What suburbs are the next to be gentrified? (Wilkinsburg, Butler: cul-de-sac, 2015)

[alastad]

You here about all these new developments which are being planned for the city, but never for the suburbs, so, what do you think are the next SUBURBS to be gentrified?

[Herodotus]

You have to understand what gentrifiers like first. They generally want to be in, or close to the city. This eliminates places like New Kensington, and Clairton. They want an urban layout, full of 100+ year old homes with character. This eliminates all postwar developments. Can places that are in pretty good shape, like Dormont, or the towns along 65 really be gentrified, or does a place have to have become a craphole, or at least shaky to qualify? Wilkinsburg is the one place that stands out as having potential to be gentrified. it has an urban layout, gorgeous old homes, and is close to the city. Milvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg lack the beautiful homes, but have the other qualities in spades. Braddock is too far gone.

Keep in mind that "new developments" are generally not what gentrifiers want. They want the old to be renewed.

[doo dah]

Development/redevelopment does not equal gentrification.

[szug-bot]

I could be totally wrong - I think Homestead and the lower part of West Homestead, west of the Grays Bridge.

Also, Avalon.

[NYCTelevisionWriter]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

You have to understand what gentrifiers like first. They generally want to be in, or close to the city. This eliminates places like New Kensington, and Clairton. They want an urban layout, full of 100+ year old homes with character. This eliminates all postwar developments. Can places that are in pretty good shape, like Dormont, or the towns along 65 really be gentrified, or does a place have to have become a craphole, or at least shaky to qualify? Wilkinsburg is the one place that stands out as having potential to be gentrified. it has an urban layout, gorgeous old homes, and is close to the city. Milvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg lack the beautiful homes, but have the other qualities in spades. Braddock is too far gone.

Keep in mind that "new developments" are generally not what gentrifiers want. They want the old to be renewed.

The process of "gentrification" is also largely the taking of a neighborhood that fallen on hard times and rebuilding it -- usually out of necessity because the "gentrifiers" have been priced out of the more desirable neighborhoods in which they would otherwise be living.

For instance, if Cranberry township (and the surrounding suburbs in the North Hills) start getting completely out of control with their property taxes and housing prices, I could see many of the Beaver County river cities facing a huge renewal (Ambridge, Baden, Freedom, Rochester, etc.).

[steindle]

My wife and I went on a "date" in Millvale last Saturday, and had a great time. I really kind of love that town, and can see / am seeing it revive big-time.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by NYCTelevisionWriter

The process of "gentrification" is also largely the taking of a neighborhood that fallen on hard times and rebuilding it -- usually out of necessity because the "gentrifiers" have been priced out of the more desirable neighborhoods in which they would otherwise be living.

For instance, if Cranberry township (and the surrounding suburbs in the North Hills) start getting completely out of control with their property taxes and housing prices, I could see many of the Beaver County river cities facing a huge renewal (Ambridge, Baden, Freedom, Rochester, etc.).

Or they'll just build a new ring of sprawl--there's still plenty of cheap, low-tax land in Butler County.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

Or they'll just build a new ring of sprawl--there's still plenty of cheap, low-tax land in Butler County.

^ This is what's most likely going to happen.

"Too many people are moving here into Cranberry Township, so I'm going to buy a half-acre lot in this new development even further out in Jackson Township and then whine in 20 years when Jackson Township becomes the next Cranberry Township." I firmly believe that at some point during my lifetime everything between the City of Butler and the Allegheny County line will be nothing but tacky urban sprawl. Those people who are tiring of Cranberry Township aren't going to move into Evans City Borough or Zelienople Borough. They'll want a comparable lifestyle of living on a sidewalkless cul-de-sac where they won't have to be on top of their neighbors.

As much as we urbanites like to promote urban living I don't ever foresee urban sprawl becoming "out of fashion". Americans aren't a very bright bunch. Gas prices are down (temporarily, of course), yet I've seen friends of friends on Facebook rushing and posting pictures of their brand new gas-guzzlers. These same people will be complaining in a year when gas prices are $4.19/gallon, adjusted for a return to normal pricing coupled with higher state and Federal fuel taxes by then, as if they never saw it coming.

I'd love to live to see the day when Wilkinsburg, Millvale, Sharpsburg, and Etna are all "nice" places to live instead of looking so worn-out and dumpy. I think Wilkinsburg and Millvale have the best potential to gentrify due to the continued growth of East Liberty and Lawrenceville, respectively. A good friend of ours lives in a home he restored in the Hamnett Place section of Wilkinsburg, and I really like that neighborhood. Just a few blocks away, though, and "sketchy" Wilkinsburg comes back into play. Millvale isn't sketchy at all, but it just looks like a flood hit it last year---not years ago. I'm guessing most people in Millvale don't maintain their properties or renovate them thinking "they'll just get flooded again anyways". As long as flooding remains a concern for about half of Millvale I'd never move there.

[Evergrey]

Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Millvale would be the obvious picks.

[pman]

The gentrification myth: It’s rare and not as bad for the poor as people think.