Pittsburg State University Joins in the Block22 Development to Revitalize Downtown Pittsburg, Kansas

June 09, 2020  

Pittsburg State University Joins in the Block22 Development to Revitalize Downtown Pittsburg, Kansas

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support inclusive community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives.

Pittsburg State University (PSU), with 7,000 students, is located only one mile south of downtown Pittsburg, the education, healthcare, retail, and hospitality center of southeastern Kansas. PSU and the city had a chilly relationship that reached its lowest point in 2007, when the city council turned down PSU's request to close a street on campus to create a pedestrian thoroughfare. The 2010 election brought in a new mayor in Pittsburg, and the new city council hired a professional city manager, creating a team interested in working cooperatively with the university. Steve Scott, who was installed as PSU president the previous year, shared this aspiration. In 2015, after working on several joint efforts, the city and PSU began a three-year process to plan and develop Block22, a project to renovate four historic buildings and, eventually, revitalize all of downtown Pittsburg.

Visit HUD User's Case Studies page to learn more about affordable homeownership and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on sustainable community development.

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