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Our First Guest Contributor Speaks!
by Mountain Girl ~ December 12th, 2007. Filed under: Community, Development.
From: 15211 Renter
re: The Scapegoated Renter
Similar to many of the attendees at Monday night’s Map Pittsburgh meeting, I walked away from the Senior Center with my adrenaline pumping, muttering expletives under my breath… As such, I have decided to take advantage of Mountain Girl’s offer to contribute to this site by submitting a guest piece. I witnessed several things at this meeting which concerned me, most notably the seemingly universal attitude that renters ruin neighborhoods. My spouse and I have lived as proud renters on Mt. Washington for four years now. We are young professionals who care about our community and have become active in the CDC. We have several friends and acquaintances on Mt. Washington who are also renters, many of them are students or young professionals such as ourselves. We all contribute to the local economy, regularly spending money at Shiloh, Virginia and Bailey-Boggs businesses. We are also ambassadors for Mt. Washington. We have frequently invited our non-Mt.W friends up to the mount to introduce them to the wonderful views of Satalio’s or to listen to the live music on the deck of the Shiloh.
We also have several friends and acquaintances up here who are now home owners, but who were previously Mt. Washington renters. An important thing to remember is that renters beget homeowners. If and when my spouse and I decide to buy a home in Pittsburgh, the number one place we will look is Mt. Washington.
I find it ironic that throughout the Pittsburgh Map Meeting I heard multiple suggestions that Mt. Washington should strive to be similar to Walnut Street in Shadyside or Forbes and Murray Avenues in Squirrel Hill. As many of you know, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are two of the main neighborhoods in which Pittsburgh’s college and graduate students have chosen to live, the majority of them renters. Students and renters do not destroy a community, they help it to thrive. In order for Mt. Washington to meet its potential, the community will need to embrace these individuals as they do the homeowners.
December 13th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I would like to apologize for any misunderstanding. We as a community recently have been bunching all renters into one group “much to my dismay” as bad. The reasoning behind this is the problem some have been having with absentee landlords. My family and myself own a few properties, and we require a substantial background check. This not only protects our property, but the community as well. However some property owners don’t subscribe to this practice leaving a bitter taste in some mouths around the area. I believe is this the exception not the norm, however it has happened enough to cause a stir. I appreciate your enthusiasm toward our community and hope to work with you in the future to advance Mt. Washington.
Thank You
Chuck Wallace