Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh is a city on the rise. After decades of decline following the collapse of the steel industry, the region has successfully transformed its manufacturing economy into one driven by knowledge and technology. This resurgence brings great potential to deliver long-awaited jobs, economic opportunities, and neighborhood improvements to the region’s low-income communities and communities of color, yet too many residents remain cut off from opportunity by poverty, structural racism, and discrimination. Local leaders must implement a targeted, intentional strategy for equitable development to ensure all can thrive in the new Pittsburgh.

In the face of this opportunity and challenge, PolicyLink joined with Neighborhood Allies, Urban Innovation21, the UrbanKind Institute, and many other Pittsburgh partners, to put forth an equitable development vision and strategy to ensure low-wealth Pittsburghers participate in and benefit from the region's economic transformation. In 2016, more than 200 community leaders participated in creating a definition of equitable development and provided input into the action agenda presented in the report, Equitable Development: The Path to an All-In Pittsburgh.

We are working in partnership with Neighborhood Allies, Urban Innovation21, the UrbanKind Institute, and Mongalo-Winston Consulting, and in collaboration with the City of Pittsburgh, to implement the action plan laid out in the report.