where were the projects that closed down? (Pittsburgh, Arlington Heights: apartment, income)

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by Hopes

So the one Penn Avenue went under wasn't a project? It sure looked like one.

I never felt unsafe around it because it felt like it was floating above the neighborhood.

Those buildings that were in East Liberty have a sister on the North Side, located behind the Giant Eagle. Since projects are usually apartment, and townhouse complexes filled with the poor, it's not surprising that privately owned apartment complexes filled with poor tenants would feel like the projects.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Those buildings that were in East Liberty have a sister on the North Side, located behind the Giant Eagle. Since projects are usually apartment, and townhouse complexes filled with the poor, it's not surprising that privately owned apartment complexes filled with poor tenants would feel like the projects.

Architecturally, the Pressley highrise is very similar to the razed apartment buildings in East Liberty.

But Pressley is owned by the housing authority and houses senior citizens- not families.

[Hopes]

What about the place in near Stanton Heights, possibly on the edge of Garfield, across from the cemetary on Mossfield Street?

Were those old red brick townhouses projects? What about the new buildings? They're really pretty.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Hopes

What about the place in near Stanton Heights, possibly on the edge of Garfield, across from the cemetary on Mossfield Street?

Were those old red brick townhouses projects? What about the new buildings? They're really pretty.

No, the homes on Sullivan St. off of Mossfield are individual single family homes

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

No, the homes on Sullivan St. off of Mossfield are individual single family homes

That's a different area. I'm talking about Fern Street. There used to be old red brick townhouses there that looked like projects. Now it's more modern townhouses. If you look on google maps, the street view still shows the old townhouses. If you look via sattelite view (by clicking on Mossfield Street), you'll see the newer buildings.

fern street, pittsburgh pa - Google Maps

[Uptown kid]

That's a different area. I'm talking about Fern Street. There used to be old red brick townhouses there that looked like projects. Now it's more modern townhouses. If you look on google maps, the street view still shows the old townhouses. If you look via sattelite view (by clicking on Mossfield Street), you'll see the newer buildings.

Those are the Garfield Commons Mixed-Income Apts... Fern & Mossfield Street use to be apart of the Garfield Heights Housing Projects until those units were razed earlier in the decade (though as of this summer all of the GHHPs were totally demolished)... They currently aren't too safe, maybe its because the ppl from Cornwall/Columbo Street relocated there with numbers, so know that in this case looks are deceiving.

BTW-that isolated section of Sullivan Street a is actually a safe/quiet majority Black working class-lower middle class professional's hidden gem.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That's a different area. I'm talking about Fern Street. There used to be old red brick townhouses there that looked like projects. Now it's more modern townhouses. If you look on google maps, the street view still shows the old townhouses. If you look via sattelite view (by clicking on Mossfield Street), you'll see the newer buildings.

fern street, pittsburgh pa - Google Maps

As Uptown Kid said, that was the old Garfield Heights project. It was built, and run by the city of Pittsburgh Housing Authority. One of their many "hilltop communities" as they used to promote them when they were first built. Many of these places were built on rugged, isolated hilltops, that had been largely undevelopable before modern earth moving equipment became available.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Hopes

So the one Penn Avenue went under wasn't a project? It sure looked like one.

I never felt unsafe around it because it felt like it was floating above the neighborhood.

Lucky you. I know of a cop that was walking under that building and he had a half full paint can clip his shoulder. He of course ended up in the hospital, but it could have been death if it hit his head. Those places were so dangerous and East Liberty is slowly recovering from those places. It will never fully recover, but I think it will be livable.

[Uptown kid]

To add to that I've heard that drug dealers would dump trash at their rivals through their windows... I've also heard that sometimes people got away with taking care of bodies in those big fortresses (though I don't really believe that).

[Pittsburgh Guru]

The term "projects" is/was used for any government funded low-income housing development, whether it was a high-rise, townhouses, apartments, or the familiar barracks/block-style buildings we all know & love. Sometimes apartments are converted over time into Section 8 housing, like Carnegie Towers -- It started out as a beautiful middle-class family luxury building, but is now Section 8, & is referred to as "Carnegie Projects" or "Cabrini Towers". The idea behind all of it was to provide quick, convenient, affordable housing for low-income & middle-class working families. Most of the projects, like Terrace Village, Broadhead, etc were built in the '30s, '40s' & '50s for steelworkers & blue-collar families to live in until they could afford to move on up & out to a house in the suburbs. But some people could never get out of the projects & more or less stayed their generation after generation. The high-rises came along mostly in the '60s in response to the over-population of the other projects, the idea being to create a high-rise "community", but it was a horrible mistake isolating & storing people in those huge scary-looking buildings. Since the Hope initiative of 2004-2007, just about every "project" in the city & on the outskirts has either been totally demolished or remodeled. All of the high-rises are going bye-bye, as are the majority of the long brick barracks structures, or they are attempting to add new rooftops, shutters, & overhangs to them so that they don't look as depressing & foreboding. I've been to pretty much every project in SW PA.

Yes it was true that people would throw sh*t out of the windows of The East Mall Hi-Rise, usually people dumping trash at night because of problems with the garbage disposal system inside. It became kind of an urban legend to never drive underneath at night. This was a consistent problem in all high-rises all over the US, to the point where some high-rises would seal/bolt windows shut (done in Newark) or even worse encase entire balconies of buildings in mesh fencing (infamously done at Cabrini-Green in Chicago).

Very true. Actual housing "projects" are those developments that are/were government funded & under the "ownership" of the Housing Authority of a particular city or county. But the term "projects" has over time become an umbrella term for any low-income/Section 8 housing community. With the elimination of most of the old dinosaur projects & high-rises, many small apartment complexes or townhouse communities are being transformed into Section 8 housing. Prime example is Carnegie Towers. When first built, it was a stylish luxury apartment building for middle class families, & right down the hill from it was The Governors House, which was its sister high-rise building of luxury condos for upper-income yuppies or retirees. Over time, Carnegie Towers slowly transformed to mostly senior living, & then eventually to all Section 8....It's now called "The Carnegie Projects". Bridgeville has to high-rise but they are not Section 8 (privately owned) & have every strict "guidelines": Bridgeville Towers is only for single seniors or single disabled, & Grandview Towers only accepts singles & families of a specific income level.

Greenway was originally a unique co-op housing community, but eventually assimilated into the nearby Crafton Heights....So now the entire area is just called "Crafton projects". Same with Westgate Village -- It was a low to middle income apartment/townhouse complex with the misfortune of being located right across the street from Broadhead Manor, one of the most notorious communities in Pittsburgh history. The idea was you start out living in Broadhead, then aspire to work your way up to Westgate, then eventually move into a house in Crafton or Ingram, maybe even Kennedy or Robinson. I remember the entire area was referred to as Broadhead-Westgate -- Horror stories & urban legends abounded.