McKees Rocks Versus Millvale

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I think things have changed less than you think. Historically, many houses in Lawrenceville, like a lot of the working-class white neighborhoods, changed hands within families, often with no money involved. When houses went on the market in the past, they were often snatched up by landlords who turned them into rentals. The difference now is there are both newer homeowners willing to buy, along with a market for landlords besides slumlords in the neighborhood. However, houses are still passed down within families - I know many people who have moved here within the last 10 years because they got a house from their grandparents, or because a more distant relative sold it to them on the cheap. They don't fit the SWPL stereotype, although they do tend to be younger.

Even with family transactions it is still virtually impossible for the neighborhood to move down in class at this point. And obviously fewer than 100% of non-gentry homes will be passed onto non-gentry family members, so it seems equally impossible for the neighborhood to not become more gentrified as time goes on. All that's up for debate now is the rate at which that will happen.

I think gentrification is a morally neutral process. If it's not wrong for upper-middle class neighborhoods to become poor neighborhoods, it's not wrong for poor ones to become upper-middle class ones either. The character of neighborhoods changes over time, and that's okay. The broader concern shouldn't be what's happening to any one neighborhood, but making sure an entire city doesn't become unaffordable to those of more modest incomes. Pittsburgh is far away from that point yet.

Pittsburgh is, but the broadly acceptable parts of the East End are not. This is a big deal not because lower middle class people should have super easy access to trendy cafes and bars, but because of Oakland being such a large employment center and how commuting to Oakland from outside of the East End is a just a bit of a pain, especially with the near total lack of bus routes to Oakland from residential areas outside of the east.

[PreservationPioneer]

I love Millvale. It has a quaint, old world charm. There are some very beautiful 19th century historic buildings there, too. I plan on doing a Millvale photo tour soon.

[Copanut]

Etna, home of one way streets. Drives me nuts! But I think they have more street trash than Millvale.

[I_Like_Spam]

The Rocks are cool, I worked in the bottoms many a moon ago and thought it had "old world charm". The producers of a film about Poland in the early 80s thought so as well,and chose the bottoms as their set as the Iron Curtain was still up at the time.

"Two Weeks in Winter" was about a coal uprising in Katowice Poland, was filmed in 1982 at the old Wheel and Axle Plant on Graham St. in the bottoms.

[HarryRSpooner]

Millvale is truly now at the top of my list along with Brookline.

[PreservationPioneer]

If you like Millvale, also check out Troy Hill, Etna, and Sharpsburg. All of these places have a similar vibe.

[speagles84]

Millvale hands down. McKees Rocks is quite a dangerous place to live and is only going to get worse. On the other hand, Millvale is part of a decent school district (Shaler Area), very safe, affordable, etc. If I were in your place, it wouldn't even be a contest.

[HarryRSpooner]

Troy Hill in my opinion isn't as good as Millvale. Ditto Etna. Will be checking out property today in both Brookline and Millvale.