McKeesport is one of a number of cities in western Pennsylvania's Monongahela River valley whose economies once thrived on steelmaking. Drastic downsizing in that industry beginning in the early 1980s forced U.S. Steel to close its giant mill in McKeesport. Fallout from the resulting loss of this plant's payroll and tax yield is still acutely felt in McKeesport. It is reflected dramatically in the physical condition of housing and a generally depressed housing market.
The Consolidated Plan seeks to reverse the city's downward economic spiral. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects totaling $1.7 million are planned. The preface to the description of housing and community development objectives in the Consolidated Plan blames this decline on pervasive blight. It offers this scenario for elimination of blight as a prelude to renewal:
One of the greatest barriers for a suitable living environment for low-income residents is neighborhood blight. Testimony in the public hearings [on the plan] and with the neighborhood task forces showed the elimination of slums and blight through scattered-site demolition should be a cornerstone for revitalization. It not only is an aesthetic problem, but it also affects crime, financial intermediary appraisals on sales, and home equity. Once blight, and subsequently safety, are addressed then a coordinated program of physical improvements to housing quality, supported by local recreation, public services, and increased access to jobs can begin a trend to a satisfactory quality of life.
To ensure widespread access to discussions of the plan, McKeesport adjusted times and sites of public meetings to accommodate residents' schedules and to facilitate the availability of public transportation. Some meetings were held in neighborhoods, at public housing complexes, and in offices of community agencies. Future access to information will be provided through various methods such as a 24-hour hotline. On an interim basis, both scheduled and special meetings will be held to disseminate information, gather data, and encourage communication.
City Hall staff was reorganized to increase the availability of information. Staff members are available to meet with individuals or representatives of groups to ensure maximum exposure of the plan to low-, very low-, and extremely low-income groups. Accessibility to information sources has been increased for people with disabilities.
Meetings to supplement formal public hearings were held with neighborhood task forces and public housing tenant groups, social service agencies, and nonprofit service corporations. This process is scheduled to continue on a 12-month basis with specific information points highlighted each month.
McKeesport, located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, has a population of 26,016. McKeesport's economy, like that of other towns in what is known as the Mon Valley, is still recovering from the closing of its obsolete steel mill. Plants of this type once provided one of the Nation's highest industrial wages, but their outdated processes were not competitive with more technologically advanced foreign manufacturers. Unable to replace the revenue and employment potential of this once-prosperous manufacturing base, McKeesport struggles to sustain an aging population, improve an aging housing stock, and provide adequate municipal services with a dwindling tax base.
Only 78 percent of the 13,343 year-round housing units are occupied. Rental units comprise 31 percent of the housing stock, but they have an 11-percent vacancy rate. The vacancy rate in owner units is 4 percent.
The priorities listed in the next section are those the city will observe in carrying out the 5-year Consolidated Plan. McKeesport's efforts will be directed toward repairing infrastructure and creating a menu of financial support to underwrite business opportunities that can lead to personal self-sufficiency and choices in housing.
The 1990 census showed that nearly 25 percent of McKeesport's 13,492 households had some type of housing problem. This percentage is tripled for very low-income households -- that is, households with 0-30 percent of median family income (MFI).
Affordable rental housing for the elderly is the number one housing priority, followed by assistance to privately owned, small-family rental units that will remain affordable after upgrading. The next priority is assigned to promoting first-time homeownership. The next order of need is improvement in affordable housing owned by elderly residents. Finally, emphasis will be placed on renovation of single-family homes owned and occupied by both small and large families.
The basis for assigning those priorities was a combination of the 1990 census data's depiction of need, the probability of resources being available to address those needs, and the capacity of the city and other housing providers to access those resources in a timely manner.
Needs by income group are described as follows:
In the very low-income category, the needs of the elderly are most striking. The elderly comprise nearly 70 percent of all households in this category, and more than half of them are homeowners. This is the group with the least disposable income, but it is being subjected to the greatest property maintenance cost. In a municipality with a preponderance of pre-1940 housing, this portends continuing deterioration due to lack of financial resources rather than neglect.
