Executive Summary

The research project was to evaluate the impact on housing as a result of Marcellus Shale drilling in twelve counties involved in various stages of drilling throughout the Commonwealth. The research data serves as a baseline for future longitudinal study; however some emerging trends and issues are noted in this research.

The study involved data collection from the 12 counties in Pennsylvania as well as counties in Texas and Arkansas. The 12 Pennsylvania counties are: Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Clearfield, Clinton, Fayette, Forest, Luzerne, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming. The Texas counties are Dimmit and LaSalle and the Arkansas counties are Faulkner and White.

Additionally, The Institute conducted 32 interviews. The interviews responded to a semi-structured questionnaire and represented the following sectors: housing authorities, realtors, social service agencies planning departments, nonprofits, economic development organizations and elected officials. The purpose of the in-state interviews was to secure real time information on housing and resulting social impacts, identified challenges and needs.

The Institute identifies limitations surrounding the availability of current and consistent county data and the time lag of existing secondary data. Also, existing datasets regarding realty transfer tax information included commercial and industrial. The Institute’s Right-to-Know application was refused indicating no other data than what was on the website was available. Information requested from the Pennsylvania State Association of Realtors was found to have a flaw in it and could not be corrected by that entity in time for inclusion in this publication.

The Institute then synthesizes the information in order to identify specific problems, community needs, and state and local policy reform needed to mitigate the issues.

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