Aliquippa is the largest city in Beaver County. The City was formerly the location of a large Native American trading center but was arbitrarily named Aliquippa as one of several Indian names selected by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad in 1878 for stations along its route. Aliquippa is best known as the location of a high producing steel mill constructed by Jones and Laughlin Steel Company in 1905. Employment at the facility maxed out at 27,023 in 1940. The mill closed in 1984 during the collapse of the steel industry. but the City’s population had been declining since its peak in the 1930s (27K). Aliquippa’s population now sits at just 9,000 but fortunately the population decrease is showing signs of slowing as the City only lost 200 people between 2010 and 2020.
Aliquippa used to have a bustling main street along Franklin Avenue with several impressive mid-sized building. To date only a handful of these buildings remain and most commercial activity has moved to the City’s western edge along the auto centric Broad & Sheffield Streets. Aliquippa’s most intact blocks are along the western 1/3 of the City with the most abandonded parts of the City located north and east of Franklin Avenue. Hard to know where to start with revitalizing Aliquippa given the lack of economic opportunities in the City and larger Beaver County area. Stabilizing the blight is likely step 1, which seems to be happening somewhat with the City’s slowed population decline. Stabilizing the remaining historic buildings on Franklin Ave is certainly crucial to bringing back vitality here. I would also like to seem some urban design improvements to the very auto centric Broad and Sheffield Streets. Broad needs sidewalks and buildings along Sheffield should be built up to the sidewalk (which exist here). Hispanics seems to be slowly moving to the area. Immigration should certainly be encouraged as it is the best path to revitalizing the City.
Click here to view my Aliquippa, PA album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
- Some decent park space including several sports fields, a playground, and cemetery.* Good tree canopy thanks to all the hillsides and vacant lots. Street trees are hit or missing on residential streets.
- Good racial diversity as 1/2 the population is White, 1/3 Black and 3% Hispanic.
- Some retail amenities but focused on autocentric Broad & Sheffield. This includes an Aldi’s, a couple dollar generals, a couple drug stores, several banks, a couple boutiques and salons, plenty of churches, and a handful of medical offices. Still a public library, historic post office, and pharmacy along Franklin Ave.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Broad, the biz district along the western edge of Aliquippa, is very auto centric and lacks sidewalks.
* Poor density for an urban area thanks to the hilly terrain and many abandonded parts of the City.
* ADA appropriate infrastructure is limited to just the historic Business Core on Franklin Ave.
* Located about 30 miles from Dwtn Pittsburgh. Commuting by car isn’t terrible (40 mins) but you are located at 1 hr-1.5 hrs. by bus. Biking is not really a viable option.
* No bike infrastructure.
* Poverty is widespread here including about 1/3 of the residents and medium income is only 37K. Some higher incomes though.
* Population is aging and is 6 years above the PA median age which is already very high.
* A good number of schools in Aliquippa but most are poorly rated or small private schools.
* Housing is very cheap in Aliquippa and the rougher parts of the City especially east and north of Franklin Ave have few homes selling more than 50K. For sale housing in the more stable parts of Aliquippa range anywhere from 50K-200K depending on size & condition.
* Rentals are generally limited to 3 & 4 bedroom units but are pretty affordable.
* Cultural amenities limited to a handful of restaurants (many of them fast food along Broad & Sheffield) and bars.
* Lots of blight and abandonment but doesn’t appear that Aliquippa has a terrible crime problem.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 