PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s mayor’s office says nearly two dozen properties are set to be demolished over the next several weeks as part of a new demolition blitz.
For more than a year, 11 Investigates has told you about dangerous homes.
We first started digging into this a year and a half ago.
Many are caving in and falling apart, causing dangerous collapses and suspicious fires.
In December, 11 Investigates sat down with then-mayor-elect Corey O’Connor. He vowed to shake up the city’s demolition program.
Now, there’s a sign he’s making good on that promise.
“So for us, it’s focusing on the ones that are on the top priority list that need to be done and need to be done ASAP, but then after that, it’s putting out a plan where we’re gonna do x amount a year and stick to that plan,” O’Connor said.
On Tuesday, Mayor O’Connor and the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections announced a demolition blitz in the Hilltop neighborhoods.
The city said that area has one of the highest concentrations of condemned buildings on the demolition list.
The city kicked off the blitz, tearing down this duplex on Zara Street and a home on Parkwood.
Twenty more, all considered in imminent danger, are next.
They’re in Arlington, Beltzhoover, Knoxville and St. Clair.
11 Investigates has highlighted blight in two of those neighborhoods.
The mayor said no Pittsburgher should have to live next to a property that been abandoned for years and is falling down.
“I mean, it’s a big issue. These are some of the, you know, deplorable conditions that we see across Pittsburgh...They’re dangerous, but also they bring down a neighborhood,” O’Connor said.
The city has funding specifically for these demolitions.
The city is tearing down almost as many homes in this one swoop as it did in all of 2024.
Still, there are thousands more condemned homes and likely hundreds that need to come down.
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