Maine’s Victorian Jewel… the West End of Portland

The neighborhood is home to many historic homes from all decades of the 19th century. Its considered one of the best preserved Victorian neighborhoods in the country. Other great qualities to Portland’s West End include its convenient access to Downtown and Old Port, strong walkability, safety, mixed use and dense character, and expansive Western Promenade Park hugging its western edge.

The major downside to the neighborhood is its expensive housing where for-sale options start at 200K for a modest condo and generally exceed 400K for a SF home. Surprisingly the neighborhood manages to have great economic diversity likely indicating a large cost burdened population. This is certainly not a great district for modern architecture lovers as its almost non-existent.

Click here to view my entire West End Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity.
* Nice array of smaller diverse parks and the expansive Western Promenade
* Great Tree Canopy.
* Gorgeous brick sidewalks fill most of the neighborhoods.
* Very safe district.
* Culturally many historic houses, convenient access to several Dwtn museums, music venues and cinemas; also many restaurants and some cafes and bars.
* Neighborhood amenities includes a couple smaller groceries, several drug stores, and a good amount of boutiques, and several book stores. The Congress Biz District is nearby and contains a good amount of retail amenities as well.
* North Light Mercy Hospital located here.
* Gorgeous historic architecture from all decades of the 19th century.
* Urban massing is generally good throughout except the Commercial St. on the West End’s southern border.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Limited racial and generational diversity.
* Rentals are plentiful but generally expensive. One-bedrooms range in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in the high $1,000s and low $2,000s.
* 1-bedroom condos generally sell in the $200ks, 2-bedroom condos often in the $200s but plenty of product in the 300ks. 3-bedrooms homes anywhere from 300Ks-600Ks. Larger homes are easily over 600K.
* Curbs cuts at all intersections but generally not ADA standard.
* No art galleries in the district
* Modern architecture is very limited here.

Portland Maine’s East End, an Upper Class Community with Great Access to the Sea.

The East End was developed in the late 19th century with a mix of wood frame SF and small apartment buildings. Historically the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American population. This is a stable upper middle class district with convenient access to downtown without significant traffic, beautiful bayfront parks, several attractive urban business districts, and attractive historic architecture. The waterfront park, Eastern Promenade, was designed by the Olmsted Brothers as well as Baxter Boulevard, which rings part of Back Cove.

The district however lacks significant racial diversity, is very expensive to reside, and contains only a mediocre elementary school. Public Transit is also average.

Click here to view my Full EastEnd Album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity and decent generational diversity.
* Lovely Historic architecture mostly wood frame housing from the late 19th century.
* Good amount of tree canopy and street trees.
* Generally high quality sidewalks with ADA ramps.
* The East End is well endowed with recreational spaces including its extensive waterfront parks and many small and medium sized parks throughout offering most types of amenities.
* Culturally a good # of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several theaters and music venues and art galleries. No museums but several historic sites.
* Amenity wise there are several smaller groceries but Wholefoods nearby, a Walgreens and a good offering of retail and boutiques along Congress St. and Washington Ave.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Very Caucasian neighborhood with limited racial diversity.
* For Sale housing is very expensive starting at around 300K for a 1-2 bedroom condos. Most 3 & 4 bedroom SF homes selling between 500K-800K. Rentals are expensive too with studios starting around $1,000 and most 1-bedrooms in the mid to high $1,00s. 2-bedrooms rent in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* A decent grade school sits within the East End and the well rated Portland HS is about a mile away.

Old Port, Portland- Maine’s greatest port, now tourist destination.

This is the City’s oldest district between Commercial Street and Spring-Federal Street. East to West, Old Port runs from Franklin St. to York and Maple. After Portland was largely destroyed by the British in the Revolutionary war, Old Port was rebuilt with 19th century brick buildings and fishing piers becoming Maine’s leading port and economic center. Old Port was revitalized in the 1970s when real estate developers transformed derelict warehouses into apartments, condos, offices and retail space. Old Port emerged as a popular urban district filled with boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and night life.

As much of Old Port’s historic fabric remains, it scores well in many urban categories including walkability, urban form, a wonderful streetscape, and beautiful historic architecture. Due to a plethora of local businesses and boutiques, Old Port contains most neighborhood retail amenities as well. Yet Old Port lacks amble access to green space (largely due to a privately controlled waterfront), expensive real estate, and mediocre public transit. There is still room for significantly more density to create a more well rounded district not so reliant on tourist and downtown workers.

