Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have been doing lots of walking in the city and walked all over Lawrenceville the other day. I focused on lower Lawrenceville from the beginning to 43rd Street. I walked the back streets close to the river and up the hill one block. I was not impressed with the condition of MOST of the homes. Seems there is still a pile of section 8 types and it has a very long way to go. Butler Street has improved so much it is hard to believe something like that can happen in such a short time, but living there looks to be an up hill battle if you want to live in a nice area that doesn't have some really rough types. I am hoping the place turns around more and more, but I think it is many years off. I am not sure if the upper parts of Lawrenceville are better? (above 43rd Street) One issue about city living is the people that shouldn't have 10 kids seem to always have 10 kids and the people that are educated have 1. This trend will always be there and I am not sure the city will ever be a great place to live. Where do you put all these people that are living on tax payer dollars and keep having countless kids? Seems a cycle that will keep feeding itself. Just before someone thinks I am talking about race, I am not. It has to do with education and pride and nothing to do with where someone's roots are from. I have found that people are successful of all races. When you see homes that look like they are going to fall over and you say to yourself, wow, someone lives there, it is pretty disheartening. I don't think most of the city will really make a turn. Still have hopes for East Liberty because the housing stock is amazing in much of it, but it might be too far gone as well.
That's the condition of most of the "gentrified" areas in Pittsburgh. The main drags are pristine, but once you venture off of them it looks like houses are being held up by silly putty and lincoln logs. Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Homestead are fine examples of this.
Also, in regards to people having no pride, lets just be honest. There's a whole culture of "I don't give a f*ck" in the black community on so many levels and it obviously applies to home upkeep as well. Convince people to care about life somehow and things will improve.
That's the condition of most of the "gentrified" areas in Pittsburgh. The main drags are pristine, but once you venture off of them it looks like houses are being held up by silly putty and lincoln logs. Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Homestead are fine examples of this.
Also, in regards to people having no pride, lets just be honest. There's a whole culture of "I don't give a f*ck" in the black community on so many levels and it obviously applies to home upkeep as well. Convince people to care about life somehow and things will improve.
Believe me, there is very little pride in many of the little white neighborhoods as well. It isn't a race issue as much as pride and a little education. Not college, just to be able to read. I do agree that for some reason some areas of black communities for some reason really don't care. Just drive up Negley Run and look to both sides of the street. The amount of litter that people just throw over the hill is amazing. No one in that area cares and they never will.
I am here in Lawrenceville, and I dont think its really "overrated".
Even though there is still a fair number of section 8 types, these folks are tenants and can be moved out fairly quickly as landlords move out of the program if they can get more money from cash paying customers.
The city fathers have been working hard in recent years to raze a lot of vacant houses.
The tracts above Butler do have a higher quality of housing that does the area closer to the river in 6th and 9th ward Lawrenceville, but the whole area has improved markedly since I came here 4 years ago.
I was in South Side in the mid 90's and gentrification happened real quickly over there. South Side in 1995 had a few bright spots, but was still packed in with Section 8 types and lots of cheap local yokel bars.
I am here in Lawrenceville, and I dont think its really "overrated".
Even though there is still a fair number of section 8 types, these folks are tenants and can be moved out fairly quickly as landlords move out of the program if they can get more money from cash paying customers.
The city fathers have been working hard in recent years to raze a lot of vacant houses.
The tracts above Butler do have a higher quality of housing that does the area closer to the river in 6th and 9th ward Lawrenceville, but the whole area has improved markedly since I came here 4 years ago.
I was in South Side in the mid 90's and gentrification happened real quickly over there. South Side in 1995 had a few bright spots, but was still packed in with Section 8 types and lots of cheap local yokel bars.
Good points. I was hoping Lawrenceville would be an artsy South Side over time. It might, but it has a ways to go. I did see some really cool homes here and there.
some cool stuff there but still for the most part it's where people from shadyside go to feel cool. i wonder what the demographics of people who live there are for college educated 20 and 30 somethings. I'd say like under 5%.
I grew up in Lawrenceville. Every time I read how great it has become(and in some ways it has) I have stated here, "go below Butler St. and tell me what you see". It has a LONG way to go. I hope it gets there.................someday.
That's the condition of most of the "gentrified" areas in Pittsburgh. The main drags are pristine, but once you venture off of them it looks like houses are being held up by silly putty and lincoln logs. Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Homestead are fine examples of this.
Also, in regards to people having no pride, lets just be honest. There's a whole culture of "I don't give a f*ck" in the black community on so many levels and it obviously applies to home upkeep as well. Convince people to care about life somehow and things will improve.
I'm not sure if its a pride thing honestly. I've spent the past month gutting sections of a house my wife and I recently bought in Troy Hill. Given the amount of time and money it takes to do these things I think its just people without enough of either to really do the necessary upkeep, let alone the cosmetic. The only way I'm able to do any of it is because I recently lost my job and I had a sizeable amount of money from a settlement.
Even something as small as repainting the foundation of our home took me a solid week of work (assuming you work for 6-8 hours a day...scraping paint taking up most of it) and about $200 in supplies. That doesn't sound like much money, but imagine someone who makes less than $15 an hour and has kids. You may as well be asking them to build an entire house from wood they have to cut and fabricate themselves.
some cool stuff there but still for the most part it's where people from shadyside go to feel cool. i wonder what the demographics of people who live there are for college educated 20 and 30 somethings. I'd say like under 5%.
I would be willing to bet that you're off by an order of magnitude here. Without educated 20- and 30-somethings, Lawrenceville wouldn't have voted out Len Bodack in favor of Patrick Dowd (as far as I know, the first/only city councilman to hold a PhD). I lived between 42nd and 44th for almost four years and I'd say that half of the people on my street held BAs at least.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
