Pittsburgh today
In the first years of the 21st century, middle and upper income people started moving into many parts of intown Atlanta again. This brought hope to many in Pittsburgh, at least up until the real estate crash in 2008–9, that their neighborhood would attract investment but not gentrification and displacement as had been the case with, for example, Cabbagetown. A great deal of visible change has not yet come, however there are some signs of new development. The Pittsburgh Civic League Apartments, a low-income housing project was torn down and replaced with a large apartment complex. The BeltLine forms the southern boundary of Pittsburgh, which will add park space, a bicycle path, and plans include light rail with a stop at the corner of University and Metropolitan Avenues. This in turn gives the opportunity for new development. Starting in 2012, a resurgence in BeltLine adjacent neighborhoods on the southwest trail skirting Adair Park, Summerhill, West End, Mechanicsville and other neighborhoods has increased the likelihood of Pittsburgh having a similar development and has made gentrification even more of a threat, unless longtime and legacy residents secure an equitable share of resources and investment.
In 2012 the beating of a young gay man in Pittsburgh with a discarded car tire, leading to the capture of members of a growing gang, highlighted the issues of gangs and prostitution. The incident provoked the concern of Pittsburgh's safety committee about how to get abandoned tires cleaned up. Community members got together to clean up the tires in a brownfield across from mixed-use apartments near the Northern border with Mechanicsville, demonstrating a commitment in neighborhood residents to protect the safety of its residents and improve the community.
As of 2021, gentrification, inflation, and the housing shortage have gradually driven up home prices and property values in the neighborhood. And as with the other near downtown Atlanta intown gentrifying neighborhoods, Pittsburgh demographics are steadily changing.
The car tire beating also highlighted the substantial footprint of brownfields in the Pittsburgh neighborhood and surrounding areas, with one of the largest being a 31.4 acre brownfield along University Avenue and the future BeltLine trail that dominates the Southern gateway into the neighborhood and cuts it off from economic activity. This brownfield was purchased by UPS in 2001 for a distribution center, but changing priorities caused UPS to sell it to the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) in 2006 to build a park and mixed-use development. Annie E. Casey determined outreach and a Master Plan was needed for the community, which has ensued ever since, extended by the 2008 financial crisis. Early in the process, the Georgia Institute of Technology Urban Design Studio and the Georgia Conservancy created some guiding documents such as "Blueprints for Successful Communities Plan" to help develop the Master Plan with AECF, BeltLine, Inc, Pittsburgh Community Improvement Corporation, city of Atlanta, NPU-V planning unit, and residents. The Master Plan envisioned the critical University Avenue lot being developed into a mixed use of high density, parks, and connecting Pittsburgh roads into adjoining neighborhoods.
In 2010, the first obsolete structures on the University Avenue brownfield were demolished. Contemporary conferences showed that there was renewed interest in fast-tracking brownfield cleanup in the area, not only including the University Avenue brownfield, but also the brownfield formerly littered with tires on the North end of the Pittsburgh neighborhood, and Federal funds were provided. That resulted in a Background Report produced in October, 2012 describing the conditions and initiative. The University Avenue property was also discussed in the Brownfields 2013 Conference. The newly developed Master Plan also led to a rezoning of the neighborhood.
Predevelopment for Phase I of the project began in 2016. Monthly community update meetings began in 2017, and working groups composed of volunteers from the community were formed. Residents and the community voted on the name the project, with the winner being "Pittsburgh Yards." In 2018, a community groundbreaking ceremony was held and Phase I construction began. "The 61,000-square-foot building has been fitted with 101 leasable coworking spaces, a shared-use construction workshop and kitchen, conference spaces, an amphitheater and five apartment units. Upon opening, the building will serve as a hub for small businesses and makers, a gathering space for neighborhood functions and the eventual home of the Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site office." Phase I opened in late 2020.
