Profit Over People: Affordable Housing Torn Down for Whole Foods

Over the past year, more than 100 residents have been forced to move out of the Penn Plaza Apartments, one of the few affordable housing options left in East Liberty. Residents were given 90-day eviction notices last summer, informing that their home was soon to be demolished to create room for new “mixed use development”.

While widespread protests by Action United led to extended eviction deadlines, many residents still struggled to find new affordable housing. Residents were given $800 and relocated to various neighborhoods across the city. For younger residents, this meant no longer being able to walk to work or school. For older, limited-mobility residents, some of which had lived in Penn Plaza for over a decade, it meant being isolated from friends, family, church, and other lifelong activities that had been anchoring them to the neighborhood.

Now, as Penn Plaza is being torn down, we finally know what’s replacing it. Soon enough, the site will be known as East Liberty Marketplace. The highlight of this “marketplace” will be a brand new 50,000 square feet Whole Foods.

Yes, that Whole Foods. The store that was investigated and sued for “systematically overcharging” people. The store that was ridiculed on Twitter for selling $8 bottles of “asparagus water”. The store that’s been condemned across the country for being a shining symbol of gentrification. In a city of over 21,000 homeless and housing insecure families, we’re demolishing affordable housing for that.

In a letter to Celeste Smith, organizer of a community boycott against Whole Foods, a Whole Foods spokesperson said, “Whole Foods Market is incredibly proud to have been one of the first companies to invest in the neighborhood when we opened our original store in 2002. We recognize that there are important conversations happening about the ongoing development and how to protect the needs of the whole community.”

It’s nice to know that they’re “incredibly proud” of starting the wave of gentrification that’s led to thousands of people being priced out of their homes, their small businesses, and their community. The same wave of gentrification that led to Reizenstein Middle School being demolished to build Bakery Living, a new luxury apartment complex known for its heated pools, “meditative garden courtyard,” “doggie mudroom and shower,” and $1300-$3600 rent.

The new Whole Foods will stand less than half a mile away from the current location, which will remain open. It’s clear that developers are doing everything they can to price out the poor families and seniors that call East Liberty home. The question is, what are we going to do about it?

To combat gentrification, Pittsburgh UNITED just led a widespread campaign to “help keep Pittsburgh home.” Their plan is to create a Housing Opportunity Fund funded by a one percent real estate transfer tax. The tax would raise an estimated $10 million per year. According to Pittsburgh UNITED, this would provide enough funding to rehabilitate 270 units of rental housing, create 234 units of new housing, and provide rental assistance to 180 families every year.

The funding will be especially targeted to help seniors, young families starting out, people with disabilities, and veterans. Decisions on how to spend the money would go through two Affordable Housing Task Force boards comprised of elected officials, city staff, developers, and local community members. For once, actual community members would have a guaranteed say in what happens to their community.

Pittsburgh UNITED volunteers managed to get 13,000 signatures on their petition to put a Housing Opportunity Fund referendum question on November’s election ballot in less than two months. TMC volunteers, led by Gabriel McMorland, obtained over 900 of those signatures. Despite missing the referendum goal of 15,000, Pittsburgh UNITED isn’t giving up yet; they’re now lobbying City Council to pass the legislation without holding a referendum.

Pittsburgh UNITED is still seeking volunteers for the Housing Opportunity Fund and other anti-gentrification efforts. If you’d like to help keep Pittsburgh home, sign the pledge on the bottom of www.opportunitypgh.org and you will be contacted with more information on how to help.

#socialwelfare #gentrification #housing #class