The rent is too damn high. But politicians wonder why violence is increasing.

benfell


Fig. 1. Photograph by author, November 25, 2020.

Pittsburgh enjoys a reputation for being a relatively affordable place to live.[1] But the pattern of landlords “upgrading” apartments and raising rents dramatically is taking a toll,[2] and not just in housing.

Pittsburgh rents have increased 22.8 percent from a year ago and the median is now $1,877,[3] which starts to look like rent along the U.S. west coast, but entirely glosses over that the market is not monolithic. Blight remains endemic[4] as housing in some areas continues to deteriorate and rent remains reasonable, even sometimes decreasing. You can easily see which neighborhoods these are, with Pittsburgh’s wide and highly visible intersection of race and class.[5]

There are “nice” neighborhoods—I live in about 400 square feet on top of somebody’s garage in one of these—and not so “nice” neighborhoods, the former often mostly white, the latter often mostly Black,[6] the former mostly relatively safe, the latter often[7] (not always[8]) where people are shooting at each other, in an apartheid city.[9]

A correlation between what sociologists call “deviant behavior” (“crime,” mostly against property) and class[10] should be impossible to ignore, and rising rents inescapably add to stress,[11] but politicians continue to wonder why violence is on the increase.[12] Sure, Pennsylvania gun nuttery, where way too many people confuse their guns with their penises and use the former like the latter, is a problem that needs dealing with.[13] But it’s only part of the problem.

  1. [1]Leslie Cook, “This U.S. City Is the Most Affordable Housing Market in the World,” SFGate, April 21, 2022, https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/This-U-S-City-Is-the-Most-Affordable-Housing-17117741.php; Matthew Yglesias, “What’s the Most Affordable City in the World?” Slate, January 28, 2014, https://slate.com/business/2014/01/pittsburgh-the-most-affordable-city-in-the-world.html↩
  2. [2]Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  3. [3]Lily Katz, “Rental Market Tracker: Rents Rose 7.8% in October—Slowest Growth in 14 Months,” Redfin, November 16, 2022, https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-rental-report-october-2022/↩
  4. [4]Tawnya Panizzi, “Tarentum residents will face instant penalty for unsafe, eyesore properties,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 9, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/tarentum-residents-will-face-instant-penalty-for-unsafe-eyesore-properties/; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods pay the price for abandoned and decrepit homes,” October 15, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/15/pittsburgh-blight-crime-urban-vacant-census/stories/202210160080; Amelia Winger, “Eyesores, nuisances and hazards. What can residents do about blight?” Public Source, March 15, 2022, https://www.publicsource.org/eyesores-nuisances-and-hazards-what-can-residents-do-about-blight/↩
  5. [5]Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  6. [6]Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  7. [7]Jon Moss, “Allegheny County homicides concentrated in small number of neighborhoods, report says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 28, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/07/28/allegheny-county-homicides-concentrated-small-number-neighborhoods-report-says-black-men-pittsburgh/stories/202207270111↩
  8. [8]Julia Felton, “Police say Dormont shooting led to chase, crash on Liberty Bridge,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 14, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/police-say-dormont-shooting-led-to-chase-crash-on-liberty-bridge/; Campbell Robertson, Christopher Mele, and Sabrina Tavernise, “11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts,” New York Times, October 27, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html↩
  9. [9]Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  10. [10]Steven E. Barkan, Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006).; Jeffrey Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, 7th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004).↩
  11. [11]Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  12. [12]Justin Vellucci, “Pittsburgh’s soaring homicide rate leaves officials baffled,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 27, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghs-soaring-homicide-rate-leaves-officials-baffled/↩
  13. [13]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh Mayor asks for public’s help to get guns off streets amid Brighton Heights shooting,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 30, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-mayor-ed-gainey-asks-public-for-help-getting-guns-off-the-street-after-brighton-heights-shooting/; Gillian McGoldrick, “After North Side shooting, Pittsburgh’s lawmakers want action on gun control measures, Airbnb regulations,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 19, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/04/19/after-north-side-airbnb-shooting-pittsburgh-s-lawmakers-advocate/stories/202204190103; Jonathan D. Silver, “A deadly tide: Officials blame violence in Pennsylvania on relentless flow of guns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 20, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/a-deadly-tide-officials-blame-relentless-flow-of-guns-on-violence-in-pennsylvania/↩

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