Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
BUT if you want to see the one of Pittsburgh's worst ghettos drive around Frankin, Upper Central, Hunter Park, etc.
I've lived in Upper Lincoln in Lincoln-Lemington, southern Beltzhoover, and Hunter Park/Park Triangle Wilkinsburg, and still frequent these areas... I can tell you personally that Wilkinsburg's bad areas are (& will always be/have been since 1992) third worst non project area in the county only to a large part of Homewood and the [shrinking] core of the Hill District.
And yet Wilkinsburg is still a vibrant town. Homewood and the Hill District are desolate by comparison.
It has more going for it than Braddock and everyone makes such a big deal about Braddock simply because of the mayor. It's more vibrant than Garfield but everyone raves about Garfield. It seems to be the best place for urban pioneers. Lawrenceville never needed pioneers. It was always a decent neighborhood. The same with the majority of North Side.
Let's try to compile a list of the positives. It's only fair to provide a balanced portrait of the town. You know the area well. Tell us about the restaurants, the businesses, and other positive things happening in the community.
Let's try to compile a list of the positives. It's only fair to provide a balanced portrait of the town. You know the area well. Tell us about the restaurants, the businesses, and other positive things happening in the community.
Well, you already listed one major positive---convenience. If you live in Wilkinsburg you can easily access the East End Food Co-Op and other nearby destinations like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Starbucks, Home Depot, Target, Bakery Square/Google, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Regent Square, Frick Park, Mellon Park, etc. as well as Forest Hills, Monroeville, and Penn Hills in the other direction. Don't underestimate how one's position around clogged city streets can determine proximity to various areas. For example, my friends who live along Aylesboro Avenue in Squirrel Hill frequent Monroeville for their "mall fix" because it's closer to them whereas we also live in the East End and frequent McKnight(mare) Road because it's closer to us than trekking to Monroeville.
Another thing I like about Wilkinsburg is the diversity. Overall it's quite segregated---the "sketchy" parts are overwhelmingly black while the "nice" parts like Regent Square and areas along/near the Busway are overwhelmingly white. With that being said if Wilkinsburg revitalizes Penn Avenue successfully you should see a 50/50 split between whites and blacks co-mingling and enjoying the downtown area (whereas currently it's majority-black). There's also quite a few LGBT households in the "nicer" parts of Wilkinsburg. A gay bar along a revitalized Penn Avenue or Wood Street might be a good touch.
One thing I don't understand about Wilkinsburg is why housing prices aren't more depressed than they currently are. With terrible public schools, sky-high property taxes, and a dysfunctional town government I'd expect to find more bargain-basement housing prices in the borough than what's currently on the market.
The positives.
In tact business district... True miracle... The area caters to low income people in Wilkinsburg/East Hills but also hipsters to the middle class from Wilkinsburg/Edgewood/Regent Sq. Even in the LAW shoot out days Penn Ave/Wood St was never as bad as Penn Ave Garfield in the 90's. Idk how its not Frankstown Ave or Centre Ave. I guess its due to its location, a strong presence of middle class in Wilkinsburg's western, southern and norther eastern edges, and Wilkinsburg's bd not having to go through the MLK race riots.
There are lots of good neighborhoods in the borough. Here's my crime map of Wilkinsburg. You can't generalize the whole borough because Franklin/South/Ross/Rebecca east of the busway or Hill/North/Montier are seemingly a world away from Graham Blvd or East End Ave.
You realize Shaw and U Street have been mostly white for well over a decade now, don't you? And that if I wanted to stock up on some of that fro-yo logorrhea that leaks out of you on a now-daily basis, Shaw and U Street would be ground zero in downtown DC. Read it and leak:
1. Faithfully Sweet
Shaw 801 Mt. Vernon Pl NW
Washington, DC 20011 Phone number (202) 643-9309
...to see ice cream frozen with liquid nitrogen right in front of you. • i've sampled the cookies and cream, butter pecan (by far, my favorite... • Faith herself is also very friendly and…
U Street Corridor 1939 12th St NW
Washington, DC 20009 Phone number (202) 289-7588
I have been to many fro yo places, but Menchie's is the best by far. • Their pumpkin and graham cracker flavors are to die for. • ...filled us in on how the color changing spoons are…
U Street Corridor 1301 U St NW
Washington, DC 20009 Phone number (202) 299-0020
The red velvet mango sherbert are pretty good. • ...and with incredible flavors like Carrot Cake and Banana Pudding you... • ...U Street - as another reviewer mentioned, this replaced…
U Street Corridor 1017 U St NW
Washington, DC 20001 Phone number (202) 509-1553
Fro Yo is Fro Yo but the staff her is extremely friendly. • There are also a gazillion toppings; including fancy fruits like... • Mango yogurt was really good and friendly service.
