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Yes, it is bad there (Penn Hills). I use to go and visit my aunt and cousins on Pride Rd in the very early 80's after going to the East Hills Mall. Man, even East Hills Drive was not bad than. I remember walking to Mcdonald's from there and getting burgers in 9 inch snow drifts for my pregnant friend.
My wife is from Penn Hills and went to school there as well and thinks of it fondly, until she went back to visit. She used to bring up just how much Penn Hills was better than where I grew up (the Hill). Now she does'nt even mention it, HA!
Yes, it is bad there (Penn Hills). I use to go and visit my aunt and cousins on Pride Rd in the very early 80's after going to the East Hills Mall. Man, even East Hills Drive was not bad than. I remember walking to Mcdonald's from there and getting burgers in 9 inch snow drifts for my pregnant friend.
My wife is from Penn Hills and went to school there as well and thinks of it fondly, until she went back to visit. She used to bring up just how much Penn Hills was better than where I grew up (the Hill). Now she does'nt even mention it, HA!
Good info Uptown!
The contradiction between the two bolded parts is funny, considering Uptown's information gave data on how most of Penn Hills can't be described as "bad." It's a big f'n area.
Penn Hills is so large that I don't really think that it can all get totally bad. It's like saying the city of Pittsburgh is bad when only certain sections of it are. I would say that anything west of Rodi, and south west of Lime Hollow are areas to avoid buying a house. That area is only going to deteriorate over time. Anything east should be fine.
Anything west of Robinson Blvd and Verona, I would not live in. I have a friend who lives on Eastwood Road, and although the homes are perfectly maintained and it's perfectly fine in the daytime, she tries to avoid going out at night. Lots of sketchy people hanging around that are up to no good. That's not a good way to live.
The biggest problem is the school district. Nobody with kids would want to move to Penn Hills and even live in a "good" area because all of the neighborhoods feed into one school district.
The contradiction between the two bolded parts is funny, considering Uptown's information gave data on how most of Penn Hills can't be described as "bad." It's a big f'n area.
You still have to look at it as a matter of intepretation. For instance I grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city in the 70's so in comparision to that time none of Penn Hills can compare to what I have experienced already. In contrast someone who grew up in East LA, North Philly or parts of Chicago would wish that their neighborhoods were that "peaceful".
I was comparing Penn Hills from one point of time to another, which I believe anyone who has live there long enough to have seen the transformation over the years can agree that even the nice areas were better then they are now.
I was comparing Penn Hills from one point of time to another, which I believe anyone who has live there long enough to have seen the transformation over the years can agree that even the nice areas were better then they are now.
Absolutely. Penn Hills is nothing like it was 20 or 30 years ago. It's definitely in decline. Even the good parts are not what they used to be.
Most of Penn Hills is okay IMHO. The problem is the school district. Real estate values and stability comes from school districts because when the old folks die, or move to assisted living or relocate south, who is going to buy those places? Young families? In most cases not, unless they are coming from an area that is even worse. Penn Hills will continue to decline, but I doubt it will ever fully decline. There are farms in Penn Hills. It gets bad press and not the best place for families due to the school, but it could be a good fit for someone starting out or an empty nester.
Location: Plum Borough, east suburb of Pittsburgh, PA
144 posts, read 224,425 times
Reputation: 130
Quote:
Originally Posted by h_curtis
Most of Penn Hills is okay IMHO. The problem is the school district. Real estate values and stability comes from school districts because when the old folks die, or move to assisted living or relocate south, who is going to buy those places? Young families? In most cases not, unless they are coming from an area that is even worse. Penn Hills will continue to decline, but I doubt it will ever fully decline. There are farms in Penn Hills. It gets bad press and not the best place for families due to the school, but it could be a good fit for someone starting out or an empty nester.
About the bad press, it seems like it's the same problem when they say "such and such happened in the Northside." They can't specify the neighborhood, like Allegheny East, Marshall-Shadeland, Lincoln Park, etc? No one would say all of the East End is bad, so other sections of the metro should get the same diligence when reporting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PennHillsNative80
Penn Hills is so large that I don't really think that it can all get totally bad. It's like saying the city of Pittsburgh is bad when only certain sections of it are. I would say that anything west of Rodi, and south west of Lime Hollow are areas to avoid buying a house. That area is only going to deteriorate over time. Anything east should be fine.
Agree with you on this. I doubt that there's enough riff-raff in the whole Pittsburgh metro to fill in 19 square miles that is Penn Hills. I mean, what would the worst case scenario be? That someday Penn Hills will be composed of nothing but bad people? Are there even 20,000 people that fit that bill?
Quote:
Anything west of Robinson Blvd and Verona, I would not live in. I have a friend who lives on Eastwood Road, and although the homes are perfectly maintained and it's perfectly fine in the daytime, she tries to avoid going out at night. Lots of sketchy people hanging around that are up to no good. That's not a good way to live.
I've seen some rundown houses on the backstreets, loosely similar to how there are some decaying buildings in Wilkinsburg. Those are near neighborhoods such as Homewood and Larimer. My hope for southwest Penn Hills is that the nearby city neighborhoods (which I consider kindred spirits with southwest Penn Hills) attract more development, and the success trickles out to Penn Hills.
Quote:
The biggest problem is the school district. Nobody with kids would want to move to Penn Hills and even live in a "good" area because all of the neighborhoods feed into one school district.
Because of this, Penn Hills would only be able to fill smaller niches with families, such as those who plan to use alternatives to public school (charter, home, etc.) or if their children have graduated high school. I wonder, what will become of the houses in the better areas of Penn Hills when their owners pass on?
Location: Plum Borough, east suburb of Pittsburgh, PA
144 posts, read 224,425 times
Reputation: 130
I'd like to get some predictions from people out here. PennHillsNative80, I remember you posted a while ago that Penn Hills currently looks like Wilkinsburg did in 1980. In 1987 it became a financially distressed community and stuff really hit the fan for that area. You also said in the early mid 90s that Wilkinsburg was a warzone. I'm guessing that Wilkinsburg rock bottom in the late 90s? Personally, I feel safe walking around there during the day.
Would Penn Hills follow a similar trajectory possibly? For example, in 2025 will a large percentage of Penn Hills be dangerous? Maybe bottom out in 2030-2035 and slowly recover from there?
If Penn Hills is so undesirable now, do you think its population could fall below 30,000?
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