Posted April 28, 200817 yr Uptown... also known as Bluff and SoHo... is a long, slender neighborhood stretching from the southeast corner of Downtown to West Oakland... just to the south of the Hill District. It occupies a bluff along the northern shore of the Monongahela River, across from the South Side. Uptown is home to Duquesne University's 48-acre campus. This rapidly-expanding Catholic university (10,000) is well-known for its pharmacy and law schools and is currently undergoing a significant capital campaign that will transform its area of Uptown. Uptown is also home to Mercy, one of the city's major hospitals. Dense with very old rowhousing, Uptown has been beaten down and battered over the years, much like neighboring Hill District. It serves as a major through route connecting the economic hubs of Downtown and Oakland, but offers little reason to stop. Much of the historic building stock has been razed by suburban property owners for "illegal" parking lots, serving workers at Mercy and Duquesne. There are reasons for optimism, however. Duquesne's expansion, the construction of a new arena along Fifth Ave (plus associated developments), and the neighborhoods strategic location between hot area like Oakland, South Side and Downtown offer the promise of a renaissance. view of Uptown looking east from Mt. Washington... Duquesne University is on the bluff... and the Allegheny County Jail gets some prime river frontage the transition from Downtown to Uptown looking west... Duquesne and Uptown in front of Downtown skyscrapers jail, Duquesne, and the soon-to-be-demolished Mellon Arena (home of the Penguins!) on the bluff above the Parkway East 10th St. Bridge connects Uptown to the South Side let's hit the street.... first... the Roma Lofts... Duquesne University's new Power Center... home to Pittsburgh's first Jamba Juice! there's a small cluster of bars and restaurants along Fifth Ave. near Downtown... directly across from the new arena u/c Mercy Hospital's retro-futuristic nightmare the former Fifth Ave. High School... that guy told me it closed in 1976... it's largely vacant besides a kitchen operation... would make a great residential building in a healthier neighborhood some of these ain't so bad don't know what this is... but it looks great love this South Side in the distance bounded by a steep hill to the north view of the South Side from Blvd of the Allies Birmingham Bridge connects Uptown to South Side SouthSide's new Oxbridge Development taking a cue from existing housing there's always a pick-up in the way... victory
April 28, 200817 yr jail, Duquesne, and the soon-to-be-demolished Mellon Arena (home of the Penguins!) I'd say it is probably long overdue. When I lived in Youngstown I visited there many times for concerts sporting events, etc. It wasn’t in good shape back then. It will always be the Civic Arena to me. :-) Are there any plans for this site after the arena is history?
April 29, 200817 yr Great neighborhood! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 1, 200817 yr Man .. I so need to visit that city. Some of that old housing stock looks incredible. Thanks for the pics! Great job!
May 2, 200817 yr Wonderful photos! Pittsburgh is a visual treat; although it's lost a lot of its historic architecture and in some cases, entire neighborhoods, it still has a tremendous variety and a lot of really good, old stuff. Although that area looks depressed, it doesn't have the gutted-out, vandalized look of similar neighborhoods in many old industrial cities. It's ripe for a comeback.
May 4, 200817 yr Great urban photography! Thanks! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 6, 200817 yr correct me if I'm wrong....I feel that cincy and pittsburgh are the only midwestern cities with hills. Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit are all flat as hell!
May 6, 200817 yr correct me if I'm wrong....I feel that cincy and pittsburgh are the only midwestern cities with hills. Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit are all flat as hell! How is Cleveland flat? Is there a reason that Cleveland Hts., Shaker Hts., University Hts., South Euclid, are Lyndhurst are called the Hillcrest communities. Granted Cleveland is not "hilly" persay as Cinci or Pitts, but it's not entirely flat. you are wrong because Pittsburgh is not a Midwestern city I'll bite, what is it?
May 6, 200817 yr you are wrong because Pittsburgh is not a Midwestern city ^^^^^^DING, DING, DING!!! Nice pics by the way
May 6, 200817 yr Strange, I don't have a map but I was told the western parts of PA and NY are Midwestern and the "region" is not strickly based on the entire state.
May 7, 200817 yr Strange, I don't have a map but I was told the western parts of PA and NY are Midwestern and the "region" is not strickly based on the entire state. Regions rarely end abruptly. They tend to blend into the next region. As a Pittsburgh native, I can tell you that people here don't consider themselves to be Midwesterners. I can see two main reasons for that. One is that people here do identify with the state, and Pennsylvania is an Appalachian state without question. The other is what I call the hills factor. As I pointed out, Pennsylvania is an Appalachian state. 80% of the state is covered with hills, and Pittsburgh fits in with this very nicely. When a Pittsburgher travels west (especially heading towards Cleveland), the hills flatten out. This indeed gives one the perception, that they are entering a different region. This ties into what the local perception of the Midwest is. When Pittsburghers think of the Midwest, they think of three things. Cows, corn. and flat land. That's the stereotype held here. Cities west of Cleveland are not really on the radar here, and most people here do not really think Midwest when they think of Cleveland. They are more likely to think of the Great Lakes, or see Cleveland as sort of an entity unto itself. Personally, I see the Midwest beginning not in Western Pa., but in Central Ohio. State borders are not the final determinant as to region, but it's a mistake to disregard them. Being in Pa and NY definitely draws Pittsburgh and Buffalo eastward. That said, it totally makes sense that Pittsburgh and Buffalo would feel more Midwestern than say, Philly. Conversely, Both of those cities seem very Eastern compared to say, Indy. This is usually always true of cities near a regional border. DC and Baltimore seem somewhat southern to a Yankee, but to someone from the deep South, they are northern all the way. Louisville is probably the best example I can think of. It's a Southern city, but it's got quite a bit of Midwest in it.
May 7, 200817 yr The "Midwest" really begins at Newark, Ohio and going west to about Boulder, Colorado. Cincinnati is an obvious exception as it is in its own world. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 7, 200817 yr Most of the neighborhood developments (Density wise) on those hills puts Cincy's Mt Adams to shame! Wow.
May 7, 200817 yr The "Midwest" really begins at Newark, Ohio and going west to about Boulder, Colorado. Cincinnati is an obvious exception as it is in its own world. I would agree with this 100%. Cincy is Midwestern mainly because it self identifies as such. In reality, you could really consider it to be it's own region, as there is really nothing quite like it.
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