Are There Gangs in Fairywood? (Crafton, Stowe Township: houses, neighborhood, movie theater)

[Uptown kid]

No prob Caladium agian I'm not "the man" when we talk bout Fairywood... If you read that wikipedia crap stating Fairywood's BroadHead Manor inspired Candyman it's ABSOLUTELY fake!!! Candymane was an urban legend (originating probably by crackheads) on the Southside of Chi-town.

Sheraden is a great place to live west of the park, while east is currently worse than Fairywood!
The Greenway Projects are soo bad that connects (drug traffickers) don't venture up there. While Crafton Heights is still considered a nice little place to live.
Central Nortside, Fineview, and East Allgheny are some of the most popular places to rent/buy in the city. On the other hand they all have sections home to violent street gangs.
Wilkinsburg is a place where one can live with out ONE problem (west of the bus way & other parts). East of the busway, in the the bad part, a young black man can get shot if he lives on the wrong side of Penn Avenue or wears a red shirt @ night...
The same STARK double sided differences for the SAFE & UNSAFE parts of neighborhoods like: Penn Hills, East Liberty, the Hill District, Carrick, Swissvale and many other areas.

[Benzman66]

Originally Posted by Caladium

I mean seriously--who names a place Fairywood? There has to be a story behind that. Especially an area that over time has developed gang activity--you'd think such a silly name would have been disappeared a long time ago.

So I thought this was going to be a one question thread, but now that I know a little more about the place I'm even more curious. This tiny little area just seems like the sort of place that has to have a story.

It's so small--it seems to be off in a forgotten, almost remote area--but somehow it inspired a well known movie. That's unusual. That's intriguing. And the split personality it seems to have is interesting too. Fairywood has a rough reputation, and is capable of making AlleghenyAngel a bit nervous (not an easy thing to do). Yet at the same time it has an upscale apartment building? And people are willing to spend $735/month to live in apartments there, even though there doesn't seem to be any particular attraction or even that much in the way of local stores. Who are these people? Why are they attracted to this building? These are the sorts of things that make me curious. No really good reason for me to know these things--I just think there are a lot of curious features for a tiny neighborhood.

My mom is 80+ years old. When she moved here, I enlightened her about the different areas. When I told her there was an area called "Fairywood", she laughed and said is that where all the gay people live? I told her quite the opposite!

But you are right, it IS a deserted area. There use to be a shopping center and it closed up because of all the thieving at the stores. The public swimming pool and library closed up. There were some other places like a laundromat and convenience store and they closed up. All because of the bad crime. The only thing that really exists is a large UPS terminal and I think a vending machine company down towards the Industrial Highway, which was never finished and has been a ghost road.

http://www.gribblenation.com/swparoa...ndustrial.html

All you really see is a lot of overgrown lots where things use to be! There is nothing within a short walking distance of Emerald Gardens to even go to. Granted, the townhouses have been all remodeled and look really nice, but they are still the "old shells" with a new covering. The walls are thin, and still have a lot of issues.

[PreservationPioneer]

"Located on the western edge of the city, Fairywood contains serene old homes tucked among the trees and hillsides, against the quiet backdrop of blue skies and the hush that only woodlands can create."

I can't think of a more inaccurate description of Fairywood! It reminds me of those car brochures from the 1970s that described cars like the Ford Pinto and Chevy Nova as "luxurious."

Those "serene old homes" are about two feet apart from each other, covered in aluminum siding and awnings, and have most of their windows shot out of them. I guess "tucked among the trees and hillsides" somehow translates to crammed into a two-street area? "The hush that only woodlands can create" I guess refers to the sounds of your destitute neighbors on the street begging for money, and maybe the occasional gun-shot?

Okay, I'm being a bit facetious here. But, SERIOUSLY, who wrote that, and what were they drinking? That is one of the most unintentionally hilarious neighborhood descriptions I have ever read. It would be like me describing McKees Rocks "a spotless, prosperous suburban enclave of lush gated communities, dotted with adorable country cottages with manicured lawns, surrounded by the hum of nature and meticulously-maintained architectural marvels, such as the Stowe Tunnel."

[PreservationPioneer]

I think Caladium was more interested in the history of the small residential neighborhood, rather than the history of the projects, which came much, much later. It would be interesting to know how the neighborhood came to be. My guess was it was a further extension of the growing Sheraden and Ingram areas in the 1910s-1920s. The houses appear to be of this vintage. What was the industry in the area that supported these residential developments -- anyone know? Fairywood appears as if it may have been a company housing development -- although the homes are fairly large, they are quite similar to each other.

