therefore, recommended. The eventual closng of the Crucble feld requred that alternatve arrangements such as these be made. Passve parks are proposed n those areas that must be left open due to topographc or space requrements. Portons of lots remanng after constructon of the proposed Mdland Bypass and proposed realgnment of the Mdland Avenue ntersecton of Pa. Route 68 are the prme examples. A passve park s also proposed for the area of rough terran above Second Street. Establshment of a park area by clearng brush and some trees and by fosterng the growth of grass and selected shrubs wll perhaps requre consultaton wth a landscape archtect or park planner. The result, however, would be a usable asset to the communty as opposed to the dead-end, off-lmts area that now exsts. The success of ths small project could be used to ntate other acton n the undeveloped areas of the hllsde so that they too could be used for the enjoyment of communty resdents. Lncoln Park, Muncpal Park and the park proposed for development on the north sde of the 5 block of Mdland are the only communty parks. These are so called because they are not developed for actve recreaton (the swmmng pool functons as a playground) but are avalable for the quet enjoyment of all age groups who wsh to pcnc, stroll or just relax. Communty parks need not be mmedately accessble to the entre populaton, but ther presence s a defnte asset to a gven area. Such a park would, therefore, be desrable n Neghborhood 3, especally snce famles wthout prvate yards can most apprecate an open park area. However, lack of open space prohbts ths, whle t s possble n the CBD along Mdland Avenue. The CBD park s proposed as a use to replace deterorated structures and as a beautfyng element n the CBD refurbshment program. Open space and greenery s serously needed n the CBD to help combat the gray bleakness caused prmarly by smoke and dust from the ndustral area. Such a park would be used prmarly by strollers and CBD employees at noon tme and could add greatly to the sales appeal of the CBD through ts beautfyng mpact. To counteract the mpact of smoke n the CBD, ths. theme of greenery and beauty could be extended throughout wth tree planters and wndow boxes along the sdewalks. To ensure the utlty and attractveness of the pcnc facltes at Muncpal Park, the roadway should be mproved and sgns and lghtng nstalled. 8

77 Beyond creatng the physcal facltes for recreaton, offcal recognton must be gven to the need for regularly operatng recreatonal programs for all age groups. Ths functon s now carred out by the School Board. f ths procedure s to be contnued, ther responsblty to the entre populaton should be fulflled. Ths could nclude actvtes at both publc and school parks and would requre consultaton between the School Board and the Borough to ensure coordnaton n the acquston, development and use of new parks proposed heren. As such, the presently successful workng arrangement need not be changed, but the ultmate responsblty for recreaton cannot be vewed as an extra frll to be afforded on surplus funds that may be avalable. Ths s llustrated n the Captal mprovements Program and Budget of ths Plan n whch recreatonal tax recepts are lsted as the prme ncome source for the Recreaton Board. The Borough and School Board should provde equal portons of the costs of recreaton snce ntensve efforts wll be needed to provde all the facltes needed. A majorty of the new facltes recommended heren and shown on the General Development Plan Map should be acqured and developed n conjuncton wth the Rehabltaton, Renewal and Code Enforcement projects proposed for Neghborhoods 2 and 3. These projects are tentatvely scheduled for completon pror to 985 and wll greatly smplfy the land acquston process necessary for establshment of the new parks. Prompt acton on the recreaton ste and equpment recommendatons wll also be necessary f the Borough s to utlze State funds avalable under the $5 Mllon Land Conservaton and Acquston Program whch expres n 978. n attemptng to overcome the deprecatng envronmental nfluence of local ndustres, Mdland must offer a hgh level of servces and amentes n order to be compettve wth outlyng suburban areas. The Federal, State and prvate sources of techncal and fnancal assstance that can be used to mplement a satsfactory recreatonal program are lsted n the Fscal Analyss and Program secton of ths Plan. Publc Servces and Buldngs The Publc Servces and Buldngs Plan ncludes a dscusson of the Muncpal Buldng, polce and fre department, the postal, lbrary and utlty servces. These tems are mportant aspects of the Communty Facltes Plan snce publc lands and buldngs are often the frst and only mpresson vstors to Mdland wll experence. They are thus mportant representatves of the Borough and should receve due attenton n ther appearance and upkeep. They should reflect the character of the communty and serve as a source of prde to the resdents. Publc servces are also frequently the sole contact pont of many ctzens wth ther government. Effcent