There is growing recognition that quality of place and housing both play critical roles in attracting and retaining people who could live anywhere, and that being a desirable community to skilled workers is a precondition to hosting the businesses that need those workers. Creating a housing stock that meets the needs and tastes of today’s households may be something that happens organically in growing communities, but proves to be a great challenge in markets that have suffered decades of population loss, like that of Greater Johnstown. In response, Elevate Johnstown was developed as a market-rate housing strategy to better understand and plan around the barriers that stand in the way of housing investment–and the production of new market-rate housing in Downtown Johnstown. Together, reducing blight and improving the quality and range of options in the local housing stock are pillars of the local action plan in Alleghenies Ahead.

Elevate Johnstown