Suburb of the week: West Mifflin (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: amusement park, crime, co-op)

[eschaton]

West Mifflin is a large, suburban borough located to the southeast of the city of Pittsburgh. It is geographically large for a borough in the Pittsburgh area (over 14 square miles of land area) and has something of an irregular shape, with seeming "chunks" taken out of the borough for Duqense and Dravosburg.

West Mifflin's origin was in Mifflin Township (named after Thomas Mifflin, the first governor of Pennsylvania). Mifflin Township was one of the seven original townships of Allegheny County upon its founding in 1788. At that time Mifflin Township was quite large, including Hays, West Homestead, Munhall, Whitaker, Duquense, Lincoln Place, Jefferson Hills, Pleasant Hills, and parts of Baldwin. Over time the expansion of the City of Pittsburgh, and the incorporation of other boroughs reduced it in size to its present extent - essentially the undeveloped "leftovers." In 1938 the remainder of Mifflin Township decided to incorporate as a borough (perhaps in part to stop further reduction) By 1944 Mifflin Township was no more, and was formally incorporated as West Mifflin Borough (it couldn't be incorporated as Mifflin, because there is a small borough with that name in Juniata County).

West Mifflin boomed in population during the 1940s and 1950s, growing from 8,700 residents to 27,300 in only 20 years. Much of this early growth was driven by suburbanization of residents who were originally lived in Hazelwood and Homestead. However, growth slowed down in the 1960s, and entirely ceased thereafter. The present population is just under 20,000.

West Mifflin is a large borough, and it's difficult to generalize across the entire area.

Residentially speaking, the densest portion of the borough is located near the Monogahela between Whitaker and Duquesne. There are two majority-black neighborhoods in this area, one of which is low-income housing project of Mon-View Heights (easily the most dangerous spot in West Mifflin - 11 murders within a few blocks since 2005). The remainder of this area - including the now mostly-black neighborhood of Terrace - isn't particularly unsafe however. This area also has the major attraction of West Mifflin - Kennywood amusement park.

Further down the Mon, south of Duquesne, there is another mostly residential area which is fairly modest. This area includes the co-op of Riverview Homes, a townhouse development built in the mid 1950s. This area seems a bit grubby and run down overall, but I do not believe it is very unsafe.

West of the "neck" of West Mifflin - right at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory - West Mifflin fans out again. This area has some suburban subdivisions - probably the newest in the borough overall - though it also includes the small low-income housing project of Mifflin Estates. Still, the area is mostly non-residential. Notable commercial/industrial developments in the far south of West Mifflin include U.S. Steel Irvin Works, the Allegheny County Airport, and Century Three Mall/Century Square Shopping Center. Significant portions of this area also remain essentially undeveloped.

West Mifflin, while it only has a few rough patches, is probably the only classic/postwar suburb in the Pittsburgh besides Penn Hills which has more serious decline-related issues than merely a slow population shrinkage. There remain many safe, affordable neighborhoods. But the small, dated housing options, decline in jobs in the Mon Valley, significant crime issues (for a suburb), and mediocre status of the local school district all limit the appeal to outsiders. That is not to say that the borough is on a rapid decline into being a ghetto. But changing the overall trajectory - as long as the economic outlook outside of the core of Allegheny County remains negative - would be a Herculean task.