provson of these servces s the best justfcaton for local taxes. The average ctzen s amenable to ncreased taxes f he receves a correspondng ncrease n the amount of publc servce. Ths apples to all communty facltes whch are often the major dfference between establshed communtes and growng suburbs. Muncpal Buldng - Provson of addtonal off-street parkng spaces s necessary to make the Muncpal Buldng fully servceable. Parkng s proposed n the adjacent block for ths purpose. The polce, fre and Borough admnstraton offces are adequate and should reman so snce populaton growth wll not requre large-scale personnel ncreases. More use should be made of the thrd floor communty meetng faclty, snce the only other group meetng places are provded by the Mdland Heghts Homes Assocaton, clubs and local churches. The sze and avalablty of the& meetng facltes s often lmted; but because a reasonable varety of facltes do exst, constructon of a communty center buldng s not recommended. Addtonal parkng facltes are also needed to ncrease the accessblty of the Post Offce. Elmnaton of through traffc on Mdland Avenue and the ncreased convenence of exstng on-street parkng spaces should allevate the need for addtonal parkng mmedately adjacent to the post offce as wll the addtonal off-street lots proposed along Mdland Avenue. Parkng areas that wll serve the Muncpal Buldng and the Post Offce are shown on the General Development Plan Map.

78 Relocaton of the publc lbrary s recommended for two reasons; addtonal buldng space s needed and the present ste s not sutable for a publc lbrary. Constructon of a new publc lbrary may be partally fnanced by the School Board's purchase of the present lbrary buldng. The school lbrary could then be expanded through the old lbrary. County plans to ntate a county-wde system of lbrares may also nclude funds that would assst n underwrtng the cost. Ths may necesstate changng the lbrary from a communty to a regonal lbrary, whch would be feasble n a new buldng. As ponted out n the land use plan dscusson, the objectve of movng the publc lbrary downtown s to ncrease publc exposure to the facltes by makng t an ntegral part of everyday lfe rather than a place used only on specal trps for a specal purpose. f The expense of buldng a new lbrary wll be hgh and as an alternatve, the same amount could be equally spent well on a largescale effort to make the lbrary and ts materals useful and relevant to low- and mddle-ncome adults and famles who ordnarly rarely use the lbrary. Partcularly famles n the Mdland Heghts and Hllcrest area receve lttle beneft from the publc lbrary. To fll ths vod wll requre both funds and a concentrated effort usng the understandng and talent of many communty leaders. Ths reorentaton of the lbrary to the broad needs of the entre communty should be done f a new lbrary'shot constructed, but may be accomplshed more readly n a centrally located and well-equpped physcal plant. Fre Protecton - The replacement of worn and outdated equpment s the major expense of adequate fre protecton, and ths has been done on a regular bass by the Department. n addton, the adequacy of the water supply for fre protecton, tranng and the alarm system are qute acceptable as denoted by the commendatons receved by the Fre Department. Recommended mplementaton of the fre code and buldng code restrctng constructon of the varous levels of fre-prone uses n specfc areas and requrng buldngs to be constructed acdordng to fre proofng procedures, wll also contrbute to the hgh level of fre protecton exstng n Mdland. Polce Protecton - The present staff and equpment mantaned by the polce department are fully adequate. The populaton ncrease of approxmately 9 persons projected for 99 ndcates that two addtonal full-tme polcemen and one addtonal part-tme polceman should be hred and traned by that tme. Ths aspect of ncreasng the staff sze to correspond wth populaton ncreases and that of keepng polce cars, communcatons and other equpment updated are mportant n terms of governmental expendtures. n terms of work done by the polce, emphass can be put on crme preventon n coordnaton wth the CBD rejuvenaton program. Methods of protectng stores by burglar-proofng busnesses and mprovng the lghtng n streets and alleys can be promoted through polcetommunty relatons work. Smlarly, mproved street lghtng should be nstalled n the resdental areas to mprove safety. Close polce and communty relatons are becomng ncreasngly mportant n hgher densty areas as well as demonstrated n larger ctes and should be promoted n Mdland where hgh denstes are prevalent. Utltes No problems or stuatons exst that requre modfcaton or expanson of the water treatment plant or dstrbuton system. However, because the waterlnes are old, they should be gven thorough and contnuous preventve mantenance. Contnuaton of the program to separate storm and santary sewers should be emphaszed n the Borough. Ths wll be an ongong phase of the sewer mprovement plan after completon of the secondary phase treatment facltes. The surplus capacty of the treatment plant s suffcent to accommodate the antcpated populaton ncrease. t then remans for the communty to cooperate wth local ndustres n every way possble whle they are developng prvate ndustral waste collecton and dsposal facltes. Upkeep and mprovement of the storm sewerlnesare also mportant to the Borough. The collecton system s now acceptable but can be mproved n conjuncton wth the ongong mprovement of santary sewers. 82 6

