Author: Joseph Wingenfeld

I am an urbanist with a passion for neighborhood level initiatives including community development, business district planning, affordable housing creation, historic preservation, and improvement of the urban environment. Geographically, my experience and interest is "Rust Belt" oriented with a focus in cities across the Mid-West and East-coast with historically manufactured based economies.

Hershey, PA- Home to the Famous Chocolate Company and now a Sattelite Suburb of Harrisburg

I only included the walkable core of Hershey in this evaluation which is generally bound by Hockersville Rd to the west, Homestead to the east, Governor Rd to the south and the railroad tracks to the north. in the center and eastern parts of Derry Township

The town was founded by Hershey in 1903 for the company’s workers, and their homes had modern amenities. The town, however, has remained unincorporated and has always technically been part of Derry Township. The purpose of Hershey was to create a utopian worker town in a bucolic setting. This utopia however was shattered in 1937 with a strike and occupation at the chocolate factory, which ended violently when some strikers were severely beaten by a rally loyal to the company. Hershey did recover from this traumatic event and continued to grow and open up the amusement park to general visitors (as opposed to only Hershey Employees).

The core of Hershey is a decent urban environment with a small main street along Chocolate Ave, with the recent construction of Hershey Towne Square as a decent walkable shopping area. Lots of idyllic early 20th century single family American homes that have been well kept and retain their values. Hershey also has good suburb amenities including great parks, a rec center, quality schools, and safety. With the urbanization of its Downtown area, Hershey now has good retail and cultural amenities. For Hershey to become a better urban and walkable environment it needs better public transit and bike amenities, more apartment buildings, much more density and more urban infill and the conversion of 422 into a functional urban corridor.

Click here to view my Hershey album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

  • Access to Dwtn Harrisburg isn’t great from Hershey but a good number of jobs in Hershey isn’t albeit not with great public transit access.
  • Pretty good ADA and sidewalk infrastructure. Sidewalks are consistent. ADA curb cuts are consistent along the biz district but exist on about 1/2 of all residential intersections.
  • Excellent schools in Hershey, which isn’t a surprise as this was a major priority of Milton Hershey and his legacy. All schools are located just southeast of the Hershey core, so walkable to many residents. The Milton Hershey Boarding school is also here, which provides free education to around 2K orphans.
  • Hershey is a very safe community with limited blight.
  • For sale housing is on the high side but decent diversity with a fair # of 2-bed condos/townhouses selling btwn 150K-500K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 300K and 800K with some mansions selling the low to made 1Ms.
  • Good but not great tree cover in Hershey.
  • Attractive historic homes in Hershey but not spectacular. Several historic institutions with grand architecture but few historic commercial building. Recently decent urban downtown in-fill has been constructed but still a decent amount of auto centric uses.
  • Great parks in Hershey including a large rec center, which is surrounded by extensive parks amenities (playground, tennis courts, ballfields), and a nice dwtn plaza (Chocolate town Park). Also extensive recreational spaces just outside of the Hershey core (Hershey Zoo, Hershey Gardens, Founders Park, Hershey Country Club, and Hershey Theme Park).
  • Much of Hershey’s cultural amenities are located on the edge of town requiring a car but a good array of restaurants, bars, cafes, the Hershey Story Museum, the Historic Hershey Theater, and a couple brew pubs).
  • Also decent retail amenities including a supermarket, Fresh Market (includes many local shops and farmer’s market vendors), a couple drug stores, several boutiques & gift shops, several banks, a couple florists, several dessert spots & a couple gyms, plenty of churches, a central post office and public library just on the edge of town, a couple doctor’s office and a major hospital sits on the south eastern edge of town.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Public transit is pretty limited in Hershey.
  • Not great density for an urban area.
  • Some dedicated bike lanes in Hershey but they don’t connect to Dwtn Hershey nor Harrisburg.
  • Rental product is moderately priced but just not a lot of it as few apartments exist in the center city.
  • Historically Hershey’s urban form and streetscaping has been pretty autocentric along 422 (the main thoroughfare going through Dwtn) but there has been some recent improvements to the Downtown core with new streetscaping and decent in-fill buildings along Chocolate Ave. Quality urban form does start to drop off along 422 outside of this core.”

