Cedarwood Homes in West End latest ‘win’ in city’s affordable housing crisis

THE GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION FOR CEDARWOOD HOMES IN JULY 2024. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO) Finding “affordable housing” in Pittsburgh is like looking for a World Series run from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s hard to find. From Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration, to the Urban Redevelopment Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, to the department of Housing and Urban Development, these entities are trying to come up with solutions to the affordable housing crisis—a crisis where Pittsburgh City Controller Rachel Heisler said recently that the city needs 11,000 new affordable housing units. An “affordable housing crisis” affects African Americans primarily. If many African Americans in the city can’t pay the seemingly $350,000 for a home in East Liberty, Highland Park, Point Breeze and Lawrenceville, and if they can’t pay the seemingly $1,500 for a one-bedroom market-rate apartment in Shadyside or Bakery Square, then the result is they go elsewhere—like McKees Rocks, Wilkinsburg, Wilmerding, Turtle Creek, and other places outside city limits that keep shrinking Pittsburgh’s Black population. Over the past few months, however, there have been some victories in the affordable housing crisis fight. YAAKOV GOLDMAN AND ISAAC SASSOON OF TRYKO PARTNERS SPEAK WITH SISTER MARY BARBOUR ABOUT THE NEW CEDARWOOD HOMES...