In 1979, the East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce formed the nonprofit East Liberty Development, Inc. (ELDI) to facilitate redevelopment efforts in the neighborhood and begin the process of reversing the effects of urban renewal.
The organization's first projects in the early and mid-1980s focused on improving the center of the district. ELDI worked to repoen Penn Avenue, Highland Avenue and Broad Street to behicular traffic, and bought and redeveloped 100 Sheridan Square, which had been a residential hotel and was subsequently converted to offices. Private development came to the area in the late 1980s. Projects opened and closed, and the neighborhood's residential stability was low and the unemployment rate was high. The neighborhood was perceived as unsafe. Many residents felt that the city had abandoned them.
In the late 1990s, new leaders in East Liberty, including some from ELDI, brought a new sense of urgency to tackling old problems. Through a community-driving process, stakeholders developed A Vision for East Liberty.