79 -\ _ Refuse and garbage collecton and dsposal s mportant n overall efforts to mprove the Borough envronment. Collected trash and rubbsh can be bured n a santary landfll. The burnng of trash and combustbles by homeowners must be carefully regulated to protect all resdents and elmnate offensve, unnecessary polluton of the local atmosphere. TRANSPORTATON PLAN The Transportaton Plan has two general goals. ts frst s to establsh a convenent transportaton system by supportng and ntegratng the resdental, commercal and ndustral areas, and communty facltes wthn the communty. The second s to coordnate the Borough road network wth that of the County and the Regon. To acheve these ams, the basc prncple of separatng local, collector and through traffc has been appled to the greatest possble degree. mprovements and repars have also been recornmended where necessary to upgrade volume capactes, allowable speeds and safety for users. The analyss of traffc condtons and crculaton patterns n Phase ndcated that the Mdland street system s developed n a grdron pattern. Mdland Avenue s the focal street n the grd servng as the collector for traffc fed onto t from all the neghborhood streets. t connects Mdland wth the remander of Beaver County and the surroundng Regon va Pa. Route 68, whch also carres all through traffc. Thus performng ts functon, Mdland Avenue acts as a collector, as an arteral and provdes adjacent property access for the CBD stores and busnesses. The two avalable traffc lanes are nadequate to perform these three purposes safely and effectvely. As a result, traffc congeston s frequent. Peak traffc flows are created by shft changes at the steel plant and perods of heavy shoppng. Dependence on CBD parkng along ths man street also contrbutes to the safety hazards and nonvenence. Allevaton of these problems can best be acheved by provdng an alternate route for through and plant traffc whch wll serve as the arteral route for the Borough. Snce the exstng grdron pattern cannot be changed to remove ether local or neghborhood traffc from Mdland Avenue, ndrect measures are recommended to reduce the hazards assocated wth parallel parkng and heavy use of Mdland Avenue for trps 'between neghborhoods. Ths wll enable Mdland Avenue to functon adequately as a collector. Murphy Hll and Farvew Roads, whch provde access to Mdland proper from the Mdland Heghts, Hllcrest, ndustry and Ohovlle areas, must be upgraded to provde safe and convenent transportaton to and from these areas. The upgradng should be done accordng to current desgn standards for collector streets. Ralroad Lane and all streets north of Mdland Avenue wll functon as local streets provdng access to the adjonng propertes. Only mnor repars and mprovements are needed and recommended for these local streets that feed onto Mdland Avenue. The structure of the Mdland crculaton network, ncludng the proposed arteral bypass and all other streets, s llustrated on the General Development Plan Map., Specfc steps to be taken n creatng the mproved network are lsted below. The plannng prncples followed n development of these proposals are smlar to those appled n the 959 Comprehensve Plan. The proposals for elmnaton of the Mdland Avenue congeston dffer sgnfcantly n that urban renewal s not recommended for u& n the CBD whch s to be retaned completely ntact. The extensve dsrupton of commerce and numerous relocatons engendered by constructon of major roadways as part of an urban renewal project could not be wthstood by ether the vtalty of the present busness communty or the nvestment potental offered by redevelopment of the CBD. mdrovement Standards The desgn standards that should be appled n the desgn of new roads and the upgradng of exstng roads are llustrated n the sketch, Recommended Road Cross Sectons. The standards establshed theren are developed and updated regularly by the Pennsylvana Department of Transportaton. They are appled to all newly 83

80 RECOMMENDED STREET CROSS -SECTONS MDLAND BOROUGH Sde Slope \- - ARTERAL- 4 LANE 4'-'* n urbanzed oreos PO'-o n ruro oreos ~'-o" n excavaton sectons - 84' to 4' 2'-"n rnbonkment sectons 7 sl COLLECTOR - 2 LANE HGH EL LOW TRAFFC VOLUME LOCAL - 2 LANE NOTE: one Porknq Lone requlred HGH LOW TRAFFC VOLUME n lor traffc volume area S'-O" n excavaton sectons-hgh volume '-" n embankment sectons - hqh volume 8-. n ercovoton sectons - low volume 8-O" n embonkment ectlonr -low volume t SOURCE: Suggested Land Subdveon Regulatons HH FA FHA Neghborhood Stondords - Land Plonnng Bulletln No. 3 Urban Plonnng Dvson, Mchael Baker, Jr., nc.

