As city grows, strive for dignified housing

Pittsburgh is facing a profound shortage of affordable housing. Despite being touted in the national press as one of America’s most livable cities, a quarter of Pittsburgh residents spend half of their income or more on housing. Technically this is known as being “rentoverburdened,” but in plain language it means struggling paycheck to paycheck at risk of homelessness, while landlords and developers turn handsome profits off of this suffering.

As human beings, we believe that dignified housing is a human right, not a privilege or a reward for the wealthy. As Pittsburgh natives, we have watched home prices and rents quickly rise to levels that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. As socialists, we believe that local government is obligated to ensure and protect housing for everyone in our city. We support the Pittsburgh City Council-passed Housing Opportunity Fund — and the proposed realty transfer tax to fund it — as a concrete step in this direction.

A study from Regional Housing Legal Services found that nearly 90 percent of the reveue from a 1 percent increase in the realty transfer tax would come from commercial sales, corporate buyers, house flippers and high-end home sales, and any burden on lower-income Pittsburghers could be offset by the fund itself.

Pittsburgh supposedly is a progressive city in the middle of an unprecedented renaissance. A true renaissance would improve the living conditions and housing security for all Pittsburghers, not displace some with luxury developments for the wealthy. We urge city council members to take the steps necessary to pass the realty transfer tax in order to empower the Housing Opportunity Fund. ABBY CARTUS JAY SINGLETON North Side

The writers are members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.