Neighborhood of the week: Northview Heights (Pittsburgh, Arlington Heights: apartment, crime, homes)

[eschaton]

Northview Heights is one of Pittsburgh's "project neighborhoods." It is located on the north side, wedged between Spring Hill-City View and Summer Hill. Technically it also shares land borders with Perry Hilltop, Observatory Hill, and Reserve Township, but practically speaking due to limited road connections this means little. There are a handful (a little over a dozen) single-family homes in the neighborhood, but this essay will ignore them and focus on the housing project itself.

Most of the land which Northview Heights now sits on was part of Reserve Township until 1932. Largely undeveloped for decades following, the City of Pittsburgh developed it into a 999-unit public housing development in the period between 1955 and 1962. As it was so isolated from the surrounding areas, it was immediately formed as its own neighborhood, not just in terms of official recognition by the city, but also in terms of civic amenities, having its own school and fire station.

As was generally the case in public housing during that period across the country, problems ensued, with numerous assaults reported against outsiders who accidentally wandered into the neighborhood. By the early 1990s, fire and utility personnel refused to enter the compound without police escort. By 1998, the city made the controversial decision (in order to stop a brisk drug trade, as well as to improve general safety) to close three of the five through streets in the neighborhood and install security gates at the last two ways into or out of the neighborhood.

Today the HCAP still has around 455 units of housing in Northview Heights. Around a third of the units the census counted in 2010 were vacant - presumably in buildings that HACP decided no longer to maintain. The school closed in 2012, with the residents now bused to King elementary in Allegheny Center. There is still usually at least one murder per year - a lot given the small population, isolated nature of the neighborhood, and lack of any sort of business. Northview Heights is routinely both the poorest city in terms of per-capita income in the city (since 95%+ of the people are in public housing) and the youngest neighborhood (the majority of residents are children - which again makes sense given to be in HCAP family housing you're pretty much required to be a single mother on public assistance).

The future for the neighborhood is of course dire. Indeed, the only reason Northview Heights likely still exists is the city learned from its mistakes regarding the closure of Broadhead Manor and St. Clair Village (and the reduction in size of Arlington Heights). If you eliminate hundreds of units of public housing without a plan, you cause other marginal neighborhoods to tip into steep decline. Right now the city is concentrated on a replacement for Allegheny Dwellings, but i am sure in the longer run the city will seek to disperse the population in a number of smaller privately-managed, mixed-income developments as funding permits. In the shorter run, plans have been announced to replace the dated high-rise structure at the core of the neighborhood with a more modern low-rise apartment building, but this will not result in any appreciable unit reduction. Of course, given how isolated the neighborhood is, most Pittsburgh residents will continue to ignore its many problems, save for the 30 seconds where they note a terrible headline like this.

[RogersParkTransplant]

One of the owners of the Allegheny City Historic Gallery (ACHG) grew up in Northview Heights when it was still pretty new, and they have done some great reunions and other events to build civic pride in the neighborhood. They do events like this for all of the Northside, but I especially appreciate their desire to represent this neighborhood and remind everyone that it had its good times, even though it's a mess now.

Since the same bus lines that go to Spring Hill also go to Northview, I have gotten to know a lot of neighbors who live up there, and I really hope a good solution is found for the neighborhood. Yes, the statistics aren't pretty, but as with so many neighborhoods in Pittsburgh the problems of a few end up giving a terrible reputation to a whole area that is mostly made up of people just trying to raise their kids and get by from day to day.

[gg]

Ah, why post a personal experience, I guess. Reality isn't for everyone.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by gg

I drove through there in the '90s and it was about the worst place I have seen in Pittsburgh. It wasn't the worst place I have seen in the US by a long shot though, but it was pretty darn bad. People were looking at me like I was nuts for being there in my nice car, but they kept their distance, unlike when I was in Overtown in Miami where they didn't keep any distance, they were coming out of the shadows to get a closer look. This was also in the '90s. Coming across Overtown was an accident though, but Northview Heights was curiosity. Glad i don't live in such a place. Can't imagine dealing with all that crime and having your guard up all the time. Guess it would become part of life though.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

One of the owners of the Allegheny City Historic Gallery (ACHG) grew up in Northview Heights when it was still pretty new, and they have done some great reunions and other events to build civic pride in the neighborhood. They do events like this for all of the Northside, but I especially appreciate their desire to represent this neighborhood and remind everyone that it had its good times, even though it's a mess now.

Hrrm...looks like he has an account of his life in Northview Heights online here.

Edit - 1970s photos here, and 1980s photos here.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Hrrm...looks like he has an account of his life in Northview Heights online here.

Edit - 1970s photos here, and 1980s photos here.

Oh hey! Thanks for that, I didn't even think to look at the blog. Bill and Kim are doing great things for the Northside with the ACHG, and their son (Budding videographer creates documentary series | Northside Chronicle) is also a rising star from the neighborhood.