81 constructed State roads and provde a useful standard for Borough mantaned roads. The desgn standads are ntended to nsure that newly constructed and mproved roads wll be capable of safely carryng the volume of traffc expected at speeds correspondng to the proposed road functon. Addtonal detaled crtera establshng algnments, grades, sght dstances and other factors are atso provded by the Department; however, these have lttle applcaton for Borough offcals who wll not nvolve grade or algnment changes. Borough offcals should be aware of the road wdths consdered desrable and necessary for the safe and effcent operaton of the separate types of streets. Beyond these desgn standards, the Borough should adopt the followng polces n an effort to gradually upgrade the already establshed system of crculaton wthn the Borough. Because very lttle street constructon wll occur, the majorty of these communty polces wll largely have to be mplemented by secondary means such as one-way streets and sgn mantenance:. Separate through the local traffc whenever possble; 2. Elmnate unnecessary traffc through resdental neghborhoods; 3. Mnmze the number of ntersectons on streets desgned to carry large traffc volumes; 4. Coordnate traffc controls so that each street normally leads nto one carryng the next greater volume of traffc; 5. Provd'e turn arounds or culde-sacs on deadend streets; 6. Prevent the use of resdental streets as "shortcuts" between ponts outsde the neghborhood; and 7. Provde all the road sgns and traffc controls necessary and keep them vsble to prevent unnecessary drver delays and uncertantes that cause traffc accdents. Recommended Street mdrovements Lsted below are three alternate proposals for constructon of the arteral bypass for Mdland:. Alternatve A s an arteral bypass bult entrely as a brdge structure elevated above the property between Ralroad Lane and the ralroad sdng rght-of-way. Elevatng the roadway has the followng advantages: acquston of ralroad property s unnecessary; elmnaton of the West End playground s unnecessary; and the parkng facltes, water treatment plant, homes and busnesses along Ralroad Lane can be retaned. mplementaton of ths desgn proposal would requre acquston of the Crucble (Colt ndustres) admnstraton buldng at 2th Street and the truckng company along Pa. 68 at the western end of the-eorough. To carry out ths proposal would also requre moderaton of the current Pennsylvana Department of Transportaton (PennDOT) desgn standards regardng requred rght-of-way wdths and entrance and ext ramps. At the present the, PennDOT does not have a developed set of desgn standards specfcally for urbanzed areas where usable land s at a premum and protecton of the tax base s of crtcal sgnfcance. The need for such standards s eptomzed n Mdland Borough where all usable land s already occuped and the optons for hghway constructon are very severely restrcted. Constructon of an elevated structure s an expensve process, the cost of whch must be carefully,weghed aganst the potental savngs n rght-of-way acquston, ralroad, resdental and busness relocaton costs and property tax losses to the Borough. Alternatve A s llustrated as t would be constructed wth the related land use adjustments on the map of the General Development Plan. 85

82 2. Alternate 6, llustrated as an overlay on the accompanyng General Development Plan Map, envsons the utlzaton of major portons of the exstng Penn-Central Ralroad rght-of-way. Under ths alternate, t s proposed that most of the rght-of-way from Sxth Street to the ntersecton of exstng Route 68 east of the Borough be used for hghway purposes. Apparent lmted or no use of the ralroad facltes by the former Rem-Cru Ttanum, nc. and the Standard Ol Company of New York makes such a proposal worthy of consderaton. Ral facltes nto the Mackntosh Hemphll Company could be adjusted to utlze Colt ndustres ral facltes. An overpass of the Tenth and 2th Street entrances to the mll as well as braded ngress and ext ramps would afford mll traffc a good opportunty to use the bypass. West of Sxth Street t s proposed that the rght-of-way acquston be reduced to 8 feet rather than the total rght-of-way wdth resultng n the mantenance of a dual track access faclty from the manlne to servce the needs of Colt ndustres and Mackntosh Hemphll Company. The bypass s agan elevated