Evaluation of the Tri-COG Land Bank Business Plan A Solid Foundation for a Regional Approach to Vacancy and Abandonment in the Mon Valley and Beyond
Author(s): Center for Community Progress
Across the country, many see Pittsburgh as the “comeback kid” of rust belt cities, and have watched with great interest as the smoky, steel industrial city of the past transforms into a more green, resilient city of the future. After losing half of its population over the last 70 years, Pittsburgh is finally growing again, and Pittsburghers retain a profound sense of pride, strength, and activism. But as with any transformation of this scale, the massive changes taking place across Pittsburgh and the region, coupled with significant urban renewal projects, have had an inequitable impact on neighborhoods across Pittsburgh – an impact that has only exacerbated the effects of decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods.
In Pittsburgh and across the country, vacant properties, in particular those that are abandoned and left to fall into disrepair, affect neighborhoods of all strengths and impose costs – financial, psychological, and public health – on the entire community. In order to raise awareness of the true costs of vacant and distressed property in Pittsburgh, in 2016 the City of Pittsburgh retained the Center for Community Progress to perform a “cost of blight” study.
Our high level recommendations to an improved approach included:
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