The presence of the elderly is evident in other low-income categories (31-50 and 51-80 percent of MFI), accounting for a third of all households. Among those listed as homeowners, there are an equal number of other families. Thirty percent live in units with housing problems. Therefore, as with the very low-income, this group needs assistance with rehabilitation, consumer education, and infrastructure repair. The presence of substandard properties deters potential first-time homebuyers from investing in some neighborhoods. Many of these units remain substandard because rehabilitation is cost-prohibitive to both homeowners and landlords.
The overwhelming number of McKeesport's housing units are priced at less than $50,000. This would suggest a substantial stock of affordable housing, but many of those units don't meet the city's housing quality standards. Hence the cost of repairs is just as much of a depressant to sales as are higher property values in more affluent communities.
Sales prices reported in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette ($15,000 median sales price in 1993) are below the values reported in the 1990 census ($27,500 median value). This decline is further exemplified by the 1994 action of the Allegheny County Board of Assessment, which devalued the entire city's property assessment to $64.5 million from a 1993 level of $69.2 million. This drop continues a slide that started in 1980, when the assessment totaled more than $90 million. Note: This does not take into account both existing conditions (HQS) and "love and affection" transfers, as well as supply and demand in a distressed economy.
Documentation of the cost of rehabilitation as an impediment to affordability is described above. Despite this damper on the housing market, McKeesport cherishes the hope of attracting and sustaining a moderate-income middle class. There is a substantial number of renters who could take advantage of programs like Nehemiah, which provide Federal assistance for construction of middle-income housing. Such buyers would have lower housing expenses than they now pay as tenants. Reuse of the former U.S. Steel site as a job-creation entity could fuel the demand for middle-income housing. Since McKeesport is in commuting range of Pittsburgh, it has the potential for becoming a bedroom community.
McKeesport is the hub for human service providers for the entire Mon Valley. Here space is available in overnight quarters to support a variety of groups ranging from battered women to runaway youth to homeless men. Occupants of emergency shelters are encouraged to take advantage of transitional housing in single-room-occupancy buildings and eventually to seek permanent standard housing. The city estimates that it has four homeless families and seven homeless individuals. Even though the census count for the city limits corroborates its total, the McKeesport Collaborative, a social service network providing resources, notes its numbers in excess of this statistical factor due to the fact McKeesport has become the hub of the Mon Valley, and as such attracts those "at risk" individuals in need from throughout the surrounding distressed communitites in Allegheny County.
The McKeesport Housing Authority offers tenants training in the management of public housing as well as opportunities to convert to homeownership. This training has improved living conditions in both elderly and family units and has increased police protection. All these programs and efforts will be augmented by a computer software system, which, among other functions, will help reduce delinquencies and vacancies. All physical improvements will comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, thus reducing physical barriers.
The McKeesport Housing Authority received a HOPE I planning grant to study the conversion of 75 units of vacant public housing to 50 condominium units for first-time homebuyers. The results of this study suggested, however, that this concept was fiscally impractical versus other programs like Nehemiah, including the issue of private funding commitment (leverage) that the programs incorporated in order to create greater opportunity for self-sufficiency in independent living.
The current inventory of Section 8 assisted housing includes 381 certificates and 31 vouchers plus a set-aside of 7 units for rehab for persons with special needs. The list of applicants for these units is purged semi-annually to verify continued interest.
Barriers to affordable housing, as previously noted, are largely economic ones: low incomes do not support the cost of housing, even in a deflated market.
In a consortium with the Allegheny County Health Department and the cities of Pittsburgh and Penn Hills, McKeesport successfully applied to HUD for support of measures to address lead-based paint hazards. The Allegheny County Health Department will coordinate efforts to abate lead-based paint hazards or reduce their effect. Meanwhile, McKeesport CDBG staff members have started training for reducing these hazards.
