McKees Rocks Versus Millvale (Pittsburgh, Etna: to rent, employment, to buy)

[gg]

I don't know much about McKees Rocks, but Millvale is pretty safe and has a really good location to the city. You can walk to Pittsburgh from the riverfront park in about 35 minutes or so, or ride a bike in minutes. Millvale will have crime, but not the deadly kind. Plenty of vandalism, which is evident when you go to the riverfront park and of course there will be a lot of domestics that will have police come settle the couple down and move on. Millvale is trying hard to do well, but the kids there are probably the biggest problem, because as I have stated they vandalize a lot. Two other places are Etna and Sharpsburg.

[robrobrob]

My take on Millvale and the Rocks is that both have a decent amount of crime. Most of which stems from addicts and younger "kids" in the drug trade. Neither of which make great parents. Just spend a day at either Magistrate and you will encounter plenty of "kids" that you would want to kill if they dated your daughter or son.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the artists have chosen Millvale over Sharpsburg or Etna. Is Millvale that much cheaper? Is the proximity to downtown and Lawrenceville that big of a deal.

As far as the Shaler School District, a friend teaches there at the middle school level, and she really thinks it is a great school.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I don't know much about McKees Rocks, but Millvale is pretty safe and has a really good location to the city. You can walk to Pittsburgh from the riverfront park in about 35 minutes or so, or ride a bike in minutes. Millvale will have crime, but not the deadly kind. Plenty of vandalism, which is evident when you go to the riverfront park and of course there will be a lot of domestics that will have police come settle the couple down and move on. Millvale is trying hard to do well, but the kids there are probably the biggest problem, because as I have stated they vandalize a lot. Two other places are Etna and Sharpsburg.

The police in Millvale will not settle the couple down and move on. That happens in Fox Chapel. My last domestic in Millvale, a man almost killed his girlfriend and put her in the hospital for 2 weeks.

[gg]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

The police in Millvale will not settle the couple down and move on. That happens in Fox Chapel. My last domestic in Millvale, a man almost killed his girlfriend and put her in the hospital for 2 weeks.

"My last"? Not sure what you mean?

Well, of course there are going to be a lot of domestics. Lots of wife-beater shirts with mustard stains in Millvale and lots of power drinkers drinking 30 packs on the front stoop. This is reflected in the children there and that is why there is so much vandalism and the "I don't care" thing. It feeds on itself. I saw a kid throwing rocks at ducks at the river once. I held his bike up and told him I am throwing it in the river. He stopped what he was doing, but of course he wanted to prove to the ducks he was higher on the food chain. This kind of thing you will see a lot of in Millvale.

FC doesn't have domestics, or at least any that would be publicized.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

"My last"? Not sure what you mean?

Client.

[gg]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Client.

Oh, okay.

[Copanut]

If you want to get a good "feel" of Millvale. Stop at the Wine and Spirits plaza next to the Dollar Store. Always a good show.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Copanut

If you want to get a good "feel" of Millvale. Stop at the Wine and Spirits plaza next to the Dollar Store. Always a good show.

This is very true, but Millvale does have all kinds. Go to the Grant Street Tavern and you will see a different bunch, but I don't know if they are actually from Millvale. Maybe not. It is a tough little town. During the middle of the day, it is really nice to walk around the downtown. At night it changes a bit due to the amount of power drinkers and the occasional fights or whatever. They usually don't have guns involved. That wouldn't be manly enough.

[SmittyXCWRU]

Originally Posted by globalburgh

Recently, I toured Cleveland with a staff member of the Case Western Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. The Flats isn't a neighborhood. Perhaps it was at some point. But that would be long in the past. Ohio City and Tremont are the neighborhoods everyone was talking about in the 90s as gentrifying. Both seemed to fizzle. I think "stall" is more apt. Today, I consider Ohio City to be baked a la the South Side in Pittsburgh. Tremont is just about there. Detroit Shoreway (fantastic location) is on the come.

If you don't mind a Clevelander chiming in here I agree with these last couple points. The Flats (or at least the "The Flats" proper meaning the East Bank) never was a gentrifying neighborhood. It was a formerly industrial area the city decided to turn into a district for bars and nightclubs. It never was residential. Yuppies never started moving in. As it managed to attract a rather seedy collection of strip clubs and underground questionable venues, crime started to rise there and people stopped coming in for entertainment. Most of the people who frequented the place didn't actually live there.

Now, the West Bank of the Flats (sometimes also called "The Flats" in causal conversation but is a different place; the East Bank is officially part of the Downtown neighborhood and the West Bank is officially part of Ohio City) did experience an influx of wealthier, more educated gentry. It is dotted with new residential development and this didn't change after the Flats proper fell apart. The West Bank of the Flats is still a safe neighborhood today. But now, they just don't call it "The Flats" much anymore since "Ohio City" has a better connotation. Now the Warehouse District is essentially the Flats 2.0 moved up the hill and with residential zones and less sketchy clubs so the same mistake isn't repeated.

Really once a neighborhood reaches its critical mass of yuppies there generally won't be regression unless something shocking happens (or unless we're talking like decades later when the "hot" designation was a generation ago or more and it's a declining neighborhood now).

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I can't for the life of me figure out why the artists have chosen Millvale over Sharpsburg or Etna. Is Millvale that much cheaper? Is the proximity to downtown and Lawrenceville that big of a deal.

I've wondered the same thing because Etna has so much potential. Millvale is cheaper, but not that much cheaper. I think it has to do with Millvale politicians are more willing to adapt to the wants of a younger demographic. Etna's politicians are into maintaining the status quo, which means keep it just like the old people want it to be. There is no way they would allow something like Mr. Smalls in Etna. I don't think they even want a community/recreation center, both of which Millvale and Sharpsburg have. Maybe Millvale is preferable simply because it's closer to the city. Whatever the reason, I agree it's mindboggling. When I was a teenager, Millvale was considered the lowest of low. It still retains the lowest repuation within Shaler itself. The only place I've heard people raving about Millvale is here on City Data.