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.
My sleepy little Brookline is changing, but its not the type of change that happened in other parts of the city though. It's not going the way of young hip (not hipster, as that is not a definable thing) people, but rather more of an aged out of Lawrenceville/South Side but not ready for full on suburbs yet kinda vibe. Seems to be taking on a more downtown worker/Subaru driving Regent Square-lite vibe. Granted it is a huge neighborhood so there is plenty of yinz hanging on, but there are a lot more strollers and younger couples with dogs these days, and the bus rider demographic has shifted dramatically in the past few years with a trend to younger professionals than almost retirees that had it been in the past.
I should just say that this is what I've noticed in Morningside, which is also far from hip. Every year, there's less old Italians and yinzers, and more Highland-Park like 30 something liberals with dogs and/or small children. Real estate prices have jumped through the roof as well over the last five years I've lived here. If only it actually led to a few more businesses I actually wanted to utilize in the business district. Though we're supposed to finally get another coffeeshop again whenever their permitting clears with the county. Still, it says something when friggin Etna has more interesting businesses opening up than your neighborhood.
Real estate prices have jumped through the roof as well over the last five years I've lived here. If only it actually led to a few more businesses I actually wanted to utilize in the business district. Though we're supposed to finally get another coffeeshop again whenever their permitting clears with the county. Still, it says something when friggin Etna has more interesting businesses opening up than your neighborhood.
Sounds like a carbon copy of Polish Hill. Housing prices rising quickly. Very underwhelming business district. Makes me think fewer people "in real life" actually care about living in a "walkable neighborhood" than this forum would lead you to believe.
Sounds like a carbon copy of Polish Hill. Housing prices rising quickly. Very underwhelming business district. Makes me think fewer people "in real life" actually care about living in a "walkable neighborhood" than this forum would lead you to believe.
There's a lot in the business district, it just mostly sucks.
A current rundown:
Businesses we sometimes frequent:
Bulldog Pub: Our only neighborhood bar. It has a nice outdoor seating area, and a nice vibe, but the food is just atrocious.
Cut & Sew Studio/Firecracker Fabrics: A combination sewing class studio and fabric store. My wife goes here about once a month.
Rite-Aid: Says something when this is one of your top neighborhood amenities.
Businesses we never go to:
Local pizza shop, tanning salon, sketchy independent convenience store, photography studio, private "Italian club," VFW, barbershop, senior center, daycare, church, law office, auto mechanic, dentist, doctor's office, physical therapist, magistrate judge's office, the two realtors, and the eye-popping four different women's hair salons.
There's between 5-10 empty storefronts as well, so plenty of room for additional businesses without displacing what is there already.
Thankfully, we're far enough south in Morningside that it doesn't take any longer to walk to Bryant Street, which is a much more functional business district, even if it's small.
You can still buy homes a block or two off Warrington for under $50,000. Not homes in good shape mind you, but you couldn't buy homes in good shape in Lawrenceville for that price back in 2007 either. The only really high-priced part of Allentown are a few blocks in the far north (mostly off of Arlington Avenue) where the views command high prices. There's even an entire new mini-subdivision up there.
Allentown's crowd is much more "metal" because the local coffeeshop which formerly hosted shows (Black Forge) is run by metalheads. As is the vegan restaurant, Onion Maiden, though they also seem to be into punk. Overall it seems much more like a logical evolution of the old 90s scene which was in South Side, rather than the much more "twee" scene that peaked in Lawrenceville around ten years ago.
But yeah, Allentown's housing stock sucks. I've referred to it in the past as a blighted Bloomfield on a hill, which I think is accurate. But a lot of the people who are utilizing the neighborhood businesses are too young to seriously be in the market for a house anyway. The RE360 guy has been buying up the neighborhood, fixing up both blighted residential and commercial properties. Presumably he's hoping that if the neighborhood business district becomes hip enough, more punks rather than random poor people will rent his residential portfolio, allowing him to slowly raise the rent. There are downscale blocks of Mt. Washington very close to Allentown with great bones however.
LIke this house is amazing but not sure I want to live there.
