Morningside & Stanton Heights (Pittsburgh, Washington: apartments, rental, house)

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Is it really a "business district"? I'm only aware of the Rite Aid, VFW, and a bar. I don't even think there are empty storefronts for future expansion.

There are several beauty salons over there, and a small market down Greenwood a piece.

The Rite Aid, Wilks Bar and VFW post are the only business right on the through street, Morningside Avenue, but there is more if you turn at the Rite Aid.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by XRiteMA98

barber shop, doctor, dentist, mechanic and of course the magisterial district across from Rite Aid.

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

There are several beauty salons over there, and a small market down Greenwood a piece.

The Rite Aid, Wilks Bar and VFW post are the only business right on the through street, Morningside Avenue, but there is more if you turn at the Rite Aid.

Thanks, I stand corrected.

[gg]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

There are several beauty salons over there, and a small market down Greenwood a piece.

The Rite Aid, Wilks Bar and VFW post are the only business right on the through street, Morningside Avenue, but there is more if you turn at the Rite Aid.

Goodness! First of all Wilks has been closed for a zillion years. It turned into Morony's for a while and now it is closed and has been for years, but being refurbished.. sort of by some new owner that grew up there. The VFW and Rite Aid are there of course. I mean the VFW is a private club that has gaming, so they have good money going on. That is all on Morningside Ave. There is another part of their downtown on Jancey. There is a real estate office, a pizza place and a few other little odds and ends, but not much going on. There is a really cool building that was going to be renovated into a cool bar/cafe that a couple of guys owned, but one of them died and that stopped everything. It has been sitting there for a long time. Morningside is an interesting little place. The real estate prices there have been going up pretty fast. Rent is high as well. You can walk over to Highland Park and Morningside is in a good location. If you ask the people that grew up in Morningside what parts are best, they will tell you the parts away from Stanton. The further the better. As someone that has looked very hard at that area, I don't agree with them. The housing stock is better closer to Stanton, but I think what you have going on is the black areas around there are closer to Stanton, so that equates to "bad". I personally would invest closer to Stanton.

Stanton Heights at one time was actaully considered a little better than Morningside, but that isn't true these days. It isn't as nice as Morningside and less protected. There is some crime in and around both areas, but Stanton Heights has a worse section. Also, topographically speaking, Morningside is better. I could easily in Morningside. It has your old yinzer types and also has young professionals. It is pretty safe overall and the neighbors look out after you. Lots of good people living there, but of course there is some grit.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Stanton Heights lacks a business district and is a mixed community racially- a lot of middle class Italians, Jews and African Americans predominate up there, the southern section of Stanton Heights may have a majority of blacks.

Stanton Heights was near-predominantly Jewish at its inception, a then-shining new neighborhood that was the place to be working/middle class families who wanted a strong community presence but couldn't afford Squirrel Hill. Upward social mobility among Pittsburgh's Jews has heavily skewed the remaining population on the elderly side. Such is also the case in parts of East Liberty and Highland Park.

[selltheburgh]

Both are nice areas. Stanton Heights has a more diverse selection of houses, but no business district. It is also hilly and the bus access isn't mediocre. It is a very stable neighborhood and is a city worker neighborhood. Lots of public works, police officers (Chief Harper), Firefighters, etc live up there.

Morningside is flat and consists of 4 streets plus cross streets. Chislett, Jancey, Morningside and Duffield. It runs from the 800 block (Stanton Ave) to the 1900 block (Near the zoo) above Butler St. Previously, it was more desirable to be on the 1100-1700 blocks. Those blocks are still nice, but as East Liberty continues to improve and zoning has restricted multi-units on the larger houses on the first few blocks, the 800-1000 blocks have improved majorly. This end has the best bus access to Oakland or Downtown. The business district is pretty weak, but the infrastructure and zoning is still there for something to happen positively. That's at the far end - 1600 block at Greenwood.