from Fourth Street west between the housng on Mdland Avenue and the Penn-Central Ralroad rght-of-way to a pont east of ts ntersecton wth exstng Route 68. The-overpass of Thrd Street would permt the retenton of the exstng ngress-egress facltes nto mll property. A ramp has been proposed off the east-bound lane to afford drect access from the west onto Thrd Street and a mll road wthn the Colt ndustres complex. Complete cooperaton s requred of the ndustres nvolved, the ralroad company and the borough of Mdland f relocaton of Route 68 s ever to become a realty. Specfc areas of cooperaton nvolve the release of the ralroad rght-of-way by Penn-Central through the encouragement of the ndustres utlzng the facltes. The 2th Street envance to the ndustres could be retaned or abandoned. f abandoned, vehcular and ral access to Mackntosh Hemphll and Treadwell Constructon should be provded va the Colt ndustres access road (Tenth Street) and the Thrd Street entrance (underpass). Ral sdng adjustments would necesstate cooperaton between all the partes nvolved. Loss of parkng facltes by Colt ndustres n the vcnty of Ralroad Lane and Thrd Street should be partally offset by the abandonment of the old ralroad staton ste and ts reuse as ndustry parkng area. Clearance of all property between the present ralroad rght-of-way and Ralroad Lane through a redevelopment project could also result n addtonal parkng area for the Colt ndustres. Another consderaton s use of the undeveloped land mmedately west of the old Rem-Cru Ttanum nc. for ndustral parkng purposes. Advantages assocated wth ether of the two bypass proposals nclude good access and egress facltes that wll largely preclude the use of Mdland Avenue by mll traffc. Dsadvantages nclude: the hgh cost of property rghts-of-way and aeral rghts-of-way; relocaton of ral sdng feeder lnes; sgnfcant reducton n the amount of ralroad yard space; the extensve and costly structures necessary for the provson of adequate access and egress partcularly between the plant and the roadway; and the need to modfy the nternal crculaton routes through the plant area. 3. A thrd alternate nvolves the constructon and/or utlzaton of a one-way street system through the Borough. Ths alternate s probably the most feasble from an engneerng and cost pont of vew. Ths alternate, though not specfcally llustrated, would result n Mdland Avenue servng as the west-bound lane of Route 68 and the Ralroad Rght-of-way alternate (modfed) as the east-bound lane of the hghway. Realzaton of a splt hghway capable of carryng the traffc volumes generated n ths area would requre the redevelopment of a majorty of the land uses dvded by the splt hghway. The constructon cost advantage of a splt hghway would be mmeasurably offset wth such dsadvantages as numerous turnng movements and at grade ntersectons, partcularly wth reference to the Fourth, Tenth and 2th Streets mll entrances; the land values between Mdland Avenue and Ralroad Rght-of-way would be severely reduced; the qualty of development between the one-way lanes would be dffcult to establsh or mantan; and a busness dstrct w ed by a one-way street would be adversely affected. t F 2 t r! c t. 86

83 Constructon of ether of the three alternates wll requre the fullest cooperaton of Colt ndustres, the Penn-Central Ralroad, Mdland Borough and PennDOT. The necessary programmng and jont dscussons should, therefore, be started mmedately f constructon s to occur before the communty s completely stagnated by traffc congeston. Constructon of a four-lane arteral bypass for Mdland s a recommended facet of the Beaver County Major Thoroughfare Plan. t wll form an ntegral part of the antcpated four-lane mprovement of Pa. 68 from ~ the Oho lne to Vanport. The bypass and mprovement of the entre route wll enable Pa. 68 to provde adequate east-west access to the Beaver Valley Expressway and n turn -79, the Keystone Shortway, the Turnpke and Pttsburgh. The bypass wll also be an mportant frst step toward mprovng the hghway access needed to encourage resdental and ndustral development n the Borough and western Beaver County. And lastly, the Borough wll derve further benefts of effcently and safely accommodatng ndustral and through traffc whle smultaneously freeng Mdland Avenue for local and commercal use. The followng recommendatons are for the three