Harrisburg’s Uptown District- a turn of the 20th Century District with Good Urban Bones Experiencing a Resurgence

The Uptown neighborhood began as a natural outgrowth of Harrisburg in the late 19th century as the wealthy built homes away from the congestion and pollution of the central City. The oldest parts of the district are located in its southern border near MacClay St where most of the homes are typical east coast rowhouses (except the detached mansions near the river). As one travels northward in Uptown the typology transition to lower density with more single family and duplexes. This transition turns completely to single family homes once you reach Italian Park, a wonderful urban park centered on a large manmade pond. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 caused significant flooding and damage to Uptown and created a great wealth divide in the neighborhood. Areas west of 4th avenue and north of Italian Park maintained their wealth and stability but blocks east of 4th Avenue where more working housing was construction and industrial uses were concentrated slipped into poverty and disinvestment. It is not until recent decades that blighted blocks  have begun to recover and there is still a lot of reinvestment needed in Uptown.

Uptown has good urban bones especially south of Italian Park with its rowhouse and gridded urban fabric. Sadly due to the disinvestment of the neighborhood and lack of a cohesive urban business district, Uptown really lacks retail and cultural amenities. Uptown hosts a lot of attractive housing that is relatively affordable and decent amount of rental stock. The neighborhood also hosts quality park amenities but could use more dedicated bike paths. What Uptown needs is more investment, especially mixed-use development east of 4th Avenue. This would go a long way in returning this district into the vibrant walkable community it historically was.

Click here to view my Uptown album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Very convenient access to Dwtn. Only a 5-10 min drive, 10 min bike ride, and 20 minute bus ride.
* Great connectivity thanks to a grid and small blocks.
* Nice recreational drive and dedicated bike lane along the river but not much else from a bike infrastructure standpoint.
* Great economic and racial diversity .
* Really no 1-bed condos. For-sale housing is rather inexpensive especially considering this is an east coast City. Plenty of 2-bed rowhouses that sell anywhere from 50K-250, 3 & 4 beds sell between 60K-350. Some of the larger mansions sell around 500K.
* Decent number of rentals but also on the affordable side. Lots of 2 & 3 beds generally leasing in the low to mid 1Ks. But limited studio and 1-bed apartments. Good amount of dedicated affordable housing here.
* Decent parks including the charming Italian Park with its man made pond, recreation trail and sports fields; 7th & Randor Sports Park, a couple playgrounds, and the recreational trail along the Susquehanna River.
* Good tree canopy but certainly disparities between the wealth and poorer pockets of the neighborhood.
* ADA infrastructure is good in parts of Uptown especially closer to the Dwtn. The northern edge of the district often lacks curb cuts all together but there are always sidewalks here.
* Lots of attractive historic houses especially  the single family homes along the river and around Italian Park. Lots of good rowhouses especially that ones that are well maintained.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Only one walkable public elementary school within Uptown and a bunch of small private schools. Also a couple decent public schools in the adjacent Midtown district which is walkable to some Uptown residents.
  • Public transit is certainly not as good as it should be for a pretty dense inner city neighborhood.
  • Safety is a mixed bag in Uptown depending on whether you live in the stable or poorer parts of the neighborhood. Lots of blighted housing and vacant lots east of 4th Street but the City has done a decent job implementing a clean and green strategy for the vacant lots.
  • There isn’t a strong business district in Uptown. Instead retail is often low end (think convenience and dollar stores) and generally spread out or located with the Uptown Plaza Strip Mall. Retail amenities including a Save a Lot, plenty of groceries, a couple pharmacies, a couple clothing stores, several salons and barber shops, a couple gyms, a local library and post office.
  • Cultural amenities is very limited in Uptown. Within the neighborhood there is an art gallery and a couple bars… that’s it! All the cultural amenities are located in the adjacent Midtown district, which is walkable to some Uptown residents.
  • In fill is limited to several quality in-fill rowhouse projects but also some unattractive auto centric strip malls and industrial uses along 7th Ave.
  • Buz in Uptown has been historically poor but seems to be improving.”

