worst neighborhood in pittsburgh? (Aliquippa, Homewood: living, safer, racist)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Maybe in some river towns this is true, but the 3 I listed really don't have an abundance of beautiful historic homes or any sort of decent business district. They also have problems with pollution, crime, and some parts of them look third world. It's not like we're talking about nice river towns like Oakmont here.

What's your solution as to what we should do with places like Duquense, Clairton, etc.? Should we just continue to let nature retake them over the years?

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

What's your solution as to what we should do with places like Duquense, Clairton, etc.? Should we just continue to let nature retake them over the years?

I don't think nature wants too much to do with areas that are spewing out pollution from coke plants like the Industrial Revolution was still going on.

Long story short, as long as the United States maintains its current track places like these will never ever become revitalized.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Arlington Heights still exists, it's just smaller than it used to be. Fairywood still has what used to be Westgate, along with several blocks of housing. What the city now calls "Mt. Oliver Neighborhood", as opposed to the adjoining borough, was actually called St. Clair before the projects were built, and folks ran away from the name. With Mt. Oliver Borough's decline, maybe they ought to go back to calling the city section St. Clair.

1. Admittedly there are still some projects left in Arlington Heights, but it is a shadow of its former self with only a few hundred residents. I'm not sure what justifies keeping it separate from Arlington these days.

2. Admittedly due to its geographic isolation, I'm not sure that lumping Fairywood in with another city neighborhood (like adjacent Windgap) would make much sense. It's still demographically a very different place than it used to be however.

3. Your idea of the merger of Saint Clair and "Mount Oliver neighborhood" is a good one. Certainly the two should be considered on neighborhood.

Regardless, my original point remains that Northview Heights is one of the only totally unreconstructed "project neighborhoods" in Pittsburgh.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Maybe in some river towns this is true, but the 3 I listed really don't have an abundance of beautiful historic homes or any sort of decent business district. They also have problems with pollution, crime, and some parts of them look third world. It's not like we're talking about nice river towns like Oakmont here.

Duquesne, Aliquippa, and Clairton all have beautiful old houses that have been well-kept over the years, and sell for very little. Also, all three of these towns have some nice neighborhoods. In Duquesne, you have the shopping plazas and grocery stores within walking distance. Clairton has a cute and intact, but mostly vacant business district. Living in Clairton, you would be walking distance to post office, dollar stores, and some shops, but they do not have a grocery store to my knowledge. However, it would be a quick drive to shopping in the Century III area. I am not super familiar with Aliquippa, however I know that there is a "good" and "bad" side to that town, and again you can walk to the library, the post office, stores, etc. etc.

I think Clairton has tons of potential. Driving around, the town is still in pretty good shape. It just needs some people and businesses to fill the vacancies.

I don't think every town needs to be revitalized, though. Sometimes the best opportunities for quality of life are in places that are undiscovered, and are not revitalizing. The cost of living is cheapest in these places, which in my opinion makes for a great quality of life. It's the same reason there is a movement to take back Detroit, because of the low cost of living and housing. Living like a king on very little money is a big incentive to live in a place with crime and blight. Isn't that why urban pioneers fixed up houses in the North Side long ago, before it was trendy? Our river towns are not even close to approaching the devastation of Detroit, though, and are more liveable in my opinion.

[Homewood_Resident-15208]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

Homewood North projects is the most dangerous place in Allegheny County. It is overrun by the most dangerous gang the 581 HillTop/Wheeler Street Crips (Grape Street Crips). There's actually been 0 homicides in their turf but there's a reason for that. Even people from Northview will tell you that!

Next is Bedford Dwellings @ Chauncey Drive in 6 years there's been 11 homicides. Its a place with an extremely high murder rate. Chauncey Drive Bloods are also a well respect street gang...

The BaLands aka Addison Terrace @ Bentley Drive are also worse than Northview Heights. Both are known as big drug capitols & they probably have similar murder rates, Bentley is just worse off by location.

