Reviewed by Michael Knoop...

The film takes the viewer on a stroll through the ethnic festivals in Bloomfield and Aliquippa, on a hike up and down the city steps in the South Side Slopes, on a tour through unique historic homes in Lawrenceville, Observatory Hill, and Aluminum City Terrace in New Kensington. Viewers also get the chance to see Regent Square, a dog-friendly neighborhood that crosses several municipal boundaries. While a main theme is the historic continuity of the people and places of the region, tours are also given of the new and promising residential brownfield developments at Washington's Landing and Somerset at Frick Park.

Probably the best reason why Pittsburgh's old neighborhoods have remained so stable is that the region is filled with good neighbors, like the ladies of the Hi Neighbor! Club out in Colliers Township. For all of you neighborhood organizations out there struggling to come up with the perfect wording for your mission statement or to raise enough grant money to stay afloat, be informed that these ladies have been looking after the neighborhood's children, cooking for each other, and meeting monthly "just to sit and talk" for more than half a century with neither mission statement nor money! Yet they are a shining example of neighbors taking care of each other.

While strong neighborhoods are definitely not possible without good neighbors like the ladies in Colliers Township, the film shows how community assets such as the Homewood Branch of the Carnegie Library, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Polish Hill, or the huge murals financed by the Sprout Fund found all over the city are also factors that make their respective communities special. Zoscak's Market has been serving high quality meat with care since 1934. Enrico's Tazza D`Oro serves as a central meeting place for folks in and around Highland Park.

We'd like to thank Rick Sebak for It's the Neighborhoods. Pick up a copy on the WQED website. Check it out! Watch it with your neighbors!

Reviewed by Shelley Harnett and Eric Milliron...

by Bob Regan

Venice has canals, San Francisco has cable cars, and Pittsburgh has steps? Yes, Pittsburgh has steps -- More public steps than any other city in the cosmos. Steps not celebrated*…until now. Bob Regan has kicked off this step party with his new book, The Steps of Pittsburgh, Portrait of a City -- a book that finally gives our unique solution to pedestrian transport over hills and mountains their due.

Mr. Regan (a native of Boston) noticed our quirky stairs after a bike ride. He had an epiphany that has led to a well-researched and beautifully photographed book that offers old-timers and new-timers a fresh way to experience our city. In addition, the book compels one to explore not just new viewscapes, but the very fabric of Pittsburgh - its neighborhoods. Included in the book are six neighborhood tours taking us through the South Side, North Side, Lawrenceville, East End and the often overlooked West End.

We have taken some of the tours and discovered a forgotten Pittsburgh: Neighborhoods seldom seen by folks outside the community, taverns that only a select few know of (some with no names, but all with Iron City on tap…) and the friendly faces of Pittsburgh that we're so famous for. Many hilltop locals seemed shocked to see 'foreign' trekkers appearing from wooded nooks on steep hillsides. Frankly, we were shocked we made the trek ourselves! Our Fineview tour brought us up 331 steps - that's only the first set. One might think that this might be a tiring feat/feet, but much to our surprise, at the end of the journey we were not fatigued. Instead, we eagerly started planning our next trips. We have a mere 44,314 steps to go.

Pittsburgh is a city of endless fascination. This book exemplifies this notion. Who would've thunk that a book on something so seeming mundane could actually and truly be a book on rediscovery? Discover it yourself at your local independent bookseller or at the publisher's website: www.thelocalhistorycompany.com

* Two Pittsburgh neighborhoods do celebrate their step-abundancy in annual "Step Trek" fundraisers. Contact the South Side Slopes Association www.steptrek.org and Fineview Citizens Council 412.395.3261 to learn more.

Reviewed by Randy Strothman...

by David J. Smith

If the World Were a Village presents a much larger sense of community than most of us are used to considering, especially in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania where international diversity is limited.

Imagine the world's population scaled down proportionately to only 100 residents living together in a village. That's 6.2 billion people represented by 100 villagers. In this village the most likely person you'd likely run into on the street would be Asian, under 30 and hungry, with use of electricity only at night and only for light.

This small book offers easy to understand, mind expanding data. For example, of the 100 people in the village, 61 are from Asia, 13 from Africa, 12 from Europe, 8 from Central and South America, and 5 from North America.

While found in the children's section of the book store, this book offers much food for thought and an expansive notion of community for global villagers of all ages.

Alida's Pick...

Web Pages That Suck: Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design

by Vincent Flanders & Michael Willis

Here's the straight dope on the World Wide Web -- the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Movies have Siskel and Ebert...Web sites have Flanders and Willis. If you design Web sites, plan to build one, or are just an active surfer, you need to hear what they have to say. Funny, opinionated, and always to-the-point, Flanders and Willis have developed a reputation for being the Web's leading critics.

Margie's Pick...

by Alice Sturgis

This completely revised and updated alternative to Robert's Rules is the most comprehensive, understandable, and logical guide to conducting smoothly functioning, formal, organizational meetings. Already accepted as the authority of successful organizations, this guide clarifies confusing laws and eliminates obsolete motions.

Mark's Pick...

by Jane Jacobs

Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning....[It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the descriptions of street life as a kind of ballet and the bitingly satiric account of traditional planning theory can still be read for pleasure even by those who long ago absorbed and appropriated the book's arguments." Jane Jacobs, an editor and writer on architecture in New York City in the early sixties, argued that urban diversity and vitality were being destroyed by powerful architects and city planners.

Di's Pick...

by Perspection Inc.

This book provides instruction on using PowerPoint Version 2002 to create presentations, taking advantage of design templates and Smart Tags. It covers the creation and use of charts, diagrams, text, narration, animation, movies, slide shows, and 3-D effects.

Shelley's Pick...

by Myron Orfield

Metropolitics is the story of how demographic research and state-of-the-art mapping, together with resourceful and pragmatic politics, built a powerful political alliance between the central cities, declining inner suburbs, and developing suburbs with low tax bases.

by Rex P. Gatto

From CTAC trainer Rex Gatto, the Smart Manager's F.A.Q. Guide is a handy reference that draws on a wealth of information from workshops, training sessions, and consulting interventions that have a proven track record. You'll get practical solution to your toughest workplace questions such as: how can I guarantee customer satisfaction? What questions should I ask in an interview? How do I deal with an angry employee? What can I do to overcome resistance to change? How can I get people to listen to me? What are the best ways to praise or reprimand employees? And how can I produce an effective presentation?

Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities

by George L. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles

With stories of crime reduction in cities from New York to Seattle, Fixing Broken Windows demonstrates that controlling disorderly behavior is the key to preventing serious crimes. "A convincing case for trying community policing and order maintenance . . . crime-control strategies that make sense".--"Richmond Times Dispatch".