University of Pittsburgh June 8 Conference Will Analyze Pittsburgh Neighborhoods and Communities

PITTSBURGH—For years, citizens, public officials, and researchers have been utilizing the University of Pittsburgh’s Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS)—an interactive database of property and neighborhood conditions—to better understand and improve living conditions within the city. Users of the PNCIS database who are invested in the success and value of this service will gather at 1 p.m. June 8 for the Third Annual Users’ Conference in Pitt’s University Club, 123 University Place, Oakland. The conference is open to the public and cosponsored by Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development (PPND).

A project of USCUR, PNCIS contains data for more than 500,000 individual properties and 130 municipalities in Allegheny County with details on vacancy, tax delinquency, property ownership, assessment, and more. A staple in the community, PNCIS is used by more than 600 individuals representing 200 organizations to inform community planning efforts, promote neighborhood investment, and revitalize communities.

“Effective efforts to improve communities depend on accurate and precise information,” says Robert Gradeck, a research specialist in UCSUR and project manager for PNCIS. “Our conference brings users together, providing community leaders with the opportunity to learn from national experts and one another.”

One of the topics to be discussed at the conference is a model developed by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and adopted by PPND’s Champion Neighborhoods Program titled “Building Sustainable Communities.” This model aims to build neighborhoods that provide residents of varied income levels opportunities to build assets, participate in their communities, and become part of the mainstream economy.

Chris Walker, LISC director of research and assessment, will speak about monitoring community trends using national and local data on housing and labor markets, education, crime, and other indicators; Walker’s data analysis helps support community-based decision making, assessments of performance, and communications with residents, stakeholders, and funders. 

To register for the conference, contact pncis@pitt.edu or call 412-624-9177.

About PNCIS

The Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS) is focused on the collection, storage, and analysis of information vital to local community development efforts. PNCIS aggregates numerous data sets and provides visualization tools for stakeholders to monitor community conditions in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. PNCIS is a project of the Urban and Regional Analysis Program in the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR).  

About USCUR

Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) was established in 1972 to serve as a resource for researchers and educators interested in the basic and applied social and behavioral sciences. As a hub for interdisciplinary research and collaboration, UCSUR promotes a research agenda focused on critical social, economic, and health issues.

About PPND

Established in 1982, the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development (PPND) has as its mission the creation of vibrant communities that benefit their residents and are assets to the region by mobilizing private and public investments in communities, building local capacity and leadership, introducing new knowledge and best practices, improving policies, and serving as an impartial convener of system change efforts.

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