307,484 (Pittsburgh, Washington, Oxford: crime, neighborhood, to buy)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by pman

both are possible. places like lawrenceville will be a lot more attractive without all the gaps. part 2 could certainly happen in places like the strip in the near term. anyway, I wasn't saying it was going to happen, but that the city could accomodate them.

In 2010 Central Lawrenceville only had 5% of its parcels vacant, which is one of the lowest rates in the city, and the lowest for non-middle class neighborhood, IIRC.

[SteelCityRising]

Amazing that the city is rapidly growing, yet I stare across the street in a safe neighborhood within walking distance of Downtown at two long-vacant and deteriorating rowhomes---just two of many, to be precise, within the surrounding blocks. Developers are really missing the boat in Polish Hill, and I'm sure many other core neighborhoods as well.

As far as "gap teeth" are concerned I think micro-housing would be an excellent solution. I've already stated in other threads that I'm strongly considering buying a vacant lot in Polish Hill from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in order to build my own microhouse here due to the paucity of available homes (currently zero) on the market here.

[SPSGuy]

I don't believe that 0.6% growth would be considered "rapidly growing". But for the rust belt, it may be.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by SPSGuy

I don't believe that 0.6% growth would be considered "rapidly growing". But for the rust belt, it may be.

When the city has been imploding in on itself for generations 0.6% growth from 2010-2011 is downright meteoric and reason to celebrate! I was seriously going to cry if the city's population dipped below 300,000.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Amazing that the city is rapidly growing, yet I stare across the street in a safe neighborhood within walking distance of Downtown at two long-vacant and deteriorating rowhomes---just two of many, to be precise, within the surrounding blocks. Developers are really missing the boat in Polish Hill, and I'm sure many other core neighborhoods as well.

As far as "gap teeth" are concerned I think micro-housing would be an excellent solution. I've already stated in other threads that I'm strongly considering buying a vacant lot in Polish Hill from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in order to build my own microhouse here due to the paucity of available homes (currently zero) on the market here.

The problem is more or less "low-information property owners." Often these vacant houses are held by people who are essentially incapacitated (in nursing homes, but with no one left with power of attorney to sell the home), or the old owners have moved out of state and have no idea someone would *want* to buy the place now.

Microhousing has a place, particularly on the slopes of the city, where new development rules essentially forbid dense building now (to make sure no Mount-Washington monstrosities happen again with skyscrapers on the hillsides).

That said, tiny plots and tiny houses are the exact wrong way to go in a lot of Pittsburgh, where we're going to need big blocks of land in flat areas for new medium-density residential development

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The problem is more or less "low-information property owners." Often these vacant houses are held by people who are essentially incapacitated (in nursing homes, but with no one left with power of attorney to sell the home), or the old owners have moved out of state and have no idea someone would *want* to buy the place now.

Microhousing has a place, particularly on the slopes of the city, where new development rules essentially forbid dense building now (to make sure no Mount-Washington monstrosities happen again with skyscrapers on the hillsides).

That said, tiny plots and tiny houses are the exact wrong way to go in a lot of Pittsburgh, where we're going to need big blocks of land in flat areas for new medium-density residential development

I'm mostly looking at vacant parcels that are too small and are "walled in" by existing historic development to purchase for my new microhouse. I have some parcels on Phelan Way (the alley between Paulowna and Brereton) in mind, along with Paulowna itself, which has a terrain that is too steep on the Bigelow side to permit large-scale development. I just really love this neighborhood, but with zero homes on the market and no developers lining up to bring more housing onto the market what other options would a prospective homebuyer like me have?

[escilade18]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

676k or bust!

You are thinking too small, I say go for 1,000,000

[Goodjules]

The 15 Hottest American Cities of the Future - Yahoo! Finance This link goes to an article on the 15 Hottest American Cities for Growth in the next. 20 years. Pittsburgh is one of them.

[Denton56]

That article says Pittsburgh will become a hipster haven. I'm not sure that everyone thinks that's a good thing.
It also says that Detroit will be one of the hot cities. I'm not sure how accurate this article is.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Denton56

It also says that Detroit will be one of the hot cities. I'm not sure how accurate this article is.

Buy low, sell high.