Ambridge, PA- originally an early 19th century Harmony Society Settlement, transformed into a Pittsburgh rivertown in the early 20th century

The Harmony Society first settled the area in the early 19th century, founding the village of “Ökonomie” or Economy in 1824. Although initially successful, accumulating significant landholdings, the sect went into decline. By the end of the 19th century, only a few Harmonists remained. Today, the site is a historic district under the “Preserve American Community” status and seventeen buildings have been carefully restored structures to what they would look like between 1824 and 1830. Plenty of other historic buildings from the Harmony Society build in the mid-late 19th century still stand as well.  The Harmony Society sold its vast real estate holdings in the late 19th century mostly to the American Bridge Company, who subsequently enlarged the town and incorporated it as Ambridge in 1905. Naturally being within the Pittsburgh orbit steel mills were built along the river and Ambridge witnessed a population boom fueled by  eastern and southern European immigrants. Ambridge became known for bridge building, metal molding, and the manufacture of tubes. Yet like most rivertowns around Pittsburgh, Ambridge has lost a significant amount of its peak population of 20K in 1930. Surprisingly Ambridge began seeing large population drops even before the 1960s as it lost almost all of its population by 1970. In recent decades population declines have slowed and Ambridge now hosts just below 7K. Somehow with a 65% population loss  Ambridge still retains most of its buildings and urban fabric. Most recently the Borough has seen an influx of Hispanic residents taking advantage of the community’s low housing costs.

Ambridge really has three separate business: Lower Merchant, which was developed around the turn of the 20th century, upper Merchant which contains many early to mid 19th century buildings that were part of Old Economy Village and a couple blocks of Duss Avenue in the Northeast quadrant of the Borough. Upper Merchant is the most stable of the 3 businesses district thanks to the tourism from Economy Village but Lower Merchant still hosts a good number of business given its sheer size. Duss Avenue has several restaurants, bars, and a couple dessert joints. There are really not any abandonded residential parts of Ambridge. Its either stable or gritty depending on the block. Hopefully Ambridge continues to attract Hispanic immigrants as that will go a long way to filling the many vacant store fronts along Lower Merchant. The Borough could also use more parks, better tree canopy, and a couple bike lanes. This is an urban community with good bones that could be a great river town with the right investment and population attraction.

Click here to view my Ambridge, PA album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Large and mostly intact business district along Merchant St, although a decent amount of vacancy here.
* Recent streetscaping improvements that includes making all intersection ADA compliant. About 50% of intersections on residential streets are ADA compliant.
* Solid connectivity and grid throughout most of the Borough.
* More of a working class town but decent economic diversity.
* Good # of 1, 2, & 3 beds. Very affordable rents.
* For sale housing is also very affordable with some 1-beds selling btwn 50K-120K, 2-beds btwn 50K-185K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 50K-200K.
* Decent cultural amenities including lots of restaurants, bars, & cafes. Also several breweries, a local theater company, and all the Old Economy Village Historic sites.
* Old Economy Village is extensive and preserve some really not early and mid 19th century building. The rest of Ambridge is pretty plain turn of the 19th  century architecture.
* Decent retail amenities including several small groceries, a couple drug stores and dollar stores, a hardware store, several bank branches, a book store, several boutiques and antique shops (mostly by Old Economy Village), a flower shop, several dessert joints, a couple gyms, a historic post office & library, a bike shops, tons of churches, and a handful of medical offices.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Dwtn is a 40 min drive and public transit is 45 minutes, not bad considering Ambridge is 20 miles away.
  • Decent but not great density. Some with transit access.
  • Bike infrastructure is non-existent.
  • Largely White population but decent Black population and the Hispanic community is growing.
  • Only the high school is located within Ambridge. Good size and decent ratings. Others schools one most drive to in surrounding communities.
  • Really no higher end housing options here. Everything is quite affordable.
  • Walter Panek and Ambridge Park are pretty large and multi-faceted but located on the northeast corner of the Borough and not walkable to most residents. The only other park space are the basketball courts at the high school.
  • Some safety concerns here and grittiness but not much abandonment except along the business districts of Merchant St and Duss Ave).
  • Modern in-fill is largely non-existent other than a handful of auto centric buildings.
  • Tree canopy is so so.”

Aliquippa, PA- Satelite City of Pittsburgh and largest City in Beaver County

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.

