Comunity Project Idea - Pittsburgh's "real" Neighborhoods (Liberty: houses, live)

[eschaton]

Hey all.

In my spare time, I've been working on a Google map to more accurately show Pittsburgh's neighborhood boundaries than the city maps do.

Google Maps has its issues. A big one is the limit on the number of shapes per page. As a result, even though I've only filled in the East End, I still had to drag all the neighborhoods from Squirrel Hill on down onto the next page. Plus, it can be a pain editing the vectors once a shape is placed.

Still, I'm open to questions, comments and suggestions, and if anyone would like to get editing access, we can really polish this up!

[ElijahAstin]

I've never heard of the "Baum-Center Corridor" as a neighborhood.

[ferraris]

Point Breeze can probably be extended north to the busway. Park Place and Penn Main should also be separated, though I'm not sure what the exact boundaries should be.

When I was a Pitt Undergrad we called all of "Central", South, and "Oakcliffe" just "South Oakland", possibly qualifying south of the Boulevard as "Deep South Oakland" I've rarely heard Central Oakland used in regular conversation, and if it was used, it was referring to the Fifth-Forbes corridor.

Great work! This will be an interesting map. I doubt it will actually reduce the number of neighborhoods compared to the official city map, but at least it will get rid of redundant neighborhoods such as multiple Homewoods and Squirrel Hills.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

I've never heard of the "Baum-Center Corridor" as a neighborhood.

It's a concept used in city zoning. And quite honestly, the businesses along Baum and Center have little to nothing to do with the residential areas right behind them. It's funniest in the extreme south of Shadyside, where some of the most fantastically expensive housing in the City is just a few blocks away from a strip club (Cricket Lounge).

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Point Breeze can probably be extended north to the busway. Park Place and Penn Main should also be separated, though I'm not sure what the exact boundaries should be.

I'm not sure I know what Penn Main is. Part of the reason I opened this up to the community is because I've only lived here like seven years, and the knowledge others have of the city and it's neighborhoods is far greater.

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

When I was a Pitt Undergrad we called all of "Central", South, and "Oakcliffe" just "South Oakland", possibly qualifying south of the Boulevard as "Deep South Oakland" I've rarely heard Central Oakland used in regular conversation, and if it was used, it was referring to the Fifth-Forbes corridor.

Yeah. The city's division of Oakland is nonsensical, as they consider most of Pitt's campus to be "North Oakland" and call "Central Oakland" the student slum commonly known as South Oakland. In addition, half of West Oakland is really Uptown, and half of the Hill neighborhood of Terrace Village is actually part of Pitt's campus.

I redefined Central Oakland to be what people think it to be - Pitt's campus and the few urban blocks along Fifth and Forbes. North Oakland is just restricted to the actual residential areas to the north of the campus. I probably went totally crazy in the south adding five different neighborhoods. More than wiling to cut back if people think it's ridiculous.

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Great work! This will be an interesting map. I doubt it will actually reduce the number of neighborhoods compared to the official city map, but at least it will get rid of redundant neighborhoods such as multiple Homewoods and Squirrel Hills.

I'm not as familiar with Homewood, but I don't think the City's divisions mean much of anything (except insofar as say West Homewood having more industry, but that doesn't mean enough). I did keep a Squirrel Hill South, although I put the dividing line near the highway rather than on Forbes as the city does. Honestly, IMHO the far south of Squirrel Hill is essentially Greenfield (much as the non-trashed parts of Hazelwood I included on this map), but that's probably a bit radical for some.

[dissident]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Penn Main should also be separated, though I'm not sure what the exact boundaries should be.

The have little flags up in the Penn-Main area - "Penn-Main, the heart of it all" or something like that. I haven't been here very long either, but I usually think of it as the areas of Bloomfield and Lawrenceville extending along Penn from about 40th Street to somewhere near Friendship Ave out in front of Children's Hospital. It does indeed feel like a separate area from either Bloomfield or Lawrenceville proper. It has some interesting businesses such as Brillobox and a few ethnic restaurants.