I should just say that this is what I've noticed in Morningside, which is also far from hip. Every year, there's less old Italians and yinzers, and more Highland-Park like 30 something liberals with dogs and/or small children. Real estate prices have jumped through the roof as well over the last five years I've lived here. If only it actually led to a few more businesses I actually wanted to utilize in the business district. Though we're supposed to finally get another coffeeshop again whenever their permitting clears with the county. Still, it says something when friggin Etna has more interesting businesses opening up than your neighborhood.
I think the business districts will change eventually, and I know Brookline has a new community group that is trying to move the needle, but it is just hard to do. Lack of investment by landlords of the businesses and a lot of them are not equipped for what people want today, like restaurants. Revamping a building to make it house a modern restaurant is not cheap, so it likely wont happen. Luckily Brookline has a solid base of actual things you need daily, just needs some more establishments that people use less frequently like restaurants/bars and specialty shops. The women's fitness and health studio and shop is doing really well which is great to see and Thrive on Health is also doing good business.
There's basically two or three different kinds of gentrification, IMHO.
1. Gentrification driven by young "artsy" people looking for cheap rent in convenient areas with amenities. These sort of people don't really care so much about "neighborhood charm," but want functional business districts with walkable amenities and access to transit. This is Lawrenceville.
3. Developer-led gentrification is basically where there's a concerted effort by a city, organization, or a group of private individuals to lift an area directly from a non-residential area (or a ghetto) straight into yuppie central without really even stopping anywhere on the "hipster" spectrum. East Liberty is a pretty classic example of this, because ELDI (a community group which was run by the local businesses/landlords, rather than the local residents) set out to reduce crime and increase property through actively encouraging new development - at least in the southern, formerly non-residential portion of the neighborhood.
For #1 - I'll actually go with Etna. There has to be spillover effect eventually due to our location (wedged between Millvale, Sharpsburg, and Lawrenceville), easy access to 28, fairly convenient access to shopping areas..
For #3 - Uptown, definitely. 100% Uptown.
The private surface lots on Fifth Ave are already for sale, are already being surveyed (spoke with one of the surveyors last week), BRT will attract more yuppies who work downtown or in Oakland, expansion of UPMC Mercy... Uptown is going to take off like a rocket.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
Though we're supposed to finally get another coffeeshop again whenever their permitting clears with the county. Still, it says something when friggin Etna has more interesting businesses opening up than your neighborhood.
Sounds like a carbon copy of Polish Hill. Housing prices rising quickly. Very underwhelming business district. Makes me think fewer people "in real life" actually care about living in a "walkable neighborhood" than this forum would lead you to believe.
Agree with “in real life”.
I don’t know anyone(friends and family), that don’t own a vehicle or care about being able to walk anywhere. They also don’t care about public transportation. If/when they want to go out and don’t want to drive, they Uber.
But yeah, Allentown's housing stock sucks. I've referred to it in the past as a blighted Bloomfield on a hill, which I think is accurate. But a lot of the people who are utilizing the neighborhood businesses are too young to seriously be in the market for a house anyway. The RE360 guy has been buying up the neighborhood, fixing up both blighted residential and commercial properties. Presumably he's hoping that if the neighborhood business district becomes hip enough, more punks rather than random poor people will rent his residential portfolio, allowing him to slowly raise the rent. There are downscale blocks of Mt. Washington very close to Allentown with great bones however.
Honestly, Knoxville and Mt Oliver have better housing stock than Allentown. But small lots make it hard to justify new building. A great deal more consolidation needs to happen before housing stock reduced to the point that the southern hilltop really gets better. Easier to turn around a half vacant area like lower hill than Allentown/Knoxville/mt Oliver/carrick.
For #1 - I'll actually go with Etna. There has to be spillover effect eventually due to our location (wedged between Millvale, Sharpsburg, and Lawrenceville), easy access to 28, fairly convenient access to shopping areas.
Etna is a little "behind" Sharpsburg and Milvale, but it seems to be on its way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyovan4
For #3 - Uptown, definitely. 100% Uptown.
