Neighborhood of the week: Ridgemont (Pittsburgh, Green Tree: 2013, apartments, houses)

[eschaton]

Ridgemont is one of the smaller, and more forgotten neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Like many of these forgotten neighborhoods, it's located in the West End. It's a highly geographically isolated neighborhood. Its southern/eastern border with Banksville and Beechview is defined by 376 (meaning no road connections), and its northern border with West End proper on a hillside with a railroad track. The only ways into and out of the neighborhood are along Greentree Road, which it shares with Westwood and Green Tree.

As early as the 1880s there was a small neighborhood of wood-framed houses climbing up the hillsides - a sort of proto-suburban outpost of the West End. Relatively little of this era survives today. Much of it was wiped out by the railroad right of way which now defines the northern boundary of the neighborhood, and more seems to have just been lost to blight and/or time, but a few of these old houses remain in rural, backwoodsy areas on the fringe of the neighborhood.Most of the northern residential portion of Ridgemont, however, is classic suburbia, built out during the late 1950s. The bulk of Ridgemont's 483 inhabitants (as of 2010) live here.

Just to the south of this area is an office park and the new City Vista apartments, which are in Green Tree. However, the Parkway Center Mall was located just within city limits in this area, and found within the boundaries of Ridgemont. First opened in 1982, an exit off of 376 was built at the time specifically to service the mall. It began its slow decline in 1989, and was finally shuttered in 2013. The mall has since been demolished, although a Giant Eagle which was attached to the mall remained in place and is still operational today. Around a half-dozen houses on relatively generous lots are within city limits directly behind the Giant Eagle, making their own micro-neighborhood isolated from the rest of Ridgemont.

Ridgemont is likely to remain quiet and forgotten, but it could have upside potential in the future. Like many of the nearby suburban neighborhoods such as Westwood and Banksville, it has remained solidly middle class and never gone downhill. The new City Vista apartments and closeness to Downtown via 376 give the neighborhood potential for redevelopment - particularly in its southern segment. If the city coordinated redevelopment here with Green Tree, there would be the potential for some interesting, denser mixed-use possibilities.

[svband76]

Parkway Center Mall = Another failed Kossman development.

[Benzman66]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Ridgemont is one of the smaller, and more forgotten neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.

It's a highly geographically isolated neighborhood.

The only ways into and out of the neighborhood are along Greentree Road, which it shares with Westwood and Green Tree.

Wow, sounds like another Duck Hollow!

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Benzman66

Wow, sounds like another Duck Hollow!

It's small, but not that small. Duck Hollow has maybe 20 houses. According to the census Ridgemont has around 200 units of housing, which seems on the high side eyeballing it, but makes sense given the average household size in Pittsburgh and the neighborhood population of 483.

Note, even though 483 people is a really small amount for a neighborhood nationally, Pittsburgh has ten neighborhoods with even less people. Not that I'm saying Pittsburgh is one of those neighborhoods that should be on the chopping block, but we're really overdue for some consolidation of the officially recognized neighborhoods.

[Tallysmom]

The house we lived in when I was born was in Ridgemont. The houses built after the war weren't completely finished, you did it yourself. So you could make it three bedrooms...teeny tiny bedrooms. But it was adorable.

My 2016 visit we revisited our homes...and we discovered the people we sold it to still own it, passed down, 56 years later.

Pretty cool.

Finding the other house took Google Earth... The footprint had radically changed...

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

The house we lived in when I was born was in Ridgemont....

What decade was that? At that time, did you actually call it "Ridgemont"?

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

What decade was that? At that time, did you actually call it "Ridgemont"?

Born 1959 moved 1961. Although Mom and Daddy bought it in 1949 or 50. Three babies born there... I am the babiest. We've always called it Ridgemont...but that could be because it was Ridgemont Dr.

It was nice to go back, although I have no memories of it. My sisters had a blast.