Click here to view my Old Port Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Pretty great bike system citywide and to many suburbs. Limited bike lanes within Old Port and dwtn, but easy access to them on the edge of the neighborhoods.
* Very economically diverse population.
* Great cultural amenities with tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes, live music venues, and easy access to a cineplex and theaters.
* Lots of neighborhood amenities with tons of boutiques and locally owned stores, drug stores, bookstores, and easy access to several grocery stores in nearby districts.
* Very safe district.
* Convenient access to a great high school and a solid middle school is about 1 mile away.
* Great ADA infrastructure, attractive sidewalks, and consistent street trees.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Even with great access to Downtown, mediocre transit access.
* No bike sharing but this seems to be on the way.
* No great racial or generational diversity.
* For sale housing is very expensive. 1 bedrooms condos selling in the 300s & 400Ks. 2-bedrooms above 500K.
* Rentals also expensive. Studios start around $1,000 and 1-bedrooms in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in generally in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* Recreation amenities a bit limited. Several plazas and parks but one needs to walk a mile to a large park. Unfortunately no waterfront park along the harbor.

Observatory Hill- Pittsburgh’s Highest Point

Observatory Hill or Perry Hilltop was named both in honor of Commodore Perry and the Historic Allegheny Observatory, the City’s first astronomy building gracing the top of Riverview Park. The district also hosts the highest elevation in the City of Pittsburgh at 1,370 feet at the Brashear Reservoir and WPNT-FM Radio Tower.

This North Hills district has remained a middle class strong hold in the northside and thus retained much of its historic housing and fabric. Riverview Park was a large factor in the neighborhood’s success. Observatory’s urban business district along Perrysville Ave has not fared as well and is littered with vacancies and limited retail amenities. Cultural amenities are also very limited. Building up the Perrysville Avenue business district should be the # 1 revitalization priority for the neighborhood. Secondary priorities include installing bike infrastructure, permanent affordable housing, opening new high quality schools, and improving pedestrian and ADA infrastructure.

Click here to view the full Observatory Hill Album on Flicker

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Convenient access to downtown especially via the car but decent transit and biking routes.
* This is a very diverse neighborhood among all measures.
* Very diverse for-sale price points starting at around 50K for a modest fixture upper to the 200Ks for a large historic home and everything in-between.
* Riverview Park is accessible to all in the neighborhood and holds almost any recreational amenity one needs.
* Overall pretty safe district, although some blight still remains.
* Lots of high quality historic architecture.
* The urban form of the business district is good but very small.
* Great tree cover.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Streets generally connect but are very curvilinear due to the district’s extreme terrain.
* Other than bike lanes in Riverview, Bike infrastructure is non-existent.
* Not a ton of rental product but generally affordable. 1-bedrroms run between $500-$700, 2-bedrooms btwn $700-$1,100, and 3-bedrooms to the low to mid $1,000s.
* One deli and no restaurants or bars.
* Cultural amenities are basically non-existent. One needs to travel several miles south to the Allegheny Commons district and Downtown.
* Low-Medium density.
* Other than a couple convenience stores there is a bank, hair salon, thrift store, but not much else in the way of retail here.
* Perry High School is located here but rated poorly. No other schools within Observatory Hill.
* Most roads host sidewalks and ramps but ADA infrastructure is often missing.

Spring Hill- One of Pittsburgh’s Great “View” Neighborhoods

Spring Hill was named for the abundance of springs near the site. Germans immigrated there from 1850 to 1920, giving the neighborhood a very Bavarian atmosphere reflected in its local streets (i.e. Rhine, Woessner, Haslage, Zoller and Goehring). The population of Spring Hill peak in 1940 around 8,000 and has stabilized down to around 2,500. Spring Hill Garden used to host around 4,000 and now is just under 1,000.

