Is Bloomfield an open community (Pittsburgh, York: how much, school, gated)

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

You pretend to know all sorts of things quite well, thats the problem. The areas being discussed are areas in transition between a white area and a black area naturally there are going to be whites and blacks living together on "some blocks". But its pretty obvious this isn't an example of a mixed neighborhood.

As a resident of N. Point Breeze, it is not "obvious" to me at all that it isn't a truly mixed neighborhood. My African-American neighbors are of the same social class as my white neighbors, they live on the same block as my white neighbors, and race relations seem to be reasonably friendly. It's not "pretending to know something", it's my own personal experience after living here a year. If my goal was to "pretend to know things", I would have talked about how fabulously integrated Highland Park and Friendship are too.

And speaking of "pretending to know things"...at least I provided anecdotal evidence and a few newspaper articles to support my hypotheses. This is inadequate as a final measure of truth, of course, but it's something. Conversely, nothing in any of your posts about this topic make the truth of your opinion "obvious" to the reader. You haven't *said* anything about racial integration in N. Point Breeze other than that you don't think it exists, nor have you provided even so much as a single example to support that hypothesis.

If it is simply your opinion that it doesn't exist, fine. Then just say that. But you don't get to tack on insults about how your opponents often pretend to know things, nor do you get to claim that the truth of your hypothesis is "obvious". You haven't made a strong enough case for that kind of chest beating, and it just makes you look like a jackass.

And for the record, I never claimed that race relations in Pittsburgh were perfect, or that every neighborhood in Pittsburgh is totally integrated. All I ever claimed is that *my* particular neighborhood seems to be reasonably integrated, and that it might be a good place for an African-American who is looking for a neighborhood with racial diversity*. N. Point Breeze is a very small neighborhood, and can in no way be said to be representative of Pittsburgh as a whole.

If you want to discuss many of the non-diverse neighborhoods in town, we can do that. We could even start with the oft-mentioned Homewood as an interesting case. It used to be a neighborhood for fancy white people, and they all fled when the blacks started moving in. The white population is so afraid of that neighborhood now that they won't even enter N. Point Breeze from Penn because it *gasp* borders Homewood (the horror!). Conversely, I don't think the residents of Homewood feel particularly charitable towards whites either. The other day we had to drive to Race St. to pick up a utility sink that I purchased on Craigslist, and it seemed like every single person that we passed on the street turned around and gave us a look (and not a nice look either). It might have been my imagination, of course, but I definitely felt very unwelcome there. And that is definitely not how I feel living in N. Point Breeze. BTW, the border between the two neighborhoods became very obvious after driving around in Homewood for a while - it was like on one block it looked like a war zone with broken glass and boarded up buildings, then we crossed the tracks on Homewood St. and all of a sudden the sidewalks were clean and everyone's yard was manicured, etc. It was actually a little shocking that it was so obvious.

*Diversity in this case meaning 60/40 black/white or whatever the most recent figures say.

[Pgher4life]

I see humanoid is spreading around his love (again) for mankind! LOL!

[Humanoid]

As a resident of N. Point Breeze, it is not "obvious" to me at all that it isn't a truly mixed neighborhood.

That comment was not made to you, also I posted something that confirmed at least partially what you said about N. Point Breeze. I acknowledged that.

Personally I have much more experience with the Oakland, Bloomfield, Shadyside, SH etc area. I didn't spend much time east of SH/Shadyside/East Liberty. With the exception of Oakland I didn't find these areas mixed in any meaningful way. Although I'm skeptical of the claims about Point breeze, I'm also perfectly happy taking what you say as a true description of the area.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

That comment was not made to you, also I posted something that confirmed at least partially what you said about N. Point Breeze. I acknowledged that.

Personally I have much more experience with the Oakland, Bloomfield, Shadyside, SH etc area. I didn't spend much time east of SH/Shadyside/East Liberty. With the exception of Oakland I didn't find these areas mixed in any meaningful way. Although I'm skeptical of the claims about Point breeze, I'm also perfectly happy taking what you say as a true description of the area.

Here's the thing: all of North Point Breeze is one of those "transition zones" that you're talking about. NPB is only 4 blocks wide and it serves as a buffer zone between black Homewood and white Point Breeze. So saying all of North Point Breeze is mixed still isn't saying much. If NPB were 8 or 12 blocks wide instead of 4 blocks wide, I doubt it would be able to smugly wear its "racial diversity" on its sleeve.

[SJL]

My son is moving to Bloomfield within the week. I grew up in Pgh, in the South Hills. I don't think I have ever been to Bloomfield, but I know where it is. It sounds really great - the history, the housing, the restaurants. He's hoping to get a job in Oakland, maybe at Pitt. The area where he will be living is just off Penn Ave, on Winebiddle (I think that's the name). So, my questions are:

Is the area safe?
Is that "Friendship Park" behind West Penn Hospital a nice park?
Where are the really good restaurants?
Is bus service good between that area & Oakland?

Thanks

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by SJL

My son is moving to Bloomfield within the week. I grew up in Pgh, in the South Hills. I don't think I have ever been to Bloomfield, but I know where it is. It sounds really great - the history, the housing, the restaurants. He's hoping to get a job in Oakland, maybe at Pitt. The area where he will be living is just off Penn Ave, on Winebiddle (I think that's the name). So, my questions are:

Is the area safe?
Is that "Friendship Park" behind West Penn Hospital a nice park?
Where are the really good restaurants?
Is bus service good between that area & Oakland?

Thanks

The Bloomfield neighborhood is one of my top choices to move to when I make the move to Pittsburgh within a year. Though I don't live in the city just yet, though close by, I am familiar with it. So, I'll answer the two questions I can. The neighborhood is a generally safe one, and the bus service is decent. Your son shouldn't have to drive very often living in Bloomfield and hopefully working in Oakland.

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by subdivisions

I have never heard anyone call the Pittsburgh portion of Pennysylvania "Pennsyltucky". In fact, usually that term is specifically reserved for areas outside the major metropolitan areas.

I had never heard that particular idiotic phrase until I made the fateful decision to join this forum. It doesn't even make sense, given that Pennsylvania doesn't border Kentucky. Call it Westsylvania if you feel you have to look down on poor white people. At least there's history behind that name.

I have been here for months laboring under the impression that Subdivisions was a black man.

[Katarina Witt]

I heard the term Pennsyltucky as a young girl, which was many eons ago. It's been around, suffice it to say.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

LMAO, Evergrey, I am with you man. I am just sticking with SSP. Just read this thread. LOL.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by SJL

My son is moving to Bloomfield within the week. I grew up in Pgh, in the South Hills. I don't think I have ever been to Bloomfield, but I know where it is. It sounds really great - the history, the housing, the restaurants. He's hoping to get a job in Oakland, maybe at Pitt. The area where he will be living is just off Penn Ave, on Winebiddle (I think that's the name). So, my questions are:

Is the area safe?
Is that "Friendship Park" behind West Penn Hospital a nice park?
Where are the really good restaurants?
Is bus service good between that area & Oakland?

Thanks

SJL, Bloomfield would be perfect for your son. It is a safe area. It is a urban area, so of course you will still have to be smart that way. Bloomfield has many good restaurants down Liberty and main st. Bus service is also good for Oakland. Just go to google and type in "PAT" and you will see the busses for that area. Friendship park, and the Friendship neighborhood are nice.