Wilkinsburgh (Pittsburgh, Franklin, Churchill: apartments, crime, houses)

[Elder18]

I'm just curious: are there any areas of it that are nice?

I stayed with a friend in Edgewood (the part like a block from the western edge of Wilkinsburg) and I heard police cars heading that way all night.
But the neighborhood around there seems really nice and livable.

What gives?

[Maaz]

Driving through it, the part of Wilkinsburg closest to Churchill seems pretty nice, but as you continue on Penn Ave, it's not so nice anymore.
The same could be said about the area closest to Edgewood.

I've found it generally true that a 'bad' neighborhood is not so bad close to a 'good' neighborhood. For example, the part of East Liberty closest to Shadyside.

Maaz

[Hopes]

I like the part of Wilkinsburg that's near Point Breeze. There are some beautiful houses in that area.

[Elder18]

When I was looking for an apartment I came across apartments on Franklin and Kelly streets (the Kelly Street one was across from Kelly St. school) and I had a few people (including an Edgewood cop) tell me not to live in the area.

It did seem really nice though.

Do all of the bad parts in Pittsburgh look nice but are secretly sinkholes?

[zip95]

Originally Posted by Maaz

Driving through it, the part of Wilkinsburg closest to Churchill seems pretty nice, but as you continue on Penn Ave, it's not so nice anymore.

Completely agree, the Blackridge section of Wilkinsburg bordering Church Hill has some really nice neighborhoods. The problem is that you will have a hard time reselling your house because the name of your borough will be Wilkinsburg.....and the school is the worst in the state.

[Maaz]

Originally Posted by Elder18

Do all of the bad parts in Pittsburgh look nice but are secretly sinkholes?

Not all, but this is true for some, including parts of Homewood (the most dangerous neighborhood).

There are also areas that look bad but are relatively safe. Some parts of the North Side fall into this category.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Maaz

There are also areas that look bad but are relatively safe. Some parts of the North Side fall into this category.

I think Polish Hill wins this contest. The place looks like a bomb crater but it's actually rather quiet and sleepy.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I like the part of Wilkinsburg that's near Point Breeze. There are some beautiful houses in that area.

Maybe I have my geography wrong, but I remember the part of Wilkinsburg next to PB as a festering pit. It's the part near Regent Square that I thought was pretty nice.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by Drover

Maybe I have my geography wrong, but I remember the part of Wilkinsburg next to PB as a festering pit. It's the part near Regent Square that I thought was pretty nice.

No, you're right - the part of Wilkinsburg that is next to Regent Square is the nice part. I haven't lived there, so maybe it turns into crime central after dark or something, but in the daytime at least it's difficult to know where Regent Square ends and Wilkinsburg begins. The houses look the same, the people on the street look the same and so forth.

The cruddy part of Wilkinsburg is the "other side" - if you take Penn Ave. all the way east. However, the person you are responding to might be thinking of the very small neighborhood between Point Breeze and Wilkinsburg, called Park Place. Park Place does have some very pretty houses, including the old Heidelburg building that has been turned into upscale apartments. People don't know that Park Place is a separate neighborhood, so it gets named as Wilkinsburg or Point Breeze often. That would be my guess about what they were referring to, anyway.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by subdivisions

No, you're right - the part of Wilkinsburg that is next to Regent Square is the nice part. I haven't lived there, so maybe it turns into crime central after dark or something, but in the daytime at least it's difficult to know where Regent Square ends and Wilkinsburg begins. The houses look the same, the people on the street look the same and so forth.

The only way I could tell is that the street signs were different and, on some streets, the pavement texture was different.