McKeesport estimates that it has 55 persons with severe mental illness, 109 who are developmentally disabled, 113 physically disabled persons, and 30 with chemical addiction -- all of whom have need for supportive housing. There are 635 elderly considered to have need for supportive housing. A range of housing assistance support services is in place for residents who are 65 and older. Both rental and homeowner programs are available. These programs have been underwritten by Federal, State, and local (often private, philanthropic) resources.
Community development needs in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods range from street improvements to construction of a fire station and a garage for storage of salt for winter maintenance of streets. Plans also call for the reconstruction of tot lots and rebuilding of two pedestrian thoroughfares.
The McKeesport Department of Community Development is the primary agency for coordinating the Consolidated Plan. This agency will be the catalyst for efforts of assisted housing providers and will also exercise oversight of the provision of social services by participating public and private agencies and organizations. The city already has a track record with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and experience with community housing development organizations in the community.
In summarizing its 5-year consolidated plan, McKeesport lists a range of projected positive measures, but it takes pains not to raise expectations. It is firmly committed to the "scattered-site" demolition plan with the intention that such a process of "addition by subtraction" will strengthen housing values. There will be quantifiable measures in the 5-year strategy for expanding housing opportunities for first-time homebuyers, female-headed households, and, particularly, minorities with any type housing problems. There are also extensive community development actions.
But the city does not expect the needs of its low- and moderate-income families to change significantly, especially the needs of the elderly. Resources necessary to ameliorate the ramifications of the loss of the steel industry, it concedes, just will not be forthcoming.
The Consolidated Plan lists 51 proposed projects, more than a third of them housing projects. The remainder are in the fields of public improvement, recreation, economic development, and public service.
To carry out scattered-site demolition, the city is proposing the following measures to eliminate slums and blight:
It will remove vacant structures that have been condemned or whose owners give legal consent. It will inspect structures to make sure they comply with building and housing codes and pest-control regulations. Acting under the authority of the State Redevelopment Act, the city will acquire vacant lots that its Planning Commission has certified to be blighted. These lots will then be offered for sale to adjoining property owners who will maintain them and pay taxes on them. Funds derived from these sales will be reserved to fund the continuation of this program. In the interim, abandoned structures will be boarded up. The city proposes to use $301,500 in CDBG funds to carry out these measures.
With one exception, other proposed housing projects involve the rehabilitation or conversion of existing projects. The exception is a proposal to build new homes for first-time buyers, for which a Federal grant of $870,000 is sought.
The city has been successful in working with two nonprofit sponsors to convert existing vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent structures into assisted housing. One of these projects will convert two unused school buildings into apartments for the elderly. The other will convert a building formerly used as a bar into units for disabled occupants.
The city assists Action Housing and the McKeesport Housing Corporation in creating facilities in which recovering drug addicts and alcoholics can make the transition to unassisted living. The McKeesport Housing Authority has assisted this population by offering project-based Section 8 certificates that can be used for transitional housing.
Infrastructure improvements, new and upgraded recreation facilities, commercial revitalization, and programs to stimulate economic development are included in McKeesport's community development strategy. Some examples include the following:
As noted above, the Department of Community Development will be the lead agency for carrying out the plan. McKeesport has a strong city government and a home rule charter that provides for periodic review of administrative actions by the City Council, which exercises budget oversight for programs and expenditures.
McKeesport will begin carrying out the activities of the strategic plan with a CDBG of $1,736,000. The city is seeking approximately $5 million for assisted housing projects, including proposed rehabilitation, conversion, and use in establishing a reverse-mortgage program.
McKeesport applied for Federal Empowerement status (in conjunction with the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County). It was designated on December 21, 1994, as a Federal Enterprise Community along with the city of Duquesne as one of the three noncontiguous areas in that application.
Subsequent to receiving Federal Enterprise Zone status, McKeesport applied for and was awarded a $1 million Economic Development Initiative Grant and a $3 million Section 108 loan authority to further the economic development aspect of its FY 95 action plan.
MAP 1 depicts points of interest in the jurisdiction.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 6 is a map, sectioned by neighborhood, which depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within one of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 6.
MAP 8 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within another of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 6.
MAP 9 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded project(s) from a street level vantage point; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
