Pittsburgh’s Vacant Lots: Obstacle to Opportunity

When a city loses half its population in the span of a single generation, very real challenges exist. People leave but their houses don’t - and, unfortunately, there are fewer resources to manage the built environment. Houses and their supporting infrastructure crumble and as a result, once lively streets are marked with empty spaces where homes once stood.Outside of being unsightly, these lots have a negative economic impact on the community. When weeds and debris take over, it can drive down the property values  (see page 9) of the adjacent areas. Signs of disinvestment and lack of care lead to further loss of pride and for residents nearby, living close to a vacant lot  simply lowers their quality of life. Longtime Pittsburghers have seen this narrative—bustling to barren— play out over the last half century. For younger residents, this cycle of disinvestment is all they’ve known.That is beginning to change.Residents are taking ownership of their communities by reclaiming these vacant lots and putting them to productive, green uses. These lots are helping spur a dialogue that transcends these lots and moves towards organized action (what we like to call “the upward spiral of community development”). Although reclaiming vacant lots present a various benefits, the process of reclaiming a vacant lot can also be cumbersome and surprisingly involved, with no central guide for residents to turn to.On April 22, GTECH Strategies, along with the Greenspace Alliance and the City of Pittsburgh launched Lots to Love, a comprehensive online resource that serves as a one-stop resource that equips residents with the resources they need to reclaim empty spaces. The site not only maps the over 45,000 vacant parcels of land in Allegheny County (27,000 of which are within the City of Pittsburgh), but also walks the user through the process of taking an idea from concept to reality.Are you a community resident with a specific lot in mind? You can find it on the map, see its unique ID number, see who owns it (public or private) and find out its delinquency status. If you have an idea and you’re ready to act, L2L has already done the legwork for you by outlining funding sources, connecting you with the right documents and personnel, and engaging with the surrounding community in order to move the process forward.See for yourself. Check out the brand-new Lots to Love website and make sure you leave us some feedback. Visit lotstolove.org and join the community today.--Dan Barie (Communications Intern) - GTECH Strategies