Why is the North Side so stagnant? (Pittsburgh, Allentown: condo, house)

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Not to mention lower Federal, where PNC Park is today, along with a bit of Sandusky. Over half of East Ohio Street is gone. What's now Madison Avenue used to have its own business district. of course, Chestnut Street was mostly commercial as well (some blighted storefronts remain there), originally extending several blocks down into old Schweitzer Lock, right to the river. Even the area around the Garden Theatre used to be more extensive, with commercial storefonts extending to Parkhurst Street, and even a bit beyond this.

The bottom line is that the entire lower North Side used to be an amazing, gigantic mixed-use area similar to Center City Philadelphia. Over half of it was destroyed.

Lower Federal Street, between the mall and the bridge was very commercial when I was a teenager and 3 Rivers Stadium was new.

30 bars and restaurants just on Federal south of the railroad viaduct (I 279 was just a dream back then), not to mention furniture stores and other retail establishements.

There were other business facing Sandusky and General Robinson as well.


on the issue of the old Schweitzer Lock neighborhood, do you know if it extended all the way to Anderson Street back in the day? Frick was a Swiss German, and lived on Anderson when he was employed selling ladies clothes before switching careers and becoming a steel magnate.

[erieguy]

da 'burgh just needs Toby Keith's bar to open.

Back in the day, the words "lock the doors and roll them up" was always heard when nearing the "nor side".

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by norcider

I see hope though, more and more young people buying the houses of the recently departed elderly

I see this happening too, in addition to some rental properties becoming owner occupied properties. These are good signs of progress, but they are the makings of slow progress, not fast and dramatic change. There really isn't much room for any large scale projects by big money investors. Even the Garden Theater isn't that big, especially when you consider that it's the largest development in recent memory besides a few small housing developments and stuff on the north shore.

To directly answer OP's question: The north side is "stagnant" because most of the improvements are being driven by residents instead of big investors.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Lower Federal Street, between the mall and the bridge was very commercial when I was a teenager and 3 Rivers Stadium was new.

30 bars and restaurants just on Federal south of the railroad viaduct (I 279 was just a dream back then), not to mention furniture stores and other retail establishements.

There were other business facing Sandusky and General Robinson as well.


on the issue of the old Schweitzer Lock neighborhood, do you know if it extended all the way to Anderson Street back in the day? Frick was a Swiss German, and lived on Anderson when he was employed selling ladies clothes before switching careers and becoming a steel magnate.

I look at this map. Turn the slider to 1910 and zoom in. Buildings which had a storefront are marked with an s.

Schweitzer Lock doesn't look like it ever extended to Anderson Street because the rail yards caused a natural break in the road pattern. Voeghtly/E Lackock (where an old building still remains) was about the furthest west the neighborhood extended.

The area you are referring to was, I believe, simply referred to as "the Ward" as it was the old First Ward of Allegheny City.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by ferraris

To directly answer OP's question: The north side is "stagnant" because most of the improvements are being driven by residents instead of big investors.

Yes. The change may seem slow, but it's steady. We need people to come in and love it for what it is, and it takes time for the right people to find us. It's also essential that our new businesses are local and family-owned. I am so thankful to have Wigle Barrelhouse and Arnold's Tea here now, and I have high hopes for the Farmer's Daughter and the Allegheny City Historical Gallery...the Neu Kirche will be big, too. I know it has taken a long time, but the North side is finally getting it together.

[Goinback2011]

Urban Renewal destroyed the North Side in the 1950's and 1960's.

The Bridge to Nowhere didn't help, remaining disconnected for years.

I don't recall the neighborhood, but I have 2 sisters who remember Allegheny Square, Boggs and Buhls and the gigantic farmers market. All destroyed by planners who also destroyed the lower Hill District.

There are maps around from the pre-destruction era. The central business district was packed with stores.

I'm not sure how the damage from that era can be undone.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Urban Renewal destroyed the North Side in the 1950's and 1960's.

Possibly not - the city overall was in decline at that time (as it was for most of the 20th century). That, with typical urban ills, the growth of suburban home ownership, and more people owning and driving cars probably all contributed to giving much of the older parts of the city quite a blow.

In retrospect, we might like to paint neighborhoods that had urban renewal as great, healthy communities prior to the said renewal. But that is subjective (and likely never true). I'm not saying it was awful, but maybe not the wonderful neighborhood one may like to think it was.

There are MANY places in the city that were not the focus of large urban renewal projects that also went to heck - Polish Hill for one. I only have ever known it to be run down and in serious disrepair (indeed it has become healthier, with more vitality within the last 15 years).

Hazelwood - NO urban renewal projects there. In fact, little to no assistance for infrastructure improvements at ALL (to my knowledge). And that place went on a downward spiral for decades.

I do not agree 100% that urban renewal destroyed the north side, or the Hill.

[aw_now_what]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Frick ... lived on Anderson when he was employed selling ladies clothes before switching careers and becoming a steel magnate.

That is completely untrue.

[fat lou]

Because there's only so much gentrification to go around. This is still Pittsburgh, not Manhattan or San Francisco.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

There are MANY places in the city that were not the focus of large urban renewal projects that also went to heck - Polish Hill for one. I only have ever known it to be run down and in serious disrepair (indeed it has become healthier, with more vitality within the last 15 years).

Hazelwood - NO urban renewal projects there. In fact, little to no assistance for infrastructure improvements at ALL (to my knowledge). And that place went on a downward spiral for decades.

Polish Hill was down on its luck, but the vast majority of historic homes in the core are still standing, as they are in other neighborhoods which escaped urban renewal like South Side and Lawrenceville.

Hazelwood was a victim of urban renewal, insofar as due to people presuming the Mon-Fayette Expressway was going to be built, they let their houses go to rot, figuring they'd be bought out via eminent domain eventually anyway. Without the spectre of the Mon Fayette Expressway, it would probably be more like somewhere like Allentown or Arlington in terms of the majority of buildings still being standing, albeit in rough overall shape.