Could Google accelerate the relaunch of E Liberty

[Geeo]

I don't know how much of S. Highland was considered East Liberty, but when I lived there in the early 80s, my landlord (who had a business since 1950 and lived on S. Highland) said that the part of S. Highland north of Alder was part of the East Liberty business district that had grown across the tracks. Allen Rugs (now Weisshouse) still had an East Liberty Chamber of Commerce sticker on their door. Also, Ellsworth Avenue was part of the EL business district because there was a bridge that carried Ellsworth to the intersection of Centre and Highland and created a five-way intersection. The bridge was torn down inthe late 70s to build the busway underneath and was never replaced. This is the area that a new pedestrian bridge will be built to connect Ellsworth with the Eastside development.

[kubus_gt]

Originally Posted by greg42

It's really going to be the people who make it, not the company. I mean, MSA, not as high profile to the public, but software company has been there on Penn Ave for decades. Has done not much of anything for revitalization of area.

Yes MSA -
Management Science Associates - been in East Liberty for over 3 decades and is one of the biggest privately held tech companies in Pittsburgh. Yet, when you say MSA, everyone thinks of the other MSA, so much for branding effort.
With Chatham University buying the Penn & 5th building, they have started on renovations of the building. They also are in process of fixing up the Penn and 5th intersection. The plans can be viewed on their site under East Campus section.
To Greg’s point, MSA being in EL didn’t really change much, but the question is what will happen when the 850 employees of MSA move elsewhere. Chatham will require much more classroom then currently available, so MSA will be kicked out.

[Queecho Feecho]

So many people are scared of shadows it makes me sick.

It is a chicken/egg issue. People don't walk in, shop in, or live in a neighborhood because they are afraid. But guess what? People are afraid of the conditions made by choosing not to live walk there, shop there, live there.

Just go park near Trader Joe's, get out of your car, lock it, check the safety on your .38, and go for a walk. Then take the same walk the following week. Once you stop getting nervous, walk a block farther away from your car than the prior week. Invite a friend. Remind that friend to check the safety on their .44 before embarking on your walk.

[BrianTH]

Just a little update on East Liberty Place North:

East Liberty apartments in Pittsburgh's almost fully booked - Pittsburgh Business Times

Some excerpts:

East Liberty Place North, a 54-unit apartment and retail development built as the first stage to replace a former East Mall high-rise in Pittsburgh, opened Thursday and is almost fully occupied. . . .

“The response to this project has exceeded expectations in almost every way,” said Jim Eby, Senior Project Manager with The Community Builders, in a prepared statement. “The lease-up has gone much more quickly than our projections. It proves that there is a strong demand for quality, well-designed rental property in East Liberty. To have made good progress on the retail space in a quiet commercial market is gratifying as well.”

The apartments, which will also be managed by The Community Builders, include both market rate and rent-restricted units with rents ranging from $325 to $825 for one-bedroom units and $435 to $1100 for two-bedroom units. Utilities are estimated to be $95 per month for the one-bedrooms and $105 for the two-bedrooms.

The company reports that 50 of the 54 units have already been leased, including all market rate units. The Community Builders also has letters of intent with tenants for all of the 11,000 square feet of first floor commercial space. . . .

The Community Builders expects to soon turn to develop East Liberty Place South, proposing a mixed-use building of 75 apartments and 24,000 square feet of retail, across Penn Avenue from the new building.

It is hard to argue with Eby--the quick lease up, particularly of the market-rate units, seems to indicate there is a lot of existing demand for higher-quality rentals in East Liberty.

[Queecho Feecho]

The apartments that are not market rate rents...are they rent-controlled? If so, who controls them? If not, are they Section 8?

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Geeo

I don't know how much of S. Highland was considered East Liberty, but when I lived there in the early 80s, my landlord (who had a business since 1950 and lived on S. Highland) said that the part of S. Highland north of Alder was part of the East Liberty business district that had grown across the tracks. Allen Rugs (now Weisshouse) still had an East Liberty Chamber of Commerce sticker on their door. Also, Ellsworth Avenue was part of the EL business district because there was a bridge that carried Ellsworth to the intersection of Centre and Highland and created a five-way intersection. The bridge was torn down inthe late 70s to build the busway underneath and was never replaced. This is the area that a new pedestrian bridge will be built to connect Ellsworth with the Eastside development.

Allen Rugs was in the first block south of the Alder/S. Highland intersection. A block east, (in the same block of Highland), Emerson St. has the Hunt Armory on one side, and Sacred Heart Grade School on the other. I googled around a bit, and found an old reference the the armory being in East Liberty, but there are so many recent references to Sacred Heart being in Shadyside that it's hard to find an old one stating that it is/was in East Liberty. (Although I'm sure it was considered to be so.)

Ellsworth Ave., west of College, I'd unequivocally put in Shadyside since forever. My feeling is that the rest of it was Shadyside as well, bridge or not, but I'm not passionate enough about that feeling to fight about it.

Which all goes to prove that neighborhood boundaries have always been sort of nebulous....

One other thought--I wonder how much more difficult it would have been to rebrand those several blocks of East Liberty as Shadyside if Shady Avenue had been, say, East Liberty Avenue ?

Just as an aside, the Ellsworth bridge was torn down because it was in bad shape, and not replaced, incidental to the way the Penn Circle/Highland Ave intersection was configured. The bridge spanned the tracks, and the busway was built in part of that right of way, but much later. The busway wasn't a factor in removal of the bridge. Penn Circle was the culprit.