Suburb of the week: Whitaker (Pittsburgh, West Mifflin: house, employment, neighborhood)

[eschaton]

Whitaker is a small borough (only 0.3 square miles in land area) southeast of the City of Pittsburgh, on the Monongahela just upriver from Homestead, bordered by Munhall to the north and West Mifflin to the south.

Whitaker was incorporated on January 4, 1904. It was built out as a bedroom community to house the growing workforce of the mills in Homestead, ballooning rapidly to a population of over 2,200 people. It was apparently a very poor community in its early years, with the borough still lacking garbage collection, mail delivery, lighting, paved streets, and no sanitary sewers. An early municipal leader, Alfred J Ackerman, used WPA money in the late 1930s to early 1940s to build decent local infrastructure. Still, by 1940 the community was essentially entirely built out, with suburban growth spilling southward into West Mifflin. The population entered a period of decline, and stands at about 1,250 today.

Although Whitaker does have river frontage on the Monogahela, due to a combination of a steep riverbank, railroad ROW, and the Rankin Bridge not much is there save for the riverfront trail along the Great Allegheny passage. There are a small amount of homes and businesses (mostly auto related) along River Road as well. But the bulk of the borough is up on the hilltop, laid out on the blocks on either side of the appropriately named Whitaker St. Much of Whitaker looks similar to portions of the city - with the dominant typology the early 19th century frame "mill house" - just a bit more spread out. There are a few early suburban enclaves. Whitaker doesn't have a true business district, but it has the remnants of one, with a pizza place, dentist, convenience store, and a few random offices along Whitaker Street.

Whitaker is another example of a community which is fine in and of itself, but doesn't appear to have much chance of shaking out of the funk that it's been in since the end of World War II. Housing stock is mediocre, there's little in the way of local amenities, and since the major employers closed in Homestead, it isn't even particularly convenient to any major employment concentrations. On the plus side, it is safe, affordable, and (despite being next door to the dangerous Mon View Heights housing complex) unlikely to decline in a particularly rapid fashion.

[Willamette City]

Eugene, Oregon also has a Whitaker neighborhood also. Kind of upscale, but very diverse and artsy crafty. You can walk around the neighborhood and see interesting shops. The people seem to be very friendly there also.

[bradjl2009]

I can't believe places this small are able to survive still.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I can't believe places this small are able to survive still.

A former coworker of mine had a friend whose grandfather was the mayor of Whitaker for 40 years.

He was impressed until he discovered the size of Whitaker.

I don't think Whitaker even has a real municipal building. The address online for the borough is on Ardmore Boulevard in Forest Hills.

The borough council appears to meet here however.