Five Pittsburgh neighborhoods with most potential. (Wilkinsburg, Washington: transplants, to buy, college)

[Canary32]

You know what I would loooove to see?.....The whole 6th ave. downtown from Grant street to Penn Ave. made into an old historic street with outdoor eateries, and little vintage shops and other things with the street paved with brick like Grant street. It really takes away from the beauty of the city to have it all boarded up and the homeless and prostitutes chillin there.....

And another thing.....Can the city NOT shut down at 6:00pm?....I swear Pittsburgh is the only big city that shuts down after work hours....It becomes a complete ghost town....

except for the afformentioned things, Pittsburgh is very Picturesque and I think the people are great...... I just dont want to see whats happening to Philli happen to PGH.......

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Canary32

You know what I would loooove to see?.....The whole 6th ave. downtown from Grant street to Penn Ave. made into an old historic street with outdoor eateries, and little vintage shops and other things with the street paved with brick like Grant street. It really takes away from the beauty of the city to have it all boarded up and the homeless and prostitutes chillin there.....

And another thing.....Can the city NOT shut down at 6:00pm?....I swear Pittsburgh is the only city that shuts down after work hours....

Seriously, you think the city shuts down at 6pm? Now, it's no Vegas-style 24-hour city, but if you can't find anything going on after 6pm, you must be hanging out in the wrong parts of it.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Canary32

]And another thing.....Can the city NOT shut down at 6:00pm?....I swear Pittsburgh is the only city that shuts down after work hours....

That is a function of the relatively low number of people living in Downtown. Fortunately that is starting to change, and indeed in recent years the growth rate has been quite high, but it is starting from such a low base it will take a bit to get to the numbers needed for a really thriving evening scene.

Edit: Oh, and of course it is only Downtown which shuts down early like that.

[vtPGH]

Two areas in the city with great potential...

Federal North (Central Northside) - After years of URA negligence and mismanagement, this area finally has some tangible momentum, with the new Federal Hill housing and tree lined median going up, and the new Library and Crazy mocha about to open.
Hazelwood - Somewhat of a stretch, but with an ideal location between the Universities, the East End, and the Waterfront in Homestead, I feel like the neighborhood is set up for a comeback. With all the urban prairies, and the old mill site, there's no shortage of flat, developable land either.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Edit: Oh, and of course it is only Downtown which shuts down early like that.

I take night classes in downtown Chicago. By the time I get out of class you could hear a pin drop on the street if it weren't for the expressway nearby. I'm guessing this happens in many places that have a long-established, substantial paper/FIRE economy, not just in Pittsburgh.

[Canary32]

Yes its true, it is only downtown.....Dont get me wrong!! There is also Bar hopping on the Southside and Nakama's the new spot for young professionals to have happy hour and then heading over to the southside works to catch a movie or do a little shopping.....Yes there are things to do...but I was specifically talking about downtown.....Oh let me not forget The Waterfront as well.....That was my SPOT!!!
Speaking of the waterfront, wasnt that suppose to help rebuild Homestead? It kind of became its own little jurisdiction. I thought it would at least spread toward the main drag going through Homestead....All the good stuff stayed on the other side of the traintracks....

[bradjl2009]

About the growth, the statistics are skewed because there aren't a lot of either of the two groups. The true growth is barley worth mentioning. Hispanics have gained about 5,000 and Asians about 8,000.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Drover

I take night classes in downtown Chicago. By the time I get out of class you could hear a pin drop on the street if it weren't for the expressway nearby. I'm guessing this happens in many places that have a long-established, substantial paper/FIRE economy, not just in Pittsburgh.

Yeah, the Loop reminded me of the Golden Triangle during my time in Chicago. To further support your theory, the Financial District in New York was also much like that back when I knew New York fairly well (early 1990s), although I gather it has also experienced a bit of a residential boom lately.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Canary32

Speaking of the waterfront, wasnt that suppose to help rebuild Homestead? It kind of became its own little jurisdiction. I thought it would at least spread toward the main drag going through Homestead....All the good stuff stayed on the other side of the traintracks....

The Waterfront, consciously or not, was basically designed to compete with places like Monroeville for drive-in trade, and not at all structured like a real urban redevelopment project.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

About the growth, the statistics are skewed because there aren't a lot of either of the two groups.

That is a fair point, and what I was trying to get at by noting that while the rate was high, the base was low. So the bottomline is that unless we experience a general population boom, which is not something I consider desirable for other reasons, it will in fact be a while before the non-black/non-white population starts approaching something a little more typical.