Jakob Lazzaro

Digital Producer at WESA-FM (Pittsburgh, PA)

not really on here anymore

Articles

Who actually lives in Pittsburgh’s luxury apartment buildings?

Oct 20, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

You’ve definitely heard it. Maybe you’ve thought it. Or you may have muttered it out loud. As new luxury apartment buildings have sprung up across Pittsburgh, many have gestured towards the high rents and questioned who they are for — who actually lives in them, anyway? But despite their appearance, Pittsburgh’s luxury buildings actually help lower your rent by helping fill demand in the market. And the people that live in them are normal Pittsburghers.
How Pittsburgh’s luxury apartments lower your rent

Oct 20, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

In the past decade, luxury apartment complexes have sprouted up around Pittsburgh like mushrooms, popping up between the century-old row houses with their boxy exteriors often decked out in gray or beige cladding and adorned with banners promoting websites that boast about all of the amenities that lie within their walls. You’ve definitely seen these buildings (or maybe you even live in one).
East Busway closed between Strip District, Oakland after landslide

Oct 11, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

The East Busway is closed between the Strip District and Oakland following an overnight landslide that blocked the road. All buses are detouring via the Neville Street ramp through North Oakland, Bloomfield and the Strip District, where they are rejoining the busway via the 26th Street ramp. Pittsburgh Regional Transit says the detour is adding 15 to 20 minutes to each trip.
Photos: Pittsburgh celebrates World Refugee Day

Jun 21, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

Pittsburghers flocked to Schenley Plaza Thursday for the annual World Refugee Day celebration, which included a naturalization ceremony for 16 new U.S. citizens, food and craft vendors from Pittsburgh’s immigrant and refugee communities and live music and dance performances. Local nonprofit Hello Neighbor co-organized the event along with groups including Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS), Acculturation for Justice, Access, and Peace Outreach (AJAPO) and Bethany Christian Services.
How ancestral rivers carved up — and flattened — Pittsburgh | 90.5 WESA

May 6, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

The large arc of flat land in Pittsburgh's East End seems out of place, but it's actually an ancient riverbed marking where the Allegheny and Monongahela once flowed.
Why does Pittsburgh have so many glass block windows?

Jan 15, 2024 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

If you’ve been in Pittsburgh for more than a few hours, you’ve definitely seen them. They’re in basement, bathroom and kitchen windows, of course — odds are you have one in your house. But they also cover shop storefronts. Building lobbies. The sides of warehouses, offices and factories in the Strip. And the platform walls of Steel Plaza T station Downtown. Glass block windows are seemingly ubiquitous here. But why? And how did Pittsburgh end up with so many in the first place?
The ghost toilet on Pittsburgh’s South Side offers lessons for Downtown's new public bathrooms

Sep 19, 2023 | wvia.org | Jakob Lazzaro

Last week, city officials announced the installation of two new public bathrooms in downtown Pittsburgh. Two multi-stalled trailers — one just outside the Gateway T station, and the other on the corner of Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way — will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Both have running water, sinks and heat, and are staffed 16 hours a day by ambassadors with the Downtown Partnership program.
The ghost toilet on Pittsburgh’s South Side offers lessons for Downtown's new public bathrooms

Sep 18, 2023 | wesa.fm | Jakob Lazzaro

Last week, city officials announced the installation of two new public bathrooms in downtown Pittsburgh. Two multi-stalled trailers — one just outside the Gateway T station, and the other on the corner of Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way — will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Both have running water, sinks and heat, and are staffed 16 hours a day by ambassadors with the Downtown Partnership program.