Pittsburgh’s Hill District- the Historic Home of the City’s Black Community and Major American Jazz Mecca

The Hill District sits the east of Downtown stretching to Oakland and arguable contains Pittsburgh most traumatic story of urban renewal. The larger Hill District contains several smaller City designated neighborhoods (i.e. Lower Hill, Crawford-Roberts, Middle Hill, Bedford Dwellings, & Terrace Village). The Hill District was first settled in the 19th century by a small middle-class free black community. By the turn of the 20th century the neighborhood was booming as the Black population expanded from 10K to 37K between 1890-1920 as part of the Great Migration. Immigrants from Italy, the Middle Eastern, and Eastern European Jews were also pouring into the neighborhood. The influx of so many new residents resulted in a housing shortage which was exacerbated by the rigid system of segregation that limited potential dwellings for blacks almost entirely to the Hill District. By the 1920s the “the Hill” was the cultural center of Black life in the City and a major center of jazz helping to propel Pittsburgh as one of the best City’s for jazz historically. In the summer of 1956, some 1,300 structures were razed, displacing 1,500 families (more than 8000 residents). But, the affects of urban renewal didn’t stop at the Lower Hill District as it severed the Hill District from surrounding neighborhoods, resulting in its dramatic economic decline. Jobs in Pittsburgh also were disappearing due to industrial restructuring, and numerous middle-class residents moved out to newer suburban housing. Between 1950 and 1990, the Hill lost 71% of its residents (more than 38,000 individuals) and about 400 businesses. Many people displaced from the Hill moved into the East Liberty and Homewood-Brushton neighborhoods creating a ripple effect, where mostly white middle-class families left these areas and moved to newer suburban housing. The Hill district also saw numerous project housing developments demolish other parts of the neighborhood, which also lead to major concentrations of poverty. In the present day about 1/3 of all Hill Residents live in poverty.

But even with all this disinvestment, the Hill District still retains decent urbanity and urban form, almost enough in its present form to be considered a viable neighborhood. It’s mazing to think that a neighborhood that used to host 50K now only has 10K. Urban strengths of the Hill District include excellent public transit service, convenient access to Pittsburgh’s largest job concentrations (Dwtn & Oakland), several walkable schools, relatively affordable housing, excellent park access, good sidewalk infrastructure, and good remaining historic architecture. There have been several revitalization efforts in the Hill District starting with the suburban homes built in the 70s, the more urban Crawford Square development in the early 2000s, and present day efforts including the Granada Theater redevelopment, several small-medium scale projects, and the slow moving but massive Lower Hill Redevelopment. The issue is that redevelopment efforts have moved much slower than the pace of neglect and abandonment and each decade the neighborhood looses more buildings and homes than it gains. There still remains so much potential to create an outstanding urban community in the Hill District. Hopefully the Lower Hill Development sparks more comprehensive efforts to repopulate the neighborhood.

Click here to view my Hill District Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Lots of households with Children living here along with college students in the Upper Hill section of the neighborhood.
Solid public transit access with lots of bus lines running through the neighborhood.
Several decent elementary schools within the Hill District and several others in neighborhood Oakland including an Excellent Science & Technology School, a poorly rated public hsg and a couple Catholic elementary schools.
A decent # of rentals and generally affordable. 1-beds lease btwn 800-1.3K, 2-beds lease in the low 1Ks, 3-beds lease anywhere from 1K-3K with higher rents in the Upper Hill. Lots of affordable housing rentals across several large projects.
Good park amenities including several small, medium parks well distributed throughout the neighborhood. The Francie Pace Park is a new additional covering the crosstown high and Kennard Playground is an extensive park with lots of sports fields. Also a YMCA.
Still a lot of quality historic architecture remain in the Hill.
Sidewalks are pretty consistent in the Hill and ADA standard curb cuts are on about half of the intersections.”

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* No dedicated bike lanes in the Hill District but several bike share stations.
* Largely an African American neighborhood (~70-75%) but some diversity especially in the Upper hill closest to Oakland with a large Asian population. Whites and Hispanics are slowly moving here as well.
* Very high poverty rate with 1/3 of residents living in it. Some income diversity but most households here are low-moderate income.
* For sale is pretty limited with a major divided between the bottom and top of the market of new and renovated homes. Most hsg is concentrated in Crawford Roberts and the Upper Hill. 2-bed sells btwn 40K-300K with renovation product starting the push the market a bit. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 50K-500K.
* Cultural amenities are limited to a couple restaurants, a cafe, a local performing arts center, small dance company, an art gallery, a couple bars, the August Wilson House & Tennie Harris Center and decent access to all cultural amenities of Dwtn & Oakland.
* Retail amenities are pretty limited too but there is a supermarket, a public library, post office, a community drug store, a couple boutiques, several salons, a couple banks, tons of churches, a couple medical offices, and several hospitals surround the Hill District in adjacent communities.
* The Hill District is safer than it used to be but still has some crime issues and lot of remaining blight.
* Much of the in-fill is ugly suburban in-fill but more recent projects are pretty high quality urban projects.
* What remains of the Centre avenue business district generally has good urban form but lots of missing pieces. Streetscaping is pretty good.
* Wylie Ave was a secondary biz district but this is always all wiped away.

