A group of local community leaders came together Monday to announce the launch of a survey aimed at understanding why some Black Pittsburghers decide to leave the region.
The Black Political Empowerment Project’s (B-PEP) Corporate Equity Inclusion Roundtable (CEIR) — which is working in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work’s Center for Race and Social Problems — officially launched the project, titled the Black Pittsburgh Satisfaction and Retention survey, Monday night during a press conference at the Kingsley Association in Larimer.
Tim Stevens, CEO of B-PEP, said the project will provide vital information in understanding why some members of the Black community decide to leave the Pittsburgh region, which has seen a dwindling African American population over the past few years while other demographics have increased.
“We’re hoping this will be valuable information for all of us,” he said. “Valuable information for the corporate community to analyze. Those who wish to keep Black people in Pittsburgh, they will now have that information.”
In an effort to boost participation in the survey, which both current and former Black residents of Pittsburgh are encouraged to fill out, $10 gift cards are being offered as an incentive to the first 1,000 participants.
The survey can be found online, at blackpittsburghsurvey.org, although those who do not want to provide their answers in the online form can also call organizers at 412-624-2883 and provide their feedback over the phone.
In addition to the survey, which will run until March 31, researchers also will be interviewing members of Pittsburgh’s Black community in early 2025 to hear their experiences first-hand.
“We know that creating solutions to problems without actually hearing the voice of the people who live in that area is going to be meaningless, there’s no point,” said Kyaien Conner, director of the University of Pittsburgh Center of Race and Social Problems and a CEIR member.
And while Pittsburgh has recently been ranked one of the top places to live and work in the country, Ms. Conner said that experience often doesn’t extend to the entire population of the city.
“For Black and brown residents, there are significant challenges and barriers that create real issues to long-term residents here,” she said.
Ultimately, the hope for the survey is that it leads to concrete initiatives to bolster the retention of Pittsburgh’s Black community, said Godfrey Bethea Jr., CEIR survey coordinator and vice president of Equity, People, and Culture at the Greater Community Food Bank.
“This project will enable us to get a direct response from the community to understand why so many have decided whether living in the region was the right choice for them,” Mr. Bethea said. “We will then get to understand the social, cultural and other experiences that have driven such decisions.”
CEIR has also partnered with over a dozen community organizations — including 100 Black Men, 1Hood Media, Kingsley Association and the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch — to help circulate the survey.
“We hope that this will be very broadly distributed to those living in the city, the Greater Pittsburgh region, and those who left,” Mr. Bethea said.
First Published: December 3, 2024, 1:58 a.m.
Updated: December 3, 2024, 7:01 p.m.
