Allegheny County Council

Reports of deplorable apartments prompt a Sept. 24 hearing on senior housing.

Written by Amy Whipple

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development controls more than 10,000 housing units, for individuals and families, in Allegheny County.

That includes the agency’s housing assistance program that covers 200 buildings occupied primarily by seniors and disabled people.

Given residents’ repeated accounts of unsafe-to-deplorable conditions in some of those buildings, Council Member DeWitt Walton of the Hill District called for a public hearing on the matter. 

Council previously heard extensive public comment regarding substandard conditions during its March 24 meeting when they voted in favor of tenant protections.

“The challenges that are posed can’t be resolved by county council edict,” Walton said during council’s Aug. 25 meeting. “Ultimately, it is going to take the combined resources of the city, the county, the state and federal government to resolve those issues of public safety and operating practices of those management companies.”

Walton said he’s been working with city council President R. Daniel Lavelle and state Sen. Wayne Fontana in the Hill District. Pittsburgh City Council held a post agenda meeting on one of the negligent apartment management companies in Jan. 2025. Walton has also been working with Wilkinsburg’s borough council and state Sen. Jay Costa. 

The public hearing will be held on Sept. 24 at 5 pm in the county courthouse, and written testimony will be accepted through Oct. 1.

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