Yes, this column is mostly about old and weird little houses, because Pittsburgh has an inexhaustible supply of them. (Apparently, when the urban gods were handing out useful attributes, Pittsburgh was up late the night before stress-eating nachos through a Pens triple-overtime loss and slept through its chance to get beaches or useful public transit.)
But who knows? Maybe someday we’ll discover that nicotine-stained ‘70s carpets absorb carbon emissions better than rainforests. Or perhaps the rhythmic tap of raindrops on our creaky aluminum awnings communicates some unknown frequency to alien invaders, so that they show up in Rocky Bleier jerseys carrying Yuenglings instead of weapons. We could have the last laugh.
However, Pittsburgh has other kinds of housing too. Here’s one that doesn’t get enough credit: big, densely-populated apartment buildings.
Nobody’s going to mistake us for Manhattan, but we’ve got a decent collection of pre-war walk-ups and other useful multifamily housing types. When you allow lots of people the choice to live near where they work — without making them purchase a bunch of excess parking, lawncare, and commutes that they don’t want — it’s a good thing. Not everybody wants or needs the house with the white picket fence, three-car garage, and personal helipad to be happy.
OAKLAND
For sale: 166 N. Dithridge St., Unit 2H, $169,900
Oakland has been the beating heart of Pittsburgh for many years now; its industries (healthcare, higher education, tech) are the ones driving the bus now. Yet that exact vitality is what makes Oakland annoying to so many — endless construction, no parking, college students everywhere. But if you’re looking for a certain kind of housing like, say, 1920s Art Deco-ish garden apartments/condos, there are some options here like Hampton Hall. It’s got a bright, elegant entrance hall and plenty of natural light coming in from three sides. They don’t build them like this anymore, unfortunately.
Atwood Street! Anyone remember when this was the best place to eat in Pittsburgh? (Anybody? Oh.) Don’t even get me started on The Decade, one of Pittsburgh’s greatest lost rock clubs. Nothing stays the same, of course. There are fewer reasons to traverse this street nowadays, unless you’re stumbling half-awake to class. And yet, that’s a pretty good number for rent in this day and age. Oakland’s student slums are way less crappy than they used to be, and this place certainly looks like it has received a fresh coat of paint and more than the usual (bare minimum) of effort at upkeep. So, who’s willing to split a pie from Antoon’s?
DOWNTOWN
For sale: Chatham Towers, 112 Washington Pl., Unit 5L, $149,000
It has been remarked endlessly that if Downtown is going to regain its pre-pandemic vitality (yes, it had some), it has to find a way to add lots of residents to make up for the work-from-homers it has lost. But there’s just not a lot of housing available; it’s either million-dollar condos or subsidized housing, without much in between. But that’s not to say there’s nothing. Sure, this isn’t Downtown’s most attractive building, and isn’t adjacent to any fun restaurants, clubs, or theaters. However, in its favor, Chatham Towers is close to the part of Uptown and the Hill where change (hopefully for the better) is pretty much inevitable at this point. Yes, the promised development around the Pens arena has been a bust so far, but feet can only be dragged so long.
SOUTH SIDE
For rent: 2626 South Side Flats, 2626 Tunnel Blvd., $1,325-1,510/month
Sure, these studio apartments go down to a microscopic 402 square feet, and prices are somewhat high even for that. But that’s the new construction trade-off. What you do get is one of Pittsburgh’s nicest-looking new apartment buildings in years — an aerodynamic, pseudo-Streamline-Moderne construction facing the river, with a vast, landscaped semi-enclosed courtyard full of outdoor amenities. This is the quiet part of the South Side (now); though if you put your ear to the ground, you might still hear the hiss of molten metal sluicing across the old Hot Metal Bridge.
NORTH SIDE
For rent: Allegheny City Stables Lofts, 840 W. North Ave., $1,299/month
I’m trying to imagine the look of horror on the faces of my ancestors as I explain to them, “No, I want to live in the stables.” But then, they wouldn’t understand why I keep looking at this little glass rectangle with pictures on it either, like I’m expecting messages from the Beyond. Yeah, living in the stables was only slightly better than building a home in a moving boxcar back then, but this red-brick, circa-1895 home for horses is built better than 60% of new construction for humans nowadays, so who really gets the last laugh here?
