Neighborhood of the week: Perry North (Observatory Hill) (Pittsburgh, Ross Township: transplants, to rent)

[eschaton]

Perry North is an outer-ring neighborhood located on the North Side of Pittsburgh. These days, it is more commonly called by its residents Observatory Hill, but I am following with my established convention of doing neighborhoods in their alphabetical order by official city name. It shares borders with the city neighborhoods of Summer Hill, Northview Heights, Perry South, and Marshall-Shadeland, as well as the suburb of Ross Township. However, due to the most of the western half of the neighborhood being taken up by Riverview Park (and the very rural/backwoods residential area to the north of it), along with few road connections along I-279, practically speaking the neighborhood today is only connected to Perry Hilltop and Ross - a long, relatively narrow strip of development strung along Perrysville Avenue.

The neighborhood initially began its growth as part of Allegheny City in the late 19th century, with some houses along the upper part of Perrysville - around modern day Waldorf and East Street - present in the 1880s, but the rugged topography of the neighborhood limited development at that time. The first boom in neighborhood development did not happen until the 1890s, when an electric streetcar line began running up Perrysville Avenue, allowing many Allegheny City residents to live in the neighborhood and commute into the city. By 1920 most of the neighborhood was built out, but scattered lots continued to be filled in through the mid 20th century. Development did not occur in anything like an orderly process. Some of the portions closest to Perry Hilltop have the newest construction, while some of the areas furthest out have the oldest buildings.

The neighborhood has a streetcar suburban feel overall. As with many neighborhoods of its vintage in Pittsburgh, the two most common housing styles are American Foursquare and Pittsburgh's own unique take on the bungalow. Isolated sections of the neighborhood have much grander houses, such as "Judges Row" near Riverview Park. I think these grand houses tend to give the wrong impression, as some areas have quite modest housing. There's even this little weird backwoods area dominated by frame housing. It's a hard neighborhood to generalize about.

Observatory Hill has a small business district located near Perry HS and a complicated six-way intersection (another portion located here). A convenience store, bakery, and bank are located here. Many of the storefronts are taken up by nonprofits, businesses, or are outright vacant, so there is the potential for a lot more vitality here than currently exists.

The other main amenity for the neighborhood is Riverview Park, which was initially opened in 1894 as Allegheny City's answer to Schenley Park. At one point the park had its own zoo, but after the merger of the two cities, this zoo was closed down with all the animals moved to Highland Park. The park got its modern-day landmark - Allegheny Observatory - in 1912 soon after the closure of the zoo, after the initial observatory at the modern-day Triangle Tech campus was relocated. Aside from the grounds of the old observatory, most of Riverview Park is now a wild walking park more similar to Frick, although the park does have a pool and playgrounds.

When I first moved to Pittsburgh twelve years ago, I thought that Observatory Hill had a bright future. The gorgeous late 19th/early 20th century housing stock had attracted an active preservationist community who bought up and restored many of the grand old houses. And the business district offered the possibility of walkability as well. However, the neighborhood has slowly drifted in the wrong direction. Lower-income people pushed out the inner portions of the North Side by gentrification (or simple blight in the case of say Perry Hilltop or California Kirkbride) have to move outward, and Observatory Hill has ended up getting a larger portion of this influx than say Brighton Heights. I would not say by any means that the neighborhood is in the circumstances of Sheraden or Knoxville - it's not spiraling downward into a blighted ghetto. But it's further from a resurgence now than it was a decade prior. I believe the neighborhood can stabilize, however, provided that when the city finally redevelops Northview Heights some time later in the decade they have an adequate plan (the Allegheny Dwellings replacement, from what I have heard, is pretty much set, and will not involve new mixed-income housing in Observatory Hill at all).

[JayDiFiore]

Agree completely with your last paragraph. I was a lot more optimistic about OH's future back in 2007 than I am now. There's certainly plenty of potential and a ton of good folks living there. I'm not sure what it needs to get it over the hump, so to speak.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by JayDiFiore

Agree completely with your last paragraph. I was a lot more optimistic about OH's future back in 2007 than I am now. There's certainly plenty of potential and a ton of good folks living there. I'm not sure what it needs to get it over the hump, so to speak.

Unfortunately, if you're looking for a neighborhood where you can buy a grand old home in a semi-walkable area on the cheap, Pittsburgh still has an embarrassment of riches. Just sticking to the outer North Side, you could find similar houses in Brighton Heights, Bellvue, Avalon, Ben Avon, and West View which also provide a steep discount from East End prices. And if you extend your search into the West End and South Pittsburgh, you have even more choices. I think this sets up a bad dynamic, because if you can choose between an awesome old house in one of those neighborhoods versus Observatory Hill, you won't pick Observatory Hill. Things just snowball from there.

[Paul2421]

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Pittsburgh.../home/74732573

such a cool and unique house. good exampled of some of the cool architecture in the area. would be great to see this bought and renovated.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Pittsburgh.../home/74732573

such a cool and unique house. good exampled of some of the cool architecture in the area. would be great to see this bought and renovated.

This is my favorite house on the market right now in Observatory Hill.

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

https://www.redfin.com/PA/Pittsburgh.../home/74732573

such a cool and unique house. good exampled of some of the cool architecture in the area. would be great to see this bought and renovated.

Beautiful storybook style cottage.

[bradjl2009]

I do echo the remembrances of how promising the neighborhood was looking ten years ago, only for things to just stay relatively flat. Maybe at the East End gets more expensive, others will look to Observatory Hill as an alternative.

[RogersParkTransplant]

For what it's worth, my friends (mostly other parents I have gotten to know at Northside playgrounds) are happy enough up there, though it sounds like it's a neighborhood that varies pretty strongly from street to street. I don't want to see the neighborhood go downhill, of course, but I don't mind if it stays somewhat stagnant if that provides a bit of relief from the rapidly climbing prices we are seeing elsewhere. (I had a sobering talk with a friend in Brighton Heights the other day, for example, and it sounds like the rent is going up really fast back there.)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by eschaton

This is my favorite house on the market right now in Observatory Hill.

Oops...this link seems to have gone dead. Lemme try again.

Seems to be contingent now.

[ferraris]

Observatory Hill always felt like the largest neighborhood in the city to me. I think that's because there are so many different subsections with varied vibes. And mentally lumping in the cemetery and Riverview Park, along with the hills and valleys, really makes it feel like quite a large place.

I think Squirrel Hill is technically the largest? But SH feels more cohesive to me, which makes it seem smaller than OH.

I'll also add that some of the younger transplants at work decided to rent in OH due to the proximity and price. But it was always a short term decision, with them tending to move out after a year or two.