U Street Corridor 1017 U St NW
Washington, DC 20002 Phone number (202) 232-4459
They have some very good tasting low calorie options. Even when I went at late night, the toppings were still fresh and there were a lot of choices. Also, one of the staff members who works…
I completely disagree. I have patronized businesses in Downtown Wilkinsburg before, and I'll continue to do so.
For purposes of brevity I want Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg to become Pittsburgh's answer to the U Street Corridor in DC's Shaw neighborhood---a vibrant epicenter highlighting African-American culture and history while also bringing in great restaurants and nightlife. Why don't we have anything like this here? Do we just have too large of a black underclass relative to the black upper-middle-class that inhabits the Shaw/Columbia Heights areas in DC? Imagine walking from a lecture at a relocated (and right-sized) August Wilson Center to Ben's Chili Bowl to a wine bar playing blues music to dancing at a club as you pass by a mural of Peggy Lee---all within the same block in Wilkinsburg. It doesn't have to become like Penn Avenue in East Liberty---pretty much total garbage outside of Zeke's Coffee House.
I would not consider Visionary Performing Arts Dance Studio, Sams Bostonian Shoes, Davids Shoes, Jamil's Global Village, Social Status, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Capri Pizza, and the Davis Eye Group total garbage. All of the aforementioned businesses invested alot more money into the interior and exterior. I love Zekes coffee and patronize them often. You do have to admit that Zekes interior and exterior is the garbage that you speak of. All of the business mentioned serve Black Middle Class that you fail or refuse to notice.
I've been to two art shows at Percolate on Trenton Ave. Love Biddles Escape coffee shop... I believe that's also Wilkinsburg. I don't enjoy the blight and rough parts but it's not accurate to paint the whole place as bad.
And yet Wilkinsburg is still a vibrant town. Homewood and the Hill District are desolate by comparison.
It has more going for it than Braddock and everyone makes such a big deal about Braddock simply because of the mayor. It's more vibrant than Garfield but everyone raves about Garfield. It seems to be the best place for urban pioneers. Lawrenceville never needed pioneers. It was always a decent neighborhood. The same with the majority of North Side.
Let's try to compile a list of the positives. It's only fair to provide a balanced portrait of the town. You know the area well. Tell us about the restaurants, the businesses, and other positive things happening in the community.
Hopes I agree with you. This past Saturday I dropped my car off at Monroe Muffler on Penn Ave. I walked to my favorite coffee shop (Biddle Coffee) then had breakfast at Nancys Diner. During my walk, I took pictures of several blocks that are in need of preservation. Most of the blocks are within or adjacent to the business district. I still patronize the old fashioned Benjamin Moore paint dealer, TAF shoes, the Asian Market, and bank within the Penn/Wood business district.
My favorite place is the Garden Dreams Urban farm off Center Street. That is where I get my organic seedlings and perennials.
I would not consider Visionary Performing Arts Dance Studio, Sams Bostonian Shoes, Davids Shoes, Jamil's Global Village, Social Status, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Capri Pizza, and the Davis Eye Group total garbage. All of the aforementioned businesses invested alot more money into the interior and exterior. I love Zekes coffee and patronize them often. You do have to admit that Zekes interior and exterior is the garbage that you speak of. All of the business mentioned serve Black Middle Class that you fail or refuse to notice.
It's not that I "refuse" to notice a middle-class or upper-middle-class African-American community in East Liberty. It just seems like whenever I'm finding myself walking up and down Penn Avenue inside Penn Circle in the evenings I see mostly lower-middle-class African-Americans, probably from Homewood, Garfield, and Larimer, standing around. It seems like if you sit and people watch on Walnut Street in Shadyside 9 out of every 10 people you'll see are upper-middle-class-looking white people. If you sit and people watch on Penn Avenue inside Penn Circle in East Liberty it seems like 9 out of every 10 people you'll see are lower-middle-class-looking African-Americans---the "sagging baggy pants crowd" vs. the "dressed in khakis (with a belt) and a polo shirt for a night out on the town crowd". Why isn't there a more highly-visible presence of the latter in Pittsburgh? Do they mostly live in Penn Hills, Wilkins Township, and Monroeville? I'm trying to handle myself with as much tact as possible on this obviously very touchy subject, but where is Pittsburgh's African-American-dominated version of Walnut Street or DC's U Street Corridor? Where would you find people like Colin Powell or Bill Cosby wanting to hang out here? If you're a socioeconomically successful African-American family in Pittsburgh it just seems to me like your options are more limited here than in many other major cities, and given that Wilkinsburg is mostly intact yet vastly underutilized it seems like a good "clean slate" to fulfill that need of being a solid black-owned middle-class and upper-middle-class business district.