Crafton, PA- an Inner Ring Pittsburgh Suburb located along the West Busway

I included all of Crafton with the exception of a small part of the Idlewood neighborhood in the southwestern part of the Borough. Crafton is named after James  Craft, a frontier attorney who was granted land near the “forks of the Ohio” in present-day Oakland. His son divided up the track of land that became modern day Crafton and the town was incorporated as a Borough in 1892 and soon after linked to downtown Pittsburgh by trolley in 1896. Crafton had a population of 2K in 1900 and quickly grew in the early 20th century reaching 7K souls in 1940 and peaking at 8,400 in 1960. Population has shrunk modestly since then bottoming out at 6K in 2010 but the borough saw a small population gain between 2010-2020 and now sits at just above 6K people.

Crafton has managed to stay in-tact especially in its residential areas and has limited blight. Housing prices are pretty health with many homes selling in the 200ks & 300Ks. Crafton also has excellent access to Dwtn Pittsburgh with a 10-15 minute drive or trip on the bus way, which runs right through Dwtn. The Borough has also done an excellent job replacing curbs with modern ADA standards, has good park amenities and decent retail stores. What Crafton needs most to become a better urban area is the redevelopment and occupancy of its historic downtown area. There are many vacant retail spaces and surface parking lots that could easily be redeveloped with quality mixed-use infill given their close proximity to the West Busway. Crafton also needs better bike infrastructure, more 1-bed apartments, better racial diversity and more cultural amenities. Several new restaurants and breweries would go a long way towards sprucing up the Downtown area. New dwtn streetscaping would also greatly enliven dwtn. I would also love to see the Crafton Ingram Shopping Center, a strip mall equipped with a massive parking lot, redeveloped as a mixed-use urban shopping center. But I don’t see that happening any time soon!

Click here to view my Crafton, PA album on my Flickr page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Generally most intersections across the Borough have ADA compliant curb cuts. Some streets on the edges of the Borough don’t have sidewalks.
* Lots of attractive brick streets and a good mix of large and medium sized historic homes.
* Solid public transit thanks mostly to the busway stop.
 * Convenient access to Dwtn with only a 10-15 minute commute via public transit and driving. Driving to Oakland is about 20 mins but transit access is about 45 minutes.
* Excellent economic diversity with the medium household income tracking the state medium and good representation among all economic classes.
* Overall a safe community with limited blight.
* Tree canopy is generally good in the residential areas but sparse in the Dwtn area.
* Not many 1-beds but plenty of 2-beds that lease btwn 900-1.3K. Some 3-beds as well the lease in the mid-high 1ks.
* Very good for-sale housing diversity except for 1-bed condos. Good # of 2-beds that sell anywhere btwn 50K-300, 3 & 4 beds sell between 80K-350K.
* Good park amenities including the Crafton Creekside Trail running along Chartiers Creek and several medium sized parks, a couple of parkettes, along with an outdoor City pool.
* Decent retail amenities but much of them are located in the awful Crafton Ingram Shopping Center. Retail includes a supermarket, drug store, a busy beaver hardware store, a couple family dollars & drug stores, a handful of clothing and furniture stores, several salons & barber shops, a couple dessert spots and gyms, several banks, a local post office & public library, several churches, & a couple of medical offices.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Only a handful of attractive historic commercial buildings.
* Connectivity is out but the grid is very irregular including the Dwtn area.
 * Bike infrastructure is pretty much non-existent.
*Almost 90% White and generational diversity is so so.
* In fill is limited to a massive strip mall on the northern edge of the City and a couple other auto centric uses. No quality urban in-fill.
* Density is so so for an urban area.
* Cultural are lacking for the most part other than some restaurants & bars, and an art school & gallery.
* Only one elementary school is located within the Crafton Borough. All other schools are well rated but a 5 min drive from the Borough.
* A couple decent main street blocks Dwtn but the street grid is very chaotic and plenty of surface parking lots and autocentric uses in the Dwtn. The many shopping area is the Crafton Ingram Shopping Center which hosts a strip mall center by an oversized parking lot.
* Streetscaping is outdated (except for ADA curbs) with pretty narrow sidewalks.

Verona, PA- a curiously named portmanteau along the Allegheny River only 20 minutes from Dwtn Pittsburgh

I included most of Verona in this evaluation except the northern and western edges of the Borough where there is a significant amount of underutilized industrial space. Verona was named by creating a portmanteau of the Verner and Iona railroad stops along the Allegheny Valley Railroad. Like many Pittsburgh river towns Verona was formed along a river with railroad access in the late 19th century. Population reached 2K in 1900 and peaked at 4.4K in 1940. Verona is healthier than many Pittsburgh river towns but has still nearly lost half of its population and currently sites at 2,500 with population appearing to stabilize between 2010 and 2020.

