Brookline: Neighborhood Rebranding (Pittsburgh, Washington, Sewickley: real estate market, 2014, apartment)

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

The "height vs width" argument....I don't get it. I think people are finding things to quibble over. There are many business districts in the area with largely one story storefronts. Brookline's business district is great. It's dense, walkable, and has low vacancy. The houses across the street tend to give it an odd, quirky feel that I think is unique and great. I'm interested to see what it will look like once the improvements have been completed. The pull-in parking should be a nice feature that will compliment the storefronts well.

[phatty5011]

I went to visit Brookline Saturday and found it as one of the nicer business districts in the city. Probably ranking right behind the top 5: SS, Lawrenceville, Squirell Hill, Shadyside and Bloomfield. Went to Pitaland for a falafel, probably the best I have had in PGH with Taza21. Also went into a bakery and Cannon Coffee. There definitely is room for improvement but I liked how close it was to Dormont, Mt Lebo, and Beechview. A nice day you can go to all those places on foot in under an hour.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by ferraris

There is talk of opening the Wabash tunnel to bikes, but you'd still have to deal with getting to the Wabash tunnel.

In that case it looks like a bike/ped path and bridge from Tropical Ave to the Wabash tunnel entrance over the Saw Mill Run valley would be a fantastic piece of infrastructure that could connect the neighborhood to the city's bike trail network in station square.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by phatty5011

I went to visit Brookline Saturday and found it as one of the nicer business districts in the city. Probably ranking right behind the top 5: SS, Lawrenceville, Squirell Hill, Shadyside and Bloomfield.

Nice list, but I believe you forgot Penn Ave through the Strip/Downtown.

[phatty5011]

Very true, I always have considered Uptown and the Strip part of Downtown for some reason.

[BobMcKelvin]

Originally Posted by airwave09

In that case it looks like a bike/ped path and bridge from Tropical Ave to the Wabash tunnel entrance over the Saw Mill Run valley would be a fantastic piece of infrastructure that could connect the neighborhood to the city's bike trail network in station square.

More likely the path would go over the existing bridge over Saw Mill Run and then wind down through the tunnel and up through the Seldom Seen Greenway on trails that show up on Google Maps but were pretty rudimentary the last time I was back there a few years ago.

Building a serpentine trail up to Brookline will be the more cost-effective option. I was in Atlanta on Friday and had a bicycle with me so I went for a ride from Inman Park to downtown and they tackle some of their hills with this style and I was surprised at how little effort it took. I know Brookline is on a much bigger hill than that but most people of average fitness should be able to do it on a bike with gears if they built it with that in mind.

I think a bike lane through the Wabash is such an obvious solution to the current lack of options that it's only a matter of time before it's a done deal, especially if only one lane can be used for vehicles at a time. Port Authority should offer a half price fare in certain places where they could be a connection between a hilltop hood and the trail network. Perfect place for this would be 18th street. Persons boarding with a bike at the 18th street steps would pay half fare as long as they got off at or before Arlington Ave. Along with the serpentine trails, this would at least give people safe options which they don't have now.

[BobMcKelvin]

And to add to my previous post opening the Wabash to cyclists would also encourage a trail to be built along the old railbed to the West End, with future connections to a West End Bridge path or one that goes to McKees Rocks, not to mention the width and gentle grade of Route 60 up to Crafton where a path would connect to the existing Clearfield Ave trail to the middle of Crafton. Something similar could possibly be constructed alongside Greentree Road but that'd be steeper and lead to less dense housing.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by BobMcKelvin

Persons boarding with a bike at the 18th street steps would pay half fare as long as they got off at or before Arlington Ave. Along with the serpentine trails, this would at least give people safe options which they don't have now.

Right end, wrong means. I don't think it makes sense to complicate the fare system more than it already is, plus each bus can only accommodate two bikes.

[PghYinzer]

Got off the bus today and noticed yet another location opening soon....a concept I never imagined....a place that sells carnival food. Funnel Cakes, candied apples, and even deep fried Oreos. The kids are going to tear that place up all summer long.

If you listen closely you can hear the waistbands of Brookline’s youth straining from all of the deep fried goodness that place will produce.

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Gee, how cool would it be if a trolley still ran through the neighborhood? That'd be friggin' awesome!

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

It took over a decade to finally find the funding for the current Blvd reconstruction, that is not even complete yet, so no there is not funds to completely redo it or to add anything more to it.

I don’t know if it is even possible at this point to get back to the original question, but do these purposeful rebranding efforts work in a neighborhood? Has this been done in other areas of the city?

I'm unaware about the success rate for other attempts, but this is probably the longest thread ever about Brookline on C-D so that's something.