This is a very typical hillside Pittsburgh community, which has seem a drastic population loss but has managed to “right size” through losing population often in the most steep terrain and maintaining generations of families. Spring Hill and Spring Garden are beginning to see modest real estate interest given its close proximity to downtown and other revitalizing communities such as Deutchtown and Mexican War Streets. The old warehouses of Spring Garden are beginning to see new life through modern craft outfits, distilleries, and fitness centers. To elevate this district to a viable urban community continued real estate investment, new bike paths, improved public transit connections, and a walkable neighborhood amenities are needed. But this is certainly possible given the neighborhood’s good urban bones, proximity to downtown, and beautiful views and generous yards.

View the full Flick Albums for Spring Hill and Spring Gardens

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Good access to downtown especially by car, but decent public transit access. One could even walk to downtown in 30-45 minutes if they can handle the terrain. Getting to Oakland is much harder by transit by easy by car.
* All around great diversity in Spring Hill.
* For sale housing is very affordable with prices ranging anywhere from 25K to 150K depending on size and quality.
* Great tree cover thanks to all the steep terrain and hillsides.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Very low density for an urban district due to the extreme topography and steep population decline.
* No bike infrastructure across the district.
* Not much rental product in the neighborhood and what exist is very modest.
* There are a couple parks hosting ballfields, playgrounds, and the Lutheran cemetery.
* Sidewalks are often missing and very steep terrain, so ADA infrastructure isn’t great.
* Commercial is very limited (a brewery within the Spring Hill district but some neighborhood amenities existing on Spring Garden Road (i.e. pharmacy, family dollar, some light manufacturing, a cider house, and a couple of bars and restaurants.
* Very limited cultural amenities within the district, but the rich cultural of the northside and downtown is only 2 miles away.
* There is a poorly rated elementary school but not much else.

Pittsburgh’s Troy- the Plateau that looks over the City

Originally called the village of New Troy, the neighborhood was originally settled by German immigrants who worked in the mills, tanneries, breweries and railroads that lined the Allegheny river (including the Heinz Ketchup factory). Migration up to Troy Hill began when a Catholic church opened a small cemetery in 1842. Gradually the neighborhood filled in by the early 20th century and remained a stable working class community to the present day.

While Troy Hill lost a significant amount of its historic population, dropping from a historic high of 7,000 to around 2,000, it has retained much of its urban fabric due to the removal of many hillside dwellings and smaller families. The neighborhood has stabilized and seen recent investment with many younger families renovating modest rowhouses. Given the districts incredible access to downtown, the Strip District, and Allegheny Commons, it is a surprise the market has not taken off even more here. Hopefully more and more amenities move to Troy Hill without it becoming too expensive for its current population. The neighborhood is one of the most economically diverse in the City of Pittsburgh.

Click here to view my full Troy Hill album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Pretty easy access to downtown especially for cars, but decent public transit access. Due to the hikes, bike commuting is challenging.
* Housing is pretty affordable here. Most homes selling in the $100s but some outdated product selling between 50-100K and larger resent renovations selling in the 200Ks. 1-bedroom rentals going anywhere between $700-$1,200 and 2-3 bedrooms in the low to mid $1,000s.
* Good recreational amenities with several ballfields, a few playgrounds, and a spray park.
* Streetscape and urban form pretty solid in the heart of Troy Hill along Lowrie St, but pretty weak along Spring Garden Rd. (the district’s northern edge).
* Good tree cover due to the many dense groves along the hill sides.

URBAN WEAKNESSES
* No bike lanes through the hard of Troy Hill nor any bike stations, but a dedicated lane along 28.
* Culture amenities are decent but not great in Troy Hill. The neighborhood hosts a couple of restaurants, a café, two breweries, and several bars. This is also the home of St. Anthony (the largest collection of relics.
* Some neighborhood retail including several delis, a drug store, a fitness center, and several banks.
* Three schools within or in adjacent districts, but overall low ratings.

Lincoln-Lemington- Pittsburgh’s “forgotten” East End Neighborhood

Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar is a predominantly black neighborhood that was majority Caucasian from the 1920s until the 1970s.Sadly the neighborhood fell into decline after its racial transition. What was once a comfortable early 20th century bedroom community with an intact main street now is a half empty with most of its main street erased.

Yet there still are several assets worth mentioning including its attractive early 20th century architecture, good public transit access, short commute to downtown, quality park amenities, and thick tree canopy. There is much revitalization work needed to make this a viable urban community once more. Given its high home ownership, and the ability to build African-American wealth, this seems like a worth endeavor.

