Pittsburgh's Chinatown (Philadelphia, York, Monongahela: houses, neighborhoods, construction)

[Debbie1125]

I came across an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer today. It was about how gentrification is threatening to take over Chinatown in three cities. New York, Boston and Philly. One of the paragraphs said that the Chinatown in Pittsburgh was demolished to make room for the highway. I never knew that. I thought that Pittsburgh had a small Chinatown to begin with. To me that's even worse than losing a neighborhood to gentrification.

How many other neighborhoods have been plowed under to make way for highways & roads? I know that a huge section of the North Side was.

By the way I tried to search for the other thread where the topic was Chinatown so I could post there, but I was unable to find it.

[I_Like_Spam]

There are still 2 building left in Pittsurgh's Chinatown- the Chinatown Inn on 3rd Ave., and one other house over on 2nd Avenue.

The construction of the Blvd of Allies back in the 30's took out a lot of the buildings there.

Pennsylvasia: Pittsburgh's Chinatown.



Pittsburgh has had several neighborhood's taken out by highway construction.


Almost the entire East St. Valley (except for St. Boniface Church and a handful of houses around it) as well as large sections of Deutschtown and Manchester bit the dust for highway construction.

In addition, we've had large sections taken out for other major projects, big sections of residential South Side and Homestead were lost to mill expansions at J&L and US Steel in the 40's and 50's.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

There are still 2 building left in Pittsurgh's Chinatown- the Chinatown Inn on 3rd Ave., and one other house over on 2nd Avenue.

The construction of the Blvd of Allies back in the 30's took out a lot of the buildings there.

Pennsylvasia: Pittsburgh's Chinatown.

Actually the '20s, and the on-ramp to the Blvd actually took out a park, not buildings, but it still hastened the decline of what was a very small but active Chinatown. The two buildings with slight Chinese motifs, as Spam mentioned, are really all that's left, and even then it's more of a nominal Chinatown than an actual one.

The Post-Gazette has an article from 2003 still viewable on the web that goes into the history some.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The construction of the Blvd of Allies back in the 30's took out a lot of the buildings there.

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

Actually the '20s, and the on-ramp to the Blvd actually took out a park, not buildings

So the Allies for whom the Boulevard is named were the ones from WWI rather than WWII, I take it. Or is there some other meaning of "Allies"?

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by jay5835

So the Allies for whom the Boulevard is named were the ones from WWI rather than WWII, I take it. Or is there some other meaning of "Allies"?

Yes, the road was named for the WWI Allies of the UK, France, and Russia, not the WWII Allies of the UK, Free France, and the Soviet Union. It was also the most expensive road in the world at the time it was built.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

Yes, the road was named for the WWI Allies of the UK, France, and Russia, not the WWII Allies of the UK, Free France, and the Soviet Union. It was also the most expensive road in the world at the time it was built.

Italy was part of the WWI alliance.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

. It was also the most expensive road in the world at the time it was built.

Here's the link on it, $1.6 Million per mile to build, it was the most expensive per mile to build.

Boulevard of the Allies

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Here's the link on it, $1.6 Million per mile to build, it was the most expensive per mile to build.

Boulevard of the Allies

Monongahela Boulevard. I did not know that. Thanks.

[eschaton]

Man, that Chinatown article was depressing. More because the block looked 1,000 times better in 1921 than it does today. It seems even the remaining "historic" Chinatown buildings have been remuddled.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Italy was part of the WWI alliance.

But not WWII, thereby ruining the flow of the sentence had I included them. Not like it stops there anyway.