Five Pittsburgh neighborhoods with most potential. (Carnegie, Liberty: cul-de-sac, apartment, condos)

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by otters21

I cannot do nothing but to agree with you more! NYC just keeps getting more yuppified that it will become so pricey that nobody but the very well- to -do could afford to live there. To me Pittsburgh is an urban place that is not so expensive and will be very attractive to those who desire city life. The only things that are keeping me from moving into the burgh is my husbands job ( which is very secure - a blessing in this economy) and the too strict Pa. liquor laws - for example, I cannot buy beer in supermarkets. Other than that Pittsburgh is definitely my dream town and I would move there in a heartbeat.

SF is very similar to NYC in that it is terribly expensive to live there. I'm planning to move to Pittsburgh in a few years for that reason.

I also agree with the other poster who said that the potential for growth in Pittsburgh is good as people are priced out of places like NYC, SF, etc.

I'm not looking forward to the liquor laws.

I also think that with growth the transportation options will improve.

[SewickleyPA]

Who ever said homewood got a good laugh out of me, I really hope you were joking. It is basically ground zero for crime and gang warfare in the city right now. I would put it at around #90 on the list for neighborhoods with potential.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SewickleyPA

Who ever said homewood got a good laugh out of me, I really hope you were joking. It is basically ground zero for crime and gang warfare in the city right now. I would put it at around #90 on the list for neighborhoods with potential.

Nope, I am not joking. In part that is because I have seen well-located neighborhoods with crime issues turn around fairly quickly in other cases.

[JacksPgh]

Homewood does not have the location to help it through the rough time quickly. It has a lot of hurdles to overcome and there are a lot of other neighborhoods with more potential. I agree with the above poster. The T-line neighborhoods are stagnant and have a huge potential.

That being said, I have to basically aggree with nuwavers original list. I'm particularly interested in Uptown/The Bluff, or what's left of it. Between Oakland and Downtown, what could be a better location.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by JacksPgh

Homewood does not have the location to help it through the rough time quickly. It has a lot of hurdles to overcome and there are a lot of other neighborhoods with more potential. I agree with the above poster. The T-line neighborhoods are stagnant and have a huge potential.

That being said, I have to basically aggree with nuwavers original list. I'm particularly interested in Uptown/The Bluff, or what's left of it. Between Oakland and Downtown, what could be a better location.

Homewood is adjacent or very close to several well-established neighborhoods like Regent Square, Point Breeze, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and a resurgent East Liberty. If it ever comes around, it would be part of an already contiguous series of desirable neighborhoods. And it has public transit options including quick access to downtown via the busway. And it's within easy reach of Frick Park. Homewood has a lot of things working against it, but location is one of the things working in its favor.

[BrianTH]

Just as a casual reminder, when I originally mentioned Homewood I acknowledged it would be a longer term project. To be even more specific, I know a lot of other things will likely have to happen first before Homewood takes its turn. But I was deliberately interpreting "potential" such that it favored neighborhoods where the gap between the present and the possible future was wide, and I think if and when Homewood does take its turn, its potential in that sense will be quite apparent.

[JacksPgh]

I am for all the neighborhoods in the city to become stable again, and I'm convinced they will, eventually.

My concerns lie mostly with the center city, as it is what most visitors to the city experience. I envision a completely walkable city. That requires a strong center city that is not surrounded by large areas of vacant lots or abandoned houses and warehouses.

Downtown is making great progress but has a long way to go. The current economy really put a hold on it, as downtown construction is so expensive and generally requires any new development to have the appropriate size to make it worth while. So far, Penn Avenue seems to be the only "neighborhood" emerging yet. The rest of residential development Downtown is sparse but promising. I absolutely love the restoration of Market Square and the Fifth Avenue corridor. Remember Murphy wanted to level it all?

I'm excited about the new interest in the Hill and Uptown, now that the arena and Duquesne construction. i'm hoping that whats left of the existing neighborhood be restored. So much of it is gone, and recently.

I'm disapointed in the North Side. With all it's potential and beautiful diverse historic housing stock, it has been lagging in so many ways. I'm not thrilled with some of the decisions made there.
The North Shore should have had a much stronger emphasis on residential development. It did not capitalize on the tremendous views or it's proximity to Downtown.

