Neighborhood of the week: Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: middle-class, best neighborhood, real estate)

[eschaton]

Squirrel Hill is a largely residential neighborhood located in the East End of Pittsburgh. The city officially splits it into two different neighborhoods with Murray Avenue as the dividing line: Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South. While there are slight differences between the two neighborhoods, they are not notable enough to spend two concurrent weeks talking about the neighborhood, so I am lumping them together for the purposes of this thread. Regardless, when considered together, Squirrel Hill is by far the largest Pittsburgh neighborhood in terms of both land area (almost four square miles) and population (over 26,000 residents). Due to its sheer size, it shares land borders with many East End neighborhoods (Oakland, Shadyside, Point Breeze, Regent Square, Swisslhelm Park, Hazelwood, and Greenfield). However, due to Squirrel Hill being fringed by Schenley Park on its western flank, and Frick Park to the east, and being located significantly uphill from Shadyside, it feels a bit separated from much of the East End, with only Point Breeze and Greenfield only blending into the neighborhood fairly seamlessly.

For a neighborhood which has become very prominent in Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill has a somewhat short history. Throughout the 19th century the area was largely undeveloped farmland, first as part of Peebles Township, eventually incorporated into the city of Pittsburgh in 1868. Most of the scattered, wood-framed homes of this era did not survive to the present day. The first significant development in Squirrel Hill was the "millionaire's row" which formed along Fifth Avenue during the Gilded Age. Few of these homes have survived to the present day as well, with most destroyed during the mid 20th century to make way for large apartment complexes.

Squirrel Hill began its first boom in 1893, when the first electric streetcar began weaving its way through the neighborhood. By 1900 there were a few streets - like Murray Hill Avenue - which were mostly built out. While the streetcar was an important aspect of early development of Squirrel Hill (and continued running through 1958) the income spread of the neighborhood (which always ranged from very wealthy down to middle class) meant that by the 1920s it had transformed into one of Pittsburgh's earliest automotive suburbs - essentially filling the same role as Mt. Lebanon, but within city limits. By the late 1930s, the majority of Squirrel Hill was built out, although there were individual segments of the neighborhood which continued to be developed through the 1960s. It's my personal opinion that some of the more remote streets contain the best examples of mid-century modern architecture in the city. Given the neighborhood was built as a suburb, but as a prewar suburb, it was not totally dominated by detached single-family housing. Several areas were set aside for large apartment clusters (like here and here) - a rarity in Pittsburgh. Other streets were dominated by early 20th century rowhouses, or two flats. The tremendous population growth of Squirrel Hill in the early 20th century played a big role in why the East End as a whole didn't hemorrhage population during this era as a whole. Squirrel Hill was definitely a suburban neighborhood, with few employers of any size, but it was a very dense suburban neighborhood.

One of the groups which played the largest role in the development of Squirrel Hill was Pittsburgh's Jewish community. The first Jews began settling in Squirrel Hill in the 1920s, migrating from portions of the Lower Hill and Oakland. They mainly settled in the more modest blocks of homes being built south of Forbes Avenue. They were later joined by the Jewish community in the Upper East End (East Liberty, Highland Park, and Stanton Heights) which largely left that area during the "white flight" era. The percentage of the neighborhoods's population which is Jewish has been stable at roughly 40% for generations, although due to nationwide changes within the Jewish community the proportion who are ultra-orthodox has risen over time.

Squirrel Hill never had a "bad" period during the mid 20th century. Its population never declined, and there was never any significant issue with abandoned housing. Some blocks surrounding Murray Avenue in the lower part of Squirrel Hill have changed over time to defacto student slums - with the grand houses chopped into apartments for the continually-expanding student bodies of Pitt, CMU, and Chatham - but this was balanced out by new middle-class infill development wherever land was available. The most recent example of this sort of development is Summerset at Frick Park, a modern suburban-style subdivision built on a former slag pile in the far south of the neighborhood.

Linking together all of Squirrel Hill is the Forbes-Murray Business district. I have jokingly referred to this business district as the "best neighborhood business district in the city." I say this because it's quite large (over a block on Forbes and seven blocks on Murray - plus some spillover onto side streets) has virtually everything you would desire in a business district (bars, restaurants, shops, a grocery store, a movie theater, a library, etc), yet due to its semi-isolated status from the rest of the East End, it's almost entirely patronized by people who live in Squirrel Hill - it's not like Butler Street or East Carson street, where people from outside will go there on a night on the town. Due to the family-friendliness of the neighborhood this is the only place in the East End it's normal to see children hanging out on the sidewalk in groups on summer evenings. The downside of the business district is only that since Squirrel Hill is so geographically large, significant portions of the neighborhood are pretty far from the business district. Some of the neighborhood is walkable, but far from all.

