the pittsburgh pedestrian experience

My name is Breen Masciotra and I am on a Low Car Diet. I am a life-long resident of Pittsburgh and I love it here. I am on this “diet” to prove to myself, and my neighbors, that you don’t need a car to survive in this great city. Plus, I am diminishing the fossil fuels that I consume.

As I said, I was born and (mostly) raised in Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill and the suburb of Edgewood, to be specific. I attended Saint Edmund’s Academy and the Ellis School before leaving this fair city for Saint Louis, Missouri. There I attended Washington University and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. I spent my first year out of school in Washington, DC, pretending that I was never coming back. But here I am.

I returned to Pittsburgh to attend the University of PIttsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. I took a break in the middle of my degree and spent time working for East Liberty Development, Inc. and the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh. Then I returned to school to earn a Master’s of Public Administration in Urban and Regional Affairs with a Minor in Environmental Management and Policy. During my time in school, I was introduced to a certain Chelsa Wagner and have been working for her ever since. Formally, I am the Grants and Development Manager for State Representative Chelsa Wagner.

But that’s not all I do. In my free time, I like to further the work I do all day by being involved in politics and community development. I participate in progress pittsburgh and I volunteer for my neighborhood organization, the Mount Washington CDC.