I'm also disapointed in the Strip. It has huge vacant lots, mostly owned by the same people. it should have taken off during this last spell of prosperity. I blame that on companies like Buncher. They sat on these huge properties instead of putting it on the line and taking the chance by developing the area. Now it will be slow going in this economy. I've always pictured this area becoming like San Francisco's Mission District.

The others, I'm proud of, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and, of course the South Side have made huge strides. They are all pleasant walkable neighborhoods with convenient access to Downtown.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Drover

Homewood is adjacent or very close to several well-established neighborhoods like Regent Square, Point Breeze, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and a resurgent East Liberty. If it ever comes around, it would be part of an already contiguous series of desirable neighborhoods. And it has public transit options including quick access to downtown via the busway. And it's within easy reach of Frick Park. Homewood has a lot of things working against it, but location is one of the things working in its favor.

That is a nice review of what I originally had in mind.

Generally, I tend to think of these things in historic terms, on the rough theory that locations that worked once in the past may work again for similar reasons in the future, at least under the right conditions. And if you look at the history of the East End, the original thriving communities were in the relatively flat high ground area between the valley systems (aka "runs") caused by streams draining into the rivers on each side. In part that was because it was the logical approach from the east to the Confluence, so major roads and eventually the Pennsylvania Railroad passed through this area. All that in turn led to Penn Avenue and the East Busway, today still leading Downtown. Its relative flatness also made it suitable for development, eventually spurred in part by streetcars.

Anyway, the eventual result was two major commercial districts at railroad stops in East Liberty and Wilkinsburg, and residential areas radiating out into the relatively flat parts from there, including today's Larimer, Morningside/Highland Park, Friendship/Bloomfield, Shadyside, Point Breeze/North Point Breeze, Regent Square, and Homewood. And so in my mind one way to put the question is whether we can undo the processes that subsequently undermined some of these neighborhoods, unlocking their basic underlying potential.

[pman]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

Well, for Pittsburgh area residents, I do not think a late night Downtown is very important. However, I work in a major hotel Downtown. When first time visitors to Pittsburgh check into the hotel in the mid-afternoon, they sense a mini-Manhattan vibe. They expect this vibe to continue well into the night. These visitors will come to me about 9 or 10pm on a Tuesday and want to got watch the game, have a beer, and eat some wings. I suggest Station Square. They do not want to walk that far or catch the T. "Is there anywhere right around here? There are very few options late night Tuesday. They also do not want to take a cab to the South Side. For the executive types or those who have corporate accounts, there are very good options. If we get a convention with more middle class visitors, our Downtown is not that great. I can send them over to the North Shore if there is a game, but that is also a bit of a hike for some people. I guess my point is, if our Downtown is perceived as being non-vibrant, visitors may see the whole city that way. I will say those who get out and explore the city love the city. However, those on a limited budget without a car or the means to get out of the Downtown area, the perception is that Pittsburgh has no late night scene. Right now, there is a truckers convention. The truckers probably don't want to go to most of the bars on Liberty, or go to see a play in the Cultural District. Seviche and Bossa Nova do not seem to be their fit either. We need more places for the common folk.

bingo. I said it has potential mainly because there aren't many people living there AND the combination of layout and architecture is pretty awesome. I was thinking it perhaps could be a bit more grownup than the southside but who knows what wil work. As for moving every five years, many people do move that often, especially young. downtown residents don't all have to be homeowners, they could be, gasp (the horrors), renters! As someone who travels a fair amount, I don't get why people would be upset about a visitor not wanting to venture far. sometimes you're just tired, you haven't gotten your bearings, and you just want something close to have a good meal and maybe have a few beers to unwind. LAstly, maybe some of those thousands of yong people leaving pittsburgh would like a vibrant downtown, I'd bet a lot of the places they move to have them. It's not a magic bullet, but generally it's a reflection of a healthy city. In Philly it hasn't saved the city, but it certainly helped. neighborhoods once left for dead are now desirable places to live because they're near downtown. the same thing has happened, on a smaller scale, near their version of Oakland. that was probably rendell's genius (it certainly wasn't clean government). moreover, center city philadelphia is far more effective at attracting suburbanites than any other area was before, except maybe Manayunk (which killed itself as a hotspot with a ten year moratorium on bars and restaurants)

[greenhomespgh]

Fineview. The homes are cheap and the view is great. May be one of the city's best kept secrets.
Carnegie. Great little walkable downtown with my favorite restaurant.