collector streets of the Borough; Mdland Avenue, Farvew Road and Murphy Hll Road.. ' Upon constructon of the Mdland Bypass, responsblty for Mdland Avenue wll revert from the State to the Borough. Before assumng ths responsblty the Borough should requre that the surface be n good, servceable condton, wth the traffc lghts also beng brought up to current standards for vsblty and functonalty. Legslatve Route 48 and Murphy Hll Road should be wdened and realgned accordng to current desgn standards. Ths would partcularly nclude adequate lane and shoulder wdths, grade and curve algnments. The ntersecton offset at Vrgna Avenue should be elmnated snce the swmmng pool facltes would have to be moved to lengthen the offset to a safe dstance. The cartway of Pa. Route 68 and Farvew Road should be wdened and provded wth adequate shoulders (ten feet) accordng to cross secton standards as shown heren. An ntersecton between Mdland Avenue (Pa. 68) and Farvew.Road should be constructed on the property of the Frst Street Elementary School. The ntersecton desgn should permt rght angle turns and have a maxmum grade of sx percent wth a transtonal grade of two percent, 5 feet before the ntersecton. The ntersecton of Sprng Lane and Pa. Route 68 should be elmnated unless the constructon desgn provdes for an ntersecton angle of 6 degrees or more. Smlarly, access from Wood Lane should be elmnated unless the same ntersecton angle provsons can be made. However, constructon of an adequate ntersecton wth Mdland Avenue wll elmnate the need for these two access ponts and wll allevate theneed to use the Thrd Street ntersecton whch s overly steep and lackng transtonal grade area. Recommendatons for mprovement to the remanng streets n the Borough, all of whch functon as local access streets, are lsted below:. A cul-de-sac wth a rght-of-way dameter of feet should be constructed at the end of Maryland Avenue to facltate turnng movements. 2. Repar the nteror road whch provdes access to the Lons Club pavlon n Muncpal Park. 87

84 Mantan the surface of Beaver Avenue benrveen th and 3th Streets n good condton as t. wll receve addtonal use after constructon of the Bypass. Beaver Avenue, Park Place West, Park Place East, Oho Avenue and lth and 2th Streets are noted on the Exstng Street and Road Condtons Map as needng mnor repars such as partal resurfacng to elmnate potholes and rough surface condtons. Eghth Street, Nnth Street, lth Street and a porton of Oho Avenue were cted as requrng major repars such as repavng, regradng or subcourse repars to upgrade them adequately. Wthn Neghborhood 2, all of the local streets requre ether major or mnor repars. Repars to Wood Lane and Ralroad Lane should be scheduled n conjuncton wth the CBD refurbshment program. Repars on the other streets should be scheduled prmarly durng the concentrated code enforcement project. t s antcpated that some street mprovements wll be made n the area pror to 977. However, offcal recognton must be gven to the need for repars throughout the neghborhood to reaffrm the attractveness and nvestment value of the area. Neghborhood 3 streets are also largely n need of repars. All necessary street repars should be programmed n conjuncton wth urban rehabltaton project plans. Oho Avenue should be extended to Frst Street as shown on the General Development Plan Map. Penn Avenue should be extended to meet the Frst Avenue extenson. These roadways wll greatly mprove crculaton n Neghborhood 3 f properly constructed. Ths wll allevate the dead end atmosphere of the Neghborhood. Wood Lane should be wdened to 3 feet of paved surface from Frst Street to Fourth Street. Major surface repars are needed on the roadway through Hllcrest Homes. The one-way street pattern on Beaver and Penn Avenues should be retaned to prevent addtonal congeston on the local streets where parkng space s crtcally mportant. Parkng and CBD Traffc Recommendatons.. Off-street parkng for long-term and short-term US~K should be provded as a frst level prorty snce constructon of the Bypass cannot be realstcally antcpated pror to 98. Addtonal parkng s vtal to mantanng the current level of busness actvty and to offsettng the attrton that wll be more apparent after removal of nonlocal traffc from the CBD. Lot locatons are shown on the General Development Plan Map. n addton to these, selected to replace substandard structures, the area n the renewal project should be utlzed to provde a large-scale parkng faclty snce space s not avalable n the CBD proper. 