Violent Crime on the Rise in the Upper North Side- Get Used To It! (Pittsburgh: 2014, houses)

[Uptown kid]

We've talked about crime in Perry North/Observatory Hill before Mandy's Pizza in Observatory Hill closing due to crime & Is Observatory Hill going into (further) decline?
I don't remember the name of a short lived frequent poster who had the chicken little mentality of living in the hood, but his fear of Brighton Heights was surely memorable. Since I joined there's been increasing more violence...

So far 2016:
1:2 Fatal shootings in Observatory Hill
2nd Fatal Shooting in Obsevatory Hill
Fatal Stabbing in SE Brighton Heights (south of Termon east of Shadeland Ave some say McClure/Gas Ave)

Since Central Northside, West Deutschtown, Allegheny Center, Lawrenceville, Lower Hill, etc have lost people and crime has gone down due to gentrification/redevelopment there's a clear correlation with new population and crime going up in areas like Bellvue, Marshall Shadeland/Woods Run, Observatory Hill, South Brighton Heights, etc...

"Hoodtown" has lost Jacksonia St, Federal St & Buena Vista St. And that area (Alpine, Carrington, Jefferson, Garfield Ave, Lobick, Sansducky St, Boyle St) as a whole is far safer than in the past.
Cal-bride Place area of California-Kirkbride is a little better than it was 25-20-15-10-5 yrs ago... Brighton Pl & Morrison Street are less active than they used to be.
Lower Manchester is becoming as nice as other Lower Northside areas and the southernmost streets of Upper Manchester are coming like Lower Manchester... like the others Upper Manchester is till rough but not as gang ridden.
OH as Watson Bvld-Waldorf & Vincenton St as seddy streets
BH has California Ave, Mexico St, Davis, Termon & Fleming which have all had shootings since 2014.
Soon, maybe 2020-2030 more murders will happen in Southern BH, parts of OH & Bellvue than Upper Manchester, Cal-bride Place & Hoodtown, but I'm not predicting anything too drastic...

[eschaton]

Out of the seven murders so far in Pittsburgh for 2016, this is the count:

Homewood: 2
Observatory Hill: 2
Windgap: 2
Brighton Heights: 1
Sheraden: 1
Mount Washington: 1

It's early in the year, but interesting there have been no murders in the Lower North Side, no murders in the Hill District, none in Garfield, none in East Liberty, etc.

I don't think the Brighton Heights murder is a sign of a decline similar to Observatory Hill though. It was a 65 year old woman stabbed by a (37 year old female) relative. That sort of thing could happen anywhere, sadly.

I'm also making the prediction that in another 20 years, all of the upper West End neighborhoods will be majority black and rough. Not just Sheraden and Elliot, but also Esplen, West End Village, Windgap, Chartiers City, Fairywood, and maybe even Crafton Heights.

[PreservationPioneer]

Let's get real about Esplen. In another twenty years, there will be like five houses left.

[crae09]

My friend used to live in perrysville. i hated visiting.. well actually i hated waiting on the bus after leaving. He said sadly its not adults you have to worry about, its all of the 14-17 year olds who want to be cool, carry guns & rob people.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Let's get real about Esplen. In another twenty years, there will be like five houses left.

Well, the city has rezoned much of it as part of its riverfront overlay district, so it's possible that some sort of new development will go in there on a 20-year scale.

Nonetheless, I tend to agree. Honestly the city should probably "de-neighborhood" it and consider it part of Sheraden now, despite the grade separation. The Census doesn't even give it its own tract any longer.

[SteelCityRising]

Wait until summer. Right now just seven murders nearly two full months into the year would predict a tally of only 42 murders for the year. Not bad at all. Most homicides here happen in the warmer weather, though, so I'd wait until September 30 to do any real analysis about violent crime in the city.

[Sciulli]

I've been living in Observatory Hill since October and it will be interesting to see how things progress.

Maybe I'm just downplaying the situation, but both murders were drug related and not some random shooting... I don't feel particularly unsafe here. They also seem to be in small, bad pockets of the neighborhood. There is a very vocal, strong group of committed residents here (we just had the Observatory Hill Inc public meeting last night and had about 30 minute convo with a Pittsburgh police commander). I'm hoping a stronger police presence and an arrest for the latest homicide could discourage future incidents.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Sciulli

I've been living in Observatory Hill since October and it will be interesting to see how things progress.

Maybe I'm just downplaying the situation, but both murders were drug related and not some random shooting... I don't feel particularly unsafe here. They also seem to be in small, bad pockets of the neighborhood. There is a very vocal, strong group of committed residents here (we just had the Observatory Hill Inc public meeting last night and had about 30 minute convo with a Pittsburgh police commander). I'm hoping a stronger police presence and an arrest for the latest homicide could discourage future incidents.

Almost every homicide in this city is drug-related, domestic, or gang-related. The last case of a "random" killing I can think of here was the case of the Wolfe sisters in East Liberty, and their killer still hasn't been sentenced.

[bluecarebear]

The public housing complexes are still there. If the developers could get the city to close those down, then the neighborhoods would gentrify fast based on location. If the public housing stays, then those areas are going to stay crime ridden.

[Goinback2011]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Almost every homicide in this city is drug-related, domestic, or gang-related. The last case of a "random" killing I can think of here was the case of the Wolfe sisters in East Liberty, and their killer still hasn't been sentenced.

What about the home invasion in Mt Oliver where an 11 year old was killed and his brother shot?