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| Biddle's Escape |
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| Corner of Biddle and Trenton Aves. |
So did they all come to my end of town to live and buy homes because of a coffee shop? Of course not. They are here because they can buy beautiful Victorian fixer-upper homes for $50,000 to $250,000. They can live in century old brick homes with original wood, stained glass windows and fire places. They can walk to Frick Park and enjoy the trails or take the kids to the playground, or walk up to the Pittsburgh Filmmakers theater (The Regent Square) for an independent movie, or grab a craft brew at Dee's Dogs and Suds. They can get on a bus and be downtown in 20 minutes or at the universities in 15 minutes. They are enjoying urban life at a reasonable cost.
We've saw this type of "urban pioneering" 40 years ago in Pittsburgh in Shadyside, the Mexican War Streets and Manchester. But in the last ten years it has exploded in neighborhoods that were considered moribund - South Side, Lawrenceville, Friendship, East Liberty, Troy Hill, Lincoln-Larimer, Greenfield, Bloomfield, Garfield and even on the edges of Wilkinsburg.
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| Lawrenceville Business District |
They are urban pioneers. They often go into marginal neighborhoods where buildings are falling down. They don't live in fear of their neighborhoods. They just want to make a life that is authentic, locally minded and respectful of the world around them. One way they show this respect is with their attitudes towards human diversity (race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity.)
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| Butcher on Butler in Lawrenceville |
Many have dropped out of the professional track and run butcher shops, or bakeries, or breweries or clothing shops or restaurants. I've been going to the same butcher (on Butler Street in Lawrenceville) for 30 years to buy homemade kielbasa. Unfortunately the owner recently passed away. The shop was purchased by young people who recently moved to Pittsburgh (when they bought the shop they also acquired the recipe for the kielbasa. Thank goodness!)
Are you aware that Zagat just ranked Pittsburgh the #1 restaurant scene in the nation? The restaurants they talk about are emerging in these revitalized urban neighborhoods.
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| Kelly Strayhorn |
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| Pittsburgh Glass Center |
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| Bakery Square |
Beautiful Victorian homes in East Liberty are selling like hotcakes. The biggest fear now in East Liberty is not crime or poverty, it is gentrification.
There are many areas of Pittsburgh that are bursting like East Liberty. Property values in Lawrenceville are going through the roof.
The talk on the Northside is about Allegheny Center, which has been all but shuttered for decades. It was recently purchased and will be developed as a high tech innovation center. This will bring thousands of jobs to the Pittsburgh's North Shore, many of which will be filled by "urban pioneers".
And the Almono Development, at the sight of the old LTV steel plant, will bring a sustainable mixed use development on 178 riverfront acres in Hazelwood. The development will include residences, industries and office complexes.
There is an excitement in Pittsburgh that I haven't seen for the 45 years I've been here. And for once it's not about the damn football team. So what does this have to do with education?
Everything and Nothing.
In either case, Pittsburgh lost half of its population. And as you can see by the chart at the right, a large number of the people we lost were young families with children. Those that stayed in Pittsburgh were either old and entrenched in their paid off homes or not able financially to move to more expensive housing in the suburbs.
The effect of this suburban flight on the local Pittsburgh Public Schools (and the ring suburbs such as Wilkinsburg, Penn Hills, Braddock, Rankin, McKeesport, Duquesne, McKees Rocks, etc.) has been documented over and over in this blog. Suffice it to say that Pittsburgh and its adjoining school districts are currently at a low point - shrinking student populations, school closings, poor achievement, dwindling fund balances and competition from private, parochial and charter schools.
Can a city experience a rebirth while at the same time suffer a loss of quality schools?
In order for developments to occur, as is happening in Allegheny Center or East Liberty or Lawrenceville or the North Shore or the South Side or soon in Hazelwood, there must be a large public commitment to infrastructure. Developers will not invest if there is not adequate access to utilities, right of ways, public transportation, set backs, public safety, garbage removal, recycling, quality graduates from local universities and tax advantages through programs such as TIFs (Tax Increment Financing.) The mayor, the county executive, bankers, employers, retailers, are aligned and committed to working with developers. Examples of public works projects to push development include building a subway and tunnel under the river to the North Side, an 8 lane parkway to the North Hills and a new mass transit hub in East Liberty. Developers mean investment, leading to consumers leading to home ownership which leads to tax revenue and economic revitalization.
