Point Breeze (Pittsburgh: best city, homes, neighborhood)

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

We were at a party in Point Breeze on sat evening and the area looked so interesting that dh and I went back driving around on sunday.

Boy there are some wonderful old homes there. Oh my gosh, the character of many of them was only fantastic. The house we were in was a westinghouse and had so many cool things.

We will definately go back and drive around more ; even Shadeyside homes looked wonderful.

That's why we love living here. I've always said Reynolds Street is one of my favorite in the city. If you didn't drive up or down that street, I highly suggest it. Thomas Blvd has some beautiful homes that often go unrecognized because it borders Homewood. We have lived in the neighborhood for five years, homes don't come up for sale often at all.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by juliegt

Point Breeze was a neighborhood I was considering too, but there wasn't anything available in my price range that I liked when i was looking. I continue to be amazed at the fabulous old houses all over Pittsburgh. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the fact that even the most expensive places here are about the same price as a modest single family home in San Francisco.

In Point Breeze you are definitely paying a bit of a premium by Pittsburgh standards (which of course is a rounding error by Bay Area standards), and that in fact is part of why we didn't end up there (our house in the Wilkinsburg part of Regent Square probably would have been close to twice as expensive if it was in Point Breeze).

[robrobrob]

I lived in Point Breeze for a bit and my father grew up there so I am somewhat attached to it. I would love to buy the house my father grew up in someday. I changed hands last year so I got to see pictures of what it looks like now. Anyway, it is great living next to the park. However, two potential negatives. It is pain to drive to downtown. Secondly, the walk to the busway from Reynolds is a little further than I would want to do on daily basis.

[groar]

i lived in point breeze when i first moved to pittsburgh, in an apartment in an amazing house that is right across penn from the frick house. it's kind of obviously the only house that one would describe as "amazing" right there. it is super grand on the inside, with pressed leather wainscoting, parquet floors and all kinds of beautiful woodwork. even the attic is fancy.

at the time (around 2000) my landlady was thinking of selling but no realtor would touch it because it was on the wrong side of penn.

[Geeo]

Point Breeze is also one of my favorite neighborhoods. The character of each street with the great homes is a real draw. The area is loaded with families and the kids get all the advantages of living in and going to school with kids from all over the country and the world.

[TechieTransplant]

The Frick Park Market, the park itself, Point Brugge, Make Your Mark Cafe...........all some of my favorite things in the city.

[eschaton]

I know I'm going to be bucking the trend here, but I should say I don't think Point Breeze is all that in terms of sheer beauty.

Yes, the Reynolds Street business district is quite cute. There are also many fine houses. But the neighborhood lacks something important to make it beautiful - consistency.

Up through the early 20th century, most of (South) Point Breeze was large estates. None of the old mansions besides The Frick survived to the present. But their lots were subdivided in different eras, resulting in patchwork construction. Some streets have a lot of Victorian housing. Some have a preponderance of interwar (1920s to 1940s) construction. And some are mainly ugly ranches and split-levels from the 1950s and 1960s. Worse, they often are interspaced on the same block.

That isn't to say it looks atrocious. But I know the OP hasn't gotten around the city too much, and we have better examples. There are probably a dozen beautiful Victorian neighborhoods (both featuring detached and attached housing), and Squirrel Hill offers far more consistent interwar architecture.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by eschaton

And some are mainly ugly ranches and split-levels from the 1950s and 1960s.

Hey, some of those ranches are anything but ugly.

[XRiteMA98]

I have a very closed friend who lives in walking distance to Point Bruges and I visit her very often. Her closest neighbors are university type of people. Professors and reasearchers @ CMU and Pitt. All from Europe
As a matter of fact we'll go there for New Year's

[okaydorothy]

The party I was at was a reunion for Peace Corps that have settled in and around Pittsburgh. It was so nice.

And yes, the dh is working at CMU