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Jake Pawlak

@jakepawlak.com
391 followers 289 following 57 posts

Reject Austerity, Embrace Dirigisme | Native of Pittsburgh, Appalachia | currently Deputy Mayor to Mayor Ed Gainey | Views My Own jakepawlak.com

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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 15/06/2025
Happy Father's Day to those who celebrate
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 01/06/2025
#pittsburghpride2025
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 01/06/2025
Happy Pride!
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Reposted by Jake Pawlak
Ed Gainey @gaineyformayor.com · 18/04/2025
It is the honor of my life to serve as Mayor of Pittsburgh. We built and preserved over 1,600 affordable housing units, increased public safety, reduced homicides, reduced gun violence, and achieved 19% job growth Vote Ed Gainey, and we will continue to grow. #WPXIDebate
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 25/03/2025
No one should be able to cut corners in the building permitting process just because they have my phone number, and under the Gainey Administration, they aren't.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 10/03/2025
Following better now - still imagine that a significant number of parcels wouldn't qualify, though that will depend on the methodology of reassessment. Regardless, only a subset of qualified parcels will have qualified owners, making the program's reach, in our view, both targeted and justifiable.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 10/03/2025
We'd expect some assessments to go down, others to go up but by less than 25%, and others to go up by more than 25%; of those that go up my more, only those that meet income, duration of occupancy, and improvement criteria would be eligible, so no, we wouldn't expect all parcels to get the exemption
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
Finance Dept. staff explored deferral and exemption options, don't immediately recall the reason they ultimately recommended exemption but I can make sure we address this question as we discuss the bill in the coming weeks.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
Should have noted earlier that you can't take advantage of the Homestead Exemption and LOOP at the same time; this is an alternative subsidy for homeowners facing a particular situation, not an additional subsidy.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
Assessed value. How that maps onto tax liability depends on things like whether you were availing yourself of homestead exemption before, etc., but worth noting that the program is structured such that you can choose LOOP or Homestead, but not both.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
- 10 years in the home (5 if you purchased with some form of public assistance) - 120% AMI or lower - current on all taxes - assessment increase of 25% in a single year or 50% over 5 years, without additions or major renovations to the property
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
Subject to those limitations, 1) yes, a family of 4 at 120% AMI may be in legitimate need of relief if their valuation jumps 50%, while at the same time 2) the program criteria are targeted enough that the foregone revenue is manageable.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
The goal is to isolate dramatic tax bill increases caused by adjacent development and provide protection from those, while still capturing more gradual market changes and/or assessment increases caused by direct investment in your property.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 08/03/2025
Context here is key: LOOP is only triggered if you experience a 25% increase in assessed value in a single year or a 50% increase over a 5 year period, and at the same time haven't made major investments in the property beyond regular maintenance.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 23/01/2025
Pittsburgh is facing an acute housing affordability crisis, and city, regional, & state leadership and responsible affordable housing developers are stepping up to the challenge.
bizjournals.com
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 17/01/2025
Join us at the Planning Commission to keep Pittsburgh Home:
mobilize.us
Tell PGH Planning Commission: Keep PGH Home & Pass Inclusionary Zoning! · Pittsburghers for Public Transit
## Whether you are Black or white, wealthy or working class, Pittsburgh should be a place that everyone can afford to call home. The City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission is deciding whether to forw...
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 17/01/2025
Great interview with Dave Breingan of Lawrenceville United on how Inclusionary Zoning is working in Lawrenceville and why we need to expand it citywide:
pittsburgh.citycast.fm
How Lawrenceville’s Solving Its Affordability Problem - City Cast Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh needs thousands of new homes to meet demand, and there’s a lot of local politicking behind potential solution...
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 17/01/2025
Join us at the planning commission to keep Pittsburgh home:
mobilize.us
Tell PGH Planning Commission: Keep PGH Home & Pass Inclusionary Zoning! · Pittsburghers for Public Transit
## Whether you are Black or white, wealthy or working class, Pittsburgh should be a place that everyone can afford to call home. The City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission is deciding whether to forw...
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 29/12/2024
Agree! That's why we've proposed massive city-wide upzoning (to increase housing construction) alongside a 10% affordability requirement (with density bonuses to offset the cost) to make sure that not all of that new construction is market rate.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 29/12/2024
That's exactly why we can't rely on building more housing alone to address affordability; we need to ensure that working families (whether they're here now, or want to move here) can afford some of the housing that gets built.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 29/12/2024
My point was not that new residents are bad, it's that the trickle-down prescription to address rising costs relies on a closed market to work; anytime a new resident moves into a market rate unit, the chain of "filtering" breaks before the theoretical price drop reaches the people who need it.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 29/12/2024
I have nothing against new residents moving to Pittsburgh, they are extremely valuable to our City. I do, however, have a big problem with the unchecked increase in housing costs that is driving working families out of Pittsburgh.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 21/12/2024
In instances like this, condemned means "cannot be occupied until the violations are fixed". The condemnation will be lifted when the elevators are repaired and certified.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 12/12/2024
Certainly agree with by-right duplexes in all residential districts; it's such a common building form here that was arbitrarily precluded when the Zoning Code was first adopted. The single stair apartment form is something I'm only just starting to learn about but it's very compelling as well
