The Bad Parts of the North Side (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: violent crime, neighborhoods)

[zip95]

It's these young kids you have to fear the most. They're young, dumb and full of.....massive amounts of pure $hit......They don't understand their own lives, let alone society at large.

Without education or a stable two-parent home environment, many learn about life and morality from rap music...or even worse...they learn from the older uneducated, unstable, knuckle-heads. Poverty brings instability, single mothers, and missed educational opportunities which breeds another generation of poverty with brings more instability, single mothers, and missed educational opportunities which breeds another generation..............

Originally Posted by From article

"...Det. Hitchings said he had just driven through that area himself about an hour before the shooting and saw many people out on the street. Often in such cases, witnesses refuse to come forward, but not this time.

"Usually you don't get a great deal of cooperation, but in this case we did receive a lot of information," he said..."

It seems there is hope. The rest of the neighborhood broke the unbreakable code of silence...and snitched on the shooters. Why? I would imagine because that act was universally recognized as being beyond terrible. I bet there's no neighborhood in this country where it's honorable to kill innocents.

[bhare]

Elder,

Maybe you should put a little more faith in humanity instead of being afraid of everybody. You'll be fine. It's Pittsburgh, not LA.

[TRO Z]

Since I refuse to openly bash an area we invest in HEAVILY...If you want to send me a pm...I will give you some areas we wont buy in.. hint... hint....

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Elder18

Twins arrested in North Side slaying

Do people actually shoot other people just because they're not from the area?
That's really sick.

Originally Posted by TRO Z

That shooting wasn't on the N.Shore...Thats in brighton heights, a couple miles away from the stadium...

Normally, Brighton is a relatively safe neighborhood..But that goes to show you, we live in a crazy world..

Originally Posted by Drover

No, it happened in the lower end of California-Kirkbride, about a block from Mexican War Streets -- a pretty good distance away from Brighton Heights.

I made the same mistake as TRO Z (thinking it was Brighton Heights) when I first read that newspaper article. My husband quickly corrected me.

TRO Z, re-read the following paragraph from the article:

Detectives believe the brothers shot Mr. Donaldson at about 1:45 p.m. as he sat in his car in the 1700 block of Brighton Place on the North Side, not far from police headquarters.

Brighton Place is not Brighton Heights.

Elder, the pirate game has nothing to do with the shooting. He was simply picking the children up to go to the pirate game. He never actually got to the pirate game since he was shot right in front of the house prior to leaving.

Originally Posted by elder

I'm more interested in knowing about bad parts on the North Side (not North Shore) in general since I'm not familiar with that part of the city at all.

Since you don't know the area and you're clearly nervous about walking on the wild side, you should avoid walking alone at night almost anywhere in the north side. The exceptions would be the small area of North Side near East Ohio Street between the park and I279 for walking from your car to a restaurant or bar, and any area where there is a large sports crowd walking the streets. That's you though. I personally would walk the Mexican War Streets and Allegheny, and a few blocks of Manchester north of Western Avenue but only 3 blocks north, and almost all of the areas down near the river, and the streets that surround Allegheny General even up on the hillside are okayish. You should avoid anything east of I279. You have no reason to go into Spring Garden, Spring Hill or Troy Hill. But if you're going to the Brewery at the base of Troy Hill, that's cool. Basically, avoid Manchester, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, Troy Hill, and Federal Street, and I'll toss in Brighton Avenue for the heck of it (but some parts are okay)----at night. During the day, you can go almost anywhere except deeper into Manchester than going north of West North Avenue, but no farther east than Allegheny Avenue. Bottom line, in Manchester you can only go into the select few blocks between Brighton Road, West North Avenue, Allegheny Avenue, and Ridge Avenue. In the Mexican War Streets, I wouldn't go further north than Jefferson Street.

Heck, I wish I could just highlight a map for you. If I can't figure out a way to do that online, I'll mail you a map with highlighted streets and neighborhoods to avoid trhoughout the Pittsburgh area if you'd like.

[zip95]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Heck, I wish I could just highlight a map for you. If I can't figure out a way to do that online, I'll mail you a map with highlighted streets and neighborhoods to avoid trhoughout the Pittsburgh area if you'd like.

Ohhh fun, Can I have a may also?

[kiggis13]

Originally Posted by zip95

Ohhh fun, Can I have a may also?

It would be neat if some how we could all (since every one is more familiar with different neighborhoods) create a map of the entire city that would highlight rough neighborhoods (street specific though). Streets that would be considered dangerous by more people would have like a different shade of highlighter or whatever. I'm not sure how we could actually do that but its an idea.

[Elder18]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Elder, the pirate game has nothing to do with the shooting. He was simply picking the children up to go to the pirate game. He never actually got to the pirate game since he was shot right in front of the house prior to leaving.

Yes, as I am capable of simple analytical reading, I gathered that fact from the article.

The only reason I connected the Pirates games and questions about the North Side is the fact that Pirates games are the only reason I would have to go there and that inspired curiosity about what the seedier parts of the area were.

I also wanted to point out how disgusting I thought the shooting was.

I do appreciate your help though. Thanks.

[TRO Z]

Hopes,

I did read the article after Drover clued me in...I never knew that street was there...That area is one of the pockets where your looking at more of your surroundings than at the street signs, if you get my drift..

But thanks for the heads up...

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by kiggis13

It would be neat if some how we could all (since every one is more familiar with different neighborhoods) create a map of the entire city that would highlight rough neighborhoods (street specific though). Streets that would be considered dangerous by more people would have like a different shade of highlighter or whatever. I'm not sure how we could actually do that but its an idea.

I'll see if there is a way we can do an interactive map. I have server space for a project like that. If it's not possible, we can just compile the information in a thread for me to use to create a map and then post online somewhere.

Originally Posted by Elder18

I also wanted to point out how disgusting I thought the shooting was.

I agree that it is disgusting. It also proves how risky it is to just go into these areas out of curiosity.

Originally Posted by Elder18

I do appreciate your help though. Thanks.

You're welcome. For the record, I don't consider Spring Garden, Spring Hill or Troy Hill outrageously dangerous. There's just nothing over there except for the brewery so there's no reason to go there except to visit the brewery. If you drive through those areas at night, there's really nothing to see. It's fairly deserted, and that's the reason I think it's not a good idea to walk through it at night because there aren't many witnesses which makes a criminal more likely to take advantage of someone walking alone at night.

Originally Posted by TRO Z

That area is one of the pockets where your looking at more of your surroundings than at the street signs, if you get my drift..

Yep, I definitely catch your drift. I initially thought it was in Brighton Heights too.

[Drover]

Not only is Troy Hill not outrageously dangerous, it is one of the least problematic neighborhoods in the city. Troy Hill's biggest issue is that it is outrageously ugly, and therefore it's not a giant leap to draw the conclusion it might not be the safest place in the city. Troy Hill is a case where looks are deceiving.