Should Pittsburgh let its "nooks and crannies" die? (Duquesne: for sale, insuring)

[eschaton]

I know many people here in Pittsburgh have a weird sort of appreciation for the odd backwoods sub-neighborhoods that are often found on steep hillsides, or down in ravines. In some cases, they even have houses with no street access. Feel like areas from times long ago.

I don't think people realize how endangered these areas are. The city has rezoned the majority of them as Hillside. In theory, this still allows for new construction of three story houses on lots of 3,200 square feet or larger. However, the City purposefully did this to try and stop these areas from redeveloping. My wife heard a guy from the City Zoning give a presentation where he basically said "There's a lot of places where they built houses 100 years ago we wouldn't now. We can't knock down what's there, but we can stop anything new from being built.

Another example are floodplain areas. Most of these areas have long since become non-residential, either industrial or vacant land. However, two notable exceptions where there are still houses are the West End and Hays, both of which are still blighted and falling apart. Being in a flood zone makes insuring existing houses impossible, and basically precludes infill construction, meaning the neighborhoods literally can only be ground further down as time passes.

Regardless, it strikes me that if current trends continue, Pittsburgh (at least outside of the core of the East End) is going to look a lot patchier in the future, with developable flat land increasingly dense, while larger portions of our land area are given over to wilderness. From a standpoint of efficient distribution of city resources, this makes perfect sense. But I do wonder if something is going to be lost in the transition.

[rockthecasbah121]

There's a weird nook in between uptown and Oakland where a bunch of shanty houses are situated going up a steep hillside. I always thought it would be cool if someone bought them, tore them down, and made an Italian hill-town style development. Of course, that would never happen here, but is neat to think about.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by rockthecasbah121

There's a weird nook in between uptown and Oakland where a bunch of shanty houses are situated going up a steep hillside. I always thought it would be cool if someone bought them, tore them down, and made an Italian hill-town style development. Of course, that would never happen here, but is neat to think about.

In the same general area, I've always found this house ridiculous, as it's situated at the very end of an alley where it's the only house. I'm sure the tax money collected isn't worth paving the street, even if it only gets paved once every twenty years.

I think this house even tops it though in terms of sheer "How the hell is that still there?"

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by eschaton

In the same general area, I've always found this house ridiculous, as it's situated at the very end of an alley where it's the only house. I'm sure the tax money collected isn't worth paving the street, even if it only gets paved once every twenty years.

Those people are lucky to have such an isolated house with a view. You're worrying me with your suggesting that houses should be taken and demolished simply because you don't like where they are located. People own these properties. How would you feel if the government came and forced you out of your home because it was determined to be ridiculous and not worth taxpayer money to maintain your road?

Originally Posted by eschaton

I think this house even tops it though in terms of sheer "How the hell is that still there?"

Ha! It's not hurting anyone being there.

[Evergrey]

I never knew about that Diaz Way house. I want to visit it.

[SteelCityRising]

I'm sorry, but I actually adore Pittsburgh's "nooks and crannies". While San Francisco may better utilize its hilly topography overall because nearly every square inch of it is densely-developed to maximize usage we have "weirdness" to our built environment, and I like that. There's currently a home on the market for over a half-million dollars in a "hidden" part of Polish Hill below Frank Curto Park, overlooking the Strip District, only accessible via a somewhat hidden road near the 28th Street Bridge. I would love to buy a lot in that sub-neighborhood from the URA and build a micro-house upon it if I ever hit the lottery. You can literally walk Downtown in a half-hour, yet you regularly will encounter deer and wild turkeys in your yard, which is nearly overgrown by lush vegetation.

Sure, these nooks and crannies may give us more of a "hillbilly yinzer" vibe, but I don't care. I like it!

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I never knew about that Diaz Way house. I want to visit it.

Diaz way and other nearby streets seemed more populated back in 1969.

Oddball isolated houses, streetcorners that are intersections of stairways in the middle of the woods, these are two of the things I love about Pittsburgh.

Originally Posted by rockthecasbah121

There's a weird nook in between uptown and Oakland where a bunch of shanty houses are situated going up a steep hillside. I always thought it would be cool if someone bought them, tore them down, and made an Italian hill-town style development. Of course, that would never happen here, but is neat to think about.

I don't know if it is anything like an Italian hill-town style development, but Diulius Way in Oakland is a stairway street connecting Dawson/Bouquet with Boundary Street and has several habitations on the way up. It was also settled by Italians.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I think this house even tops it though in terms of sheer "How the hell is that still there?"

That Forbes Avenue home wasn't by itself 40 years ago. There were certainly others along that stretch, and the neighbors complained when the Port Authority took the inbound 61's off of Forbes and rerouted them on to 5th Avenue when Forbes was made 1-way in the early 70's.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I never knew about that Diaz Way house. I want to visit it.

Diaz Way, as well as some of the other streets in that area including Beelen St where Andy Warhol lived as a kid, has been on a downward spiral since the projects were built above them in the 40's and they were cut off with the new street patterns. That's why we have 2 Allequippa Streets and 2 Wyandotte Streets in Pittsburgh, they used to be connected.
Yet there are still houses in the cutoff portions below, so they might still be around for a while longer.

[szug-bot]

what is the zoning office's motivation? i would think that money and public safety are a big issue. really, arent you paving a road for ONE unit? we just cant have that in this town. and, God forbid you need to get an ambulance down there someday if its blocked with snow and too many cars.

but i do, too, love those places and have every intention of creating some kind of mini-estate, with land and a few animals to enjoy that land. there is one on a bend on Greenleaf street in Duquesne Heights - the huge lot at that bend was for sale last year....i salivated.

I always thought it would be cool if someone bought them, tore them down, and made an Italian hill-town style development. Of course, that would never happen here, but is neat to think about.

i always fantasized about doing this! except with better roofs (rooves?) than the typical house in southern europe. and maybe even a small school to accomodate 30 kids, so that the houses would be a de facto instant neighborhood of young families. (with security cameras and rules about noise, litter, and illegal parking.)