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Here’s a weird thought — what if the Golden Age of living in Pittsburgh is right now?
And what if it’s almost over?
Long-time Pittsburghers are almost universally married to the idea that things were better in the past. But when, exactly?
In the ‘40s, this was one of the most important cities in the world, crushing fascism beneath an avalanche of Pittsburgh steel. But the sky was so black with soot that streetlights Downtown stayed on all day, and the rivers were open sewers for industrial waste. Sure, being a sports fan in the ‘70s was the greatest, but the steel industry was rapidly dying out and hundreds of thousands were thrown out of work. Personally, I have a certain affection for the late ‘90s, when Pittsburgh was weird, cheap, and a bit dangerous, but most people don’t want that (nor do I, as I get older).
Right now, you can breathe the air, see the sky, fish in the rivers, and find decent jobs in fields that don’t require descending into the black, abyssal depths of a coal mine, or the hellish heat and peril of a steel mill. Objectively speaking, this particular point in time is pretty good. When the Steelers’ recent playoff stumbles seem like one of your biggest problems, you’re actually in pretty decent shape.
And yet … here’s that old feeling of impending doom again! We’re overdue for a recession (or worse). There’s also not a lot we can do when the federal government decides to govern by grudge and tantrum, and that wrecking the world economy is worth it if it means that their ideological foes (and marginalized folks) get the worst of it. The current drivers of our economy (higher education, research, medicine) and population growth (almost entirely by immigrants) are being singled out for punishment, and that will be felt here soon enough.
Fun times!
For sale: 3977 Brandon Rd., Brighton Heights, $200,000.
Brighton Heights strikes again. A comfortable porch, original stained-glass windows, built-in bookshelves, and a detached garage on a quiet, tree-lined street, for exactly $200K. There are still undervalued neighborhoods in Pittsburgh but there are fewer and fewer every year. This is still one of them.
For rent: 6582 Navarro St., Lincoln-Lemington, $1,250/month.
This is probably way too optimistic, but I don’t think there are any parts of Pittsburgh (city proper) that have no chance of thriving ever again. That’s not to say every Pittsburgh neighborhood has an equal shot, or will look like it did in the 1950s when steel was king. There are some East End neighborhoods, like this one, that have seen nothing but decline for 30-40 years, but it feels like that can’t last forever. Like a lot of things in Pittsburgh, patience is required.
For sale: 2100 Lautner St., North Side, $51,000.
I have a friend who wants to buy a cheap place that is basically just a garage to repair motorcycles in, with a bare-bones living space above. That’s surprisingly hard to find! Could this be it? I don’t even know if this qualifies as a neighborhood (could it be the mysterious Schweizer Loch/Swiss Hole?), but there are parking spaces in Boston that cost more than this, so who’s complaining?
For rent: 5424 Fifth Ave., Shadyside, $1,170-1,250/month.
I love the staging here; let’s just put a pair of antique red-velvet armchairs (this is Shadyside after all) in an empty room, and nothing else. Everybody knows a dude (it’s always dudes) whose entire furniture situation is a folding chair and a 75-inch TV sitting on a milk crate. Perhaps this is the old-money equivalent?
For sale: 2332 Atmore St., California-Kirkbride, $189,000.
I wish I had something (anything!) to say about California-Kirkbride, a North Side neighborhood that used to be known for factories and abandoned factories (probably, it’s Pittsburgh) and now is known for, uh, being part of the blob of neighborhoods known as the North Side. This place looks like a million other modern, up-to-date homes of every shape and size on the inside, but it’s really a 1920-vintage rowhouse with some residual character on the outside. It’s got a new roof, new furnace, and new air-conditioning, and just took a $10,000 price cut. We’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to the (affordable) housing crisis, but persistent price cuts in many places are definitely a trend at this point.
For sale: 3103 Shadeland Ave., Marshall-Shadeland, $185,000.
One more snowy pic before it starts to look ridiculous (OK, too late). Now that we got that out of our system, time to save this summer by making the Pirates competitive! New plan: Have Paul Skenes pitch every game. And bat cleanup. And fly the plane. Oh, this house seems pretty nice for the price — in another part of the North Side that gets little attention.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2025.
