There are people (well, a few) who seem really committed to the idea that Pittsburgh is somehow being overwhelmed by newcomers who are driving up the cost of real estate and generally making themselves a nuisance.
Yeah, that’s not really the case here; prices are going up everywhere, but Pittsburgh’s population is stagnant, if not in decline.
The inclination, especially by Pittsburgh lifers, to feel threatened by transplants isn’t going to be solved by us right here. But what if there were a way to integrate newcomers with the lightest possible impact on home prices? This is a job for … new construction.
Yes, this column is mostly about weird little houses in Pittsburgh that are 70-100 years old, because those tend to be the affordable ones (and I like them). But not everybody has the time and energy to restore and/or maintain an old house. So, you need some new things too, if your city is going to thrive. Admittedly, we don’t have much of it at this point, but we’re at least keeping an eye out.
Part of the reason is that building new is expensive. If affordability is your primary consideration, don’t look at the newbies. However, in the long run, new market-rate construction helps keep older homes affordable (a good summary of how this works is here). You can either have newcomers bidding up the prices of older, existing houses — which affects people who live here already — or you can attract some of them to new construction, which relieves the price pressure on older houses.
Obviously, if you are knocking down cheap old houses to build expensive new ones, that has the opposite effect. That’s bad and is a major problem in many cities. But in Pittsburgh, we have another problem: thousands and thousands of empty lots and abandoned houses that nobody wants, for any price. So, you can usually just build there, and nobody’s theoretical grandma gets priced out. Don’t screw this up, Pittsburgh.
POLISH HILL
For sale: 3022 Wiggins Ave., Polish Hill, $275,000
If you’re looking for affordable “new” construction in Pittsburgh — well, how do you feel about 1987? For Pittsburgh, which has some of the oldest housing stock in America, that kind of counts as new-ish. In 1987, Pittsburgh was in the depths of its post-steel slump, but a skinny kid named Barry Bonds was taking the field for the Buccos, and some signs of hope were on the horizon. Very little housing was being built here (or needed), but someone drew up this sturdy, simple brick rowhouse on Polish Hill, and now it’s mature enough to not command a premium. Putting a garage and driveway out front isn’t great from a pure urbanism standpoint, but parking on a hill is tough, and Polish Hill doesn’t provide much flat land for anything.
If you were building the most Pittsburgh neighborhood possible from scratch, you couldn’t do better than Polish Hill. I’m trying to imagine what immigrants from the Baltic plains of Poland and elsewhere seeing this scraggly, steep hillside overlooking the unpleasant-smelling tanneries and foundries of the Strip and thinking, “yeah, that’s the spot.” It’s not hard to find housing here that’s 100+ years old, though a nice coat of paint works wonders for this place. Polish Hill is, of course, perfect for walking — downhill to the Strip/Lawrenceville/Downtown — but a struggle on the way back up. This rent is for a one-bedroom apartment; two bedrooms in the same building go for about $1,199/month.
EAST END
For sale: 5548 Hays St., Unit 1. Highland Park, $289,000
You didn’t think this whole house was going for $289K did you? (I did, for a second). Those days are over, I’m afraid to say. However, if owning part of a three-bedroom red brick Victorian mansion from 1900 appeals to you, you can own a big piece of one here — like three bedrooms’ worth. That’s enough house for most of us. It’s even got central air and is located in a neighborhood dubbed a “Biker’s Paradise” (and no, that doesn’t mean a Pagans clubhouse is next door).
For rent: 540 Sheridan Ave., East Liberty, $995/month
If you’re going to have college students for neighbors, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a best-case scenario. This very quiet institution anchors a neighborhood that is changing rapidly, with rents that are skyrocketing in places. But it’s a big neighborhood and there are still giant, completely abandoned apartment buildings on Negley Avenue, and a few affordable places to rent, like this one.
HILLTOP
For sale: 2130 Sur Way, Arlington, $90,000
What are we even looking at here? Some kind of Wild West stagecoach stop sliding slowly off a mountain? A zombie-proof ski chalet with a built-in pierogi assembly line? However, three bedrooms for $90,000, circa 1910, gets our attention. See Pittsburgh? We haven’t run out of weird little houses for you just yet.
For rent: 44 Cowan St., Mt. Washington, $950/month
Two porches, one at street level, one up high. Both decent places to sit with a coffee before the heat of the day descends, or a beer and a book when the day is done. (Parking? Who cares? I took the Incline up).
