Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 12:34AM |  49°
MENU
Advertisement

A land bank would strengthen neighborhoods

A land bank would strengthen neighborhoods

I read with great interest the Forum piece by Liz Hersh on a land bank for Pittsburgh. (“Say Yes to a Land Bank,” March 23). Like Ms. Hersh, I believe the creation of a land bank could be a powerful tool that would facilitate greater public interest and input into the disposition of abandoned properties here in the city. In the end, it could end up empowering communities to reverse the decadeslong decline that has caused widespread housing demolition and population loss.

By viewing empty lots and houses as opportunities, and not barriers, to revitalization, a land bank can set the table for further long-term investment. The current system now leaves the city in possession of thousands of such properties and, because of a burdensome legal process and the large amounts of unpaid liens recorded against them, makes it almost impossible to put a serious dent in the problem. I have heard an estimate that to put the properties that sit abandoned today back into productive re-use could take upward of 60 years if we leave the system as it is.

Currently, we saddle some of our poorest neighborhoods, like Garfield, with the task of unwinding the legal and financial tangle that accompanies vacancy and blight. As amended by Councilwoman Deborah Gross and Councilman Corey O’Connor, the bill now under consideration at council would establish a land bank that has clear ties back to the communities most affected by the problem. Their voices would be heard in determining what the ultimate fate would be for the abandoned properties that pockmark their neighborhoods, so that the city doesn’t make the mistake of selling them indiscriminately to buyers who don’t share the interests of concerned stakeholders.

Advertisement

A land bank for Pittsburgh will strengthen market activity in hard-pressed communities, engage their residents in charting the future and add value in many instances where it has been lost.

AGGIE BROSE
Deputy Director
Bloomfield-Garfield Corp.
Garfield

First Published: March 30, 2014, 4:00 a.m.

Advertisement
RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, shown delivering his budget address in early February, said on Monday that a federal freeze of money intended for Pennsylvania is over.
1
news
Gov. Shapiro says federal freeze and blockages of $2.1 billion for Pa. are now over
The Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, where state Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe on Monday answered budget questions from lawmakers.
2
news
Pa. acting education secretary 'exceptionally concerned' after report on cyber charter school funding
Law enforcement respond to the scene of a shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
3
news
Gunman in UPMC mass shooting battled lifelong mental health issues, says ex-girlfriend
Agents took Rachel Marie Powell, 40, of Sandy Lake, into custody in New Castle on Feb. 4, 2021.
4
news
Pardoned for Jan. 6, 'Pink Hat Lady' came home to a new reality in Western Pa.
Law enforcement respond to the scene of a shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
5
business
Pennsylvania hospitals beef up security in wake of York hospital shootings
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story