Tri-COG Collaborative on Blight A Plan for the Place

Allegheny County in the 60s ❏ Bustling Steel Industry ❏ Populated Urban Core ❏ Stable Jobs = Stable Neighborhoods

The Boom Braddock Ave th Ave Homestead 1920 Downtown 1958

The Bust Charlie Brodsky 1989 ❏ Approximately 153,000 industrial jobs lost throughout the region John Hoerr “And the Wolf Finally Came: the Decline of American Steel”

Allegheny County Today ❏ There are 24.9% fewer people living in Allegheny County in 2010 than in ❏ People with the means to leave... did ❏ People moved to the suburbs or other regions entirely

Demographic Case Study: Mon Valley/Tri-COG Communities ❏ According to the ACS ❏ Poverty Rate % (Higher than National, State and County Average) ❏ 87% of the Communities have lower MHI than the national Average ❏ 8 localities with MHI less than $30,000 ❏ High Elderly Rates ❏ 95% of the localities are over the national average of population over 65. ❏ Braddock Hills with 29.61%

The people are gone, but their houses aren’t ❏ In Allegheny County there are 16,428 blighted households ❏ 96,916 Non-Blighted homes are within 150 feet of a blighted home ❏ This deflates the housing values by an estimated $1,264,490,987

How do we cure blight? with a bulldozer ❏ With 400,000 fewer people in the county, “right-sizing” makes sense ❏ With limited access to residential sites, a great deal of CDBG money went and still goes towards demolition projects ❏ After you demolish a house you’re still left with a vacant lot ❏ In 2014 there are an estimated 16,744 vacant lots ❏ These are your typical residential non- wooded/non-hillside parcel, 0-2 acre lot. ❏ 5,494 or 32.81% are chronically delinquent on county taxes ❏ In 2014, 90.1% of the lots were owned by Private entities and NGOs

What do we do with all these lots? ❏ Community Gardens Estimated: 114 different Community Gardens throughout the County ❏ Parklets & Educational Spaces Kent State University - Cleveland Vacant Lot Pattern Book ❏ Number of organizations throughout the County are dedicated to the creative reuse of vacant and abandoned lots Grow Pittsburgh

Gardens are great... but what else? ❏ Much of pittsburgh and surrounding region have combined sewage systems ❏ When it rains - even as little as 1/10 of and inch- raw sewage overflows into our rivers and streams ❏ Typically 50% of recreational boating season (May - Sept) is hampered by ACHD River Health Advisories

ALCOSAN and the Consent Decree ❏ A Consent Decree was issued in order to set a timeline and force compliance with the objectives set by the Federal Clean Water Act ❏ Issued January 2008 ❏ Requires the elimination of all illegal sanitary sewer overflows ❏ All Consent Decree orders must be met by Sept 2026 ❏ In order to pay for these improvements significant rate hikes have been observed since 2008 ❏ 17% in 2014 ❏ Annual 11% increase each year for 2015, 2016 and 2017

Green Vs Grey - how vacant lots fit in ❏ 4 Main ways to meet the Decree’s objectives ❏ Move It (Grey) - Laying down additional sewage lines and pumping stations to effectively move water to the treatment plant ❏ Treat It (Grey) - Construct satellite treatment plants and filter water to those sites ❏ Hold it (Grey) - Install massive storage tanks to hold the sewage/storm water until the system is clear ❏ Remove it (Green) - Control stormwater at its source, before it even goes into sewer system

Challenges in implementing green solutions ❏ Extensive Planning Efforts ❏ Where are the Lots? ❏ Which site capture the most amount of rain water ❏ Coordination Difficulties ❏ 84 different ALCOSAN customers ❏ These lots are privately owned ❏ Only 9.9% of vacant residential lots are controlled by government entities Vacant Lots in Homestead Pa

Current Tax Sale System Delinquent Tax Collectors Take Delinquent (Mostly Blighted) Homes to Tax Sale in order to try and collect Back Taxes o Limited or Select number of properties brought to Tax Sale o If you can’t collect it won’t go to sale o At times very time consuming and resource draining o Many properties get stuck in the system Investors at the Sale Bid on the Parcel(s) they want to Buy. o Limited Number of Investors o ½ of Sherriff Sale participants are new at each sale which means they come once and never return o The system takes time to learn and buyers could take on unintended debt o Not all investors are responsible

Building a Comprehensive Strategy for Communities  A Land Bank is an important tool But it is not the whole toolkit It requires coordination Land Banking Strategic Code Enforcement Brownfield Development Education and Knowledge Sharing through Blight Busters Affordable Housing Planned Greening Urban Agriculture Economic Development Building Partnerships