Chestnut Street (Deutschtown, Spring Garden)

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by Lobick

This is exactly true. Although, to be clear, the Historic District designation wouldn't require any expense or improvement of the facades. Everything that currently exists on a house is grandfathered in. A real driving force behind the expansion was to prevent demolitions of the existing housing stock. There was and is concern that the same landlord (Mistick) will choose to demolish historic structures. The true "grassroots" of the neighborhood had worked for two years to get the expansion going. Still waiting on Councilman Lavalle's compromise proposal.

Thanks for this - am learning a lot here.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

I do think it's important to recognize that the low-income community and the black community around here are not the same thing. There's plenty of overlap, yes, but also significant levels of poverty among whites, and also a healthy middle-class African-American population. So yes, the area is changing fast and I do wonder how long the affordable rentals will last, but I don't see the racial diversity disappearing altogether. To name my favorite example, our fantastic new tea shop on E Ohio St is owned and operated by a beautiful black family, and it attracts a wonderfully diverse crowd of patrons.

Are you saying the Central North Side in particular has a significant middle-class black community? I know Manchester has one, and of course there are poor white communities in other parts of the North Side (Deutschtown, Spring Garden, Troy Hill, Spring Hill, etc) but from everything I know Central North Side is one of the only parts of the city where the white middle class/poor black dynamic of gentrification holds true.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Are you saying the Central North Side in particular has a significant middle-class black community? I know Manchester has one, and of course there are poor white communities in other parts of the North Side (Deutschtown, Spring Garden, Troy Hill, Spring Hill, etc) but from everything I know Central North Side is one of the only parts of the city where the white middle class/poor black dynamic of gentrification holds true.

Oh, I was really speaking about the North side as a whole, but through the lens of the people you meet on E Ohio St and the North/Federal area. I don't meet that many people of any color who live in the true Central North side, come to think of it; not sure why that is, but since it's in between the MWS and Deutschtown I guess I was just extrapolating from the people I know in those areas.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Pittsburgh is really hamstrung by state and local regulations which make it incredibly hard to seize blighted properties unless they are tax delinquent. It's even hard to seize tax delinquent properties unless they have been delinquent for many years - which means they've likely deteriorated, and the properties have various other tax and utility liens on them which need to be settled with tens of thousands of dollars cash up front - often much higher than the ultimate value of the home if it's restored. I read recently that Lawrenceville has around 300 "hard case" houses which are still vacant - which says a lot considering how hot the neighborhood is and how in demand another 300 units would be in the neighborhood.

Land banking was, I believe, designed to conquer this problem. Also, the county's Vacant Property Recovery Program resolves liens on tax delinquent properties for new owners. However, it does not operate within city limits, to my knowledge.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Land banking was, I believe, designed to conquer this problem. Also, the county's Vacant Property Recovery Program resolves liens on tax delinquent properties for new owners. However, it does not operate within city limits, to my knowledge.

To be perfectly honest, I've never been able to understand the rationale behind tax liens transferring with ownership of a property.

I mean, in general, individuals do not inherit the tax liabilities of other persons. Even when a business takes over the operations of another business, they only acquire the tax liabilities if they purchase the company or make a special agreement. If they only buy the assets of the other firm, they acquire no tax liability.

Thus, while it makes a good deal of sense to me why someone would want to put a lien on a property, to ensure if it is sold that the lien holder is paid out of the proceeds of the sale, it makes little sense to me why the buyer of the property should be held liable. Indeed, I'd hazard a guess that if liens were attached to the proceeds of a sale, rather than after a sale, the prices on houses with liens wouldn't be depressed. Buyers would also be able to use conventional mortgages to deal with their purchase, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't run into unexpected costs requiring up front cash after purchase.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Buyers would also be able to use conventional mortgages to deal with their purchase, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't run into unexpected costs requiring up front cash after purchase.

That's why its usually recommended that a title search be conducted and title insurance be purchased.

Then the liens can be dealt with upfront, and the purchaser can get a clean title.