Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 10-29-2018, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,861,447 times
Reputation: 12390

Advertisements

West View is an inner suburb in the North Hills region of Allegheny County. It is completely surrounded by Ross Township. Like many boroughs in the area, it is relatively small, at almost exactly one square mile.

West View was incorporated out of portions of Ross in 1905. While the local historical society has an active Facebook page and Flickr account there appears to be no central narrative of the borough's history which can be drawn upon. The name West View seems to have come from a local post office, which I find first record of from 1882, though the actual location was much closer into the city than West View is today.

During West View's early boom - which had peaked by the end of the 1930s - it was a stereotypical streetcar suburb. The biggest local destination by far was West View Park - an amusement park similar to Kennywood which was transit-accessible by the city. The park continued to operate through to 1977. The land on which it was located is now mostly filled up by a shopping center.

West View continued to grow - albeit slowly - in the postwar era, with its population climbing to a peak of a bit over 8,300 in the 1970 census. Since then the population has mostly trended downward - mostly due to declining household size - and is current estimated at about 6,600.

West View today has basically three lobes - different residential neighborhoods which originally fanned out around West View Park. All three of them are dominated by prewar built fabric with the occasional postwar cul-de-sac mixed in. The northern lobe also has most of the commercial development in West View. The business district is an odd mix of autocentric and neighborhood elements, though there's a charming section along Perry Highway.

West View is a solid, stable area to consider living if you wish to be close to the city and buy a home on a relatively thin budget (most homes seem to be between $100,000 and $200,000). But I think it has limited upside potential for the future. Real estate prices are still too low to warrant infill - and without infill it's unlikely that the local business district will ever reach its full potential. Admittedly though I am not a North Hills expert, so someone else should feel free to chime in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-29-2018, 12:42 PM
 
2,518 posts, read 2,071,190 times
Reputation: 2276
Good one (as always) and one close to me as a former resident. I remember reading somewhere it got its name from the view to the west from Towers Terrace but who knows. I moved there with my mother when I was pretty young, the park had just closed. Most everybody I knew from childhood have stories of sneaking into the park and exploring the attractions. I remember the razing of the last coaster after somebody had set it on fire. Coaster cars sat out in the open on a hillside above the park for many years in between the park closing and the opening of the plaza. I always wonder what happened to them. The Rolling Stones were one of many acts to play at the park, my mother was lucky enough to see them there when Brian Jones was still alive. The former country club grounds is now a housing community but when I was a kid it was a busy place where people spent time year round. The decision to demolish the Reel house that was attached to the country club was terrible IMO, one of the oldest surviving homes in the area now gone. At least the developers recognized the Reel burial on the grounds and left it be. Edit to add link, this was the Reel house I mentioned earlier. I had the occasion to explore it when a friend of mine was employed by the club and took me on a tour.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/westvi...ry/9905347334/

Last edited by norcider; 10-29-2018 at 01:08 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-29-2018, 02:02 PM
 
1,524 posts, read 1,291,939 times
Reputation: 1361
I like West View a lot. It has a charming walkable business district, which is uncommon for our suburbs. The homes tend to be older and charming and are generally between $100K and $200K like you said. However, there are at least two exceptions that I know of. Wellington Heights is a beautiful community of pre-WW2 brick and stone Colonials and Tudors that generally sell for between $225K and $350K. It is basically a smaller version of the North Hills Estates in Ross Township. And there is a community of homes built around 1980 called Hidden Valley. I think they sell for around $300K.

I coincidentally just shared this picture of the town clock on Flickr.




Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-29-2018, 06:40 PM
 
4 posts, read 4,550 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
West View is an inner suburb in the North Hills region of Allegheny County. It is completely surrounded by Ross Township. Like many boroughs in the area, it is relatively small, at almost exactly one square mile.

West View was incorporated out of portions of Ross in 1905. While the local historical society has an active Facebook page and Flickr account there appears to be no central narrative of the borough's history which can be drawn upon. The name West View seems to have come from a local post office, which I find first record of from 1882, though the actual location was much closer into the city than West View is today.

During West View's early boom - which had peaked by the end of the 1930s - it was a stereotypical streetcar suburb. The biggest local destination by far was West View Park - an amusement park similar to Kennywood which was transit-accessible by the city. The park continued to operate through to 1977. The land on which it was located is now mostly filled up by a shopping center.

West View continued to grow - albeit slowly - in the postwar era, with its population climbing to a peak of a bit over 8,300 in the 1970 census. Since then the population has mostly trended downward - mostly due to declining household size - and is current estimated at about 6,600.

West View today has basically three lobes - different residential neighborhoods which originally fanned out around West View Park. All three of them are dominated by prewar built fabric with the occasional postwar cul-de-sac mixed in. The northern lobe also has most of the commercial development in West View. The business district is an odd mix of autocentric and neighborhood elements, though there's a charming section along Perry Highway.

West View is a solid, stable area to consider living if you wish to be close to the city and buy a home on a relatively thin budget (most homes seem to be between $100,000 and $200,000). But I think it has limited upside potential for the future. Real estate prices are still too low to warrant infill - and without infill it's unlikely that the local business district will ever reach its full potential. Admittedly though I am not a North Hills expert, so someone else should feel free to chime in.
I think like you said West View is still a decent low-priced area if you like to be near the city but not in. I think it will have limited potential for growth in the future though. The area of Ross right outside it I think is doing well with the new Ryan plan on the old Highland Country Club. That may give the area a little bit of potential though. Its businesses are mostly fast-food restaurants and the West View Park Plaza which feature a Giant Eagle and Kmart (one the last remaining ones) as anchors. If Kmart goes under, the plaza may be in for a reboot to be upgraded.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top