Not a huge fan of Capri Pizza for a myriad of reasons---the architecture, the food, and more. I'll admit I forgot about the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and Social Status, though, so for that I do apologize as both are assets. Never heard of Jamil's Global Village, so I'll check it out. These places are just so drowned out, though, by Aaron's, pawn shops, check cashing places, vacant storefronts, Yen's (never really that great on many fronts), the hideous-looking bank buildings, and other low-rent businesses that ideally don't belong on Penn Avenue inside the circle.
Well, you already listed one major positive---convenience. If you live in Wilkinsburg you can easily access the East End Food Co-Op and other nearby destinations like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Starbucks, Home Depot, Target, Bakery Square/Google, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Regent Square, Frick Park, Mellon Park, etc. as well as Forest Hills, Monroeville, and Penn Hills in the other direction. Don't underestimate how one's position around clogged city streets can determine proximity to various areas. For example, my friends who live along Aylesboro Avenue in Squirrel Hill frequent Monroeville for their "mall fix" because it's closer to them whereas we also live in the East End and frequent McKnight(mare) Road because it's closer to us than trekking to Monroeville.
Another thing I like about Wilkinsburg is the diversity. Overall it's quite segregated---the "sketchy" parts are overwhelmingly black while the "nice" parts like Regent Square and areas along/near the Busway are overwhelmingly white. With that being said if Wilkinsburg revitalizes Penn Avenue successfully you should see a 50/50 split between whites and blacks co-mingling and enjoying the downtown area (whereas currently it's majority-black). There's also quite a few LGBT households in the "nicer" parts of Wilkinsburg. A gay bar along a revitalized Penn Avenue or Wood Street might be a good touch.
One thing I don't understand about Wilkinsburg is why housing prices aren't more depressed than they currently are. With terrible public schools, sky-high property taxes, and a dysfunctional town government I'd expect to find more bargain-basement housing prices in the borough than what's currently on the market.
Wilkinsburg is the most diverse municipality in SW PA. Middle Class White, Middle Class Black, poor white and poor black with a few asian, hispanic, iraqi, and west indians mixed in. Black and whites live together not seperated in most parts of Wilkinsburg. Grahm Blvd, Blackridge, Whitney Park, Beacon Hill, McNary Blvd, and Princeton Park have a large black middle class presence. It not as concentrated as it was in the 80s but we still have strong ties to the area. Open your eyes SCR!
Wilkinsburg is the most diverse municipality in SW PA. Middle Class White, Middle Class Black, poor white and poor black with a few asian, hispanic, iraqi, and west indians mixed in. Black and whites live together not seperated in most parts of Wilkinsburg. Grahm Blvd, Blackridge, Whitney Park, Beacon Hill, McNary Blvd, and Princeton Park have a large black middle class presence. It not as concentrated as it was in the 80s but we still have strong ties to the area. Open your eyes SCR!
Every time I've been at Biddle's Escape (in Wilkinsburg) I've been surrounded by 100% other white people, which made me presume that west of the busway was predominantly white. Maybe I've just caught them at odd times? Whenever I've been generally up Montier Street or Graham Boulevard I've mostly just seen African-American people. When patronizing businesses on Penn Avenue in Downtown Wilkinsburg it seems like 80% of the people around me are African-American, while the town is not 80% African-American (about 2/3). Perhaps Wilkinsburg truly is very well-integrated along racial lines, as you say it is, but that's just not been my experience. I'm hoping revitalization of Penn Avenue will lead to more interracial mingling.
I know from experience Beacon Hill is very well integrated, but then again that's pretty much a middle-aged suburban compound plopped into the edge of the borough. I didn't know enough about Blackridge to comment one way or the other, as I always presumed the majority of that development was split between Penn Hills and Churchill.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
