Highland Park Question (Pittsburgh, York, Liberty: apartments, lawyers, houses)

[juliegt]

I like Highland Park, but when I visited I noticed that the neighborhood can change very quickly. Some blocks are significantly nicer than others.

I'm curious about the 5500 block of Hays St. When I checked it on Google Earth it looked clean and well-kept. Can anyone give me more info about that section of Highland Park?

[scottrpriester]

My wife and I have had Highland Park on our minds for a long time. It was on our short list before we finally chose Point Breeze. We do a lot of investigative work on our own when checking out a neighborhood. Up until a week ago, our opinion on the whole neighborhood was that it was questionable. The homes are more beautiful as you get closer to the park.

Last week we stopped at a highly recommended coffee shop on North Highland (can't remember the name). It was a nice evening so we sat in their chairs outside and watched as the neighborhood clientele went back and forth. Then we decided to walk a few streets, and it's just as you described. On the major streets of the neighborhood (North Highland and North Negley) one image is projected, but the cross streets in between those two tell a different story.

We drove through there today as we usually do on our way across the Highland Park Bridge, and I looked at my wife and said "I think we can finally agree we will forget about living through here".

[onwardandupward]

Originally Posted by juliegt

I like Highland Park, but when I visited I noticed that the neighborhood can change very quickly. Some blocks are significantly nicer than others.

I'm curious about the 5500 block of Hays St. When I checked it on Google Earth it looked clean and well-kept. Can anyone give me more info about that section of Highland Park?

The problem is "that section" - the 5500 block of Hays St. - is not in Highland Park - it is in East Liberty. Many people who live on Hays Street and Baywood Street call their neighborhood Highland Park, as it gives a better impression than saying East Liberty. You need to look at the Pittsburgh neighborhood maps to know for sure which neighborhood you're in. Realtors particularly will fudge on the neighborhoods, especially if they're close - Hays Street is just two blocks from where Highland Park actually starts. Stanton Avenue is the dividing line between East Liberty and Highland Park.

All that being said, Hays Street houses are rapidly being gentrified, but one block over from Hays Street (away from the Highland Park direction) is Black Street, which is the border of East Liberty and Garfield. Garfield is also being gentrified, but it is much more transitional than East Liberty.

People living in the areas of Garfield close to East Liberty will call their place East Liberty, people living in areas of East Liberty close to Highland Park will call it Highland Park, etc...

[onwardandupward]

Just wanted to add that I'm a big fan of East Liberty, so don't get the impression I'm trying to advise you not to move there. It's just important to know what you're getting into, and where in fact it is.

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

My wife and I have had Highland Park on our minds for a long time. It was on our short list before we finally chose Point Breeze. We do a lot of investigative work on our own when checking out a neighborhood. Up until a week ago, our opinion on the whole neighborhood was that it was questionable. The homes are more beautiful as you get closer to the park.

Last week we stopped at a highly recommended coffee shop on North Highland (can't remember the name). It was a nice evening so we sat in their chairs outside and watched as the neighborhood clientele went back and forth. Then we decided to walk a few streets, and it's just as you described. On the major streets of the neighborhood (North Highland and North Negley) one image is projected, but the cross streets in between those two tell a different story.

We drove through there today as we usually do on our way across the Highland Park Bridge, and I looked at my wife and said "I think we can finally agree we will forget about living through here".

The coffee shop on North Highland is called Tazza Doro(cup of gold)
It is a great coffee shop with great coffee and pastries. It is a true neighborhood place with poetry readings, music, etc.
Generally the area around Stanton Avenue is the less desirable part of Highland Park. There tend to be more homeowners the closer you get to the park itself and further away from Stanton/East Liberty. Although there is a very nice twenty-three story New York City style high rise apartment called Park Place near the zoo and park. Bryant Street between Negley and Highland is the only business distict of Highland Park.
It seems like several businesses, mostly pizza and sandwich shops, have closed. There used to be a high end restaurant on Bryant,but I think it has closed too. Too many of the grand old mansions have been cut into apartments whose landlords are borderline slumlords. It is not a terrible neighborhood, but it is not what it used to be. My dad grew up in Garfield, which was mostly blue-collar Irish. He said Highland Park was beautiful when he was growing up in the 40s and 50s. It was mostly upper management, doctors, lawyers, politicians etc. who were living there at the time.

[juliegt]

Thanks! You guys are a tremendous resource.

[Mr. Mon]

It's a shame that the Bryant Street area hasn't improved more than it has, but Tazza D'oro is one of the great coffee shops in the city, and the Smiling Banana Leaf has some wonderful Thai food.

[slamont61]

I lived on the corner of Bryant and North Highland and really enjoyed my time there. It's a great neighborhood and is so close to the Park. I'd hoped to hear that Bryant would shape up more but it sounds the same over all.