Here's the ranking of Projects in terms of reputation of violence
1) Homewood North @ Mohler St
2) Tied
a) Bedford Dwellings @ Chauncey Drive
b) Addison Terrace @ Bentley Drive
3) Northview Heights Estates
4) Phase II East Hills Apartments & Maple Ridge Apartments, East Hills
5) Allegheny Dwellings Fineview
6) Homewood North Apartments/Sterett Street-Collier Rowhouse Apartments, Homewood North/Homewood South
7) Tied
a) Lemington Heights Apartments, Lincoln-Lemington
b) Hamilton-Larimer Auburn Street Apartments, Larimer
8) Glen Hazel Heights, Glen Hazel
9) Three Rivers Manor, Spring Hill-City View
10) Mountain-View Apartments (aka Greeenway Park Apts or Crafton Heights Townhomes), Crafton Heights

There are also some places with high levels of violence in section 8/public housing in non-Pittsburgh Allegheny County
1) E.R. Crawford Village, McKeesport
2) Tied
(A) Harrison Village, McKeesport
(B) Hi View Gardens, McKeesport
3) Hawkins Village, Rankin
4) Mon View Heights, West Mifflin
5) Crawford Avenue Homes, Duquesne
6) Millvue Acres & Century Townhomes, Clairton
7) Palisades Plaza Apartments, Rankin
8) Mapleview Terrace, Braddock
9) Hilltop-Parkview Estates Apartments, Duquesne
10) Hays Manor/Meyers Ridge/Usnsa Village, McKees Rocks

Very informative, As an Homewood Native myself I am terrified to step foot in North View.

[Uptown kid]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Are we counting areas in the entire metro? If so, the river towns are some of the worst places I can think of on this side of the state. Duquense, Aliquippa, and Clairton have a terrible quality of life in my opinion.

If Homewood, the core of the Hill District and Central Wilkinsburg are the non-housing project places with the most drug/gang-related violence, and Lincoln-Lemington, Larimer, Beltzhoover & Northern half of Knoxville are the next their, then the roughest part of Duquesne & McKeesport wards from the Downtown area to Soles Street are in the middle. These two places have violence comparable to Homewood.

Aliquippa's rough neighborhoods are just as bad as the worst sections of Duquesne and McKeesport. It's honestly the most violent place in the Pittsburgh Metro outside of the City/Allegheny County... Linmar Terrace, the Griffith Heights area, Plan 12, "The Hill", the Valley Terrace area, Downtown Franklin Ave area are honestly in desperate need.
The rough places of towns outside the county like Beaver Falls and New Kensington/Arnold don't even come close to Quipp. Ambridge, Monnesson, Donora, Brownsville, Connellsville, are overrated. While on the contrary, gangs with AK-47s have formed and are slowly uprising in reputedly safe places like West Jeanate & Uniontown.
Although on another note, Ambridge 'Down the Hill' is somewhat yinzer, the black residents have it disproportionally worse than their white peers. So within 5-10yrs that area will likely turn into an equivalent of the city's Allentown neighborhood (ie. an area with a large amount of black on black crime, inspite of its small black population).

If Hazelwood's roughest parts, part of non-project East Hills, Garfield from Broad to the Garfield Commons Apts, Homestead, Mt. Oliver Boro & the bad parts of Perry Hilltop fall after Lincoln/Larimer/Beltzhoover/Upper Knoxville, then Clairton, PA is next. Clairton's Blair district has had like 6 homicides since 2008, and its plummeting in decline on the side near the river. Yet its nowhere near as bad as McKeesport's/Duquesne's worst areas... Still Clairton is more rough than McKees Rocks, Braddock, southern North Braddock, Rankin (excluding the projects). Although the four towns listed above all have more gang issues and blight than Clairton's (non project) bad area.

*Notice I refer to the rough areas of these towns. For the most part these whole towns are not ghettos, its just their rough sections ARE heavy in drug/gang activity.
-----
BTW: Also whoever said, Marshall-Shadeland & Sheraden's bad parts crack the top tier are just wrong.
And whomever thinks Cal-bride Place (Cali-Kirk) is more desolate than dangerous should walk down Brighton Place at night and get their minds changed.
Rant: I'm glad nobody mentioned Southwest Penn Hills.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

*Notice I refer to the rough areas of these towns. For the most part these whole towns are not ghettos, its just their rough sections ARE heavy in drug/gang activity.

This. Also, the "bad parts" of some of these towns and neighborhoods are not always cut and dry. There are good streets in bad neighborhoods, and bad streets in good neighborhoods! Sometimes it is block by block.

[Uptown kid]

^I agree...

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by doo dah

Fox Chapel.

It is a tough part of town if you don't have a Porsche, BMW or Benz you might feel left out.

[Pghuser]

Knoxville