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Old 03-04-2016, 02:11 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh's North Side
1,701 posts, read 1,589,460 times
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Honestly the particular mix of people you see in Millvale strikes me as the natural neighbor of Troy Hill -- similar vibe in many ways, a lot of friendly long-time blue-collar residents who are a little bemused by all the transplants. 279 is such a big psychological barrier that the Troy Hill / Spring Garden / Spring Hill / Reserve area feels closer to Millvale than it does to Brighton Heights or Observatory Hill...though perhaps we just feel that way because we end up in Millvale so often. We really do love Millvale, especially because it's more low-key than L'ville but way more interesting than Etna right now.

Grist House in Millvale is the one place where we absolutely MUST take visitors who come to town. If anyone on here hasn't actually gone in to see it yet, you really should. There are a lot of local places in Millvale that we like a lot (including the wonderful community library -- another gem), but Grist is a standout for Pittsburgh as a whole. Honestly, a summer afternoon of Grist in Millvale + Wigle in Spring Garden is the 1-2 punch that makes even our Boston friends jealous. The funny thing is -- full disclosure -- I don't actually drink, and we go with little kids. It's just that both have done such a great job of rehabbing architecture to fit the neighborhood, building beautiful indoor-outdoor spaces, and bringing in a good variety of outside food, that we really do just go to hang out with our friends there. I'm sure tons of people DO come from the alcohol, of course, and they seem to enjoy the product, but to me that's completely secondary to the sense of community we get from being there.

That being said...I'm extra excited for Tazza d'Oro coming in, because I'll take a good coffee over a craft beer any time of day or night.
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Old 03-04-2016, 07:25 AM
 
2,218 posts, read 1,934,417 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tyovan4 View Post
Millvale is a bit of a strange town in my eyes - the location is very good, it is walkable, there is a sense of community.. but there's something about the population that just seems very unusual - it's a strange mixture of a large percentage of hipsters with a large percentage of white trash.
"White trash"? Are you referring to people? Like, garbage people? People that have been thrown away? Or people that should be thrown away?


I hear this term a lot, and I'm not sure why it is acceptable to use it as it seems like a slur to me.
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Old 03-04-2016, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Etna, PA
2,860 posts, read 1,880,983 times
Reputation: 2747
Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainlove View Post
We don't really feel like our neighbor mix is strange, but it is all about where you feel comfortable. Personally, I'd rather have the friendliness and humanity of our neighbors who I can talk to as issues arise, rather than the coldness, passive aggressiveness, and wealth-driven culture of some of the more well to do locales. But that's just me.

tyovan4 - your location says Etna, PA so please explain more of what you are seeing to say that Millvale is strange to you? I am just curious because I see the two communities as being very similar actually. Either way...It's all about getting in where ya fit in!
The bones of Etna and Millvale are quite similar in some ways. I would say the towns are both largely flat, prone to flooding, with some build-ups onto the hills that constrain both towns on either side. Both are also bound by the river - though Millvale is much more connected to the river, Etna is cut-off until completion of the riverfront park and by the extension of the trail. Housing stock seems to be of similar age and condition as well.

One difference I would say is where they connect to. Etna's main connection is with Route 8 and the northern suburbs (Shaler). Millvale's main connection is with Lawrenceville and the 40th Street Bridge. Etna also has virtually no commercial activity - the business district is pretty much dead. Millvale does have a variety of businesses, that are walkable.

So in comparing what I see as the differences between the two - Millvale seems much more of an urban location. It strikes me as the poor man's Lawrenceveille. Etna feels more like a suburban bedroom community - it strikes me as the poor man's Shaler.

The people in Etna strike me as more reserved and standoffish. People in Millvale seem to be much more social - annoyingly so during early morning bus rides.

Etna is also bland and average. Nobody really is wearing any trendy clothes or haircuts - there's NO hipster presence here that I've noticed. But we also don't have the other extreme of very uncouth people. There certainly are some inconsiderate people, I think I'd buy a ticket out of my own pocket for one of my neighbors to fly back to Sicily if he'd stay there permanently.

Millvale just strikes me as strange because there seems to be both extremes. There's a very strong hipster presence - which you can see visually among the people and also in some of the new businesses that have started (two microbreweries, the newish community library, also the fact that Millvale has a sustainability officer/coordinator [forget his exact title] who is trying to exert influence by bitching about McConway & Torley's foundry in Lawrenceville), etc. But the area is not gentrified yet. There is still a heavy presence of people that I have previously described as white trash.

I've only been in Pittsburgh since summer 2009. I imagine perhaps this eclectic mix of hipsters alongside poor white people in a rapidly changing neighborhood was what Lawrenceville itself may have been like in the early/mid 2000's??


Quote:
Originally Posted by Merge View Post
"White trash"? Are you referring to people? Like, garbage people? People that have been thrown away? Or people that should be thrown away?
People of limited economic means, seemingly limited education, and blatantly limited exercise of manners and common courtesies. Better?
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