How you can stay involved as a Pittsburgh resident

  • When it comes to housing issues, public comment can sometimes skew negative. The people most likely to comment on new housing developments are usually unrepresentative of the neighborhoods’ racial and economic diversity, and are more likely to bring up issues unrelated to housing - like “neighborhood character” and property values. This is why we encourage you to stay involved in supporting new housing in your community.

  • No. All of the agencies we’ll review have a virtual option, plus emailing is always a great choice. Emails are typically considered public record, and counted in affirmative/negative opinion tallies.

  • Tell your personal story and explain why the issue matters to you. If you plan to speak online or in person, we recommend drafting your statement ahead of time. Practice it so you know you have enough time to make your point, since you will probably have a time limit. Remember to be polite, and address people with their titles (For example, Councilmember Last Name).

  • If you live in Allegheny County, reach out to your local municipality and ask how they make housing decisions in your area. We often include county, state, and federal information in our emails so stay subscribed to our mailing list!

  • Zoning changes can be introduced by the Mayor or any Councilmember - either at a council meeting, or first through the City’s Planning Commission (PC) for review. If originating in council, they must vote to send it to the PC for review. Once the PC reviews any proposal, they will give an affirmative or negative recommendation. If affirmatively recommended, a proposal requires a simple majority at City Council. If not recommended, the proposal will require a 7 out of 9 majority to pass City Council. Once passed through City Council, it is up to the Mayor to sign it into effect.

  • Pittsburgh’s first zoning code was adopted in the 1920’s and like many cities has a racially segregationist history, which we discuss in our book review of The Color of Law. The zoning code has been in constant change since then, and has become a very dense and complicated set of rules and maps. We’ve hosted a talk by local researcherCarolyn Ristau on the intersection of Race and Zoning in Pittsburgh, and written about the perils of parcel or ‘block-by-block’ rezoning. As of 2025, the city is beginning the process of creating its first comprehensive plan, which will undoubtedly make recommendations on our zoning code and maps. We encourage you to stay informed of the city’s work here: https://pgh2050.com/

Registered Community Organizations

Registered Community Organizations (or RCOs) are neighborhood community organizations that are registered with the Department of City Planning as stakeholders in a specific geographic area. Not all neighborhoods have an RCO, and a few have more than one. RCOs are important because they are the community organization that hosts Development Activity Meetings (DAM), which are required during the review process of any new proposed development.

  • The RCO Program in Pittsburgh was introduced in 2019 with the goal of improving community stakeholder engagement and the communication flow between the City’s Planning departments, stakeholders, and development agencies. Unfortunately, many RCO’s are still not representative of the racial and economic diversity of the neighborhoods they influence. A Public Source report from January 2025 summarizes some of these issues and goes into more detail.

  • You can find your local RCO on the city’s website here .

  • Most likely, if you have an RCO in your community they are doing other work too. There is no standard meeting recurrence, and all RCOs are different. However, they must notify affected residents, community members and stakeholders about upcoming DAM at least 10 days prior to the meeting.

    The best way to find out about regular meetings is to contact your local RCO and ask them to add you to their mailing list.

Pittsburgh City Council

The Pittsburgh City Council is made up of nine directly-elected council members, one to represent each district of the city. Pittsburgh City Council can affect our housing policy in a few ways. They can propose, amend, and ultimately approve zoning changes. They can also amend and ultimately approve the city budget. Councilmembers can host public hearings to gather feedback. Lastly, they can hold a post-agenda hearing to audit or research more deeply an issue or topic that requires review.

  • The schedule and agenda are public and can be found here. City Council typically meets twice a week, with General meetings on Tuesday and Committee meetings on Wednesday, both usually beginning at 10:00a.

    All meetings are open to the public and held at the City-County building downtown at 414 Grant St. Meetings can be livestreamed and also available to watch later on the city’s YouTube channel. 

    Public comment comes first, so testifying in person or virtually doesn’t require a long time commitment.

  • Public comments can be made at any of the general meetings, committee meetings, or public hearings. Public comments are not taken at special post-agenda hearings. It’s recommended that you pre-register when speaking because you’ll have more time to speak. Learn more or sign up to speak here.

    You do not have to show up in person; if you pre-register you will be sent a virtual option. Public comment comes first, so testifying in person or virtually doesn’t require a long time commitment.

    If you send your comments by email to the City Clerk, they will be shared with all Council Members. However, we recommend showing up in person or virtually, if and when you are able to, because it’s the best way to ensure you’ll be directly heard by your representative.

  • Find out on the city’s website here.

  • Consider contacting your council person about the issues that are most important to you! Thank them when they support issues you do, and let them know when you disagree.

  • Post-agendas are aimed at hearing comments from the experts and stakeholders most directly involved in the subject being discussed. For example, author M. Nolan Gray spoke to the City Council about zoning code reform in March 2024. Public hearings are designed to hear comments from residents. Comments from the general public are not taken at Post-Agenda hearings.

Planning Commission

The Planning Commission (PC) in Pittsburgh is made up of 9 members who are appointed by the Mayor for six year staggered terms. They are responsible for guiding land use in the city and making recommendations on development proposals.

  • The PC meets biweekly on Tuesday afternoons. You can find their schedule and agenda here.

  • You probably wouldn’t - they’re very long and technical. Also, public comment is taken in the order of scheduled items in the agenda, at the end of presentations. This means it requires a big time commitment because you never really know what time the agenda item you want to speak on will come up.

    However, in some cases where there is strong local opposition to new housing, it can be incredibly effective to show up at PC to ensure a project moves forward.

  • You do not have to show up in person or virtually; if you send your comments by email to the PC Clerk it will be shared with all members of PC. The PC will read the names of those who sent emails (not the entire statement), and your comments will be put into the public record. Unlike with city council, there is very little difference in impact from testifying in person/virtually versus sending an email.