2. Constructon of the arteral bypass at grade wll necesstate relocaton of Crucble employee parkng to nsde the ndustral area. Any employee parkng areas elmnated n constructon of an elevated bypass should also be replaced south of the ralroad lnes. 3. Provson for store and busness employee parkng should be made behnd the stores where possble. Otherwse, they should use the long-term spaces n off-street lots. Smlar arrangements are necessary for occupants of storefront apartments. The Chamber of Commerce should assume the ntatve n clearng the on-street spaces of employee parkers snce nonsales busness off ces are lttle affected by shopper parkng needs. 88

85 4. Off-street lots should have an average capacty of under 25 autos, should be located away from corner lots to mnmze traffc congeston, and should have access and egress va Wood Lane or Ralroad Lane as well as off Mdland Avenue. 5. Tme lmts on parkng spaces along Mdland Avenue and n the off-street lots requre enforcement for effcency. Ths pont was made n the 959 Comprehensve Plan and must be acted upon to provde mpetus for creaton of the off-street lots. j!! 6. Off-street loadng facltes and on-street loadng schedules are needed and should be an ntegral facet of the off-street parkng and on-street parkng tme regulatons. HOUSNG MPROVEMENT PLAN The Housng mprovement Plan has three purposes: the elmnaton or mprovement of substandard structures; the preservaton of sound structures; and the enactment of envronmental and legal safeguards to guarantee the sound constructon and mantenance of future buldngs. These purposes wll be accomplshed through a varety of means snce the negatve factors assocated wth present housng are vared. As noted n the Summary of Exstng Condtons and the Neghborhood Analyss, housng occupes a major porton of the communty land area. As such, t can have a strongly benefcal or detrmental nfluence over the envronment, market values and tax base of the remander of the Borough. Market values and the desrablty of lvng areas reflected theren are dependent upon sound envronmental and structural condtons. Ths program, wll, therefore, deal wth both aspects of the resdental neghborhoods. Bass For Plannna! n the Neghborhood Analyss a statstcal breakdown of structural condtons n Mdland s gven. Wthn the four resdental neghborhoods the overall rate of substandardness s 3.8 percent. n Neghborhood, only 7 of the 33 housng unts are deteroratng and fve are dlapdated. Neghborhood 2 contans 264 unts; of these 75 are deterorated and 8 are dlapdated unts. Of the 39 unts n Neghborhood 3, 7 are deterorated and 25 are dlapdated. There are 29 housng unts n Neghborhood 4 under the control of the County Housng Authorty. As such, they are not subject to Borough sponsored mprovement programs, but jont efforts to mprove the communty facltes and/or the envronmental condtons can be undertaken. n each of the three neghborhoods contanng substandard housng, the greatest concentratons occur along Mdland Avenue. Ths concentraton, the scattered pattern exstng n Neghborhoods 2 and 3 and the remanng blocks of sound housng ndcate that varous approaches to housng mprovement wll have to be appled. Approaches used wll nclude the conservaton of sound areas; the rehabltaton n areas where repars, modernzaton and spot removals are needed; and the redevelopment or clearance and reuse of the land n areas where refurbshment-& not feasble or desrable. These three approaches largely rely on State and Federal fnancal assstance programs, but wll have to be backed wth legal and economc acton by the Borough. Housng mprovement Plan mprovng the housng stock and envronmental condtons of a communty s a long-term task that must be carefully phased and coordnated accordng to the housng replacement, and fscal and admnstratve requrements of the Borough. The map llustratng the Housng mprovement Plan ndcates the programs to be appled n each geographcal area and the scheduled year of ntaton. The followng text explans the programs, 'he schedulng ratonale, and the fscal and admnstratve consderatons. 89

