Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
The portion of the Lower Hill closest to Downtown was actually a white neighborhood. IIRC it was a mixture of Jewish, Greek, Christian Arab. Most of the white residents of the Lower Hill landed on their feet in neighborhoods like Brookline, though the dislocation of the black population directly led to the white flight that destroyed Homewood (and arguably Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, East Hills, Wilkinsburg, Larimer, etc).
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At one time it was. But not by the mid-late 1950s when decisions were made to demo the Lower Hill. It was mostly Black by then (around 75%).
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
If the Lower Hill was not destroyed, it would almost certainly be among the most expensive real estate in the city today. The houses were modest, but solidly built ( a few examples survive in Uptown) but most importantly they were within walking distance of Grant Street. Generally speaking nationwide the neighborhoods closest to Downtown were the first to experience gentrification in the 20th century. Think Beacon Hill in Boston, or Rittenhouse Square in Philly. Unfortunately Pittsburgh systematically destroyed all of its own examples, as the Lower Hill, western Uptown, the Strip District, and the North Shore were all basically completely denuded of rowhouses. |
Yeah, the massive demolition of the Lower hill neighborhood/Crosstown Blvd. (to go along with downtown Pittsburgh's situation with water on its other two sides) is a major reason why downtown Pittsburgh will never have the vibrant urban environment like Philly, Boston, etc... where residential neighborhoods scale up and link rather seamlessly into the central business district. Pittsburgh destroyed all of that.