Data-Driven Organizing and Neighborhood Change: The Homewood Children's Village Property Assessment Project

Background and Purpose: The Homewood Children's Village (HCV) is a comprehensive community initiative focused on an economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. The HCV is modeled after Geoffrey Canada's internationally acclaimed Harlem Children's Zone, with a mission to “simultaneously improve the lives of Homewood's children and transform the community in which they live.”

Based on past research that reveals that vacant and abandoned properties present a significant threat to children's mental and physical health, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, in partnership with a local neighborhood non-profit and Homewood residents, implemented the HCV Property Assessment Project. The goals of the project were: 1) to assess the occupancy, ownership, tax status and physical condition of properties in Homewood; and 2) to organize and mobilize residents to use data from the assessment to take action to address the most problematic properties and thus improve the safety of the community, particularly on the routes that children travel on their way to and from school. Methods: We combined systematic social observation research methodologies with property level measures, based on building inspection protocols, to systematically assess the condition of 1119 properties in a 38 block area that immediately surrounds Homewood's public elementary and high schools.

Based upon the assessment, we developed a list of properties that posed the greatest potential harm to young people, as measured by being vacant and not boarded up, and/or being in extremely poor exterior condition (e.g., collapsing roof). This list was distributed to neighborhood residents, who were then trained to contact the City of Pittsburgh Mayor's 311 line—a non-emergency telephone line for residents to voice concerns about neighborhood and city related issues. The city's responses to the 311 calls were tracked over a 30-day period and before and after photos were taken of each property on the list.

Results: Of the 1,119 assessed properties that we initially assessed, 627 were residential homes. All of the vacant homes that were not boarded were selected from the database (n=55). Of these 55 properties, 23 were vacant, in deplorable condition and potentially posed significant risk for children. By the second assessment, 30 days after the initial assessment, 14 of the targeted properties had been boarded and one was torn down, thus conditions of 65% (n=15) of the homes were improved.

Implications: This study demonstrates that a community-based participatory research approach can be used to initiate a replicable data-driven community organizing effort that can improve safety, aesthetics and the general physical conditions for children, youth and families who live in neighborhoods characterized by large numbers of vacant and abandoned properties.