Community Development Fun Facts

I posted this on my Facebook page last week (sorry if you already saw it) but I am still frustrated with the general lack of knowledge most people have when it comes to community development. Therefore, I felt as though I should share it on here too. Enjoy.

I'm not saying I know everything about the history of Pittsburgh or community development in Pittsburgh, but reading the comments on the Post-Gazette articles on the Lower Hill Redevelopment Plan by the Penguins/URA/City of Pittsburgh is the most frustrating thing. https://www.post-gazette.com/…/redevelo…/stories/201712070102

Here are some fun facts about community development corporations and the Hill CDC (where I work):

1. CDCs do not have an endless source of funding, we operate almost entirely on grants. Without grants, we cannot pay our staff, create programs for the community, or pay anyone involved (permits, architects, contractors, etc.) in development projects.

2. The Hill CDC is pushing for affordable housing with the more accessible 4% tax credit because it's never a good idea to put all your apples in one basket (the 9% tax basket that requires you to spend the next year picking up your apples if you drop it). We would very much like to see development take place in the Lower Hill, but only ask that the developers take into consideration the fact that the Hill District has been waiting for decades for something to happen.

3. Affordable housing and those who apply for it are NOT "riff raff". Many of the people who apply for it are in the financial situation they are in due to the historical use of redlining throughout the City of Pittsburgh (and the country). When the situation that you're raised in has severely limited your ability to get out of said situation, it's rather difficult to do so.

4. The Hill CDC pushes for affordable housing so that things like redlining can never take place again.

5. We all wish that the process of acquiring vacant properties was as easy as people generally think (propose a use for it, fill out the paperwork, purchase it and develop). It is never this simple when you tie in tax delinquencies, owners that you cannot reach or are unwilling to negotiate, third parties that own the lots (URA, City of Pittsburgh, etc.) and the bureaucracy involved on their end, or the lack of funding (remember what I mentioned earlier about money?).

6. We cannot spend our time pushing for the development of all the vacant lots in the Hill District (what would we even fill them with? There are already at least 300 vacant parcels, most of them being vacant homes). Developing on vacant lots costs a lot more than it does to renovate and recycle existing structures (there are exceptions of course).

7. There is nothing wrong with community groups expressing concern with the development that takes place in their neighborhood, especially when it's a development plan that started off with the displacement of 8,000 people in the 70s, has been delayed for 10 years, and now has the potential to not break ground until 2025 with a written-in two year extension from that date.

8. When people say things like "Why can't the people who apply for Section 8 Vouchers just go get the training for jobs to pay taxes like the rest of us?", again, it is not that simple. When you're brought up in a system that aims to pin you with a felony by the time you're 18, it's hard to find employers that will train you, let alone hire you. There are programs that exist in Pittsburgh and they're working, but not nearly as well as they could be (we're working on it as part of the AFFH Task Force, believe me).

9. To suggest that the Hill CDC is "bullying" or "forcing" developers to include affordable housing is ridiculous. Developers can receive tax credits for developing affordable housing units (see 2). If anything, making sure that the affordable units are present helps them save money in the long run.

10. To suggest that community groups need to "capitalize, purchase their own land, and build their own affordable housing" is absurd (see 1, 5, and 6). Not to mention the fact that the Pittsburgh Land Bank has not been "activated" yet since its creation roughly two years ago (they voted on their official Policy and Procedures this week, actually).

I could go on, but I have people to hold accountable. End rant.