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 12/12/2024
Generally supportive - the code is definitely too complex and, in many places, too restrictive. Broad changes like this require broad consultation and buy-in, so our goal is to solicit resident input on changes like this during the Comprehensive Plan.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 06/12/2024
To date we've used this strategy in response to ~5 incidents - most of the improvements deployed are changes to signage, pavement markings, removing parking to improve sightlines etc - hard infrastructure changes take longer to design and install, but these changes can be deployed quickly.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 06/12/2024
We formed a Fatal Crash Response Team for this purpose about a year ago - staff from multiple departments conduct a site visit within a week (after the formal police investigation is complete) to identify rapid safety improvements
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Reposted by Jake Pawlak
Barb Warwick @barb4pgh.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
“In reality, it's a taxpayer funded rent subsidy for individuals making as much as $85,000 per year. It's a very poorly disguised Trojan horse that does nothing but enrich developers on the taxpayer's dime.” www.wesa.fm/politics-gov...
wesa.fm
Pittsburgh city councilor introduces alternate scaled-back inclusionary zoning proposal
A new bill introduced by Pittsburgh City Councilor Bob Charland would scale back the proposed use of a zoning law to encourage more affordable housing — setting up a conflict with Mayor Ed Gainey.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
I can only tell you how the rule has been applied; bills making a series of interrelated changes to a single Title (in this case, Title 9) pass muster.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
I have not read it, so I can't comment on whether it is mistaken or not.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
It does not - all of these changes are text amendments to the zoning code, including the IZ. Our package also includes amendments to the zoning map to achieve TOD in 3 locations, but per the rule you're citing, those map amendments must be separate bills.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
No, one bill.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
Certainly not a surplus now, but when we build one, I don't have your faith that the market will bring prices down on its own is my point.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
I don't think they are driving the market either, but I think it's emblematic of how landlords attempt to avoid lowering prices even when the market has a surplus. And I don't blame them! Maximizing return is their job. Preventing them from abusing their market power is why we have government.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
Our housing needs assessment found that, after significant development in and around East Liberty, the city lost 3,000 low-income, mostly black residents from those neighborhoods. That's the dynamic we're concerned with.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
We'd view that as displacement from the City, even if not captured in metro-level data
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
No disagreement on the need to build to meet demand, my point here is that a metro-level study would show a high income household from Cranberry moving into Lawrenceville and a low-income household from Lawrenceville moving to McKees Rocks as all within the market, ie no "displacement" occured.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
Where we disagree is in who has the market power in housing - RealPage is an instructive example; developers have a lot of options to avoid lowering prices even as supply grows
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
We agree on the need to build more housing! Our bill does a lot to remove unnecessary and regressive barriers to housing construction that stem from a fundamentally suburban zoning code that was adopted 60 years ago.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
The metro is a 10 County area, if someone moves into the City from Wexford and that pushes someone from the city into the suburbs, where they have less access to transit, services, and their community supports, I see that as displacement even if an analysis looking at metro level data would not.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but it's also not guaranteed, and it's not been the experience in Pgh neighborhoods that have experienced building booms. What we've seen is gentrification and displacement.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
The second is that the report is arguing with a straw man; we're not proposing IZ without any cost offsets, our bill includes eliminating parking minimums, increasing the unit:lot size ratio, and big height and density bonuses. These reduce dev costs/increase revenue potential to offset the IZ
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
the "filtering" argument, like all other trickle-down theories, assumes a closed market, but that's not the case in housing. Devs court ppl moving into the market, and ppl get pushed out. This means rents don't necessarily go down when new supply comes online
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
We're doing a deep dive into the study as we speak, but from an initial read I see two issues:
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
- Charland Bill stretches the definition of "affordability" all the way up to 120% AMI, which means that people with above average incomes qualify. It also guarantees developers financial assistance to make the units, so it's a blank check corporate subsidy.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
- Gainey Bill requires all housing projects of 20+ units include 10% of units that are affordable to working families; developers are eligible for financing assistance from the URA but it's not guaranteed
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 04/12/2024
@tracybaton.bsky.social neither of the Inclusionary Housing bills address group homes; those are regulated separately & are the subject of a different bill. The differences here:
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 03/12/2024
Our Bill, currently on the Planning Commission Agenda for next week, would meaningfully create affordability by making it easier to build more dense housing AND requiring that affordable units be, ya know, actually affordable to the people who need it - those making $35k/yr / $17/hr
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 03/12/2024
Great🧵dissecting a terrible bill - if passed, this would give corporate developers a blank check of Pittsburghers' tax dollars to build housing that most of those same Pittsburghers wouldn't be able to afford to rent.
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Jake Pawlak @jakepawlak.com · 28/11/2024
They're coming before the Planning Commission starting in Dec, then they'll head to City Council in Jan. Contacting your Councilmember to let them know you support the Housing Needs Assessment bills is a great way to help now, there will also be public hearings next year where you can show support.
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