One can see the Borough’s population lost with the numerous vacant lots sprinkled around the residential areas and business districts (Allegheny River Blvd and Railroad Ave). But the Borough has managed to mitigate the damage and a downward blight cycle by maintaining its vacant lots, redeveloping some for parks, and retaining a relatively cohesive urban fabric and population density. Verona also has good retail and food & beverage occupancy in its dwtn, good schools, decent parks & tree canopy, and affordable housing. Hopefully with Verona’s population stabilizing since 2010 and its quality amenities and relatively low crime values will increase enough for new construction filing in its vacant lots and commercial spaces with new homes and mixed-use buildings. I’d also like to see at least one bike lane cut across down, more cultural amenities & nightlife, more ADA compliant curbs, and more housing diversity. 

Click here to view my Verona Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good access to dwtn via driving (only 20 mins) but transit and biking is only so so.
* Pretty good income diversity but mostly working class households.
* Several average or good schools within Verona or in neighboring Oakmont.
* Rentals are pretty limited but affordable.
* Decent park amenities including two medium sized parks and a solid Dwtn park (Railroad Park).
* Solid tree canopy throughout.
* Decent but not great cultural amenities limited to a decent amount of food & beverage businesses.
* Pretty good retail stores including a supermarket, drug store, music store, a furniture store, a couple boutiques/clothing stores, a hardware store, several gyms & salons, a bike shop,  a couple banks, a dollar store, and several churches.
* A couple good urban blocks along Allegheny River Blvd and Railroad Ave but also plenty of surface parking lots and vacant lots. Streetscaping is pretty good though.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Decent amount of blight in Verona especially the small neighborhood along the river where many homes have actually been removed.
  • ADA compliant curbs are often missing. Missing sidewalks along the eastern edge of Verona and the streets along the river.
  • Pretty mediocre public transit access.
  • Bike Infrastructure is non-existent.
  • Not much for sale housing diversity but affordable. 2-beds sell btwn 50K-200K, 2 & 4 beds sell btwn 50K-250K. A handful of newer homes that sell in the mid-300Ks.
  • Not much modern in-fill and what does exist is either strip malls or industrial uses.”

Oakmont, PA- Pittsburgh Rivertown Suburb and Home to the World Famous Oakmont Country Club

I included most of Oakmont except the more suburban parts of the Borough east of 10th St and North of Hulton Rd (except the older streets between the river and 5th St).  Oakmont incorporated as a town in 1889. The settlement took its name from a landmark tree. Oakmont is most known for the Oakmont Country Club as the course hosted multiple US opens and has been consistently ranked in the top five courses of the world.

From an urbanist perspective Oakmont is a convenient historic rivertown suburb located only 20 minutes driving to Downtown Pittsburgh. The Borough hosts a decent main street along Allegheny River road, which has a railroad running through the center. The area between the river and Allegheny River Road was historically more industrial but this has changed with the ongoing  redevelopment of a major brownfield side into the new urbanist inspired River’s Edge project. East of the main street are the bulk of Oakmont’s housing stock with a mix of modest and larger historic homes from the first half other 20th century.

I consider Oakmont a viable urban place but there are several areas that need improvement including better ADA curbs, better public transit access, some assemblance of bike infrastructure, more 1-bed apartments, better parks, and redeveloping surface parking lots that remain along the main street.

Click here to view my Oakmont, PA album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Edgewater is a well designed new urbanized community along the river. The residential community ties in nicely to the historic neighborhood north of here.
* Decent access to Dwtn via car but not great bus service.
* Good public schools in Oakmont and walkable too. Just 2 of them. Another is in Verona, which is part of the same school district. Also a Catholic Grad school here.
* Good range of prices. Some 1-bed condos that sell in the 100Ks & 200Ks, 2-beds sell anywhere from 150K-300K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 150K- ~ 800K, but newer 3 & 4 bed housing in Edgewater  after sell btwn 1-2M.
* Overall a very safe community to reside.
* Good cultural amenities including lots of restaurants & bars, a historic movie theater, a local museum, and a couple live music venues.
* Also good retail amenities including an organic food market, a couple drug stores, plenty of boutiques, gift stores, and unique locally owned businesses, a hardware store, several gyms, plenty of dessert joints including the famous Oakmont Bakery, a book store,  a dwtn public library and post office, a couple medical offices, and lots of churches.
* Solid tree canopy.
* Some excellent larger historic single family homes mixed-in with more modest ones. Biz district mostly historic but more modest styling.
* A handful of decent in-fill in the biz district. Also a new urbanist development along the Allegheny River that is of a high quality. 
* Generally good urban form on Allegheny River Blvd but plenty of surface parking gaps and a handful of autocentric uses. 

