Allentown Rising? (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, Washington: transplants, real estate, lofts)

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by Pghuser

Allentown has a major safety perception, until that's cleared up you aren't going to get much more than what you see now.

Garfield and Lawrenceville was perceived as unsafe not that long ago. Allentown can overcome the negative perception over time.

[sky329]

Allentown needs to get better McClain Street has an amazing view of downtown almost like Bailey Ave

[Catia]

The problem in Allentown as far as safety is that the perception of it being unsafe is real.
As a resident, of 20+ years I can tell you this:
Most of what actually occurs in this neighborhood doesn't make it to the news.
Despite the police station being right here, it can take an hour or two to get a response.
You have to push to get a CCR# for a reported incident, and there is rarely follow-up or investigation. Response time & actual reports are NOT a priority.

There is a sense of hopelessness with many who live here. And many are intimidated into doing nothing, because of the lack of response. People are afraid to be targeted as the ones who reported a crime, for fear of retaliation, & the retaliation IS real.
I have seen this personally in residents who've been here for the long haul & are over 45...
They do not say that if you ask them, because the last thing they want to appear as is scared.
This is because, for example, when you call the police after a shooting & the only thing they do is pick up the bullets & drive away, you realize you're on your own.

I've also seen new people moving in & working towards change, & I've seen a few of them defeated &/or attacked as well.

The neighborhood is over-run with heroin/crack & dealer & junkies & related activity. It is often generations deep within large families who have lived here for many years. Families protect families even when they are committing crimes. Many are system people who know the ropes, have criminal backround. The police officers know them by name, know their addresses by heart & often turn a blind eye unless someone is actually bleeding or dead.

A neighbor was telling me of a local meeting they attended, in which the police told several residents that Allentown is so much safer than Brookline--because in Allentown the residents are tight knit take care of their own issues, so the police aren't required to get involved as much!!!
This neighbor had some false sense of security for what that message actually meant.

When the real issues that police are called upon never even make it to a report, the real issues 'don't exist' -it allows the neighborhood appear safer on paper--or in blotters--but that's not the reality on the street.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the police either, there's not enough police to go around & they must prioritize. They have rules & procedures they must follow also.


There are *very small pockets* with residents that have 'secured' their block in a sense, but that really just means the undesirables moved their activity to another street, not that the activity went away. It's just on the next block.

What you see written in local papers about revitalization paints it in a different light-because they want to market Allentown & get people in for revenue purposes. The more crime that makes it to the paper or reports, the less people want to invest here.

You can fix up the façade & make something appear nicer, but it doesn't change what's inside.

In order to make a real change in Allentown, something needs to begin at the root of the problem-imbedded drugs & crime, addiction generations deep, & a mindset that is imbedded into the young ones who grew up here that this is 'normal' since they have never known anything different.

There's $$ coming for physical revitalization, but really, we need something more drastic, and that requires a lot of $$ & also people wanting to get involved. We need beat cops & real efforts, & I do not see the city providing that, the revenue just isn't there for such an effort.

Allentown needs something like their own personal 'Fetterman' to make a change here.

Please note: I love Allentown, the location, the potential & would like nothing more than to see it thrive. I would never have bought a home here had I not seen the potential and wanted to be part of it, but after 20 yrs, I see something else, I see that what's imbedded here is the issue.
There is a mindset of alcoholism, drugs, welfare fraud. Those imbedded aren't trying to leave or better themselves, they're adept on how to beat the system, & it has been working for them & their children & now grandchildren. It's not just a few people, the issue is that it is the majority.
Some days I just hope some of the efforts work long enough for me to sell & run--other times I just want to stay because I love the location.

Thanks for reading the rant!

[RogersParkTransplant]

Thanks for the rant, Catia. I'm sorry things are so rough over there, but I appreciate your perspective. I see some similarities with Spring Garden and East Deutschtown, but they are changing fast thanks to close proximity to the Strip district and downtown...I hope Allentown changes soon too, and that you stick around to see it. It's really hard when drugs and alcohol drive the problems, but neighborhoods can turn around quickly once new people start moving in.

[alastad]

Most of the hilltop is dangerous.

