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Pittsburgh City Council

University partnership aims to take the guesswork out of the building permit process.

Written by Amy Whipple

The Department of Innovation and Performance (DIP) could figure out how to make the city’s permitting process more accessible to residents during a three-year partnership with Johns Hopkins University.

City council voted to move forward with a data sharing agreement with the university as part of the Data Science for Social Good program. If the measure gets final approval, researchers will focus on identifying common causes of incomplete applications and review delays. They will also look at systems to improve consistency in applicant guidance and intake determinations, and support earlier identification of required reviews and documentation.

“Equity is at the heart of this process,” said special projects manager Ben Forstate at the May 13 council committee meeting.

“Some of the burdens of this process are the hardest on people who don’t have the means to navigate the system,” he said. For instance, it takes a week longer for people in low-income communities to start the application process for single-family home projects. 

Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park asked for the project to include gender data given the number of women-owned small businesses in her district. “They very often have told me about their difficulties with PLI and felt that maybe they were being treated unfairly,” she said.

The agreement comes at no cost to the city.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Housing & Land Use
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · May 12, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0472 — authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Innovation & Performance to enter into on behalf of the…

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