Neighborhood of the week: Lincoln Place (Pittsburgh, West Mifflin: cul-de-sac, new home, neighborhoods)

[eschaton]

Lincoln Place is a suburban neighborhood located in the far southeast corner of the city. It is one of the three neighborhoods which comprise the "31st Ward" enclave of the city (which has no land connections to the rest of the city, and is only contiguous by virtue of the Glenwood Bridge.

The history of Lincoln Place within the city of Pittsburgh is not long. Originally it was part of West Mifflin, with which it shares the majority of its land border. It originally joined the city of Pittsburgh in the 1920s involving a new school that the neighborhood desired, but West Mifflin was unwilling to pay for. Pittsburgh promised to build the school if Lincoln Place voted to leave West Mifflin and joined the city. The resulting school is still present today, ironically named Mifflin K-8 after the main street through the neighborhood and the former township the neighborhood was a part of.

Lincoln Place is a very suburban neighborhood in its built form. Around a third of the housing stock was built before World War 2 (almost entirely early 20th century) with the remainder postwar suburbia which was pretty much built out by the end of the 1970s. For a long period of time it functioned as the "movin on up" suburb for people leaving Hazelwood. While the neighborhood lost relative desirability due to the residency requirement for City of Pittsburgh employees meaning that those who desired a suburban locale had to pick a "suburb in the city."

The neighborhood lacks any walkable business district, but there are a handful of businesses along Mifflin Road, including a gas station, dance studio, pizza shop, ice cream place, dollar store, bowling alley, and a few auto body places. I believe there is also a tattoo parlor on one of the back streets.

Lincoln Place is also, unfortunately, probably tied with the borough of Brentwood for having a reputation for the strongest anti-black racism in Allegheny County. In 2010 out of a population of over 3,500, there were only 53 black residents, making it easily the whitest neighborhood in the city. The most recent example of the checkered history of the neighborhood happened in 2010, when an African immigrant couple bought a home in the neighborhood, which was destroyed by arson before the couple could even move in. There were earlier examples as well however, such as a burning cross discovered in the neighborhood in 2003.

Currently, Lincoln Place is essentially a stagnant to slowly-declining neighborhood. My mother in law's family grew up there, and after her mother passed away it took them the better part of a year to sell her three bedroom one bathroom house even after pricing it extremely aggressively. These days, if you want a "suburb in the city" you can probably afford better options, and so many of the surrounding suburban areas are also affordable as well that Lincoln Place has little appeal to outsiders.

[sky329]

haven't heard anything good about this place... jw what are your suburbs in the city of Pittsburgh?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by sky329

haven't heard anything good about this place... jw what are your suburbs in the city of Pittsburgh?

If you're asking what I consider suburbs in the city, I'd say it's the following:

Summer Hill
Stanton Heights
Point Breeze
Swisshelm Park
New Homestead
Lincoln Place
Overbrook
Bon Air
Banksville
Ridgemont
Westwood
Oakwood
Crafton Heights
Chartiers City
Windgap

This is defining it in the narrowest possible sense - neighborhoods with mostly postwar housing, suburban road patterns, and little to no walkable commercial amenities. If you stretched it to include streetcar suburban neighborhoods you could arguably add a bunch more to this list.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

If majority postwar housing is one of the "suburban" requirements, does Point Breeze really qualify?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

If majority postwar housing is one of the "suburban" requirements, does Point Breeze really qualify?

Yeah, Point Breeze was on the bubble for me. A lot of its housing is interwar. But a lot of the prewar housing was early automotive suburbia rather than streetcar suburbia, complete with cul-de-sacs. Really I only think the little area around the Reynolds Street business district, along with some of the back streets by Frick Park, feel semi-urban.

[szug-bot]

Lincoln Place does have some beautiful streetscapes, though. I like the homes there - many are kept tidy, painted, and clean. These home often do not dominate the lot - there are great yards there, again kept tidy and manicured.

It actually is a very nice place if one is a "driver" and does not care about using options. I never ended up moving there, though, because on each occasion, the experience was soured by the potential landlord. Do Lincoln Placers have some strange custom where they insert sticks up [CENSORED]...do these people have any idea that acting like a ****stick might actually turn away a solid, responsible, potential tenant?

[xdv8]

Point breeze? I respectfully disagree. The other are very accurate.

[trotter_rej]

I also had a longer reply prepared about Point Breeze, but others beat me to it. In addition to the Reynolds Street business district, there is also Frick Park Market and a few other businesses near Sterrett, the Walgreens, Exxon, and other businesses near Forbes and Braddock, and even the gym, Wheel Deliver and bakery on Wilkins (which may be technically in Squirrel Hill due to the side of the street they're on, but are walkable from that part of Point Breeze).

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Lincoln Place is also, unfortunately, probably tied with the borough of Brentwood for having a reputation for the strongest anti-black racism in Allegheny County. In 2010 out of a population of over 3,500, there were only 53 black residents, making it easily the whitest neighborhood in the city. The most recent example of the checkered history of the neighborhood happened in 2010, when an African immigrant couple bought a home in the neighborhood, which was destroyed by arson before the couple could even move in. There were earlier examples as well however, such as a burning cross discovered in the neighborhood in 2003.

Currently, Lincoln Place is essentially a stagnant to slowly-declining neighborhood. My mother in law's family grew up there, and after her mother passed away it took them the better part of a year to sell her three bedroom one bathroom house even after pricing it extremely aggressively. These days, if you want a "suburb in the city" you can probably afford better options, and so many of the surrounding suburban areas are also affordable as well that Lincoln Place has little appeal to outsiders.

My wife grew up there. In the last few years, a couple of her brothers each sold a house there. Both had no issues regarding the sales. Both sold quickly and for around their asking price. And their asking prices were much higher than we thought they would get. Her parents, one brother, an aunt and a cousin still live there. As far as black neighbors, there are black families that live there now. Each have had a few friends/neighbors that are black. Lots of cops live there.

There is also a new development where the houses go for about 450,000 in Lincoln Place.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

My wife grew up there. In the last few years, a couple of her brothers each sold a house there. Both had no issues regarding the sales. Both sold quickly and for around their asking price. And their asking prices were much higher than we thought they would get. Her parents, one brother, an aunt and a cousin still live there. As far as black neighbors, there are black families that live there now. Each have had a few friends/neighbors that are black. Lots of cops live there.

There is also a new development where the houses go for about 450,000 in Lincoln Place.

In Lincoln Place? Are you sure you're not thinking of the McMansions on Cassabill Drive in New Homestead?