Developers also want to invest in cities that have amenities that are of interest to clients and workers. In Pittsburgh these amenities include the rivers, the parks, the museums, the sports teams, the arts, quality restaurants and entertainment. It is clear that Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are providing these amenities in ways that are superior to many other locations in America.
"30 Years: 'Hell with the lid off' to Most Livable --
How Pittsburgh became cool..."
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| Troy Hill |
Troy Hill is a small community above the north shore of the Allegheny River on a hillside with an amazing view of the city. Troy Hill is populated mainly by white, lower middle class working and elderly families. There are about 2,600 people living on Troy Hill. 22% (572) are under the age of 20. The neighborhood was recently featured in NEXTpittsburgh.
It happens that last month I visited Troy Hill with a friend who is helping to renovate a recently purchased building that was an old store. On my visit, I met the owner of the building. He lives in Troy Hill and is dedicated to reinvigorating the neighborhood. He is partnering on the building with a young man who recently moved his family to Pittsburgh. This young man intends to start a business in this newly renovated building in the middle of Troy Hill. His store will provide the only groceries available to the community (otherwise residents must drive miles away to purchase a gallon of milk, or a loaf of bread or a piece of fruit.) He will serve breakfast sandwiches, lunch and a communal dinner once a week. The store will sell fresh coffee, espresso and pastries and a selection of household goods. This will be the first time in decades that people in Troy Hill will have a place to eat, drink, read a newspaper, commune with neighbors... and pick up some groceries.
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| Future Grocery / Coffee Shop |
When I was talking with the man who is working on reinvigorating Troy Hill, I asked him a question. "When will you know you've been successful?"
He said, "When I walk into this store/cafe and see lots of people... Mom's with baby carriages, dogs, families, students and workers that all live in the neighborhood."
Since I always seem to look at the world through a public school filter, I said "That would be great, but where will the children go to school?"
He said, "You know, that could be a problem. There is a wonderful family who moved to Troy Hill a few years ago and absolutely loved it. They loved their house, the view, their neighbors and the "feel" of the community... but they had three children and needed to find a quality school. They couldn't afford to send them to a private school, were not impressed by the local public schools, and there were no charter schools in the area, so they moved to Mt. Lebanon. This was a loss to our community."
The problem is when this happens the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Public Schools lose a family of young professionals, property and income taxes, and young children that are desperately needed for our city's future.
So what is the story with respect to schools and K-12 education in Troy Hill.
At one time, living in Troy Hill meant attending school in Troy Hill.
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| North Catholic High School |
During most of the 20th century, Troy Hill students who attended Catholic schools went to nearby Saint Aloysius K-8 school. And then in 9th grade they were able to attend North Catholic High School, founded in 1939 and located in Troy Hill. It was the main Catholic high school on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Thus Catholic students were able to attend school in their local community.
Even with the majority of Troy Hill children attending Catholic or Lutheran schools, there was a public school in Troy Hill started in 1907. Troy Hill Public School opened and served students in grades K-8 in their community. Students who continued onto high school (few in number prior to WWII) left the community to attend one of the North Side high schools such as Allegheny or Oliver.
By the year 2014 all of the Troy Hill schools were closed. Troy Hill Public School closed in the early 1960's and was demolished. Saint Aloysius closed in 1998. Saint Nicholas was closed in 1994 and demolished 14 years later. North Catholic High School was closed in 2014 and moved to the northern suburbs (following the Catholic population that migrated north.)
These closings had a deep effect on Troy Hill students and families. Catholic students had to be bussed over four miles to attend a Catholic elementary school and high school. Public school students were bussed to Spring Hill or Spring Garden Elementary Schools for K-5 and Schiller Middle School for 6-8 and then to Oliver High School for 9-12. This meant that Troy Hill students who attended public schools were bussed out of their neighborhood starting at the age of 5.