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.

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.

Somerset, PA- On the edge of the Laurel Highlands

In this review I included only the cohesive pre-WII part of Somerset. This account for about 60% of the Borough boundaries. Grand houses are concentrated along Main Street west and east of the center city.

Somerset is one of Western PA’s oldest communities and was a central stage for the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. The Borough grew quickly in its early days reaching 500 by 1810, 1,000 by 1860, and 2,000 by 1900. Population peaked at 6,700 in 2000 thanks to the Borough incorporating much of the new suburban development. Yet Somerset has lost population since due to an aging population and lack of immigrant. It now has just under 6K residents.

Downtown Somerset is centered at the cross roads of Main and Center Streets but mixed use fabric expands a couple blocks from here. Somerset also hosts the county seat, which has likely kept the Borough from declining further. Grand homes line Main Street, both west and east of Downtown. Residential stock off of Main Street is more working class. and uninspiring. Much of the urban fabric in Downtown has been preserved but the commercial streets have become increasing auto centric a couple blocks from the cross roads of Main and Center Streets, especially at the interchange.

Somerset still has a decent amount of local retail, good connectivity, decent schools, inexpensive housing, and is a generally safe community. But nothing reality inspires me about Somerset from an urban point of view. Many of its downtown storefronts are vacant or underutilized, there are not bike paths, public transit is limited, parks are few, and there is really no new development occurring other than strip malls by the interchange. The community could really use a boast from immigration it help it stabilize its population and increase racial diversity.

Click here to view my Somerset Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Generally solid street connectivity.
* Consistant sidewalk infrastructure throughout Somerset but ADA curb cuts can mostly concentrated dwtn and along Main Street.
* Decent economic diversity. Decent # of households with children but Somerset like most older PA towns is aging overall.
* Good schools here but only the Catholic elementary and public high school are within walking distance of the center of Somerset.
* For sale housing is generally inexpensive but some diversity. Only a handful of 1-beds that sell for around 100K, 2-beds sell btwn 50K-150, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 75K=350K but a handful of homes around 500K.
* Somerset is generally safe with not too much crime north is blight widespread.
* Pretty good retail amenities including a couple groceries (Giant Eagle on the outskirts), several drug stores and family dollars, a couple boutiques/gift stores, a hardware store, several clothing and consignment stores, many banks, several boutiques, several dessert joints , a couple gyms, lots of doctor offices and churches, a public library and local post office.
* Decent historic architecture esp. along Main Street and dwtn.
* Decent Tree canopy here.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Poor Density for an urban area.
* Public transit is very limited here.
* Poor access to Dwtn Pittsburgh and job centers. Over a 1 hour drive.
* limited racial diversity, this a very White community.
* No bike infrastructure to speak of.
* Very few rentals listed on the open market. What is available is affordable.
* Many of Somerset’s park amenities are located on the outskirts where it isn’t walkable. Within the center city there is a couple of plazas and cemeteries.
* Okay cultural amenities including several restaurants & bars, a couple cafes & art galleries, the Guild of American Paper cutters Museum.
* Very little in fill to speak of except crummy commercial infill near the highway interchange.
* Good urban massing in the core of Dwtn Somerset but becomes more autocentric as the Center Ave and Pa-31 leave town especially near the highway interchange.

Stowe Township, a rare urban township on Pittsburgh’s Westside

I only evaluated the portion of Stowe Township between Benwood Ave/McCoy Rd town to the Twp’s southern border mostly abutting McKees Rocks.

Stowe Township is a rarity as it is one of the few Townships in Pennsylvania with a historic main street and extensive pre WWII residential areas. The historic part of Stowe is very tied to the fate of McKees Rock its neighbor to the east and south. Both municipalities share a school district and the blight of McKees Rock has certainly spread to Stowe Township. But Stowe is more intact and has lost less population. Its business district along Broadway is surprisingly still in tact and hosts a good array of restaurants, bars and even a Historic Movie Theater and Brewery. The Business District along Broadway got a major facelift in 1983 with a comprehensive streetscaping redo but little has changed since.

