Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification
Specific working definitions of gentrification vary, but generally, it is the rapid shift in the demographics of an area, often based on factors such as race, income, and age. These demographic shifts affect and are affected by rising property values that can push out current residents, who more often than not are low-income Black people in Pittsburgh. According to a National Community Reinvestment Coalition study, Pittsburgh was the eighth most gentrified city in the U.S. in 2019, with neighborhoods like Downtown, Lawrenceville, and the Mexican War Streets seeing the sharpest levels of gentrification. In addition to evictions and terminating leases, the City of Pittsburgh Affordable Housing Task Force’s 2016 Housing Needs Assessment identified constrained housing choice, housing market volatility, and economic instability as variables in vulnerability to displacement.
