join a WORKING GROUP

PCRG has become a nationally recognized leader on issues of equitable justice and access to credit by annually evaluating lending intuitions that engage in the Allegheny County market and identifying trends that emerge in our members' communities. Those trends are then evaluated with reports produced that help educate the community development system and government partners. National partners include National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the Federal Reserve Bank, the National Association of Community and Economic Development Associations, and NeighborWorks America.

+ Bankers Councils

PCRG strives to ensure equitable investment and access to credit in all Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The bankers' councils aim is to increase communication between our members, community stakeholders, and the banks that invest in the Pittsburgh region. At the Mid-tier Bankers Collaborative Council (MBCC) and the Community Bankers Collaborative Council (CBCC), community and bank leadership meet to identify common barriers, collaborative opportunities, and partnerships to advance the respective partners' missions.

Community Bankers Collaborative Council (CBCC) Created in 2010, the CBCC convenes community leaders and community banks (banks under ~$1.4B in assets) to discuss issues specific to the community banking and community development industries.

The CBCC was the driving force behind Community Acquisition and Rehabilitation Loan (CARL). CARL is a purchase-rehab mortgage product that combines mortgage financing and rehabilitation financing into one loan product. It is delivered through the local banking infrastructure and specifically tailored to the local market's needs and opportunities by addressing the aging and vacant housing stock.

Mid-tier Bankers Collaborative Council (MBCC)The MBCC was launched in 2014 and brings together representatives from the region's large banks with our members and community leaders. While the structure mirrors the CBCC, the MBCC formed to foster unique collaboration between community groups and financial institutions with large assets.

The MBCC discusses policy and regulatory issues that specifically affect the large bank cohort and works to enhance opportunities for lending in low- to moderate-income and minority communities. In addition, our membership provides the on-the-ground perspective to help direct attention to the needs of our communities.

If you want to join one of the quarterly CBCC or MBCC meetings, please contact program coordinator Claire at claire.kealey@pcrg.org.

+Community Development Summit Steering CommitTee

PCRG's Annual Community Development Summit was launched in 2011, allowing PCRG members and partners to come together, network, celebrate their accomplishments, and learn best practices from each other and thought leaders and practitioners from across the country. Steering committee members volunteer to help plan and oversee the summit. Check out the summit website to learn more about the summit.

+goburgh

PCRG launched the GoBurgh Initiative to respond to and explore key issues put forward by stakeholders during a two-day transit symposium in 2009. GoBurgh brings the community voice to transit, serving on the advisory committee for the City of Pittsburgh’s long-range Comprehensive Transit Plan and advancing neighborhood Transportation Reinvestment Improvement Districts (TRIDs) in three key market areas, which will result in Transit-Oriented Development. Through GoBurgh, transit advocates organize under one common voice. GoBurgh has also become the leading voice of community organizations on the need to resolve the current transit funding crisis with a sustainable solution and explore more local-source funding options. GoBurgh has also become the leading voice of community organizations on the need to resolve the current transit funding crisis with a sustainable solution, as well as exploring more local-source funding options.

GoBurgh has three primary goals:

Make transit-oriented development (TOD) a priority throughout southwestern PA to connect communities to opportunity

Develop innovative local finance mechanisms that fund new transit starts through land development

Create a growing local source of capital and operating funds to stabilize transit and help it thrive
Click here to learn more about Go Burgh

+Vacant Property Working Group (VPWG)

The Vacant Property Working Group (VPWG) is the cornerstone of the PCRG's effort to eradicate the tens of thousands of vacant and nuisance properties within the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County neighborhoods. VPWG accomplishes this by:

Educating public officials, community-based organizations, and lenders on state of the art in land recycling and repurposing;

Developing and advocating for policy solutions and tools to unlock vacant and blighted property for community benefit;

Assisting community-based organizations with recycling blighted and vacant land back into productive use;

Facilitating the acquisition of tax delinquent real estate by community development corporations (CDCs) through government tax sales.

Community-based nonprofits, CDCs, financial institutions, local government, and other stakeholders come to VPWG to learn from industry leaders and each other, provide comments to public officials and develop innovative property recycling solutions. VPWG is also where CDCs convene to discuss projects moving through the Pittsburgh Property Reserve, a land recycling tool that PCRG administers jointly with the city and designed to help CDCs clear tax liens and put targeted properties back into productive use.

Activities carried out by VPWG include:

Coordinating the Pittsburgh Property Reserve on behalf of CDCs;

Incremental improvement of existing land recycling processes on a local level;

Regularly convening stakeholders to advance VPWG's mission;

Educating communities about land recycling tools and how to use them;

Advocating to elected leaders and public officials for increased blight reduction, tax reform, land use, and other land-centric policies;