| This is an old town for Mon Valley standards. It was incorporated in 1834 as a borough and had a population of 1,120 in 1850. Elizabeth maxed its population in 1940 at just under 3,000. Currently the Borough retains about half of its population, not terrible for a Mon Valley community as most have lost 66%. Early Elizabeth specialized in glass making, steamboat building, and ship building. The center of Elizabeth has seen a fair amount of reinvestment with repurposed buildings and an attractive streetscape on 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Also some nicely preserved mid-late 19th century housing just SW of Dwtn. To become a viable urban place Elizabeth needs more stores and revitalized buildings, bike infrastructure, at least a couple walkable schools within the borough limits, and better parks. |
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Great tree cover and a fair amount of street trees as well. * Good connectivity with gridded streets. * Good economic diversity here with a slightly above average poverty rate. * Population skews old but high percentage of family households (60%). * Decent mix of for-sale housing 30K and the upper 100Ks, but certainly skews lower market. * Pretty good neighborhood amenities including a post office, a drug store, dollar general, bakery, florist, a supermarket on the edge of town, and some nice boutiques and local stores. * While there is some blight in the industrial waterfront and residential areas, not bad for the Mon valley. This seems like a pretty safe place. * Excellent streetscape in Elizabeth’s modest dwtn. Good urban form as well helped by its mid-late 19th century fabric. * Attractive historic buildings especially in the center of town. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Low density. * No bike infrastructure. * Decent access to Oakland & Downtown Pittsburgh as they are only a 30-40 minute drive. But public transit access is pretty limited. * Not very racially diverse at the population is about 90% White. * Rentals are limited but inexpensive. * 3 modest parks exist in Elizabeth. None of them are spectacular. * Cultural amenities include two community theaters and a handful of restaurants, cafes, and bars. * No schools located within the borough all out in the outskirts. * Really no modern in-fill here. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 