PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh has been selected as one of the first 15 U.S. cities to participate in a new Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative aimed at accelerating permit reform and expanding local housing stock.
The city will receive between $450,000 and $750,000 in funding alongside operational support to modernize its building application processes.
The national program seeks to spread successful local housing solutions from cities like Atlanta, Austin and San Diego to up to 30 municipalities nationwide.
Pittsburgh will focus on adapting San Diego’s model of digitizing and expediting building permits, supported by expert technical guidance from the nonprofit Accelerator for America.
The grant of $450,000 to $750,000 will allow Pittsburgh to pilot technology designed to speed up building permit applications. Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor noted that the city has already taken steps to update its permitting processes.
“Already this year, we have made great progress in modernizing our permitting system to make it easier for homes to be built and small businesses to grow,” O’Connor said. “Joining Bloomberg Philanthropies as one of the first cities in their new housing initiative will help us have access to the funding and expertise to make these changes even faster to revolutionize permitting in Pittsburgh and say yes to growth in our neighborhoods.”
Pittsburgh’s permitting overhaul will mirror reforms established in San Diego, Calif., where city officials instituted a 30-day limit on building application reviews. Following the change, homes cleared for construction in San Diego increased 82% in a single year, with nearly 8,800 units permitted the following year. In San Diego, the median home price exceeds $1 million and only 17% of households can afford a home.
The broader initiative from Bloomberg Philanthropies exports three local municipal approaches across the country: San Diego’s permit digitization, Atlanta’s housing strike force teams and Austin’s accessory dwelling unit expansion. Pittsburgh is among an initial group of 15 municipalities that includes Albuquerque, N.M.; Cleveland, Ohio; Miami, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; and San José, Calif. Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies and former mayor of New York City, emphasized the role of local government in expanding housing.
“City halls are taking local action to increase the housing supply and ease the shortage that is driving up rents and leaving the dream of home ownership out of reach,” Bloomberg said. “As local governments address this issue, we have a great opportunity to spread the best ideas across the country. That is what this initiative is all about: helping more mayors adopt proven ways of getting more housing built—and delivering.”
The national program operates within the Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange, a division of the foundation’s Government Innovation portfolio that transfers proven local government policies between cities. More than 1,000 city halls across 95 countries participate in the network. Operational assistance for participating municipalities will be provided by Accelerator for America. Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, president and CEO of Accelerator for America, highlighted the focus on municipal solutions.
“Bloomberg Philanthropies has spent years betting on local government as the place where real problems get solved and this partnership puts that belief directly to work on housing,” Wiederwohl said. “With this support, Accelerator for America gets to do what we do best: help more mayors put proven tools to work in their own cities – building the homes our communities desperately need — and creating national change from the ground up.”
The national effort addresses a housing shortage created by more than a decade of underbuilding across the United States. Construction of starter homes measuring under 1,400 square feet fell from more than one-third of new single-family building in the 1970s to roughly one in 10 today. Nationally, about 8.1 million families share housing with individuals outside their household, while 35 affordable homes exist for every 100 lowest-income renters.
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