86 Step one of the housng mprovement plan s development of a certfed Workable Program for Communty Development. Certfcaton of a Workable Program s a.step necessary for partcpaton n many of the Federat fnancal assstance programs. The Workable Program nvolves the adopton of housng, mechancal and fre code ordnances. The housng code s desgned to establsh mnmum standards for rhe safe mantenance and santary occupancy of a housng unt. ts applcaton to all exstng housng provdes tegal authorty for requrng adherence to the mnmum safety and health standards. Mechancal codes set mnmum standards for materals, desgn, methods of buldng constructon, and electrcal and plumbng work. They are ntended to ensure that buldngs, addtons and alteratons wll be sound and structurally safe. The fre code apples to new constructon and all exstng buldngs, ndcatng how buldngs should be desgned and how fre producng actvtes should be carred out to mnmze fre hazards.! Other facets of the Workable Program are prmarly admnstratve and requre () that all communty mprovement actvtes be planned n advance accordng to studed and agreed upon,needs and goals; (2) that fscal support for mprovement programs be avalable; (3) that housng and relocaton'deeds be determned and methods of meetng them be fully arranged before programs affectng the supply of housng are undertaken; (4) that long-range plans for mprovement of all phases of the communty be developed n advance; and (5) that a representatve group of local resdents be apponted as a commttee whose purpose s to make sure that resdents are aware of mprovement programs, how they wll affect them and ether support the plans or have the opportunty to modfy them. Under the Workable Program the housng, mechancal and fre codes must be appled throughout the Borough. Becat+se of ts applcaton to all exstng housng, the housng code must receve the most emphass. A housng code s generally enforced on a fve-year schedule. Each year one-ffth of the Borough housng stock s nspected to uncover and requre the repar of substandard condtons. Perodc repetton of the nspectons wll serve to mantan the level of mprovement that s acheved. Due to the extremely low ncdence of substandard condtons exstng n Neghborhood and due to the envronmental desrablty whch encourages prvate repars, enforcement of the housng, mechancal and fre codes s the only program planned for the area. Ths can be termed a conservaton program. The envronmental ntegrty of the neghborhood can be protected and mantaned by normal street and park mantenance and repar programs. t should be noted that enforcement of the codes n Neghborhood wll have the greatest mpact along Mdland Avenue n the CBD and Ralroad Lane. These are not sutable areas for housng, however, overall condtons do not requre extreme measures concernng the housng. The code enforcement program wll assst to preserve the housng that s safely usable and to elmnate the remander. Wthn Neghborhood 2 the code enforcement program wll be appled. n addton, attenton must be drected to upgradng the envronment. Ths ncludes street repars, street lghtng, sdewalk repars and the provson of parks. The need s partcularly apparent below Seventh Street. By means of a Federally asssted Concentrated Code Enforcement Program these envronmental mprovements can be made, and famles fnancally unable to make repars needed n ther homes can receve assstance. Ths s a rehabltaton program strctly lmted to areas that can be repared to a reasonable level of usefulness and n whch the majorty.of the substandard housng can be repared. Relocaton of famles under ths program s absolutely mnmal. t n conjuncton wth the CBD refurbshng program to be prvately sponsored by busnesses, the code enforcement wll be appled to housng unts located along Mdland Avenue and Wood and Ralroad Lanes. A sgnfcant porton of the unts n ths area are substandard and wll have to be removed; however, t s, therefore, mperatve that exstng housng be saved wherever possble. Apartments above ground floor busnesses n the CBD can help support the commercal vablty of the area whle provdng acceptable housng f satsfactorly arranged, equpped and mantaned. Neghborhood 3 contans the hghest number of substandard housng and nonresdental unts. They are largely concentrated along Mdland Avenue where the structural defcences are compounded by numerous envronmental defcences. The repar or replacement of exstng uses wll not result n changes whch are 9