| In the early 19th century, Greensburg had very little growth in population. After 1850, Greensburg became a growing county seat with inns and small businesses. By 1870 it had 1,600 residents. The railroad and discovery of large areas coal reserves nearby added commerce and residents during the turn of the 20th century. Its population reached 6,500 in 1900 and doubled a decade later. Like most western PA towns Greensburg entered into decline after WWII but much less severe than other comparable cities due to its location as County seat and annexing a significant amount of its suburban growth. By the mid-1990s, city officials shifted revitalization plans to the cultural aspects of Downtown leading to projects like the Palace Theater and historic Train Station, as well the new Seton Hill performing arts. New businesses are filling many historic storefronts in Downtown Greensburg (especially along Main and Pennsylvania Avenues). There area certainly plenty of areas Greensburg can improve from an urban perspective. First of all it has a very low population density making vibrancy and walkability more challenging. Its commercial district become mostly auto centric outside 1/2 mile of Dwtn, even if the surrounding neighborhoods were built before WWII. ADA and Bike infrastructure is certainly wanting and racial diversity is limited. Similar to Latrobe, an increase in immigration would provide many urban benefits to Greensburg. |
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Good economic, and generational diversity. * Generally a pretty same community although certainly a fair amount of blight, but not widespread vacancy in Greensburg. * Nice amount of rental product that is generally affordable. * Some excellent historic architecture, especially Downtown and in the more affluent north and east side neighborhoods. * Solid tree cover. * Several nice parks including St. Clair Park, the County Courthouse Plaza, Coulter Playground, Grove St. Park, and expensive grounds at Seton Hill, and Lynch Park (located just outside the city but close to Dwtn). * Some nice cultural amenities here including: the Palace Theater, Greenfield Civic Theater, A Performing Arts Center, an Art Museum, decent amount of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several art galleries, and cultural offerings of Seton Hill. * Decent neighborhood amenities including several supermarkets & Pharmacies, a Dwtn library and post office, Ollies bargain store, a hardware store, and plenty of boutiques, local clothing stores, antiques, banks, & jewelers in the Dwtn area. A full service hospital is located on the Westside of town. * Good array of walkable schools including a Catholic elementary and high school along with a several public grade schools and a middle school. The Public high School is on the outskirts of town. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Decent ADA and sidewalk infrastructure. Some areas with missing or crummy sidewalks and modern ADA curb cuts is about 50% of all intersections. * Decent public transit access in Dwtn and surrounding streets, but this drops off pretty quickly as one moves away from Dwtn. * Nice recreational trail on the eastern side of Dwtn connecting to Youngwood. Other than this, bike infrastructure is limited. * For sale housing is plentiful but generally pretty affordable. Also generally just SF options. Housing prices range from 50K-250K with more stable housing in the north and east sides of town. * Solid walkability and urban form in the Dwtn area and on commercial streets extending about 1/2 out. Beyond this, the biz district become very autocentric and run down. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 