At last month’s Neighborhood Power Building Project workshop, we welcomed Marimba Milliones, President and CEO of the Hill District Development Corporation and Co-Chair of the advisory committee for the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund, to speak with the group about their work in the community.
Before the meeting, Milliones toured Larimer with the Larimer Consensus Group, starting at Liberty Green to gain a firsthand, comprehensive understanding of the neighborhood.
She opened the meeting by sharing her background, which has brought major, transformational projects to fruition in the Hill District.
Social Determinants of Health and Larimer
She then engaged the group with a discussion of the Social Determinants of Health and what they mean to members. The answers were enlightening:
Social and Community Context: How we as neighbors engage with one another as well as physical gathering venues like churches, community centers, and locally, the Kingsley Center and Steel City Squash.
Neighborhood and Built Environment: Includes everything the group has discussed in their workshops over the past 12+ months. Simply put, when your built environment is improved, your health is improved.
Economic Stability: People in the community working in good, living-wage jobs and keeping them defined stability for group members.
Education Access and Quality: Members indicated that the community schools available to residents (Lincoln School, Urban Academy, and Catalyst) are not on the same level as Dilworth School in the adjacent Highland Park neighborhood.
The group agreed that increasing parental involvement is a crucial first step to closing this gap.
Healthcare Access and Quality: Residents highlighted a lack of resources for mental health and drug addiction in the community. While the East Liberty Family Center is available, many residents feel compelled to go elsewhere for their healthcare needs.
Assessing Housing and Neighborhood Value
The discussion then turned to on how housing costs and other money slated for Larimer are determined.
According to Milliones, the Annual Income Median for the Pittsburgh Region is approximately $80,000-$88,000. However, because this figure is calculated across six counties, wealthy communities skew the data, creating an inaccurate perception of local reality.
Is this a fair assessment for Larimer residents? The data says NO.
According to regional demographic data from the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and tracked via the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC), the numbers tell a different story.
Looking at the historic neighborhood census tract rather than the broader, wealthier 15206 zip code that surrounds it (including Bakery Square and parts of East Liberty), reveals a clearer picture:
· Median Household Income: $20,583: This means half of the households in Larimer earn less than this amount annually.
To address these disparities, Milliones led the group through an exercise using the NPP’s Larimer’s Built Environment Action Plan (BEAP), which outlines short- and long-term action items to drive equitable neighborhood improvement.
Activating the Youth for Generational Change
A major focal point of recent meetings has been youth engagement. Incorporating young people into the BEAP ensures that the next generation has a direct hand in shaping the long-term growth of their community.
The group matched several core action items with potential youth involvement opportunities:
Traffic Calming: Slowing traffic in the neighborhood using art is on its way to becoming a reality, thanks to the efforts of NPP members who advocated for the improvement to address road safety concerns.
The mural, designed by Pittsburgh-based artist Tacumba Turner (founder and artistic director of The Future is Black), has been finalized. The city permitting process is underway, and maintenance sponsors have been secured.
The painting is scheduled for this summer, offering a perfect way for young residents to pitch in.
Tree Canopies: Adequate tree cover improves the air quality, mental health, property values, and overall quality of life for residents. At a previous workshop, NPP members concluded that Larimer needs new trees and better maintenance of the existing canopy.
The younger generation can get involved by planting trees and learning about different varieties of trees. One avenue for this would be to involve them with Tree Pittsburgh’s ReLeaf program, which centers communities in tree planning and decision-making.
Sidewalks: Larimer is considered ‘very walkable’ with a walk score of 77, which means that most errands can be performed by walking. Walk scores are determined using population density, proximity to destinations, block length, and intersection density data.
The score is one of the highest in Pittsburgh; maintenance and improvements can still be made. Young residents can help by identifying areas with broken sidewalks or no sidewalks at all.
Vacant Property: In Larimer, there are 864 vacant properties (accounting for 55% of neighborhood properties), alongside an additional 61 condemned structures. Residents have previously described these lots as affecting their mental and physical health, safety, adding to the stigma of living in a disinvested community, and their property values.
Members discussed involving youth in researching creative, productive ways to repurpose these lots.
Lighting: The good news is that Larimer has benefited from Pittsburgh’s city-wide infrastructure upgrade, receiving 462 new, brighter LED streetlights. Better neighborhood lighting has been noted by residents who feel safer from crime and on the road.
Youth can help identify the ‘dark spots’ to report to 311.
Many of the youth activities can be facilitated through the Partners for Work’s Learn & Earn Youth Employment Program, which provides summer job opportunities for youth ages 14 – 23 in Allegheny County.
This is a great opportunity for young people in the neighborhood to earn money while helping to improve their community.
Note: While the application period for 2026 is closed (typically runs from early March to early June), you can prepare for future opportunities.
Know a young person who might benefit? Learn how to apply here.
It has been inspiring to watch the NPP become informed, organized, and empowered. By establishing the BEAP and activating motivated young residents, Larimer is ensuring that community-led change is built to last.
We’d like to thank the deBeaumont Foundation for supporting this important work through the MADE for Health Justice Initiative to help empower the residents of Larimer to advocate for their community.