[Bong477]

What would you call the dividing line between squirrel hill and point breeze? I'd probably call it Beechwood rather than Shady like the city calls it.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by dissident

The have little flags up in the Penn-Main area - "Penn-Main, the heart of it all" or something like that. I haven't been here very long either, but I usually think of it as the areas of Bloomfield and Lawrenceville extending along Penn from about 40th Street to somewhere near Friendship Ave out in front of Children's Hospital. It does indeed feel like a separate area from either Bloomfield or Lawrenceville proper. It has some interesting businesses such as Brillobox and a few ethnic restaurants.

Ahh, now I know what you guys are talking about.

The problem is it's a comparably small area, and really only defined commercially. Yes, there are a few nice row houses directly along that portion of Penn. But heading quickly down the slope you run into one of the core neighborhoods of Lawrenceville. Main and Fisk, in particular, are viewed as being the premier streets in Lawrenceville.

The residential area on the Bloomfield side is less distinctive. I tend to think of Bloomfield North of Liberty and West of Friendship park as forming a discrete area, a bit nicer than the siding warrens in South Bloomfield, but nothing like "Greater Friendship" to the west. It is actually pretty similar to the portion of Lawrenceville between Penn and Liberty however.

Ultimately I guess the question is - do major commercial thoroughfares divide neighborhoods, or unite them? I think it depends upon the street. A heavily trafficked area with car-oriented businesses (like Baum) pretty clearly is a boundary, whereas a neighborhood with foot-traffic businesses (like East Carson) knits things together. I think Penn is a bit in-between, as it's a pretty high traffic intersection around Penn and 40th, and there's a whole lot of residential directly facing Penn in the area.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Yeah. The city's division of Oakland is nonsensical, as they consider most of Pitt's campus to be "North Oakland" and call "Central Oakland" the student slum commonly known as South Oakland. In addition, half of West Oakland is really Uptown, and half of the Hill neighborhood of Terrace Village is actually part of Pitt's campus.

I redefined Central Oakland to be what people think it to be - Pitt's campus and the few urban blocks along Fifth and Forbes. North Oakland is just restricted to the actual residential areas to the north of the campus. I probably went totally crazy in the south adding five different neighborhoods. More than wiling to cut back if people think it's ridiculous.

I agree with ferrarisnowday. There really is no "Central Oakland" in the common vernacular. Beyond the Pitt campus boundaries, I would replace "Central Oakland" with "South Oakland," and "South Oakland" plus "Oakcliffe" (I've never heard that area called that) with "Far South Oakland." Panther Hollow should stay, given its relative isolation.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

I agree with ferrarisnowday. There really is no "Central Oakland" in the common vernacular. Beyond the Pitt campus boundaries, I would replace "Central Oakland" with "South Oakland," and "South Oakland" plus "Oakcliffe" (I've never heard that area called that) with "Far South Oakland." Panther Hollow should stay, given its relative isolation.

Okay, with two people concurring, I made the change. I also moved McGee and the few blocks South of Forbes into the new "South Oakland" and out of West Oakland. IMHO, West Oakland is merely the residential neighborhood adjacent to Terrace Village. By necessity, Carlow comes along for the ride.

One thing I have issue with is what to do with that weird tail of blocks around North Neville (Central Catholic area), in between the Pitt and CMU campus. I know the City calls it Squirrel Hill, which is ridiculous. I ended up including it in North Oakland, mainly because it shares more with that area than anything else - (E.G., it is residential, with detatched houses. Makes for a silly border, but what can you do?

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Okay, with two people concurring, I made the change. I also moved McGee and the few blocks South of Forbes into the new "South Oakland" and out of West Oakland. IMHO, West Oakland is merely the residential neighborhood adjacent to Terrace Village. By necessity, Carlow comes along for the ride.

One thing I have issue with is what to do with that weird tail of blocks around North Neville (Central Catholic area), in between the Pitt and CMU campus. I know the City calls it Squirrel Hill, which is ridiculous. I ended up including it in North Oakland, mainly because it shares more with that area than anything else - (E.G., it is residential, with detatched houses. Makes for a silly border, but what can you do?

My friends and I called that area the demilitarized zone, lol. But yes, I think North Oakland fits.