Click here to view my Lincoln-Lemington album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Decent public transit access and easy drive to Downtown.
* Good historic architecture. Just not always well maintained.
* Decent park recreation’s with several playgrounds, ballfields, and a recreational center.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Not great racial nor economic diversity. Still a high rate of poverty here.
* For-sale housing is depressed but some quality product selling between 50K-75K. Not a ton of rental product but generally a mix of affordable and moderate rental.
* Retail and stores limited to a couple convenience stores, car repair stores, and churches.
* Mediocre ADA infrastructure.
* Very limited cultural amenities.
* Some assemblance remains of the historic urban streetscape along Lincoln Ave but not much is left.
* No walkable schools in Lincoln-Lemington a couple in adjacent districts but not highly rated.

Morningside- A tight-knit Pittsburgh Community

Morningside development really took off around 1905 with the creation of the Chislett Street trolley line extended from Stanton Avenue into the neighborhood. The community was fully filled in with houses and a some small commercial district by the 1930s. Morningside first welcome Irish families and eventually large numbers of Italian families ending Pittsburgh’s last wave of Italian immigration in the 1970s.

Morningside never experienced significant crime and blight issues but has seen a resurgence in interest in the past 5-10 years. Buyers are attracted by Morningside’s front porches, tight knit community, historic homes, convenient access, and modest back yards- a premium in the City. Renovated homes are now selling in the high 200Ks-300Ks. Morningside also has quality recreational spaces within the neighborhood and adjacent districts. What is needed for Morningside to transition from a good urban district to a great one is more dedicated retail and entertainment options, some additional multi-family housing , quality walkable schools, and dedicated bike infrastructure.

Click here to view my full album for Morningside in Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Good access to downtown via decent public transit access and easy driving.
* Great economic and solid age diversity.
* Good price diversity with home ownership ranging from 150K-400K but prices are certainly on the rise.
* Decent ADA infrastructure with curb cuts at every intersection but not always ADA compliant.
* Great historic architecture .
* Residents have great access to several sport complexes, playgrounds, the morning side greenway, and Highland Park is nearby (although hard to access by foot).

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* No dedicated bike infrastructure.
* Rentals are pretty limited but moderately priced. 1-bedrooms going for $800-$1,000 and 2-bedrooms in the low $1,000s.
* No schools within Morningside but a couple decent ones in adjacent neighborhoods.
* Really no modern in-fill in Morningside.
* Some retail exists in Morningside including a cafe, several restaurants & bars, salons, Rite Aid, a daycare facility, and even a specialty fabric store. Most residents are 1 mile from the Bryant commercial district.

Pittsburgh’s Homewood Neighborhood

Homewood was annexed into the city of Pittsburgh in 1884.The neighborhood started as an area of estates for the wealthy including Pittsburgh industrialists Andrew Carnegie. By 1910s, Irish, Italian, German, and upper middle class black families moved to Homewood helping create an ethnically diverse neighborhood. At first relations between the white and black residents of Homewood were good, but things become strained In the 1950s when the Lower Hill Urban Renewal project displaced 8,000 people, many of whom ultimately settled in rental apartments in Homewood. White flight ensued as demographics shifted from 22% black in 1950 to 66% black in 1960. The MLK riots of 68′ severely crippling the business district. This was followed by the proliferation of gangs and drugs in the 1970s and 1980s. So yea, Homewood has been through a lot.

The situation appears to have stabilized with crime plateauing. Some investment, mostly driven by government, non-profits, and philanthropy, has led to some new businesses on N. Homewood, new housing, and the Susquehanna job focused renovation. Flippers are also slowly discovering the district’s quality historic architecture and easy access to the East busway with renovated homes selling in the 100Ks. But Homewood still has a long way to go before becomes a viable urban district, requiring a blight and real estate intervention of scale.

