~~~--~====-------------.----------------------~-~ An Atlas of the Hazelwood and Glen Hazel Heights Neighborhoods of Pittsburgh 1977 HAZELWOOD AND GLEN HAZEL HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY CENTER fOR URBAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF PITTSSURGH 1209-0, Cathedral of learning 249 NORTH CRAIG STREET University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylunia 15260 PITISBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15250 Phone: (412) 624·3465 PITTSBURGH NEIGHBORHOOD ATLAS GOVERNING BOARD ROGER AHLSAANDT, JR. STAFF Unlv... lty of Pltuburgh, School of SOCial Work Ch.lrP*...an JAMES VALLAS W~ndell D. Jordan (East Liberty-Lemington-Lincoln) ShldVtlde Margaret K. Charny (Squirrel Hill) Vlc.Ch.lrp.'lon BARBARA KELL Y Julia Whitener (Mexican War Streets) P.,.y-Hllitop Ml110fred Russell (Homestead, Pa.) S-.:r.tary TEARY WOODCOCK Gerald S. Oswalt (Schenley Heights) SQuirrel Hili Katherine Knorr (East Liberty) RICHARD ARMSTEAD John Zingaro (Shadyside) Hili Oi.trlct Dan Baskin JOSEPH BORKOWSKI Lawlrl"clvllli Vicky Leap DANIEL CHAPPELL Howard Williams Hili District Ronald Madzy MARY COYNE WMt End Tony Gary JIM CUNNINGHAM Mary Shea Shldvsldl MARY LOU DANIEL WMt E"d SUPPORTIVE INSTITUTIONS JESE DEL GRE Hili Dlst.lct WILLIAM P. GALLAGHER Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance Gr_nfl-'d Center for Urban Research of the Univ. of Pgh. MARY HALL Squlr'll HIli School of Social Work of the Univ. of Pgh. ROSE JEWELL Architect Workshop Sh.dvsldl City Council of the City of Pgh. GABOR KISH Elilon Allegheny County Department of Elections ROBERT "BLUE" MARTIN ACTION-Housing, Inc. Hnalwood THOMAS MURPHY Department of City Planning of the City of Pgh. PI"V Hilltop Southwestern Penna. Regional Planning Commission EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WENDELL D. JORDAN ACTION-Vista (Volunteers in Service to America) AGENCIES Valley View Presbyterian Church Actlon·Houslng. Inc. U.S . Bu,.. u of thl Cansus Carnllll.M-'lon U"lvlrslty FUNDING SOURCES Ch.lstl.n Auocl.l.. City Council Commu"lty Action Plttlbu.gh Alcoa Foundation County PI Inning Dap.,tmlnt HI.lth & Wllf.'1 Allegheny Conference on Community Development Planning A.IIOCI.tlon N.tlonal Instltutl of Nllghbor. Howard Heinz Endowment hood Studl" U"lvlrslty of Plttlburgh School Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation of Soclll Work Koppers Company SOuth_tl,n P. nnlvlvanl. RIllIO"II PI.nnlng Commlulon Richard King Mellon Foundation St.tl Dapa"mlnt of Commu"lty AU.I,.. City Council of the City of Pittsburgh Unltld WIV The Pittsburgh Foundation Urban Ind Communltv Affllrs · UnlvlrSltv of Pln.bu'llh Henry Oliver Rea Charitable Trust CONSULTANTS Sarah Scaife Foundation. Inc. Unlvlr.ltv of Plnlburvl! Cant.,. for U,ban R_rch Weld Tooling Company City PI.nnlng Dap.'t...... nt University of Pittsburgh (tn Kind) OZ SCHMIDT· GIO!iI'IPhV Dlpt., Unh... rslty of Plnobu,gh JOHN VORIO . Highland P.rk Initiated by the PITTSBURGH NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE INTRODUCTION The Pittsburgb Neighborhood. A1.1iance was formed in 1969 by a munber of neighborhood organizations that were concerned with improving the city's neigh­ borhoods and their relations with city government. The members of the .Alliance recognized that in order to negotiate effectively with city government about such maJor concerns as public service needs, capital improvements and transpor­ tation, it was necessary to obtain accurate, up-to-date intor.matlon about the neighborhoods. Unfortunately, this information was not available. To remedy this situation, the All.lance developed its Pittsburgh Neigh­ borhood Atlas project. First, the boundaries of the city's neighborhoods had to be determined. The Pittsburgh Neighborhood Atlas a.slted people attending cCllllIlWli ty meetings to nmne and describe the boundaries of the neighborhoods in which they lived.. This inf'onnation was usa provided by an Atlas-initiated survey. Responses fran every voting district of the city were analyzed to assure citizen involvement at