Happy first day of spring, Pittsburgh.

The Callery pear trees are about to bloom. You know what that means. Warm air, pink flowers, and a smell that can only be described as nature's revenge. Welcome back.

The city just told you your tax bill went up 20%. Turns out that wasn't enough.

Mayor Corey O'Connor held a press conference March 12 with a message that no one wanted to hear: Pittsburgh's 2026 budget has a hole between $30 and $40 million — larger than the entire property tax hike City Council approved in December.

Let that land for a second. The city raised your property taxes by 20% — a move that generated roughly $27 million in new revenue. And the deficit is still bigger than that.

Here's what O'Connor found when his team actually opened the books:

The city ended 2025 with an $8.6 million operating deficit — not the $3.2 million surplus the Gainey administration had projected.

The rainy-day fund? It'll drop from $160 million to $84 million within five years at this rate.

O'Connor is formally reopening the budget this week. He says no new taxes, no layoffs, no cuts to critical services — but he's taking a scalpel to every line item. Vacant positions won't be filled. Contracts are being canceled. The city is looking for anywhere it can trim.

The pointed observation here: Pittsburgh just hosted a conversation about fiscal honesty that should have happened two years ago. The Gainey administration passed a budget with numbers that City Council's own finance people now say were unrealistic. Council approved a 20% tax hike based on those numbers. And Pittsburgh property owners — who already pay some of the highest effective tax rates in the state — are holding the bag.

This isn't a Gainey story or an O'Connor story. It's a structural story. Pittsburgh has been spending money it didn't have for years, and the bill is finally itemized.

Pittsburgh property owners already carry one of the highest effective tax rates in the state. That was true before the 20% hike. Now you know the hike wasn't even enough.

We covered the 20% tax hike when it passed in December — catch up here.

Someone stole $1.38 million from the Duquesne Incline and bought crypto with it. Christopher Furman, 53 — attorney and former board president of the nonprofit that has operated the Incline since 1964 — was federally indicted Thursday on wire fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors say he made 25+ electronic transfers between October 2024 and September 2025, funneling nearly $1.4M from the society's accounts into his own, then into Coinbase. He was selected because he was a former employee who understood the mechanics — and was trusted. The Incline remains fully operational. Furman faces up to 20 years per wire fraud count.

The NFL Draft is five weeks out and downtown is already transforming. A Verizon cell tower went up in Point State Park this week. Dozens of trees are being removed from the North Shore. Pittsburgh Public Schools announced students will shift to remote learning April 22–24. Hotels downtown are already at $1,000+/night. The city expects 500,000 to 700,000 visitors April 23–25 — and the O'Connor administration says it's getting $2 million in state funds just to cover overtime for city employees during the event. Meanwhile, the Roberto Clemente Bridge closes to cars so fans can walk between Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium. It's going to be something.

The Shell cracker plant in Beaver County is exceeding pollution permits. Nobody's getting fined. PublicSource investigated and found the facility has been releasing emissions above permitted levels — with no new penalties from regulators. Beaver County residents have been smelling this plant for months. The permits say it's too much. The fines say nothing.

Rates moved the wrong direction this week. The 30-year fixed is sitting at ~6.25–6.32% — up roughly half a point from February's 5.87% low. The Fed held rates at its March 17–18 meeting, and with oil prices rising amid the conflict in Iran, the window for cuts is narrowing. Don't expect relief soon.

West Penn MLS — 7 days, residential:

678 new listings hit the market. That's a healthy wave of inventory heading into spring — buyers have options. 507 sold in the same window, meaning absorption is real. The market is moving.

The tension: 444 price decreases vs. only 25 price increases. Sellers who priced aggressively are already pulling back. 588 contingent tells you motivated buyers are still writing offers — they're just not paying whatever's asked.

110 back on market is worth watching. That's not a fluke number. Some of those are deals falling through at inspection or financing. With rates creeping back up, buyer purchasing power is getting squeezed again.

The read: spring inventory is here. Buyers are active but selective. Sellers who price right are getting offers; sellers who don't are becoming those 444 price cuts in two weeks.

If you're a renter doing the math — at 6.25% on a Pittsburgh median-priced home, you're looking at a monthly payment that's likely above what you're paying now. That gap is smaller than it was at 7%, but it hasn't closed.

How Pittsburgh property taxes actually work.

🍽️ The Strip Just Got Three New Spots Juniper Grill, Atria's, and 1930 Cigar Bar all opened this week at 2350 Railroad Street — taking over the space that housed Osteria 2350 and Cioppino for 15 years. All three come from Pittsburgh restaurateurs Pat and Nancy McDonnell. Floor-to-ceiling accordion windows, full bar, California-inspired menu, and premium cigars in the same building. Grand opening party April 1. The Strip keeps filling in.

🏙️ The UPMC Sign Went Half Dark The sign on top of the tallest building downtown wasn't fully lit Thursday morning and Pittsburgh people had feelings about it. Two hundred upvotes for the silhouette that still looks like it says US Steel. The comments opened up the whole thing: what the city traded when steel left, what UPMC means now, whether the rebrand ever really landed. One partially dark sign, one very Pittsburgh conversation.

🦃 Turkeys in Allegheny Cemetery Wild turkeys were spotted this week roaming through Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville — one of the oldest burial grounds in the city, on the first day of spring. Video. Nearly 220 upvotes. Nobody surprised. This city has always had turkeys.

🥜 The Mayor Can Really Whip a Pack of Peanut M&Ms Ed Gainey threw candy into the crowd at the St. Patrick's Day parade this week and apparently does it with a specific intensity. The Reddit caption: "The Mayor can really whip a pack of Peanut M&Ms like no one else." This is our mayor. This is our parade. No notes.

It's officially spring as of today, and the weekend looks like it's going to cooperate.

Bert Kreischer at PPG Paints Arena — tonight, 7pm. The Machine is in town. If you know, you know.

Eraserhead in 4K at the Oaks Theater — tonight, 7pm. David Lynch's 1977 debut, fully restored, in one of the best theaters in the region. A surreal Pittsburgh Friday night.

Peppa Pig: My First Concert — Sunday, 1pm, Heinz Hall. If you have a toddler, this is the move. Live orchestra, Peppa in person, a child who will talk about it for three weeks.

5112 Carnegie Street, Lawrenceville — $849,000

Four bedrooms. Three and a half baths. 3,060 square feet. Double lot. Two-car garage plus a parking pad. In Lawrenceville.

This is the house people picture when they imagine their Pittsburgh life but can never actually find — enough room to move around, enough room to have people over, and enough parking that you're not circling the block at 10pm on a Tuesday. The exposed brick and ornate fireplace mantle tell you this building has been here since 1910. The quartz counters and black stainless appliances tell you someone actually invested in it. They did both without ruining either.

That yard is the whole conversation. Fenced, landscaped, covered patio already set up for entertaining. In the city. On Carnegie Street. The last time this sold was 2019 for $645K — it went through two price cuts to get there and took 58 days. The market is different now and so is the house after the 2024 updates.

Open house Sunday March 22, 1–3pm if you want to walk through it yourself.

Listed by Lynne Bingham, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

See the full listing →

We covered the 20% property tax hike when it passed in December — before O'Connor's budget announcement made it clear the increase wasn't going to be enough. If you want the full arc of how Pittsburgh got here, that piece is a good starting point. Read it here →

Buying or selling in Pittsburgh right now? I'm happy to talk through what all of this means for your situation.

Book a 15-minute call →