The private surface lots on Fifth Ave are already for sale, are already being surveyed (spoke with one of the surveyors last week), BRT will attract more yuppies who work downtown or in Oakland, expansion of UPMC Mercy... Uptown is going to take off like a rocket.
Yeah, I'm surprised that no one has brought up Uptown yet. It's actually had a couple of smaller market-rate apartment buildings open up over the last decade. An unsung element too is the new upzoning of the neighborhood, which allows the construction of buildings of up to 180 feet in height. They totally eliminated parking minimums as well, meaning it's the only place in the city outside downtown you wouldn't have to build a garage attached to a building.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyovan4
Hey hey now
Heh, I thought that would get a rise out of you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyovan4
What businesses in Etna do you find interesting?
We just talked about it in the Etna thread. I dunno if I'd find them all personally interesting, but it's new business anyway - something that Morningside is very lacking in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyovan4
Where would the coffeeshop be?
Right where the last coffeeshop was. It closed unexpectedly two years ago. Basically they said they were going to be closed for a short period of time to undergo renovations in order to have a full-service kitchen, and they just never reopened.
The new store is being run by a pair of young women from Thailand, and will serve coffee and pastries. I actually think it might be technically under the same ownership, as one of the new owners works at the Thai restaurant in Regent Square (Thai Cottage) and I remember the owners of that business were the owners of the previous coffeeshop as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation
Honestly, Knoxville and Mt Oliver have better housing stock than Allentown. But small lots make it hard to justify new building. A great deal more consolidation needs to happen before housing stock reduced to the point that the southern hilltop really gets better. Easier to turn around a half vacant area like lower hill than Allentown/Knoxville/mt Oliver/carrick.
Knoxville actually has fantastic bones, but it's not going to turn around in time to save much of it. But I'm not sure I agree that we need to wait till an area "this out" due to blight before it can turn around. Areas which end up mostly vacant lots end up getting built out in a semi-suburban style - and almost never market rate. So even if they eventually stabilize, they don't really ever gentrify.
What the southern hilltop really needs is some lower-income immigrants. If Pittsburgh had a solid incoming stream of Mexicans, Hmong, or something else of that sort, they could basically fill the gap that was left by white abandonment in many of these neighborhoods. The Bhutanese played a limited role doing this in Carrick, but they're already suburbanizing into Brentwood.
Etna is a little "behind" Sharpsburg and Milvale, but it seems to be on its way.
Yeah, I'm surprised that no one has brought up Uptown yet. It's actually had a couple of smaller market-rate apartment buildings open up over the last decade. An unsung element too is the new upzoning of the neighborhood, which allows the construction of buildings of up to 180 feet in height. They totally eliminated parking minimums as well, meaning it's the only place in the city outside downtown you wouldn't have to build a garage attached to a building.
Heh, I thought that would get a rise out of you.
We just talked about it in the Etna thread. I dunno if I'd find them all personally interesting, but it's new business anyway - something that Morningside is very lacking in.
Right where the last coffeeshop was. It closed unexpectedly two years ago. Basically they said they were going to be closed for a short period of time to undergo renovations in order to have a full-service kitchen, and they just never reopened.
The new store is being run by a pair of young women from Thailand, and will serve coffee and pastries. I actually think it might be technically under the same ownership, as one of the new owners works at the Thai restaurant in Regent Square (Thai Cottage) and I remember the owners of that business were the owners of the previous coffeeshop as well.
Knoxville actually has fantastic bones, but it's not going to turn around in time to save much of it. But I'm not sure I agree that we need to wait till an area "this out" due to blight before it can turn around. Areas which end up mostly vacant lots end up getting built out in a semi-suburban style - and almost never market rate. So even if they eventually stabilize, they don't really ever gentrify.
What the southern hilltop really needs is some lower-income immigrants. If Pittsburgh had a solid incoming stream of Mexicans, Hmong, or something else of that sort, they could basically fill the gap that was left by white abandonment in many of these neighborhoods. The Bhutanese played a limited role doing this in Carrick, but they're already suburbanizing into Brentwood.
And Hispanic arrivals tend to head to Beechview dont they? Brookline has Las Palmas, but I am unsure of a large amount of residents.
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.
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.
