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Old 08-27-2018, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,858,085 times
Reputation: 12390

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Turtle Creek is a relatively small (0.97 square mile) borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. It is named after a small tributary of the Monongahela which flows through the borough. It borders Wilkins Township, Monroeville, Wilmerding, North Versailles, and East Pittsburgh.

Turtle Creek was the site of an Indian settlement in the 18th century affiliated with the Iroquois. Indeed, the name for the town - and the creek - is directly translated from the Iroquois Tulpewi Sipi. Although there was sparse early agricultural settlement, major growth in the area in the late 19th century began with coal mining and the winding of a railroad through the valley. By the 1800s a community of over 1,000 residents was present. Real growth in the region however was predicated by the massive growth in the Westinghouse plant, which ultimately spanned across both East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek. Turtle Creek boomed from 1900 to 1930, and although it had a period of population decline during the Great Depression, had another boom during the 1940s - which was mostly due to the construction of Electric Heights by the federal government. At the borough's peak in 1950, it had over 12,600 residents.

As with much of the rest of the Mon Valley, decline set in soon thereafter. During the postwar era the high union wages at Westinghouse coupled with cheap new homes in the suburbs meant that no one who worked in the mill really needed to live in town any longer. Urban renewal hit the borough as well, with much of the old downtown destroyed to create the Tri-Boro Expressway.

Although only having 5,200 residents today, Turtle Creek today is a very chopped up community due to a mixture of topography and urban renewal. Towards the creek, there still is a small amount of commercial activity - a ghost of the old business district - but not even a single solid block left. There's also a small residential neighborhood of modest frame houses tucked between the highway and Airbrake Avenue. Most of residential Turtle Creek is north of the Tri-Boro however. The most intact neighborood is in the northeast of the borough, a pretty typical - if run down - example of Pittsburgh streetcar suburbia.

The future for Turtle Creek is likely to get worse before it gets better. Population decline has begun to ease a bit, although this is solely because a lot of the lower-income black population in the region is being pushed into the borough due to lack of other affordable options with transit access. Turtle Creek is part of Woodland Hills SD, which makes it a tough sell for lots of parents. The relatively modest housing stock (with a few exceptions) and lack of much of a business district mean limited appeal to outsiders. But the biggest new blow for Turtle Creek is yet to come. Although the spur of the Mon Fayette Expressway which was going to head into the city via Braddock has been defeated the "eastern beltway" connecting it to 376 in Monroeville is still scheduled to be built. Although unlikely to cross the Mon until the 2020s, this will pass directly through Turtle Creek (likely around Thompson Run), chopping up the community even further.
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Old 08-27-2018, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
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I believe Art Frick grew up in Turtle Crick.
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Pixburgh
1,214 posts, read 1,447,438 times
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Eastern suburbs are such a mess.. From Shadyside until you get out to Murrysville or Norwin its all similar to Turtle Creek
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,858,085 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by safak View Post
Eastern suburbs are such a mess.. From Shadyside until you get out to Murrysville or Norwin its all similar to Turtle Creek
Surely it's more like Regent Square to Plum, right?
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:42 AM
 
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Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
Surely it's more like Regent Square to Plum, right?
Yeah it seems like Plum is the only decent suburb/school district left in eastern Allegheny County.
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:45 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,491 posts, read 1,445,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
Surely it's more like Regent Square to Plum, right?
Edgewood, Churchill, forest hills are all fine, even a lot of swissvale is fine. Most of the east suburbs is not much like turtle creek at all really.
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:48 AM
 
79 posts, read 84,276 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jea6321 View Post
Edgewood, Churchill, forest hills are all fine, even a lot of swissvale is fine. Most of the east suburbs is not much like turtle creek at all really.
Yeah I mean it depends on how you look at it, parts of Monroeville, Penn Hills, Churchill Forest Hills, and Wilkins Township are fine, but it seems like the school districts have gone downhill from what I hear and you would mix with kids from the worse neighborhoods, especially the latter ones.
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,858,085 times
Reputation: 12390
Quote:
Originally Posted by jea6321 View Post
Edgewood, Churchill, forest hills are all fine, even a lot of swissvale is fine. Most of the east suburbs is not much like turtle creek at all really.
I wasn't necessarily agreeing, just saying that going so far as to say everything was bad from Shadyside to Murrysville was a bit excessive.

I am bullish on the longer-term upside potential of Swissvale and even Wilkinsburg. I don't know if any municipalities to the east of that band really has hope for anything better than a slow decline in population and relative wealth.
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:59 AM
 
79 posts, read 84,276 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
I wasn't necessarily agreeing, just saying that going so far as to say everything was bad from Shadyside to Murrysville was a bit excessive.

I am bullish on the longer-term upside potential of Swissvale and even Wilkinsburg. I don't know if any municipalities to the east of that band really has hope for anything better than a slow decline in population and relative wealth.
Plum is still building many new houses, more than Murrysville now.
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Old 08-27-2018, 12:01 PM
 
Location: Pixburgh
1,214 posts, read 1,447,438 times
Reputation: 1380
Quote:
Originally Posted by jea6321 View Post
Edgewood, Churchill, forest hills are all fine, even a lot of swissvale is fine. Most of the east suburbs is not much like turtle creek at all really.
Yup young families are flocking to get their kids in Woodland Hills.
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