Moving East Carson Street forward.
This website is an effort led by the South Side Chamber of Commerce and created through the volunteer efforts of commercial property owners and business owners who support the legislation. Here you can learn about the legislation — what it costs, who controls it, and what it can pay for.
Where we stand
Other Pittsburgh neighborhoods are beating the South Side.
Times have changed, and the South Side is no longer the premier Main Street it once was. Lawrenceville, the Strip District, Oakland and East Liberty have more businesses, more investment, and more foot traffic. What do they have in common? Most have a fully-funded organization with full-time staff whose only job is to focus on that business district. See for yourself:
Downtown
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership ↗- In operation since
- 1994
- Staff
- 20+
- Current operating budget
- $12.7 million
- 10-year total investment
- $2.5+ billion
- Events & promotions per year
- 150 a year, including the Market Square Farmers Market, Picklesburgh and the Downtown Holiday Market
- Current vacancy rate
- ~18% to 22%
- Programs
- Clean Street Team, Downtown Security Ambassadors, retail recruitment, public space activation, transportation advocacy, market research
- In operation since
- 1999
- Staff
- 5+
- Current operating budget
- ~$1.2 million
- 10-year total investment
- $2.0 billion
- Events & promotions per year
- 15 a year, including student welcome weeks, commercial street pop-ups and merchant crawls
- Current vacancy rate
- ~8%
- Programs
- Daily sidewalk sweeping and litter management, seasonal street planters, specialized merchant marketing, commercial block grant facilitation
Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville Corporation ↗- In operation since
- Lawrenceville Development Corporation (1982) and Lawrenceville United merged on January 1, 2026
- Staff
- 7+
- Current operating budget
- $1.5 million
- 10-year total investment
- $650 million
- Events & promotions per year
- 50+ a year, including a seasonal Farmers Market, National Night Out, cleanup mornings and business crawls
- Current vacancy rate
- ~7% to 9%
- Programs
- Housing and quality of life, business and economic opportunity, public safety and advocacy, community engagement and identity
East Liberty
East Liberty Development, Inc. ↗- In operation since
- 1979
- Staff
- 7+
- Current operating budget
- $1.4 million
- 10-year total investment
- $1.2+ billion
- Events & promotions per year
- 10 targeted programs, including open houses and landlord/tenant wealth workshops
- Current vacancy rate
- ~11%
- Programs
- Single-family affordable housing creation, commercial real estate management, neighborhood master planning, technical services for community partners
Strip District
Strip District Neighbors ↗- In operation since
- 1999
- Staff
- All-volunteer board, fundraising for a full-time director
- Current operating budget
- $93,000
- 10-year total investment
- $2.2 billion
- Events & promotions per year
- 16 a year, including Neighbor Nights and local merchant guides
- Current vacancy rate
- ~6%
- Programs
- Land use and architectural zoning review, mobility and corridor traffic safety advocacy, local business marketing, resident networking
North Side
Northside Community Development Fund ↗- In operation since
- 1983
- Staff
- 5+
- Current operating budget
- $949,000
- 10-year total investment
- ~$450 million
- Events & promotions per year
- 10 a year, including the Northside Asset Awards
- Current vacancy rate
- ~12%
- Programs
- Affordable real estate development, small business technical support, fiscal sponsorship for member groups, community asset preservation
Squirrel Hill
Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition ↗- In operation since
- 1972
- Staff
- 2 part-time, heavily reinforced by neighborhood committees
- Current operating budget
- $231,000
- 10-year total investment
- $150 million
- Events & promotions per year
- 12 a year, including the Squirrel Hill Night Markets
- Current vacancy rate
- ~4%
- Programs
- Environmental and park preservation, zoning and residential land use review, pedestrian crosswalk safety
Garfield & Bloomfield
Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation ↗- In operation since
- 1976
- Staff
- 10+
- Current operating budget
- $1.7 million
- 10-year total investment
- $250 million
- Events & promotions per year
- 20 a year, including the Garfield Night Markets and Penn Avenue Unblurred
- Current vacancy rate
- ~9%
- Programs
- Affordable housing development, the youth College & Career Readiness pipeline, community property conservatorship, the emergency Neighbors in Need Fund
Hill District
Hill Community Development Corporation- In operation since
- 1987
- Staff
- 7+
- Current operating budget
- ~$1.3 million
- 10-year total investment
- ~$350 million
- Events & promotions per year
- 15 a year, including minority business pop-ups
- Current vacancy rate
- ~15%
- Programs
- Implementation of the Hill District Master Plan, real estate incubation, the Retail Ready business cohort, the Hill District 100 homeownership initiative
South Side
No staffed organization since 2012- In operation since
- The South Side Local Development Corporation closed in 2012
- Staff
- None
- Current operating budget
- None
- 10-year total investment
- $15 to $25 million
- Events & promotions per year
- None
- Current vacancy rate
- ~26%
- Programs
- None
What is protected
Three facts about this legislation.
100% local control
A board of your fellow property and business owners decides how every dollar is spent. Not city hall. The money is legally walled off from the city's general fund.
No duplicate services
The fund will not be used to duplicate services that the city already provides.
A five-year trial
It must be renewed by commercial property owners in the district every five years.
Your neighbors
Hear it from the people paying into it.
Thirty seconds each, from owners on this street.
Who built this
Hear from the owners who worked on the legislation.
In their words
What owners are saying.
“I own a couple of properties on East Carson Street and I support this legislation. During the past 30 years, I've owned multiple businesses in the South Side. We have fallen behind other neighborhoods like Lawrenceville, East Liberty and Oakland. We can't compete because those neighborhoods have created organizations with staff that work on promoting those neighborhoods to customers and attracting businesses and investments.”
Scott KramerEast Carson Street commercial property owner · Tiki Lounge
“I support this legislation because we — the commercial property owners — need to do something. Complaining about what the South Side used to be doesn't improve anything. It doesn't bring back the money the city used to have before half of Pittsburghers moved away and the city lost 50% of its tax base. The money is gone, but there are still 90 neighborhoods in the city that need services. It will never be like it was, but this legislation gives us a chance to make it better.”
Cyril EsserEast Carson Street commercial property owner
“I support this legislation because it provides the leadership, programs and resources needed to strengthen our business district and enhance the quality of life for people who live, work and visit here. Dedicated South Side volunteers like myself, who have full-time jobs, just don't have the time needed to do what is necessary for the South Side's business district to compete with other neighborhoods like Lawrenceville and Oakland.”
Dina KlavonCommercial property owner included in the proposed district
Your actual number
Don't rely on street rumors.
Your fee is not a guess and it is not a percentage of your rent. It is your building's linear feet of street frontage, divided by the district's total frontage, times $500,000. That's the whole formula — look up your own address and see it worked out.
For a typical small storefront it comes to less than $2.00 a day.
Still have questions? Ask a neighbor.
A group of building and business owners are volunteering their time to sit down with anyone on the corridor, answer questions, and talk through what this means for your block specifically.