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June 13, 2022
Let’s Take “the Pits” out of Pittsburgh Douglas Heuck - Pittsburgh Quarterly
"Imagine then, what becomes of a municipality where there are whole streets of homes where not only are there broken windows but no windows at all — where the porches are crumbling and the roofs have collapsed. That’s the reality in Wilkinsburg where a study last year found 1,026 vacant structures and an additional 604 vacant lots. "

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January 17, 2022
Yes to Annexation The Editorial Board, Post Gazette
"The city collects Wilkinsburg trash and fights Wilkinsburg fires, and Wilkinsburg parents send their middle- and high-school children to Pittsburgh schools."

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July 13, 2021
"An effort to merge the borough with the city of Pittsburgh has temporarily been placed on hold. The Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation and Mayor Marita Garrett announced that a planned referendum on the proposal will not be on the ballot in the November election but most likely would be for the spring primary. Enough signatures were collected for a general election referendum, but Wilkinsburg officials want more time to mull the merger."

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July 12, 2021
"Wilkinsburg residents won’t be voting on whether to have their borough annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in November. A committee in favor of the merger announced Monday it will delay a referendum on the issue in favor of gathering more community input first."

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July 8, 2021
"Allegheny County is home to over 100 municipalities, more than any large county in America. Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb wants the region to start thinking about shrinking that number by merging and consolidating municipalities, and he thinks a potential merger between Wilkinsburg borough and the city of Pittsburgh can start a trend."

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July 7, 2021
"WILKINSBURG, Pa. — While the majority of Wilkinsburg’s elected officials are against the idea there’s enough support right now to discuss making Wilkinsburg a part of Pittsburgh. Nearly 1,000 people have signed a petition in favor of exploring the idea. And the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation plans to present the petition to an Allegheny county judge."

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October 14, 2020
Reset Button: The pandemic lends urgency to rethinking local government, by Jeffery Fraser. Pittsburgh Quarterly, Fall 2020.
"Property taxes in Wilkinsburg are among the highest in Allegheny County—nearly twice as high as the City of Pittsburgh and close to three times as high as several of its other neighbors. But the borough is anything but swimming in cash. Unable to afford repairs to its high school, the school district struck a deal four years ago to transfer its students to the Pittsburgh Public Schools."

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March 8, 2021
"Regional leaders have called for measures ranging from partnerships in providing services to an outright merger with the City of Pittsburgh. An agreement by the city to provide firefighting was put in place in 2011. Additional municipal consolidation, including merger, would alleviate the financial pressures on Wilkinsburg, but such a solution is not easily reached."

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Media Contact

If you’d like to speak with someone from the WCDC about the merger or about the community engagement process we’ve used throughout this exploration, please contact us at info@wilkinsburgcdc.org.

Choose a topic below to learn more about how a merger might affect Wilkinsburg.

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