Good news finally for New Kensington (Pittsburgh, Arnold: for sale, real estate, houses)

[Stagger Lee]

Putting the 'New' back in New Kensington (its probably easier to just read from the link)

Like so many other former mill towns in Western Pennsylvania, New Kensington has struggled to reinvent itself since 1971, when Alcoa closed its original riverfront plant complex that once provided jobs, revenue and community identity.
Moderator cut: copyrighted article

[Stagger Lee]

This is great news for the town of New Ken. Revitalizing a town is hard to start, but once you start it, it takes a snowball effect. More tenants will move in, more buildings we will revamped, more people come, then there is more demand for newer things. Starting with New Ken is a good way to start the towns on the upper Allegheny river.

Pittsburgh itself has done a great job in cleaning up, and starting the ball rolling with revitalization, but many towns around it in the metro need to also start. Most abandoned industrial areas in Pittsburgh have been replaced with the Southside works, green office buildings, and other projects. However this hasn't started yet in the old mill towns in the metro. This is good news. Once towns in the metro start turning around you can say the whole Pittsburgh area has turned the corner from the past.

[guylocke]

I am extremely shocked and pleased!! New Kensington was once one the most premier cities in all of the greater metro area. My grandparents and most of my family is from either Tarentum or New Kensington. They could tell so many wonderful stories about both places, how great shopping was, and how clean and progressive New Kensington was, with theaters and boutiques, etc.

It's really nice to see that maybe New Ken could become viable once more.

[Stagger Lee]

I went down there today for the first time in a while. They actually have condemned signs on a lot of old buildings that are waiting to be demolished. There are for sale signs on many other buildings that they are seriously trying to sell. I walked by one, and it was a three story big building right on 5th ave downtown. It was in decent shape and being sold for 105,000. That's it, 105,000. If I had a small firm or company I was starting that would be easy. That is less then most houses. Two blocks from these buildings was were they are getting ready to build the community college. Once this school opens up, it will help fill up these buildings quickly.

I did a photo thread on skyscraperpage of how bad New Ken was. I was trying to show how blight, but also beautiful it was. There are great buildings there, and this would be a great town if companies and retail moved in besides for shady bars.

[guylocke]

Two blocks from these buildings was were they are getting ready to build the community college. Once this school opens up, it will help fill up these buildings quickly.

So Penn State is adding another school to New Kensington on top of the Penn State campus already IN upper New Kensington??

[Stagger Lee]

no, it is Westmoreland county community college. It will bring probably 500-1000 of people (my estimation, probably way off) into downtown New Ken when it opens. It is right off of downtown New Ken.

[guylocke]

no, it is Westmoreland county community college. It will bring probably 500-1000 of people (my estimation, probably way off) into downtown New Ken when it opens. It is right off of downtown New Ken.

OOH, I should have read more carefully.

[str8outtawexford]

great post, thanks!

[Joe20]

If a commuter train was available to take NK/Arnold residents to Pittsburgh, the folks who work in Pittsburgh would discover how reasonably priced local real estate is. The result would be a gentrification of the city like those neighborhoods in large cities where people who are priced out of luxury homes buy cheap, fix up and contribute to the overall value of the area. Make NK and Arnold homes available to people who have a job, and give them a way to get to work without going through the torture of Route 28 or Route 22, and there will be a land rush.