Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, along with Open Hand Ministries, launched the Keep Pittsburgh Home initiative to bolster community stability and counteract the rise of predatory real estate practices. In a recent showcase, they unveiled new affordable housing in the Garfield neighborhood. According to CBS News Pittsburgh, Gainey emphasized that "everybody has a right to decent affordable housing in this city."

The initiative, which aims to keep local properties out of investors' hands permanently, is engineered to directly assist current residents in securing homeownership. Mayor Gainey further noted that wholesalers using predatory tactics have been buying up houses below market value, often to convert them into short-term rentals like Airbnb. He noted that a staggering 25 percent of recent housing transactions fell into this category, as reported by WTAE.

Various funding sources, including a $30 million city housing bond and $36 million in federal relief funding, made constructing affordable homes possible. Open Hand Ministries Executive Director Wayne Younger stated, as per CBS News Pittsburgh, "Our desire is that the people who live here and preserve these communities will be able to stay here to benefit from the communities as they improve."

At the heart of this initiative is the construction of affordable homes and a commitment to community-driven housing that will encourage families to remain in the city. As Gainey insists, these efforts aim to start putting down roots against what he refers to as entities that are destroying neighborhoods. He warns that with 4,000 properties already converted into short-term rentals, predominantly by absentee landlords, immediate action is required. Following up on this issue, Gainey said he plans to announce changes to short-term rental policies in the coming weeks.