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The results are in!
The initial "explore" phase of the new comprehensive plan generated well over 3,000 points of public input: Survey responses, notes and discussion on the interactive map, conversations and comments at a wide array of community events.
What are the takeaways?
Read on to review summary highlights, or use the buttons to jump around.
Highest priorities
The top three issues that survey takers want to see Mt. Lebanon address during the next 10 years are recreation/park facilities, safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists and strengthening local business districts. Respondents selected up to three priorities from the list below, which is based on the themes most commonly mentioned in the initial survey.
What influenced your decision to live and/or work in Mt. Lebanon?
We asked the same question in the same way in both 2012 and 2022. Differences in the responses provide insight into community priorities.
2012 Comp Plan Survey
1. Quality of schools
2. Low crime rate/police protection
3. Public services
4. Cultural activities
5. Overall quality of life
2022 Comp Plan Survey
1. Quality of schools
2. Family-friendly
3. Overall quality of life
4. Low crime rate/police protection
5. Easy to walk/bike
How has Mt. Lebanon changed since you have lived/worked here?
We asked the same question in the same way in both 2012 and 2022. Differences in the responses provide insight into community sentiment.
2012 Comp Plan Survey
2022 Comp Plan Survey
Where did you live prior to moving to Mt. Lebanon?
A significant share of Mt. Lebanon households moved here from other states, which indicates the strength of the community's reputation as a top place to live within the region.
How long have you lived and/or worked in Mt. Lebanon?
Survey respondents represent a cross-section of those who are new here, those who have been here for decades and everyone in between.
agree-disagree
Agree or disagree?
We tested the following sentiments based on responses to the initial survey, conversations at public events and key person interviews. Getting a sense of how strongly residents favor or reject a prospect helps planners determine where to direct research in the project's next phase.
The sentiments appear here in order from most popular to least popular.
1.
Future development or redevelopment should respect Mt. Lebanon's historic character.
2.
As a community, Mt. Lebanon has a responsibility to take actions within its control to address climate mitigation, such as those that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3.
Mt. Lebanon should offer a diverse range of housing options for people at all stages of their lives.
4.
Every home in Mt. Lebanon should be within a 20-minute walk, bike ride or transit ride of daily destinations such as grocery stores, parks, schools and services.
5.
Mt. Lebanon should be the standard bearer among local communities on sustainability, leading innovation and progress toward ecological integrity and community resilience.
6.
People of all income levels should be able to find a place to live in Mt. Lebanon.
7.
Mt. Lebanon needs a dog park.
8.
Reconfiguring our streets to increase safety and comfort for cyclists is important, even if it requires the conversion of some streets to one-way traffic only.
9.
Any redevelopment of a residential site in Mt. Lebanon should result in an equal or greater number of housing units than were there previously.
How would you describe the quality of your walking environment?
Responses were fairly similar across all wards within the community, though ratings were most favorable in Ward 3 and least favorable in Ward 5.
How important will it be during the next 10 years to close gaps in the sidewalk network?
Mt. Lebanon's identity as a "walking community" is a common theme across public input. More than 80% of survey takers rated improving the sidewalk network as moderately or extremely important.
The rise of remote work
The survey included a question about work location, anticipating that the rise in remote work accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic has changed local commuting patterns. In the 2010 Census, only 5% of employed Mt. Lebanon residents worked from home.
35%
of survey takers reported working from home regularly.
Who participated?
Of the 1,768 total responses to the main survey, the vast majority (93%) were Mt. Lebanon residents, about half were property owners, 19% work in the community, 6% were business owners an 2% identified as visitors. The categories were not exclusive, multiple could apply.
Representation was even across municipal wards, with each of the five areas accounting for about 20% of responses.
Mt. Lebanon's youngest residents were underrepresented in survey results, with those age 25 and under accounting for about 5% of results (29% of the total population). The planning process accounts for this with targeted outreach effort to this and other groups to capture a variety of perspectives.
on-the-map
On the map
The interactive map encouraged users to drop pins to share ideas for different types of improvements at specific locations. More than 900 pins and comments filled the map.
Users could upvote and downvote ideas submitted by others.
Most popular ideas, by total upvotes:
"This lot [at Washington Road and Bower Hill Road, across from Pamela's] has been sitting empty and is the first thing you see when you come to mt lebanon work with the owner to develop as soon as possible or purchase and turn into a park." -- 61 upvotes, 0 downvotes
"Slowing traffic on Washington Rd. or creating new cycling infrastructure would be beneficial. It's an easy bike ride to Uptown for most of Mt. Lebanon but hardly anyone makes that trip due to the traffic" -- 43 upvotes, 2 downvotes
"Please make Puff Diggity move somewhere else and encourage a healthier/saver shop in this space. People are smoking outside it constantly, and it's right next to Betsy's, which is so often visited by children." -- 41 upvotes, 6 downvotes
"Not only do we need to make Washington Rd safer to bike on, we need to invest in places to lock up bicycles when shopping/eating in Uptown. There should be bike racks every block at a minimum." -- 37 upvotes, 1 downvote
"Please prevent a bank from being built in this space!! [former Dollar General at Academy Ave and Cochran] A family-friendly restaurant with outdoor and indoor play space would be ideal and add to the community. You could even use this space for additional recreation offerings." -- 37 upvotes, 1 downvote
Most controversial ideas, by total downvotes:
"MANY dog walkers use Bird Park daily. Need an official dog park here." -- 33 upvotes, 46 downvotes
"Make Washington Road a two-lane road instead of four lanes (exception for turning lanes) and improve cycling and walking infrastructure" -- 36 upvotes, 43 downvotes
"Could this [area of Bird Park] (or main park) be used for a disc golf course?" -- 12 upvotes, 25 downvotes
"A traffic light could prevent a lot of backup from school pickups at this intersection [Beadling Road and Washington Road by Bird Park]." -- 7 upvotes, 24 downvotes
"My kids are adults, but this field [at Bird Park] is an embarrassment to the community. Turf it. The quality of play cannot be guaranteed and worse, the conditions add to injuries. Again- turf :)" -- 1 upvote, 23 downvotes
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