Presently, there are no active schools in Troy Hill.
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| Spring Hill |
The nearest Catholic school is Northside Catholic grades K-8 which is 4 miles away. It opened in 2011 as a result of parish consolidation. Tuition is $3,400. North Catholic High School, which moved from Troy Hill in 2014 is now 20 miles away. Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic high schools are about 4 miles away. However, they are single gender and their cost is over $11,000 per year. Two working parents with three children in Troy Hill have limited options. They can go to low achieving public schools, they can go to traditional Catholic schools and spend thousands in tuition or they can attend private schools with extremely high tuition (and are very far away.) Otherwise they buy a house in Mt. Lebanon and get free quality education (in exchange for their property taxes.) They don't necessarily like the suburbs, the lack of diversity and the lack of progressive thinking. They will return to the city... after their children graduate high school.
This is the story of Troy Hill, or Regent Square, or Lawrenceville, or East Liberty, or the South Side, or Friendship or where I live in Wilkinsburg. Frankly, this is the story of many urban areas that are making a comeback. The "new immigrants", the "urban pioneers", are moving to marginal neighborhoods that bridge poor and affluent communities. That's where the real estate bargains are... that's where you find diversity... that's where the creative class goes... and that's where many young people want to plant their roots. There is an opportunity here. Young urban pioneers who don't want to live in the suburbs. They want to live in the city. What they want is a quality school, a community school, a racially and socio-economically mixed school in each of these vibrant neighborhoods. Let's give it to them.
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| Spring Hill Elementary School |
Let's give each of these communities a quality school. Our civic leaders (Mayor Peduto, PPS Superintendent Lane and City Council) should market Troy Hill and Spring Hill as great communities for young couples who want inexpensive beautiful homes. They should change the feeder pattern to fill Spring Hill Elementary School with the children from these two communities. They should work with the school district to put a model school program into Spring Hill Elementary School. They should make sure that the school meets the needs of all students, the current residents, the poor, the middle class and the children of the "new immigrants." They should create a neighborhood school that is the centerpiece of these two neighborhoods. Use the gym on weekends, run community events at the school, have a community garden, offer programming for both communities in both communities. They should engineer a neighborhood for "old immigrants" and "new immigrants" to live and prosper.
If our civic leaders can not do this because they are limited in their vision, or feel bound by legacy systems, than they are not our leaders... they are our barriers. In that case, I would suggest that a developer, or a community leader or a civic association from Troy Hill and/or Spring Hill reach out to a quality charter school organization and invite them to help make the dream come true. Purchase the North Catholic High School building and convert it to a K-12 school that allows the two communities to grow and thrive (see note below.) Create a school that allows all citizens of the two communities to move forward, not through gentrification, but through empowerment.
Quality schools should be the driver in community development, not the last piece that we never put in place. The real shame is that we know what makes a quality school for all students. Some magnet schools do this. Well designed charter schools do this. Public schools with unions that are student centered and mission driven do this. There are schools that do this in Pittsburgh. We know what works. But it takes a completely different attitude. It demands integrated schools (racially and socio-economically.) It requires top notch teachers. It demands support systems for mental, physical and emotional health. It necessitates cultural awareness and respect. And it requires reaching out to parents of all students and seeking their buy-in and support. I spent 10 years at a Pittsburgh charter high school that does this and I know it can be done.
Imagine... a young couple comes to Pittsburgh, graduates from Pitt or CMU, gets a job, buys a home in a Pittsburgh neighborhood, starts a family, makes a life, and then moves to the suburbs to attend an all white middle class school. Then after their children are grown, they move back to the city.
That is one strange dance.
Note. In 2014, a group attempted to open a charter school in the old North Catholic High School building. The school's mission is to work with students who are dyslexic. The charter was denied by the Pittsburgh Public Schools. They appealed to the state who overruled the district and approved the charter. The Provident Charter School is hoping to open in 2016 in Troy Hill. However, PPS is appealing the ruling to the Commonwealth Court. This school would appeal to people across Pittsburgh and is not specific to this community.
