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Two neighborhoods that serve as their cities 'second' downtowns. Both have thriving universities and cultural scenes. Which one do you think has the brighter future as a standalone hub of it's city... University City in Philly, or Oakland in Pittsburgh?
University City in Philadelphia DEFINITELY has the brighter future. It has been growing much faster in both jobs, # of students, and overall population. It is home to an Ivy League in Penn, and the growing and rising Drexel University as well as one of the top 5 best Hospitals in the country, and the number one Children's Hospital in the Country. It is also home to the second largest Urban research center after Harvard, and home to the third busiest rail station in the country.
Within the past two years, the amount of building over 10 floors or under construction in University City has been pretty amazing.
FMC Tower - office/residential/retail - 730 feet - 49 floors
Evo - residential/retail - 430 feet - 33 floors
3601 Market - residential/retail - 320 feet - 28 floors
The Summit - dormitory/retail - 279 feet - 25 floors
38Chestnut - residential/office/retail - 278 feet - 25 floors
Penn Medicine South Tower - medical/educational - 302 feet - 19 floors
Chestnut Square - residential/retail - 19 floors
Children's Hospital Buerger Center - medical - 292 feet - 14 floors
3737 Market - office/medical - 221 feet - 13 floors
Drexel University LeBow College of Business - academic - 13 floors
The Study at University City - Hotel/retail - 10 floors
4224 Baltimore - residential/retail - 10 floors
As a Pittsburgher, I hate to say this, but Oakland kinda sucks. It just does.
Yes, it's the still second major job nexus of the city. And there are new developments going up all the time. Now it's not only institutional, but residential, with the first large apartment building currently being built in Oakland since the 1970s. And it still has important civic assets, like the Carnegie Museums.
That doesn't change the fact that as the rest of Pittsburgh has improved, Oakland has stagnated. Back in the 1990s, from what I hear (I wasn't there at the time) it was the social center of Pittsburgh if you were a young adult. But with other options opening up for young adults, it's become a place you don't really want to spend time in if you're over college age. Even CMU students and Pitt graduate students tend to congregate more in Shadyside than Oakland.
Basically, once you get outside of the civic core of Oakland (built around the universities, hospitals, and some storefronts) you have the following areas.
North Oakland - Originally an area with grand Victorian housing, it was converted between the 1920s and 1970s into one of Pittsburgh's only residential highrise dominated districts. In terms of population density it's the highest in the City by far. The population tends to be a mixture of graduate students and retirees living in condos (drawn by the bus service, and the closeness to the major hospitals). Despite the high population density, the area isn't the best from a walkability standpoint due to the era of development (e.g., lots of buildings are set back some parking, and they lack first-floor retail). There are two business districts. The one closer to CMU's campus is small but nice, but the one further north is still semi blighted/run down.
Schenley Farms - Located to the west of North Oakland proper, this area was saved from densification by favorable zoning. It's a few blocks of detached single-family houses built between 1900 and 1940. Originally the area was popular with Pitt professors, but these days houses are among the most expensive in the entire city. It's very nice for what it is, but it's hardly vibrant or urban - more like a tiny piece of wealthy suburbia plopped down in Oakland.
West Oakland - A small neighborhood sandwiched in between Carlow University, parts of Pitt, and the (majority-black, historically troubled) Hill District. The neighborhood now has a mixture of working-class black residents (many of whom work at the universities or hospitals) and student renters. Can still be sketchy Nothing interesting is going on up here.
Central/South Oakland - The largest area by size. Historically this was a mostly working-class neighborhood, with Italians most dominant. some of the housing stock, although tarnished, is incredible. That said, as Pitt has expanded its enrollment, and not properly expanded its dorms, more and more students have been pushed into this area. As a result it's become a student slum, complete with absentee landlords, dilapidated housing, and loud, disruptive parties which result in couches being set on fire. When families try to move here (the local schools aren't terrible) they are often harassed by students for being in "their area." The far southern fringes aren't student dominated, but they're also a long walk from anything remotely interesting.
As a Pittsburgher, I hate to say this, but Oakland kinda sucks. It just does.
I live within walking distance of Oakland and will agree with that assessment. Oakland was the second-most-soul-crushing place I ever had the displeasure of working behind Tysons Corner, VA.
Oakland gets nicer the farther north and east you go, and nastier the farther south and west you go. Most of the graduate students and academia live in North Oakland, or in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, which border Oakland to the east. Most undergraduate students live in South Oakland, which is a dump, though that's more likely a function of absentee landlords than the students themselves. It'd be an awesome neighborhood if only the owners of the property would take proper care of it for a change. West Oakland is kind of a dead zone bordering Uptown and the Hill District, which are a couple of the seedier neighborhoods in the city. Despite that, West Oakland and Uptown are ripe for gentrification since they're along the Fifth/Forbes corridor in between the two largest centers of employment in western Pennsylvania. Already there's some new construction activity in West Oakland with a new apartment complex, and also in Uptown around CONSOL Energy Center. Expect new development in West Oakland to go further west, and new development in Uptown to go further east.
I've never been to University City in Philadelphia, so I really don't know how they compare.
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Pittsburgh. When I lived in Philadelphia, mostly in Center City or on the periphery of it, I also was in University City fairly frequently. It is not a bad walk from Center City (I miss Philly's walkability!), and just a hop skip and a jump by subway surface car. University City always had a good mix of ethnic restaurants. I don't know if it's still true, but that used to be where the biggest cluster of Ethiopian restaurants was. Penn is obviously a huge presence there, and its wealth serves as an anchor of sorts. It has great bookstores like the Penn Book Center and House of Our Own Books. It has major venues for the performing arts, as well as the Institute for Contemporary Art. It's also the location of the once great and now still pretty good radio station WXPN. I could go on, but I'm not sure how much point there is. Calling it a second Center City is about right. It does have its own vibe, however.
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
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As someone who is born and raised in Pittsburgh, went to Pitt (lived in Oakland) for my undergrad and worked in Oakland 2 years after graduating, I can safely say that Oakland sucks. There are some nice neighborhoods close by though. Not to say it doesn't have some good things about it (mostly associated with Pitt, CMU, and the Museums), but the traffic, generally crappy housing stock, mediocre food, and annoying nightlife make it unappealing. And Bates street....I can't even get started about the asinine nature of Bates street.
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Pittsburgh. When I lived in Philadelphia, mostly in Center City or on the periphery of it, I also was in University City fairly frequently. It is not a bad walk from Center City (I miss Philly's walkability!), and just a hop skip and a jump by subway surface car. University City always had a good mix of ethnic restaurants. I don't know if it's still true, but that used to be where the biggest cluster of Ethiopian restaurants was. Penn is obviously a huge presence there, and its wealth serves as an anchor of sorts. It has great bookstores like the Penn Book Center and House of Our Own Books. It has major venues for the performing arts, as well as the Institute for Contemporary Art. It's also the location of the once great and now still pretty good radio station WXPN. I could go on, but I'm not sure how much point there is. Calling it a second Center City is about right. It does have its own vibe, however.
This is huge.
Speaking as someone who split his undergrad and graduate studies between the two neighborhoods, I don't think Oakland sucks. But I do think University City offers a lot more than your typical college neighborhood, which Oakland is.
In addition to Penn's vast endowment and aggressive revitalization policies (and Drexel has recently stepped up to the plate as well), much of this stems from the fact that the median University City student is significantly more wealthy and sophisticated than the median Oakland student.
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