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Wilkins Township is a relatively small (2.75 square mile) suburban township located to the east of Pittsburgh. It borders Penn Hills, Monroeville, Turtle Creek, Chalfant, Forest Hills, and Churchill.
Wilkins Township is technically one of the oldest municipalities in Allegheny County, established out of the eastern part of (now defunct) Pitt Township in 1821. The township in this early era however was much larger - 34.5 square miles - and stretched from the Allegheny to the Monongahela, and from the City of Pittsburgh to Westmoreland County.
Over time many boroughs and other townships formed out of portions of old Wilkins Township. The first of these was old McNair Township in 1850, which later became Penn Township, and is now Penn Hills. Braddock left on its own way in 1867. In 1879 a portion formed Sterrett Township, which soon thereafter joined the City of Pittsburgh. By 1855 a "Braddock Township" broke off - which later broke up to include Swissvale, North Braddock, Rankin, and several other communities. Wilkinsburg followed two years after that. Turtle Creek left on its own merry way in 1892, and East Pittsburg in 1895. Chalfant broke away in 1914, then Forest Hills in 1918. Finally, with Churchill incorporating in 1934, Wilkins reached its current - reduced state.
Wilkins Township is a safe suburban area, and it is developing, like much of the eastern suburbs, into more of a racially mixed area, with the black population climbing from 5% in 2000 to about 15% today. While not a troubled community by any means, the Woodland Hills School District scares many homeowners away - and keeps property taxes high - which depresses local property values considerably. Like many other suburban communities in the Pittsburgh area it suffers from a lack of traits which appeal to either the stereotypical suburbanites or people who want an "urban experience" making any path forward for the Township difficult to see.
That "typical Pittsburgh suburbia" view looks nice. The sidewalks are atypical for Pittsburgh suburbia though the architecture is typical upper-middle class. Do most of Wilkins' suburban neighborhoods have sidewalks like that? Does the business district have sidewalks?
The only piece of Route 22 that I think can be called a "business district" would be the stretch from the parkway exit ramp to the bridge over the railroad. As mentioned in Eschaton's post, there are some big box stores and strip plazas. There are no sidewalks that I'm aware of, and it would be dangerous to walk along route 22 even if there were. Penn Center has sidewalks, but I don't know if that's part of Wilkins. I think there might be sidewalks going around each office building in Penn Center, but they are kind of useless since the whole complex sits in the middle of parking lots.
That "typical Pittsburgh suburbia" view looks nice. The sidewalks are atypical for Pittsburgh suburbia though the architecture is typical upper-middle class. Do most of Wilkins' suburban neighborhoods have sidewalks like that? Does the business district have sidewalks?
A quick look around shows sidewalks are not universal.
Wilkins is in a good location with a ton of shopping and close to the East End. The school is a mess, but not everyone needs a good school.
Nice writeup. I never really knew the boundaries of that place. I always see signs, "Wilkins Twp" and it just seems to blend with Monroeville.
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