Best Neiborhood (Pittsburgh, Allentown, Wilkinsburg: section 8, rentals, houses)

[interested_burgher]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'd nominate the Hill, Larimer, and Homewood too--collectively, there is a lot of territory left in the "Greater East End" ripe for gentrification, which will in fact likely follow if properties in other neighborhoods continue to appreciate at recent rates.

Please tell me you're kidding.

[chielgirl]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It is a shame there is so much mixed income stuff in East Liberty. That will probably hurt growth, since governments get involved instead of letting true supply and demand to take control as it should be. Our tax dollars go to build all that subsidized housing and it just kills areas. People with means don't want to live next to that crap and believe me, we need some more people with means to move to the city to prop it up and offset that MASSIVE amounts of poverty in the city limits. We need balance.

Wilkinsburg isn't all that great, but there doesn't seem to be as many shootings as the Hill and Homewood, so maybe it is a step up? Not sure?

True supply and demand brought horrid absentee landlords like JJ Land.

[chielgirl]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Some of us regard those as desirable features.

Parking issues as a desirable feature?

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'd nominate the Hill, Larimer, and Homewood too--collectively, there is a lot of territory left in the "Greater East End" ripe for gentrification, which will in fact likely follow if properties in other neighborhoods continue to appreciate at recent rates.

What?
I would never recommend any of these areas unless you like gunshots.

[BrianTH]

Neighborhood-level change can occur rapidly under the pressure of unmet demand. Other cities have seen "ghetto" areas turned into hot areas within a handful of years, and it can and will happen here too if current trends continue.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

True supply and demand brought horrid absentee landlords like JJ Land.

I think I know how owns this company and he is local.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

True supply and demand brought horrid absentee landlords like JJ Land.

One comment on JJ Land. When I was researching places for my wife and I to live that would offer easy bus commute to Pitt, I read up on the various property management companies that own a large number of properties in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill and was disappointed that almost all of them received abysmal reviews. While researching JJ Land, I noticed that they averaged 4.5 stars on Google reviews and began to read through them. One thing I noticed is that there were 60+ reviews for JJ Land, while most of the rest didn't reach 20. I then noticed that JJ Land received about one five-star review every three days for the previous several months, interspersed with the occasional "I wish I could put zero stars" review. I began to look at what other reviews were left by the five-star reviewers and noticed that they all left glowing-yet-vague reviews for the same muffler shop in Harrisburg or the same barber in Houston, TX, etc. It was obvious that JJ Land was paying people to leave glowing reviews for them on Google in order to bump up their average. I therefore forever eliminated them as a possible landlord along with Lobos.

[Billy53]

Actually I live on the North Shore which is less then a 10 minute walk from the cultural district and the West Park area is very nice. I do rent so not sure what real estate goes for. Squirrell Hill and Shady Side are not that close.

[interested_burgher]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Neighborhood-level change can occur rapidly under the pressure of unmet demand. Other cities have seen "ghetto" areas turned into hot areas within a handful of years, and it can and will happen here too if current trends continue.

I couldn't disagree more. Homewood is beyond savable in this century. The Hill has been said to be in recovery for decades now, yet it just more and more blight. What ray of hope is there in Larimer besides the church? Forget the academic mumbo jumbo. Have you put any money down in these 3 neighborhoods? I highly doubt it.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by interested_burgher

I couldn't disagree more. Homewood is beyond savable in this century. The Hill has been said to be in recovery for decades now, yet it just more and more blight. What ray of hope is there in Larimer besides the church? Forget the academic mumbo jumbo. Have you put any money down in these 3 neighborhoods? I highly doubt it.

There is no doubt it would take much more than a handful of years to turn Homewood around, but it can, and likely will happen within this century. I would guess Homewood is at least 20 years away from any meaningful improvement.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by interested_burgher

I couldn't disagree more. Homewood is beyond savable in this century. The Hill has been said to be in recovery for decades now, yet it just more and more blight. What ray of hope is there in Larimer besides the church? Forget the academic mumbo jumbo. Have you put any money down in these 3 neighborhoods? I highly doubt it.

I hate to say it, but I agree with you here. San Francisco is probably the most gentrified city in the U.S., and the last few really bad neighborhoods have just gotten redeveloped within the past decade.

We can save some of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods, we can't save all of them. I do think saving the Hill District is possible, although there are a myriad of issues which makes it a difficult endeavor, and I think most likely "saving" it would mean choosing between saving the remnants of the old built structure of the Hill District, or saving the cohesive black community there.