Also, a little section at the top of Greenwood hill that most would think is Stanton Heights (El Paso St, etc) is actually in Morningside.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

Stanton Heights was near-predominantly Jewish at its inception, a then-shining new neighborhood that was the place to be working/middle class families who wanted a strong community presence but couldn't afford Squirrel Hill. Upward social mobility among Pittsburgh's Jews has heavily skewed the remaining population on the elderly side. Such is also the case in parts of East Liberty and Highland Park.

This is the Stanton Heights I remember.

[eschaton]

I think other people basically covered it, but my own two cents.

Morningside is an older community which feels in some ways like an extension of Highland Park, albeit a bit more modest. I'll say in all honesty I'm not a fan of the dominant architectural style in much of Morningside, but there are some nice foursquares and even Victorian-style houses mixed in. South of Martha, it's mostly closely-spaced detached housing with rear alleys instead of driveways. North of Martha there's a lot of duplexes and rowhouses, but it's 1920s style, not the classic Victorian sort of rowhouses you see in Southside, the Northside, or Lawrenceville. The neighborhood technically continues all the way down to Butler street and beyond, but that almost feels like its own thing due to the separation from the rest by topography.

Stanton Heights is a different animal, because it's much newer construction. The only really old houses are on Stanton Avenue and McCandless Street. Almost the entirety of the rest is early postwar construction, with the entire southern portion (the cul-de-sac area below Stanton Avenue) built as a planned community. Driveways are common up there. As others have said, there is no business district. The portion south of Stanton Avenue is overwhelmingly black these days, but the sections to the north and towards Upper Lawrenceville are still majority white.

Edit: Also, the public schooling options in both neighborhoods are generally considered to suck, although it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Morningside's feeder, along with Highland Park, goes to Faison, which 96% black, as there is near universal opting out by the white population. IIRC use of private schools in Morningside is the highest in the city. Stanton Heights goes to Sunnyside, which up until recently was a standalone primary school just for the neighborhood, but recently had Upper Lawrenceville added. It has also had heavy racial transition, but there still is a bit of a white population enrolled there as the school is only 78% black.

[morningsiderules]

I live in Morningside and I love it here. We moved here two years ago from Florida and bought a home here in March. I live closer to Stanton then Butler. There isn't really much going on. But, it's safe and pretty racially mixed and really charming. It's walkable and close to everything cool in the city, but it doesn't have a city vibe. Our kid goes to St. Raphael's which is the cutest school, ever. Housing isn't cheap by Pittsburgh standards. But it's a good value, to us since we came from Florida.

The only caveat is that bus service is terrible. So a car is pretty much a necessity, here.

Seriously, I could sing the praises of Morningside, forever. It's the only place I'd want to live in Pittsburgh. I have a little blog, and I've devoted many a post to how rad my little neighborhood is.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by morningsiderules

I live in Morningside and I love it here. We moved here two years ago from Florida and bought a home here in March. I live closer to Stanton then Butler. There isn't really much going on. But, it's safe and pretty racially mixed and really charming. It's walkable and close to everything cool in the city, but it doesn't have a city vibe. Our kid goes to St. Raphael's which is the cutest school, ever. Housing isn't cheap by Pittsburgh standards. But it's a good value, to us since we came from Florida.

The only caveat is that bus service is terrible. So a car is pretty much a necessity, here.

Seriously, I could sing the praises of Morningside, forever. It's the only place I'd want to live in Pittsburgh. I have a little blog, and I've devoted many a post to how rad my little neighborhood is.

Please provide a link to your blog. I hope to start one soonish about my relocation from San Francisco to Crafton. I'd love to read about your adventures.

[morningsiderules]

Originally Posted by juliegt

Please provide a link to your blog. I hope to start one soonish about my relocation from San Francisco to Crafton. I'd love to read about your adventures.

Ya, also, since you're from the Bay Area, I'll bet you will appreciate the affordable housing stock, the walkable sidewalk neighborhood feel, beautiful homes, all in a residential type area.

I was immediately enamored when we came here to look at a rental house and we saw kids playing in the street without weird hovering parents, dogs are everywhere, on leashes and decent looking yards, with two parks within walking distance.

Check out this link if you want some more impartial advice about this nabe.

Moderator cut: link removed