by Juan Powell
The federal lawsuit recently filed by The Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh against the city of Pittsburgh’s inclusionary zoning law would limit opportunities for the working class to live in the city. Housing should be affordable, available, and inclusive for all residents. The expanded inclusionary zoning ordinance will boost affordable housing supply and promote inclusion for working-class families in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.
Affordable housing is important to the essential workers who keep Pittsburgh running and are disproportionately Black and other people of color. Cities are stronger and more equitable when all members of the community can afford to live there. Inclusionary measures for affordable housing advance this objective.
Inclusionary zoning is a tool to build quality affordable housing directly alongside market rate housing. This inclusive approach to development is a lesson learned from old-fashioned, income-segregated housing that often suffered from neglect and stigmatized people with modest incomes. Many forward- thinking and thriving cities use inclusionary zoning to their benefit —why not Pittsburgh?
With so many communities facing pressure to retain individuals of modest incomes, it is critical to create housing options in every Pittsburgh neighborhood. Our affordable housing challenges in this city are so great that we must deploy multiple, concurrent solutions. That includes inclusionary zoning.
(Juan Powell is Regional Vice President, The Community Builders.)
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