[PIT2MAD]

If you've already been there 20+ years, you might as well stick it out for another 20 if your age permits it. The city as a whole has only been on a tangible upward swing for the past 10 years or so, with many of the current hot spots only really picking up serious steam in the past 5. And aside from some gentrification on the back side of Mt Washington and some of the Southside Slopes, this momentum has yet to have much of an impact on southern neighborhoods.

I'm bullish on Pittsburgh's future and while we will never see all of the neighborhoods restored to their former glory, ones strategically situated to downtown and/or with great transit connections will be poised to be those that will return to at least some of that glory. Proximity/connection is key, which is why Southside, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill, parts of North Side, and parts of East Liberty are quickly becoming too expensive for the average working Joe, and also why I'm bullish on other eastern places like Wilkinsburg, Lower Garfield, and Uptown if we are talking 10-20 years out. Much of the Hill, Larimer, and all of Homewood may or may not fit this mold, they may be so far lost to the thug culture that it opens the door to other places not to the East.

Which is why I am excited for Allentown, with its T line that is still maintained (and always will be, as it serves as a tunnel bypass) and service that can be reinstituted with a stroke of a pen. Its business district that already has a trendy restaurant to its name, its proximity to downtown and easy access to the Southside, Mt Oliver (another one poised for revitalization in the medium term), Mt Washington, and easy access to 51/19/376. And to put it bluntly, there are still a lot of other nearby places to "push" the thug culture to while Allentown undergoes a Renaissance. Until the societal changes happen that rid our society of the culture of street violence and drug violence, our only option is to push that factor out of the areas where it would benefit the city as a whole and leave the Homewoods/Beltzhoovers/Knoxvilles of the city for a more intelligent generation to solve, as it is clear we cannot.

If you believe the city will continue its Resurrection, you have to believe in a neighborhood like Allentown. It won't happen overnight, but eventually things will begin spreading beyond the East End and its situated perfectly to reap the benefits. Most western neighborhoods aside from West Emd Village and Carnegie will never reach that apex because they aren't "urban" enough. and the North Side will also continue its slow improvements but none have the benefit of a direct T line going through the CBD, Beechview will benefit as well for that reason but Allentown has a much more coherent business district and its topography is nothing compared to Beechview.

[Goinback2011]

Despite the police station being right here, it can take an hour or two to get a response.
You have to push to get a CCR# for a reported incident, and there is rarely follow-up or investigation. Response time & actual reports are NOT a priority.

There is a sense of hopelessness with many who live here. And many are intimidated into doing nothing, because of the lack of response. People are afraid to be targeted as the ones who reported a crime, for fear of retaliation, & the retaliation IS real.
I have seen this personally in residents who've been here for the long haul & are over 45...
They do not say that if you ask them, because the last thing they want to appear as is scared.
This is because, for example, when you call the police after a shooting & the only thing they do is pick up the bullets & drive away, you realize you're on your own.

Sounds like a corruption problem to me.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

Garfield and Lawrenceville was perceived as unsafe not that long ago. Allentown can overcome the negative perception over time.

True enough, it doesn't have to take that long either.


When I moved to L'ville in 07, a visitor thought the area was far too gritty for her to move to the neighborhood.

By 2010, she was living here herself.


Garfield along Penn Avenue has a whole different vibe than it did just a few years ago, ditto for East Lib. I was at the Starbucks on Penn Circle South, right where the cab garage used to be, and was really amazed by how much the area had changed.


Allentown can change, the time frame is uncertain, but its inevitable.

[ferraris]

On a more positive note, Black Forge Coffee just opened up recently and is absolutely worth a visit.

Walking down Warrington it struck me how many businesses there are, yet how few of them are of any interest to me. There's definitely potential to draw money and people in to Allentown if a few more places open up that attract people from outside the neighborhood to come by. It's too bad the housing stock isn't more like what you find in Knoxville. The residential streets around Warrington remind me of Bloomfield in a way. It's the sort of neighborhood that really has to be carried by its location and business district, not its housing.

It's pathetic that PAT only uses the rail line there for detours now.

[speagles84]

After living in Mount Washington for a few months, and traveling through Allentown more frequently, I just don't see it coming back anytime soon. Traveling from Mount Washington (Shiloh Street) to Warrington is as drastic of a change it is from Polish Hill to the Middle Hill. If anything, it seems to be getting worse, NOT better.