East Liberty Development, Inc.

It's no secret that funding affordable housing is difficult. To strike the right balance between affordable and market-rate in a neighborhood, a mix of approaches is required. The innovative housing model described in this carousel represents just one way to creatively finance affordable units. To scale up the creation of affordable housing, we need more community groups committed to this hard yet rewarding work. Click the link in the caption to learn more about how we work to foster a vibrant, mixed-income East Liberty at ELDI. #pittsburgh #affordablehousing #pittsburghrealestate

A peek inside our impact report, “Two Decades of Community-Driven Transformation,” courtesy of?Shift Collaborative , the talented agency behind its design. For over 40 years, ELDI has worked in collaboration with neighborhood stakeholders in the areas of planning, advocacy, facilitation, and investment to bring positive change in the East Liberty community. In 2021, we reached out to Shift to build a 20-year report that would showcase the impact of our work, including both the successes and lessons learned. The core of the report explains our process of PAFI—Plan, Advocate, Facilitate, and Invest—with the intention that other community development organizations can use this report as a guide for their own neighborhoods. One super cool feature is a gatefold map that was created for the center of the report to help readers understand the amount of growth we have facilitated over the past few decades, both commercially and residentially. The report concludes with several topics, including impact on the community, lessons learned throughout the years, viewpoints from legacy businesses that have been in operation for decades, and finally, what the future holds for East Liberty. ?? Click the link in the caption to explore it for yourself. #communitydevelopment #pittsburgh #cdc #neighborhoodrevitalization

Tracey Hopkins was tired of plain white walls and paying someone else’s mortgage. She had always dreamed of becoming a homeowner, but when her sister, who had been living with her, passed away in 2023, she decided it was finally time to take action. In our latest story, we follow Tracey Hopkins' inspiring affordable homeownership journey with ELDI, LifeVenture Buy Choice Homes, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, First Commonwealth Bank, City of Bridges Community Land Trust, and others that resulted in her receiving over $100K in grant funds! ?? Click the link in the caption to read! #affordablehomes #minorityhomeownership #racialwealthgap #pittsburgh #realestate #affordablehomeownership

315 and 317 North St. Clair are not your typical East Liberty homes. Sold this spring, these design-forward houses are the result of a collaboration between ELDI, Tai Lee Architects PC, and the Urban Design Build Studio (UDBS) at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture—a program that offers students hands-on experience in design and construction. The St. Clair homes project, which kicked off in 2019, was a unique chance for UDBS students to get real-world experience with housing construction. The homes are also an example of a new approach to housing—one that goes beyond design or materials. They exemplify a housing strategy that can help prevent displacement. The profits from the sale of these upscale units have been reinvested into the East Liberty community, directly funding the creation of affordable housing just around the corner. Click the link in the caption to learn more about this innovative project and housing model. #cmu #cdc #communitydevelopment #affordablehousing #pittsburgh #architecture

Pittsburgh, like many Northeastern cities, has experienced staggering population loss since the mid-twentieth century. Pittsburgh’s overall population was 604,332 in 1960 and dropped to 302,971 in 2020—a drastic 50% decrease. The East End of Pittsburgh experienced similar losses as well, but not evenly across its major neighborhoods. Driven by the impact of urban renewal, white flight, and the collapse of Pittsburgh’s steel industry, minority neighborhoods experienced significantly higher losses than majority white neighborhoods. Since 1960, Larimer has lost 83.7% of its population, Garfield 61.4%, and Homewood 80%, while neighborhoods such as Highland Park and Shadyside remained more stable. Geographically, East Liberty—which lost around 48% of its population—sits in the midst of these neighborhoods as a crossroads between wealth and poverty. Learn more about East Liberty's population changes over the years, including its past and current minority makeup in our impact report. Link in the comments.

Did you know ELDI has a once-monthly newsletter that keeps you up to date on all of the neighborhood events and news? It’s called the East Liberty Happenings, and you can sign up via the link in the caption. ?? #pittsburgh #communitydevelopment

What is successful community development? ?? Here are a few of the things we think are important. Let us know what successful community development means to you in the comments. ? Plus, learn more about our principles for successful revitalization in our impact report. Link in caption.

East Liberty's long-time residents defined the vision for the neighborhood's revitalization through an extensive community engagement process involving hundreds of community meetings. That is the vision outlined in East Liberty's 1999 and 2010 community plans, which has been largely realized today. President of ELDI's board, Reverend Patrice Fowler-Searcy, talks about that vision, formed in the meeting rooms of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church (and elsewhere) so many years ago, as well as the transformation that came from it. The clip is from our impact report launch party last September. ? Want to know more about East Liberty's transformation? Discover the journey of the neighborhood in our impact report. Link in caption. #communitydevelopment #cdc #pittsburgh

Have you heard of Pittsburgh’s Black Excellence in Real Estate movement? ?? If you’ve ever attended a?Black Excellence in Real Estate?awards gala, you know you’re in for a good time. From the lavish decorations to the impeccably dressed guests, it’s a moment for Pittsburgh’s Black real estate community to celebrate and shine. In attendance, you’ll find some of the nation’s largest lenders mingling and dancing alongside members of grassroots community organizations. What do they have in common? ?? They’re all united in the mission of increasing Black generational wealth. ?? Black Excellence in Real Estate was founded by long-time ELDI partners?Mary Hester and?Tammy Thompson. ?? Click the link below to learn more about the movement, from how they first came up with the idea to where it’s all headed. https://lnkd.in/dsR_aMEC Catapult Greater Pittsburgh #blackexcellence #realestate #cdc #communitydevelopment #Pittsburgh

The sport of squash may seem like an unlikely vehicle for transforming the lives of Pittsburgh youth, but it has proven to be a powerful one—just ask the folks at?STEEL CITY SQUASH INC. The non-profit, which recently opened a $10 million sports and education complex on Larimer Avenue, provides free academic and athletic support to underserved youth in Pittsburgh, with squash as their hook for making an impact. Learn more about the new complex and Steel City Squash's game-changing model in our latest story. Link in caption. #Pittsburgh #larimer #cdc #communitydevelopment #squash