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Get pretty industrial and ugly along Plum St. Oakmont’s southern border.
* limited ADA curbs and sidewalks except in the new urbanist Edgewater development.
* Some transit access but not great.
* Bike infrastructure is almost non-existent other than a short trail along the railroad  for half a mile.
* Racial diversity is very limited as Oakmont is 93% White.
* Definitively an aging population but a decent number of households with kids.
* Only a decent number of 2-beds which lease btwn 1K-1.7. Limited 1 & 3 beds.
* Park amenities are decent but not great. Riverside park is the best amenity including a large playground and lots of ballfields. Also a couple f natural parks and smaller pocket parks.
* Some more industrial auto centric uses.

Vieux Quebec City

In this evaluation I consider Vieux Quebec to be the entire old town within the original walled City and Basse Ville, which includes the Old Port area the oldest part of the City. Upper Town is considered the majority of Vieux Quebec elevated from the port and developed a bit later. This holds the majority of sites and landmarks. Lower Town is the Basse Ville along the waterways. Major landmarks in Vieux Quebec include Place Royal (the original Quebec civic bldg constructed in 1608), La Citadelle de Quebec, Le Chateau Frontenac, Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral, Gare du Palais, Chapelle des Ursulines, Théâtre Capitole, and Édifice Price.

Vieux Quebec is Quebec’s most walkable and urban district filled with shops, restaurants & bars, and lots of cultural amenities and entertainment. It can also feel overrun by tourism, especially in the summer season, but seems increasingly to be adding year round housing especially in the lofts in the Vieux Port helping it to establish more neighborhood amenities. Other great amenities in Vieux Quebec include its extensive parks, plazas, promenades, well connected bike lanes in Lower Town and many pedestrian only or car light streets. My hope is that Vieux Quebec continues to add more neighborhood amenities and also keep more streets off limits to cars where they don’t really belong given the narrow streets and thick pedestrian activity.”

Click here to view my Vieux Quebec Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Gorgeous architecture spanning the 17th century to the early 20th century. This includes the original ramparts of Vieux Quebec that were preserved and restored in the late 19th century.
* Many wonderful landmarks.
* Tons of shops, boutiques and clothing stores, and gift stores. Also a couple drug stores
* Great array of restaurants, bars, and cafes. Also tons or art galleries especially in Basse Ville, a couple historic theaters, plenty of museums, lots of live music in bars & pubs, and plenty of night clubs.
 * Very pedestrian friendly, although I wish they would restrict cars more than they do. Several pedestrian streets including, Corridor du Littoral (waterfront promenade), Terrasse Dufferin (boardwalk over looking Lower Vieux Quebec) Rue du Petit Champlain/Rue Sous-le-Fort, and Rue Saint Jean is often a pedestrian street.
* Great parks and plazas including Place des Canotiers, Parc du Bastion-de-la-Reine, Parc des Gouverneur’s, Place d’Armes, Place D’Youville, Esplanade Park, Le parc du Vieux Port, Place Jean-Pelletier, Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, Moulin Cavalier Park, etc.
* Good amount of for sale housing but generally pretty expensive but some cheaper smaller condos.
* Excellent dedicated bike paths along the waterfronts.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • No major supermarkets or department stores.
  • Very touristy. Not many locals who live here nor authenticity.
  • Some apartments in Vieux Quebec but generally very expensive.

Saint Roch- A great urban comeback story for Quebec City


Saint-Roch
was first settled in 1620 by the Recollects (a Franciscan order) who built a
small church dedicated to Saint Roch. The settlement remained mostly rural
until the first half of the 19th century when Saint-Roch became a major
shipbuilding site. From the mid-19th century to the 1960s, rue Saint-Joseph
was the main commercial street in Quebec City but during the second half of
the 20th century, the district fell into decline and was considered the  most impoverished district of the City.
Much of the neighborhood was also destroyed with the construction of highway
440 overpass helping open up the City to new suburban development.

