PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/series/tenant-cities/)
More Pittsburgh households now rent than own their homes, and landlords control a growing share of the housing market countywide. COVID-19 is testing the health of this market, bringing eviction curbs, rent relief and a revived tenants’ rights movement. PublicSource and WESA are exploring these changes and examining the governmental and civic responses to the emergence of Tenant Cities.
"You know how many landlords we’ve dealt with that haven’t kept up with their properties. ... We want inspections." — Pittsburgh Democratic mayoral nominee Ed Gainey, now a state representative from Lincoln-Lemington
"It absolutely raises a concern about enforcement, and the Health Department, whether they have enough staff to carry out this function." — state Rep. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport
“I understand you're not going to come in and fix everything immediately, but there's things that need to be addressed. And we're not talking about little Band-Aids, but big Band-Aids." – McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko
For a family that came to Hi View Gardens in a search for safety and affordability, 2021 has been a year of housing turmoil.
Three years ago, PNC bought housing complexes in McKeesport, intent on improving them and keeping them affordable. But health violations and 911 calls surged, and residents are organizing to demand better from the nation’s seventh-largest bank.
The bank has stakes in low-income housing properties in some 30 communities, and it aims to use its resources and government funds to keep rents low.
Since January, PublicSource and WESA have been spending time with households facing eviction, as part of the Tenant Cities series. We’ve seen tenants try to tap rent relief, scrape to make payments, or take the difficult step of trying to move during a pandemic. Here are portraits of four households we’ve met.
A year after the COVID-19 pandemic changed the rules for landlords and tenants, the eviction capital of the county is deep in the suburbs, where tenants of one apartment complex are scrambling to avoid ejection.
In Allegheny County, and surrounding counties, only a fraction of applicants received rent relief.