Click here to see my full Homewood photo album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Good access to public transit.
* Lots of families households here.
* Between the many park lets, sport fields, playgrounds, public pool, and a YMCA Homewood has very good recreational amenities.
* Good ADA infrastructure through Homewood.
* Gorgeous historic architecture of various sizes and typologies. Unfortunately much of it is blighted. Some good in-fill especially along Homewood Ave.
* Good tree cover helped by the hills and elevation change.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* No bike lanes, but several dedicated bike stations.
* Very high poverty rate (around 35%) and some economic diversity especially in the western portions of Homewood.
* Not great racial diversity either.
* For sale product is generally very in expensive. Vacant and blighted property sell below 30K or so. Decent product between 30-85K. Some renovated SF homes selling now in the 100Ks.
* Rentals are also inexpensive, but limited product officially listed. Nice 2-bedrooms go for around $850.
* Not great cultural amenities but some including a mix of several barbecue and soul food restaurants, dive bars, and the Afro American Music Center.
* Some retail amenities including a bakery, cafe, hardware store, several beauty salons & Barbers, and convenience stores. The Coop and Construction Junction are just south of Homewood.
* Still pretty high crime and lots of blight.
* Westinghouse HS is the only school in the district and not rated well.

Pittsburgh’s Larimer- A Legacy Neighborhood Poised for Rejuvenation

The neighborhood takes its name from William Larimer, who after making a fortune in the railroad industry, built a manor house overlooking East Liberty. His daughter married a Mellon who eventually sold off the land for real estate speculation. German immigrants came to Larimer in the later half of the 19th century leaving a mark with the still standing St. Peter and Paul gothic church (featured in the Dogma movie). By the early 1900s Italians from Abruzzi, Calabria, Campania, Sicily and Northern Italians became the dominant ethnic group. These settlers were slightly better-off than their Bloomfield kinsmen and therefore built somewhat nicer detached brick homes with small yards. Larimer was Pittsburgh’s Little Italy until the 1960s when residents began moving to the suburbs and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods (most notably Stanton Heights and Morningside). Urban renewal efforts in adjacent East Liberty and new housing projects helped accelerate Larimer’s deterioration.

Larimer used to be a thriving, dense community with distinct commercial districts along Larimer Avenue and Lincoln Avenues supplementing the thriving shopping hub of East Liberty. Frankstown and Hamilton Avenues along Larimer’s southern border hosted numerous industrial and warehousing plants. Sadly much of the fabric was removed with the neighborhood’s decline, especially its commercial districts. Larimer used to have a population of around 10,000, which meant a density of 25K per sq mile. Now it sits at around 2,000 souls.

Even with all this deterioration, Larimer has great urban bones. Its sits next to the revitalizing East Liberty complete with new apartments, shopping, and convenient access to the Bus Way. Google has set up shop on Larimer’s southern border creating the Bakery Square development (a mixed of office, apartments, and retail), and entrepreneurs are slowly filling empty warehouses along Hamilton and Frankstown (i.e. Eastend Brewing Company, Absolute Ballroom, KLVN Coffee Lab, and Red Star Kombucha.) Thus Larimer remains a very walkable and transit rich community. With a robust revitalization strategy, Larimer could easily become a viable urban community.

Click here to view my full Larimer Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Great public transit and good access to major jobs centers (i.e. downtown, Oakland, and esp. Bakery Square, which resides in Larimer).
* Several bike stations site on Larimer’s southern edge (i.e. Bakery Square) and two dedicated bike lanes run along the district’s edges on Negley Run and E. Liberty Blvds.
* Decent amount of families here and generational diversity.
* Good recreational amenities including the Kingsley Center, several community gardens, playgrounds, and pocket parks.
* Neighborhood amenities are concentrated in Bakery Square and adjacent shopping areas in East Liberty. This includes a target, several grocery stores, several restaurants & cafes, Staples, and several retail stores. This is all within a mile for most residents. Some amenities also opening along Hamilton and Frankstown Rd as warehoused get repurposed (i.e. dance studio, cross training, East End Brewery, auto parts and contracting supply stores).
* Other than a couple art galleries cultural amenities are concentrated in Bakery Square and adjacent East Liberty.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* High poverty rate including 1/3 of the population with a AHI of around 35K.
* Listed for-sale product is limited. Generally lower end product but an increasing about of renovated product selling in the 100Ks. Most homes still selling below 100K.
* Significant amount of blight and abandonment remain in the neighborhood. Rental product is very limited. High end units however, are now available across the street from Larimer on Penn Ave.
* Limited racial and economic diversity.
* 2 public schools located within Larimer but not highly rated. Several other schools nearby in adjacent East Liberty, Homewood, and Shadyside with mixed ratings.