Pittsburgh's Hill District--Remnant of Glory

[ainulindale]

Pittsburgh's Hill District is composed of the neighborhoods: Crawford-Roberts, Middle Hill, Terrace Village, Bedford Dwellings and the Upper Hill. In the 30s through the 50s the Hill was a booming neighborhood nicknamed "The Crossroads of the World" and the last stop between New York and Chicago. In the 40s population density peaked with the neighborhoods Crawford-Roberts and the Middle Hill combining for an area nearly equivalent of Downtown Pittsburgh, yet having a population density of over 60,000 per square mile. Today, the Hill District is all but reduced to rubble, and is one of Pittsburgh's most dangerous neighborhoods.





























A chunk of Bloomfield:















From University of Pittsburgh archive.



From University of Pittsburgh archive.



From University of Pittsburgh archive.

[shovel_ready]

Great photos!

Looks like a classic example of the utter devastation of once-super-dense neighborhoods directly adjacent to a downtown. This area must have been ground-zero for the city's 50s urban "renewal", amirite?

[ainulindale]

Originally Posted by shovel_ready

Great photos!

Looks like a classic example of the utter devastation of once-super-dense neighborhoods directly adjacent to a downtown. This area must have been ground-zero for the city's 50s urban "renewal", amirite?

URite. Of course, I can only lament as usual. I would've loved to see the neighborhood in its heyday. From above, the neighborhood kind of reminds me of working class Back Bay.

[Austinlee]

I've never really driven around in the hill... So these pics are interesting to me. I wish there were a good way to revitalize this key neighborhood between oakland and downtown without displacing/ruining the remaining peoples lives and houses.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by PA Pride

I've never really driven around in the hill... So these pics are interesting to me. I wish there were a good way to revitalize this key neighborhood between oakland and downtown without displacing/ruining the remaining peoples lives and houses.

There's been thousands of new housing units (market rate and income support) built this decade throughout much of the Hill District... and there's several major developments u/c right now. Heck, there's probably been more housing units built in the Hill District than any other neighborhood in the city this decade. The Crawford-Roberts housing has been a phenomenal success. There are few large areas of the Hill District left that have been untouched by new construction other than the Upper Hill... which has remained largely intact in comparison to the mid-century devastation of the Middle and Lower Hill. The new arena and associated developments provide yet another opportunity for the Hill District's renaissance.

Seriously... visit the Hill District sometime and you'll see the progress... the neighborhood's got a very unfair reputation that does not reflect today's reality.

photos to support my post

[Thundertubs]

Originally Posted by ainulindale

kind of reminds me of working class Back Bay.

The Hill District might also be compared to the late 19th/early 20th century Near West Side of Chicago, an area that got largely wiped off the map.

Great pics!!

[STLgasm]

What is left rocks the house.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by ainulindale

In the 30s through the 50s the Hill was a booming neighborhood nicknamed "The Crossroads of the World" and the last stop between New York and Chicago.

Today, the Hill District is all but reduced to rubble...

Nice shots of the Hill (those old aerials are pretty cool), but I'm not sure that I agree with you that the neighborhood "is all but reduced to rubble".

And I didn't realize that the Hill was the "last stop between New York and Chicago". For what?

[ainulindale]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Seriously... visit the Hill District sometime and you'll see the progress... the neighborhood's got a very unfair reputation that does not reflect today's reality.

http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_ci...atapart1p9.asp

Terrace Village: pop. 2631; 1 murder; 4 Rapes
Middle Hill: pop. 2143; 0 murders; 2 Rapes
Crawford Roberts: pop. 2724; 2 murders; 1 Rape
Upper Hill: pop. 2246; 1 murder; 1 Rape
Bedford Dwellings: pop. 2109; 3 murders; 0 Rapes; From this report Bedford Dwellings had the third highest murder rate of the city neighborhoods. These stats are old, they're the earliest I could find, but I think they're still relevant.

http://www.spotcrime.com/pa/pittsburgh

This map shows the crime since the beginning of March in the Pittsburgh area. Since then there have been 11 shootings, 1 vandalism, 1 robbery, and 3 assaults. In a map covering an area of over 1/2 million people, with 10,000 in the Hill District, there have been 2 shootings in the Hill alone. The Hill has some of the worst projects in the city. Also, there is a police station in the Hill that constantly patrols the area. When I was there just the other day, I saw a least 6 or 7 cop cars drive by. The Hill has a bad reputation for a reason.