Stowe Township’s best chance for revitalization and an active Business District is immigration. Already there are signs of this occurring with a new African restaurant and grocery store open along Broadway. Immigration would help fill up the vacant homes and retail spaces before too much vacancy brings the community down and tips the community into a death spiral of blight. Given its convenient access to Dwtn Pittsburgh (12 minutes by car and 20 by bus), I’m hopefully that Stowe Township will stabilize and improve.

Click here to view my Stowe Township Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Solid urban density.
* Great access to Dwtn as it is a 12 min drive and 20 minute bus ride. The frequency of service, however, is so so.
* Generally good connectivity with a strong street grid but this gets broken up at times with the hills and hollers.
* Decent racial diversity with a large Black population of about 20% -30% of the population.
* Good amount of families here.
* Decent cultural amenities including a brewery, several restaurants, a local movie theater, and a handful of bars.
* Historic Commercial District is relatively in tact. Gets a bit spotty along Broadway closer to McKeesport.
* Streetscaping was redone in the early 80s. Feels dated but still largely holding up.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent sidewalk coverage but ADA ramps are pretty spotty. Some newer or hiller streets without sidewalks.
* No bike infrastructure to speak of.
* Economically Stowe is mostly low-moderate income. It has a very working class feel.
* Schools are limited to a poorly rated public high school and a Catholic grad school.
* Not a lot of housing diversity and housing is very affordable. A handful of 1-beds that sell around 70K. 2-beds sell anywhere btwn 50K-150. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 70K-200K.
* Parks are limited to Norwood Park (a small park with a playground and ballcourt) and a Jewish cemetery just over the line in McKees Rocks.
* Tree canopy is limited in most of the evaluation area but lots of trees on the edges on the hillsides.
* Missing important retail amenities such as supermarkets, drug stores, banks, boutiques, a public library & post office, and any medical offices. Retail amenities that do exist include a bakery, a couple clothing stores and gift stores, a couple salons and several churches.
* Historic Commercial Architecture is ok but historic residential while plentiful is pretty low quality.
* Modern in-fill largely doesn’t existing in Stowe.

Arnold, PA- a distressed Allegheny River town with good urban bones and neighbor to New Kensington

The land on which Arnold currently stands was purchased in 1781 but it wasn’t developed until the late 1800s. Arnold was originally part of the City of New Kensington from 1891 until 1896 until it incorporated as a separate borough. The portion of Arnold btwn the river and Constitution Blvd is the oldest and most distressed portion of the borough. East of Constitution development ranges between 1900-1940s and generally is more stable. Arnold maxed out at around 11K residents in 1940 and has since fallen to just under 5K.

5th Avenue is the historic business district for Arnold but has fallen on pretty hard times with only a handful of businesses still open and a good number of vacant lots and vacant storefronts. I don’t see much hope for a population reversals in Arnold unless the City embraces immigrants. There is a sliver of hope for this as 4% of the population is Hispanic. A more attainable and likely strategy for Arnold is to spend its efforts revitalizing its 5th Avenue core, removing blight and stabilizing the old part of town, and reinvesting in the newer portion of town between Constitution and Freeport to build on existing market strengths. Arnold has decent density and mixed-use fabric giving me some hope that it could become a decent urban environment once again. There are also some good revitalization efforts occurring along the main street of its neighbor, New Kensington.

Click here to view my Arnold album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Good street connectivity.
* Good racial diversity and decent generational.
* Few 1-beds but good # of 2 & 3 beds that range btwn $800-$1,000.
* While public transit is limited dwtn is only a 25-30 minute drive.
* Decent urban density and good urban bones.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Sidewalk infrastructure is generally good but very few ADA standard curb cuts.
* Poor public transit access.
* No biking infrastructure to speak of.
* Wide spread poverty and not a lot of income diversity in Arnold.
* A couple of schools in the core of Arnold but poorly rate. Decent elementary school on the eastern edge of town.
* Arnold has a pretty high crime rate and a lot of blight to accompany it.
*Lots of depressed hsg in Arnold selling below 60K but some well maintained product too selling in the 100Ks. 2-beds sell btwn 20K-150K, 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere btwn 35K-185K.
* Okay park amenities including a decent river park, a playground and the cemetery.
* Limited cultural amenities including a handful of restaurants & bars, and a couple cafes. Better cultural amenities in New Kensington which is within 1 mile.
* Retail amenities are also limited including a couple banks, a furniture store, a couple boutiques, a couple gyms & dessert joints, a post office, and lots of churches.