Fortunately the fortunates of Saint-Roach have turned around since the late
90s with major investments on rue Saint-Joseph, the creation of Quebec City’s
2nd Dwtn concentrated along Boulevard Charest, and major investment in parks
along the river and Victoria Park. Rue Saint Joseph has regained its status
as one of Quebec’s best commercial districts and is now an in-demand urban
neighborhood of Quebec an the edge of Vieux Quebec City.

Click here to view my Saint Roch album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

 * Lots of mid sized office buildings along Boulevard Charest E. This is probably Quebec City’s secondary Dwtn after the dwtn cluster along Boulevard Honoré-Mercier.
* Wonderful promenade blvd street inside of  Bd Langelier.
* Excellent neighborhood biz district along Rue Saint-Joseph
* For sale pricing is reasonable with a good # of 1-bed condos selling btwn 100K-300K, 2-beds 200K-500 and 3 & 4 beds btwn 300K-500 but not much product.
* Access  to parks thanks to the riverside parks, Victoria Park, and several smaller parks throughout the neighborhood.
* Great concentration of food and beverage bizs, a couple breweries. Decent cultural amenities including a couple performing arts theaters, several art galleries, and a couple night clubs and music venues. Very convenient access to all the cultural amenities in Vieux Quebec.
* Great retail amenities including lots of local and unique shops along Saint Joseph.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Architecture is so . The modern office towners along Blvd Charest E. are pretty bland and most of the historic rowhouses are without much ornamentation. Some good historic commercial architecture along Boulevard Charest E.
* Tree canopy is so so.
* Modern ADA curb cuts are largely non-existent.
* Rentals are a bit pricy. 

Saint-Jean-Baptiste- Quebec City’s best Urban Neighborhood

When the old city wall existed,  Saint-Jean was located just west of the Port Saint Louis. Until the early 19th century Saint-Jean-Baptiste was sparsely populated in a semi-rural setting. The neighborhood was also caught up in the Second major Quebec Fire in 1845, which is why buildings before the mid 19th century are pretty limited.

This is arguable Quebec’s City best urban district outside of Vieux Quebec. There is an excellent urban business district that runs along several blocks of Rue Saint-Jean and the iconic restaurant district along Grande Allee with its gorgeous late 19th century rowhouses. Mixture of great 19th century architecture and some quality urban infill. Grande Allee is another great street with stunning rowhouses and Quebec’s iconic restaurant row. Boulevard Honoré-Mercier hosts most  Quebec City’s downtown buildings along Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s eastern edge. The neighborhood  also hosts great park amenities, a wonderful array of retail and cultural amenities, good amount of moderately priced housing options and sits on the western border of Vieux Quebec City. Some minor areas for improvements that would allow Saint-Jean-Baptiste to become a top notch urban district including more vibrancy along the wide and often cold Bd rene-Levesque, modern ADA curb cuts, and more bike lanes.



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URBAN STRENGTHS:“

  • Grande Allee is another great street with stunning rowhouses and Quebec’s iconic restaurant row.
  • Excellent urban business district that runs along several blocks of Rue Saint-Jean. Mixture of great 19th century architecture and some quality urban infill.
  • Boulevard Honoré-Mercier hosts most of Quebec City’s downtown buildings.
  • Great array of historic architecture from all decades of the 19th century.
  • Decent tree canopy.
  • Good park access including lots of small and medium parks and the expansive Plains of Abraham.
  • For-sale housing is very reasonably priced with 1-bed selling btwn 100K-350K. 2-beds btwn 200K-750K. 3 & 4 beds 300K-900K.
  • Great array of restaurants, cafes, & bars. Other cultural amenities include a couple community theaters, the Grand Theatre de Quebe where the Symphony plays, and several night clubs & live music venues.
  • Great retail amenities too including several book stores, plenty of gift stores, boutiques/clothing stores, lots of grocerias, a couple drug stores, tons of banks and lots of other interest stores.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Bd René-Lévesque is very wide although architecture while urban contains some uglier mid-century bldgs. Lots of gov’t buildings here with large grassy set backs that hurts vibrancy on the street.
* Curbs are generally not up to modern ADA standards.
* Rent is a  bit pricy.
* Only a handful of bike lanes.