[Uptown kid]

I thought was pretty funny when you said something like let's rally up gays! Let's take over the ***** named "Fairywood" neighborhood
Then how you were gonna do the photo tour, but you chicken'd out hahahahahaha!!!
Hey in all seriousness I wouldn't go around taking pics in Fairywood after dark... In neighborhoods where criminal activity (dope dealing) goes down every night the perpetrators wouldn't simile for just anybody's camera. That's how someone can get their azz kicked!!! Even in the day time too!
Idk some of the things you've posted made me chuckle, though fore realz you ain't that funny

[PreservationPioneer]

LOL, thanks Uptown. I was just kidding about us gays taking over Fairywood, but it's a small enough neighborhood that if 5-10 gays bought houses there, it would be a legitimate gayborhood. And houses there don't cost much!

But I'm not doing it alone -- it's a scary place lol.

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

I thought was pretty funny when you said something like let's rally up gays! Let's take over the ***** named "Fairywood" neighborhood
Then how you were gonna do the photo tour, but you chicken'd out hahahahahaha!!!
Hey in all seriousness I wouldn't go around taking pics in Fairywood after dark... In neighborhoods where criminal activity (dope dealing) goes down every night the perpetrators wouldn't simile for just anybody's camera. That's how someone can get their azz kicked!!! Even in the day time too!
Idk some of the things you've posted made me chuckle, though fore realz you ain't that funny

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

f you read that wikipedia crap stating Fairywood's BroadHead Manor inspired Candyman it's ABSOLUTELY fake!!!

LOL what????? You mean something posted on Wikipedia might not be so???? Well DANG!

I suspected as much but rats, sometimes you just WISH things like that were true. Somebody OUGHTA make a movie about Fairywood. Just sayin'.

[otters21]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Fairywood was the location of the Broadhead Manor housing project, and also Westgate Village, a private development that had declined to mostly Section 8 tenants. Broadhead has been razed, and Westgate is now higher end apartments. The rest of Fairywood consists of about 3 short streets containing older brick homes, along with a block of homes dating from the 70's. There is also a strange little area at the end of Broadhead Fordind Rd. that contains a small development of little one story frame houses. These are a type of house that is commom in the Midwest, but nearly unknown in Pittsburgh. There was once a gang in Broadhead that had chosen green as their color, but there are so few people in the area now, that I never hear of anything going on out there.

I have been down that street with the old vintage brick homes on one side and the 70s raised ranches on the other side( IMO they look less well kept but then again many mid century homes do not age well). I believe it was on Prospect or somewhere near there. It was a strange experience seeing old urban on one side of the street and true suburbia on the other side especially the neighborhood being so isolated and cut off from everything. It seems one has to drive just to get a loaf of bread and I believe that may hurt any chances of seeing the neighborhood seeing true revitalization.

[airwave09]

Ok, I used to see a girl that lived in the Emerald Apartments just last year. They are basically what you would describe as a oasis surrounded by a couple run down and abandoned streets.

The Emerald apartments are nothing like the rest of Fairywood, and are separated by a gate/24 hour guard house. They are inhabited by a diverse group of people mostly new to the area and working in the city. That is probably what is being described as the nice community of Fairywood on the city website. I would sort of describe it akin to if you dropped a suburban gated apartment complex in the middle of the hill district. Except its only a couple of streets of the "hill district" and they are mostly just abandoned row houses.

The rest of the neighborhood consists of urban prairie and a large shipping/distribution complex connected by an abandoned section of 4 lane highway that also looks like it was randomly dropped there from the sky. Very interesting and unusual little area of the city that I would recommend taking the detour off of route 60 and driving through once.

With all of the flat underused land in this neighborhood and its excellent location, I foresee development seeking it out once the city starts growing at a decent rate again and people begin to be priced out of the immediate neighborhoods.

[Caladium]

So, it sounds like the people who live there like living in a luxury apartment and don't care about being able to walk to stores, be part of the neighborhood, or use the local pool. It's convenient to downtown, and they might be locking in low rates before the area becomes more attractive to other such developments. Does that sound about right?

It makes sense--I knew people who lived in gorgeous lofts in downtown LA and never ever went into the area immediately around their building. That was never my cup of tea but I knew people who loved it and loved being so close to downtown.