Squirrel Hill continues to evolve as a neighborhood. One of the most notable changes in recent years has been the influx of a large Asian population - largely students associated with Pitt and CMU, who now dominate many of the apartment block areas of the neighborhood. However, the neighborhood shows no signs of changing from the fundamentals it has had for generations, essentially acting as a walkable suburban neighborhood (right down to low crime and good public schools) which happens to be within city limits. It has also historically been ridiculously expensive by Pittsburgh standards, with some sections (like Murdoch Farms) having among the most expensive real estate in the city, and even the "less desirable" portions causing you to pay a lot of money for a small dated home. Given the recent gentrification of much of the East End, this difference has narrowed considerably though. One thing I am keeping watch on in the future is what happens with the large rental stock in the neighborhood. When Squirrel Hill was one of the only nice neighborhoods in the city, people would pay top dollar to rent dated (and occasionally roach infested) apartments, but with all the new luxury apartments coming online elsewhere, rental prices have been flat for many of these dated units. What happens remains to be seen, but I'm heavily betting on the side of updating, perhaps even upzoning.

[Moby Hick]

Squirrel Hill is also noted for harboring relocated Nebraskans such as me and Willa Cather.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Linking together all of Squirrel Hill is the Forbes-Murray Business district. I have jokingly referred to this business district as the "best neighborhood business district in the city." I say this because it's quite large (over a block on Forbes and seven blocks on Murray - plus some spillover onto side streets) has virtually everything you would desire in a business district (bars, restaurants, shops, a grocery store, a movie theater, a library, etc), yet due to its semi-isolated status from the rest of the East End, it's almost entirely patronized by people who live in Squirrel Hill - it's not like Butler Street or East Carson street, where people from outside will go there on a night on the town. Due to the family-friendliness of the neighborhood this is the only place in the city it's normal to see children hanging out on the sidewalk in groups on summer evenings. The downside of the business district is only that since Squirrel Hill is so geographically large, significant portions of the neighborhood are pretty far from the business district. Some of the neighborhood is walkable, but far from all.

Hmmm....perhaps the elderly in Brookline who ride bikes and hang out on the Blvd at the ice cream shop just look exceptionally young.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

Hmmm....perhaps the elderly in Brookline who ride bikes and hang out on the Blvd at the ice cream shop just look exceptionally young.

Okay, you got me. Corrected to East End.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Okay, you got me. Corrected to East End.

Thanks...I am working on it, but I still have some hurdles to clear in my ongoing quest to let these southern neighborhood omissions slide. I've gotten better but still working...

[svband76]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

Hmmm....perhaps the elderly in Brookline who ride bikes and hang out on the Blvd at the ice cream shop just look exceptionally young.

Yes to this. Brookline is hands down the most family-oriented community in Pittsburgh. Make a visit to the Rec Center on a weekend and you'll find kids and families playing/watching dek hockey, baseball, softball AND basketball, not to mention playing on the exercise equipment indoors and outdoors. And the Boulevard is always bustling with locals.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

Thanks...I am working on it, but I still have some hurdles to clear in my ongoing quest to let these southern neighborhood omissions slide. I've gotten better but still working...

OFF-TOPIC: I quite like Brookline. I think it's really going to pop in the coming years. Another sit-down restaurant or two, and you've got a more laid-back Butler Street going on. You've also then got a neighborhood more attractive for lazy Millennials like me who hate to cook!

ON-TOPIC: Squirrel Hill's business district is indeed excellent. My ex and I use to love date nights there---dinner at one of the many Asian restaurants; a movie at the Manor Theater; an Italian ice at Rita's; some browsing at Avalon Exchange, The Exchange, Ten Thousand Villages, GameStop (before it became Verizon); etc. Oh, and I know this forum hates Starbucks, but it has TWO Starbucks locations! Huzzah! My friends used to live on Aylesboro, and they liked both Coffee Tree Roasters and Commonplace Coffee. They sit roughly across Forbes from one another. I always envied how close their walk was from their front door! From Polish Hill I brag about how I can "walk anywhere", but it's really more like "a mile walk from anywhere".

[KimberlyAnn53]

Why is this the case? What can other communities learn from this to keep their population?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by KimberlyAnn53

Why is this the case? What can other communities learn from this to keep their population?

You mean why didn't Squirrel Hill go through a period of decline like much of the rest of the city?

Part of it was, as I noted, that Squirrel Hill was built out relatively late. Although most of the neighborhood was fully built out by the end of the 1930s, there were individual subdivisions built out later - along with a few big condo buildings like Imperial House and the mid-century apartments which replaced the mansions along Fifth Avenue. More units = more people.

Secondly, like Oakland and Shadyside, it benefited tremendously from the expansion of enrollment of the East End Universities. Carnegie Mellon University is in Squirrel Hill (though at its fringe, in an area often seen as Oakland) as is Chatham. Pitt is not, but it's only around a 15-minute bus ride on one of the 61s. This meant there was strong demand for rental properties for students - particularly in the era where much of the rest of the city was seen as sketchy and dangerous.

Thirdly, the Jewish community in Squirrel Hill never decamped for the suburbs, offering a tremendous level of social stability to the neighborhood.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by KimberlyAnn53

Why is this the case? What can other communities learn from this to keep their population?

squirrel hill was the original destination of white flight from the north side, etc. the east end was the "suburbs" of early pittsburgh.