Green Pittsburgh is a tour of Pittsburgh’s history, from the old mill communities of Glen Hazel and Hazelwood, up through the immigrant destinations of Greenfield and Squirrel Hill and finally to the mansions of the industrialists in Shadyside. It’s also a story of the birth and rebirth of our city: students and young professionals flock to Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, adding vibrancy that radiates from top universities. Meanwhile, redevelopment in Hazelwood and Glen Hazel aims to reclaim lost potential and offers new chances for affordable housing and a blossoming community.
These primarily residential communities have spent the past years growing — and becoming more and more popular. With Pittsburgh International Airport nearby and increasing economic development, it’s easy to see why so many call this end of the region home.
Pittsburgh’s eastern neighborhoods always have shown a broad socioeconomic spectrum, from extravagant wealth to dire poverty. The Mellons, Fricks, Carnegies and Westinghouses built their mansions in this most-stylish part of town. But their departure for greener and more secluded pastures — and the mass relocation of families here after the razing of the Lower Hill — left much of this area economically depressed for decades. Now the long-awaited renaissance of East Liberty is beginning to bring major reinvestment here, too.
Most of these communities, which lie to the east of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels, are residential suburbs with small business districts — but don’t take that as a reason not to visit. There’s tons of beauty in these hills, which are packed with historic homes, parks, schools and churches, as well as evidence of Pittsburgh’s steel-making and industrial past, with warehouses, former blast furnaces and brownfields lining the Monongahela River and small waterways such as Turtle Creek.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's only father-daughter team will break up this year when clarinetist Tommy Thompson retires. But his daughter, Allie, says she’ll keep her father connected with the people he’s played with for 50 years.
Our editors' FRESH TAKES on our favorite Pittsburgh things, including the best place to find a dream of an ice cream cone and where to order a decadent cake for breakfast.
Our editors' FRESH TAKES on our favorite Pittsburgh things, including the best old-school shoe repair shop and a bar with a burgeoning bobblehead collection.
Takeo Kanade, the U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor of Robotics and Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, was awarded the prize by the Inamori Foundation.
