Looking for Affordable Housing?
March 24, 2010
Braddock, Pennsylvania, home to Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill and to the first of more than 1,600 public libraries the steel magnate funded and built around the country, is a demographic basket case. Since its population peaked in the 1950s with more than 20,000 residents it has lost more than 90 percent of its population, in large part due to the collapse of the steel industry in the 1970s and 1980s, and flight from a crack cocaine induced crime wave that started in the 1980s. In 1988, the town was designated as a "financially distressed municipality," a designation essentially meaning "bankrupt" that it still retains today.
As of the 2000 Census, the population was 2,912 people; however, the population was thought to have dropped below 2,500 people in the mid-2000s, but has since climbed and is now believed to be at just under 3,000. Braddock has few remaining businesses, and much of the downtown is boarded up, but the steel mill is still operating and the library is still open.
In January the town took another hit with the closing of the University of Pittsburgh's Braddock Medical Center.
Braddock Mayor John Fetterman is not overly disheartened by this latest blow to the town, and has vowed to continue his mission of revitalizing the town. It's a mission that the Harvard-educated mayor, who is only paid $150 per month, has endorsed as a full-time job and benefactor since his election in 2005. He has set up a non-profit organization–Braddock Redux–to support the promotion of the town, and gave it $50,000 of his own money to buy a former church to serve as a community center. He also spent another $12,000 to buy property to be used for AmeriCorps to house at-risk teenagers and young adults who are too old for foster care.
The mayor's efforts have borne some fruit. A small alternative energy company, Fossil Free Fuel, bought a warehouse and is setting up operations in the town that will provide new jobs in the town. A furniture maker is refurbishing a 15,000-square foot former care dealership into a showroom, workshop and home. Urban farming has taken root on abandoned lots, and numerous artists have moved in to take advantage of the cheap studio space. And some "come-from-away" people are taking advantage of the cheap housing prices to make their new homes in Braddock.
The mayor also secured $250,000 in stimulus money to upgrade the town's sewer system (the drinking water system was refurbished in the early 1990s), and is working hard to get grant money for numerous other "shovel-ready" projects.
While the town still has major problems with crime and urban decay, Mayor Fetterman believes in its potential, and that this potential can be realized by an influx of new people and businesses. He boasts of some of the fine architecture in the town, and notes that its drawing points are low housing prices (many selling at around $5,000, with some repairs needed), low business property prices, a demand for small businesses such as grocers and restaurants (a Subway restaurant may be opening soon), and close proximity–"stone's throw"–to Pittsburgh.
However, the mayor also notes that time is a factor as abandoned buildings are deteriorating quickly. "If struggling communities don't preserve their architecture, there's no chance of any resurgence down the line."
So, if you're looking for cheap housing and/or to start up a small business, check out Braddock. You can contact the mayor at: http://www.15104.cc/mayor
