This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Neighborhood investments meant to improve housing and opportunity often spark fears of gentrification and displacement. That worry is playing out in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood, where a stalled Second Avenue housing project sits blocks from the 178-acre (72-hectare) Hazelwood Green riverfront development.
Hazelwood is a natural experiment that answers the question: Can development happen without displacement? Residents feared the millions of dollars spent to clean up and redevelop Hazelwood Green would displace them as new firms and workers moved in and land speculation increased nearby. Our research team examined that question in Hazelwood, where the Heinz Endowments invested to support the community that existed there before redevelopment began.
I'm a researcher and consultant to policymakers, investors and others who are considering community development investments, and I teach research methods and statistics at the University of Pennsylvania. I also created the Market Value Analysis and Displacement Risk Ratio. We used these tools in this research on Hazelwood, and our study is one application of them.
Hazelwood Green, the former site of the long-shuttered LTV Steel plant, was purchased in 2002 by a partnership of the Heinz Endowments, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the McCune Foundation. It now houses advanced technology, robotics and manufacturing companies, with more development planned. Recognizing the risk that investments in Hazelwood Green could lead to displacement of longtime residents, the Heinz Endowments in 2012 began to offer a series of more than 120 grants totaling US$24 million for housing production and preservation.
This funding was used to repair owner-occupied homes, rehabilitate deteriorated rentals and relocate tenants to renovated units. Funding also helped a local nonprofit acquire vacant land and buildings and helped homeowners stabilize their properties. It also supported a second nonprofit community development corporation through which residents could voice their vision for Hazelwood, and it backed a third focused on education, arts and culture programming.
This all occurred while economic activity on Hazelwood Green was gaining momentum and redevelopment was visible. We used multiple approaches to examine how the redevelopment of Hazelwood Green affected the neighboring community. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
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