'It's A Disgrace Up Here': Mt. Washington Man Petitions City Council To Fix Up Neighborhood

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- One Mount Washington resident is fighting for funds and a facelift for his neighborhood.

"It's a disgrace up here," said Patrick Gianella. A life-long resident, Gianella began circulating a petition asking for funds to be made available to fix up the section of Grandview Avenue through Duquesne Heights.

"The area from the Duquesne Heights Incline to Sweetbriar Street and beyond is a disgrace," the petition says.

Gianella tells KDKA that a comprehensive study was done in 2005 that proposed repairs for the railings, lightings, intersections, sidewalks and signage.

"You can't see the city here," he says, pointing to a section of trees in front of the city's skyline. "Totally blocked by trees. Overgrown area. It's been like this -- broken fences."

KDKA brought his concerns to the city council and Pittsburgh Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith addressed them.

"We need to be uniform across from one end of Grandview to the other," Kail-Smith said. "And I do agree that the other end of Grandview -- because it's not in the business area -- has not received the same attention."

However, the councilwoman handed a lengthy list over to KDKA with thousands of dollars of repairs -- projects both in the works and slated to begin this fall.

"I think that they need to know that we are doing our best and working really hard to get some of this done," she said. "And I can show you some of those dollars that we are securing for up there. And I can tell you we are getting things -- and doing things -- that they have not had before."