[ainulindale]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Nice shots of the Hill (those old aerials are pretty cool), but I'm not sure that I agree with you that the neighborhood "is all but reduced to rubble".

Well, in the 1940s the neighborhood had nearly 47,000 people; the 2000 census counted less than 12,000. In addition, I believe most of the original housing is gone.

Originally Posted by pj3000

And I didn't realize that the Hill was the "last stop between New York and Chicago". For what?

I think it was a reference to the Jazz scene.

[Jularc]

A hill with so much potential.

[Thundertubs]

Originally Posted by ainulindale

I think it was a reference to the Jazz scene.

That Pittsburgh jazz scene produced drumming monster Art Blakey (one of the all-time greats, and a major talent scout), saxaphonist Stanley Turrentine (I think), and lesser-know-but-very-good pianist Horace Parlan.

[pj3000]

^ and Ahmad Jamal (one of my all time favorites), George Benson, Paul Chambers, and Kenny Clarke... those are the big names that I know of.

[LSyd]

sad. hopefully they'll be able to turn it around with some gentrification.

-

[Ex-Ithacan]

Cool tour (and I like your shots too Eg). But I think this pic kinda says it all:



Thanks for the pics, good stuff.

[Evergrey]

I won't deny that the Hill District of the 1930s is long long gone... much of it destroyed by urban renewal... there's a much lower population ... areas that are still really struggling... I won't deny that it's Pittsburgh's most "crime-ridden" neighborhood after perennial champion Homewood... but this is not a hopeless pile of rubble where nothing's happening... there has literally been more housing construction in the Hill District than any other Pittsburgh neighborhood in the past decade... a good portion of it market-rate... the value of the Crawford-Roberts housing has boomed... you have new phases of Bedford Hill and Oak Hill progressing... plus there's a new library u/c and a supermarket on the horizon

posting a few pics of some bombed out rowhouses does not capture the reality of today's Hill District... I have no issue with posting such pics... but don't pretend to pass them off as "the whole story" ... today's Hill District may be a "remnant" of more glorious times.... but it's far from a "pile of rubble"

[ainulindale]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

posting a few pics of some bombed out rowhouses does not capture the reality of today's Hill District... I have no issue with posting such pics... but don't pretend to pass them off as "the whole story" ... today's Hill District may be a "remnant" of more glorious times.... but it's far from a "pile of rubble"

I'm not going to argue with you about it any more except to say that you must think you have mind reading powers to write that I tried to pass such pics off as "the whole story." If I wanted to give the whole story I would have posted many pics of the housing developments, the urban prarie, projects, and non-rowhousing areas. However, my purpose was to point out some of the awesome old housing that remains in the neighborhood--that depicting the remnant of the glory of the old Hill District.

[TinChelseaNYC]

Pictures of Pittsburgh are always so interesting. For such a small city in area (55 sq mi?), it sure does have tons to see and seems very diverse.

[mrherodotus]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ and Ahmad Jamal (one of my all time favorites), George Benson, Paul Chambers, and Kenny Clarke... those are the big names that I know of.

There are way more important jazz figures from Pittsburgh than that.

Billy Eckstine
Erroll Garner
Earl "Fatha" Hines
Billy Strayhorn
Maxine Sullivan
Dakota Staton
Mary Lou Williams

[pj3000]

^ Thanks for the list. I knew there were more, those were just the ones off the top of my head.