Let's talk about Wilkinsburg! (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: lower-class, fit in, apartment)

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Copanut

A lot of people see that as a good thing.

Plenty of people like restaurants.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Plenty of people like restaurants.

Works for Bellevue.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Works for Bellevue.

Me never going there or not having alcohol?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Me never going there or not having alcohol?

Both!

[PreservationPioneer]

What Braddock has going for it is that it's a ghost town, which is about the best thing a low income area can be in my opinion. Lots of activity on the streets in low income neighborhoods is bad news.

Also, I wouldn't pay Wilkinsburg's taxes.

[Uptown kid]

-I agree with Preservation Pioneer too about the beggars. In Central W.B.- other than the Franklin Ave & Wood St business area, there can be beggars and even on Penn Ave towards Ardomore.

The two most desirable sections of Wilkinsburg are Regent Square, and Whitney Park, which are almost exclusively white. While some may consider Blackridge desirable, that opinion isn't shared by most.

Regent Square, Whitney Park & Greater Park Place might be the most appealing areas for middle class city folk, though the suburban middle class would probably enjoy Blackridge & most streets Laketon, non apartment Beacon Hill, non apartment Upper Penn, as those areas are truly suburban. The problem with some streets in the Laketon Rd area, Laketon area around McNary and non apartment complex Upper Penn/Beacon Hill is that there are some riff-raff rentals/houses scattered around.
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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?

Also SCR I had to laugh at that 'saggy baggy pants style' comment because their are two main types urban youth fashion.
-A) 'the baggy G style'. clean or dirty sneakers or tims; baggy no belt jeans/jorts/athletic shorts/sweats/cargos/Truck Fits; urban print t-shirts/hoodies/beaters or plain t-shirts/hoodies (no collar) or jerseys; all types of caps/winter hat/beanie hat with fluff/bucket hat/fisher hat... some still wear all Steelers gear or all dickies.
-B) 'the preppy swaggy style'. (always clean) sneakers to combat boots to boat shoes (yes I said boat shoes); skinny or slim fit jeans/caro/pants/shorts with regular fabric or designer belt; pop culture or collard shirt true religion/old navy/polo shirt/Barcelona shirt; mainly snapback/strap back caps/beanie hat wit fluff/bucket hat. some wear all brand name down to the sock.

Of course an individual can rock both styles, but go around the hood some more and you will see that not everybody is still rockin' the 50 Cent look. And the thing is with these two styles you really shouldn't be judging the people you see on the street because there are gang bangers who wear polos & and honors students who wear white tees. And vice versa. Same goes for the middle class black teens-twenties & low income white teens-twenties from black/mixed neighborhoods.
*I'm not calling you a racist or labeling you as I profiler, I'm just trying to enlighten you that not all hoodlums wear baggy any more and that not all productive individuals from black neighborhoods dress non-baggy.

*Here's my map showing middle class black/diverse enclaves to mini-enclaves that people don't always remember.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=...15200261a2247a
*Almost 2,500 African-American professionals are scattered across the middle class sections of Edgewood, Forest Hills, Churchill, Wilkins Township, North Braddock Heights, and Braddock Hills...
*In addition another 2,000 are scattered across the suburbs from Moon to Ross Township so a bit more than the South Hills, North Allegheny, and West Allegheny Areas...
*In the Monroeville area there are lots of scattered lower to upper middle blacks as well...
*There are also scattered middle class blacks in Allegheny W+Friendship north of the Ave+Shadyside+Sq Hill+Point Breeze S+the War Streets+Western Wilkinsburg however I bet there are actually MORE middle class blacks numbers in overwhelmingly poor areas like East Hills near Homewood+Homewood North+Beltzhoover+Lower Lincoln+West Oakland+Perry Hilltop+North Braddock+Middle Hill. Yet most of these people are OLD.
*There are some undesirable black neighborhoods that still have proportionally higher middle class blacks than most other hoods/sketchy areas. These areas are Upper Lincoln, SW Penn Hills (particularly Nadine and Laketon Heights north of Frankstown Road opposed to solely low income-working class Lincoln Park), Princeton Park Wilkinsburg and Crestas Terrace North Versailles.

Even parts of technically Hunter Park/the Upper Central-Signer Place area and the blocks closer to Edgewood in the Sperling and Hamnett Place areas, house Wilkinsburg's black middle class.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

What Braddock has going for it is that it's a ghost town, which is about the best thing a low income area can be in my opinion. Lots of activity on the streets in low income neighborhoods is bad news.

Gangsters weren't the ones being active. I didn't see any groups of people loitering on street corners. There were people from all backgrounds walking around. As others have mentioned, Wilkinsburg isn't all low income. There's a solid middle class there, and some of the areas are upper middle class. I started this thread because it's not fair that we're depicting the entire town as low income ghetto. I'm really surprised by your post since you're all about revitalization and preserving buildings in these types of areas.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

I'll just leave this here:

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Gangsters weren't the ones being active. I didn't see any groups of people loitering on street corners. There were people from all backgrounds walking around. As others have mentioned, Wilkinsburg isn't all low income. There's a solid middle class there, and some of the areas are upper middle class. I started this thread because it's not fair that we're depicting the entire town as low income ghetto. I'm really surprised by your post since you're all about revitalization and preserving buildings in these types of areas.

I wouldn't mind living there. It's the taxes that get me. I was talking about Central Wilkinsburg, which is seedy and active at the same time. That combination always makes me feel uneasy. I much prefer walking around the urban areas that are more desolate, where I might be the only one on the street. It makes it easier to scan and be in control of my surroundings, in case someone tries to jump me or something. It's hard to walk around Central Wilkinsburg without having someone approach you, ask you for money, etc. Just my experience. The last time I was walking around there exploring, someone actually walked up and offered me a joint. It was nice of them, but still... lol

I have walked around downtown Newark, NJ and it has much the same vibe as Wilkinsburg, on a much larger scale.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

I wouldn't mind living there. It's the taxes that get me. I was talking about Central Wilkinsburg, which is seedy and active at the same time. That combination always makes me feel uneasy. I much prefer walking around the urban areas that are more desolate, where I might be the only one on the street. It makes it easier to scan and be in control of my surroundings, in case someone tries to jump me or something. It's hard to walk around Central Wilkinsburg without having someone approach you, ask you for money, etc. Just my experience. The last time I was walking around there exploring, someone actually walked up and offered me a joint. It was nice of them, but still... lol

I have walked around downtown Newark, NJ and it has much the same vibe as Wilkinsburg, on a much larger scale.

I'm the opposite. I'm more comfortable in crowded areas. There's nothing worse than feeling like there is nowhere to run for help when necessary, and that's the feeling I get in a desolate area that has no businesses.