the neighborhood level. Seventy-eight neighborhoods were thus identified, each made up of one or more whole voting districts in order to comply with provisions in Pittsburgh's home rule charter relating to the election 0'£ camnunity advisory boards. The Atlas then gathered a body of useful and up-to-date information for every neighborhood. It is the begirming of a neighborhood information systen that more closely reflects neighborhood boundaries as defined by residents in­ stead of by public officials. In the past, statistics about sections of the city have been based on information published for relatively large areas such as census tracts. For the atlas, much of the material. describing neighborhood characteristics came !'ran figures cc:mpll.ed for smaller areas: voting districts or census blocks. As a result, detailed information i8 now available tor neigh­ borhoods whose boundaries differ substantially :fran census tract boundaries. The information in this atlas provides an insight into current neighbor­ hood conditions and the direction in which the neighborhood is moving. The best indicators showing the health of the neighborhood are provided by citizen satis­ faction with the neighborhood, and changes in residential real estate transaction prices. Comparison of these statistics to those for the entire city provide a basis to begin understanding issues of neighborhood ItabUi ty. In the years to cane, a.a additional data are gathered for each of these indicators, trends will became more obvious. It is important to recognize that neighborhood challge is a camplex pro­ cess and that one indicator by itself may not be useful. Neighborhoods may be healthy regardl.esa of their l.evel of incane, and therefore inccme-related sta­ tistics ~ not be useful guides by themselves. Neighborhoods mu3t be viewed over time in terms of relative changes compared to the oity as a whole, and ~ analysis of neighborhood conditions must focus upon all of the data in order to provide a cauprebensive understanding. To l.earn about specific sections of the neighborhood, figures by indi­ vidual voting distriot or census tract may be obtained. Additional information on the neighborhood or the information cystem is available through the Center for Urban Research of the University of Pittsburgh, which has made an outstanding contribution to the development of this atlas. -1- NEIGHBORHOOD DESCRIPTION This atlas presents information ahout two Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Hazelwood and Glen Hazel Heights. Hazelwood, approximately 3.6 miles east of downtown, is made up of voting districts #10 to #17, Ward 15. I ts estimated area is 751.2 acres, containing 2.2% of the city's land and 1.170 of i ts 1974 population. Glen Hazel Heights, approximately 4.3 miles east of downtown, is made up of voting district #19, Ward 15. It has an estimated area of 241 .6 acres, containing 0.7% of the city's land and 0.2% of its 1974 population. In the following section, the findings of the Citizen Survey are pub­ lished separately for each neighborhood. The remaining sections of the atlas describe population and housing characteristics of Hazelwood only. Similar in­ formation for Glen Hazel Heights is omitted for much of it would be misleading or inaccurate due to major changes in the neighborhood since 19.70 resulting from the razing and reconstruction of the Glen Hazel Heights housing project (in progress) and the opening of a new apartment building for the elderly. (See Appendix for a listing of the neighborhoods' census tracts and additional information about resi­ dents of Glen Hazel Heights.) 1 "'/" I , //, -.... :. /; Wl: f .:. , ,;..:.- 14 . :"s. ~ ~............ ~ -~' :-~" ....,..;; / , " " , " '.,'; " I • -2- NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY HAZELWOOD AND GLEN HAZEL HEIGHTS Hazelwood's name derives from the hazelnut trees which once covered its site along the Monongahela River. In 1784 John WLod, a prosperous lawyer whose father, George, was an early surveyor of Pittsburgh's environs, built an estate called "Hazel Hill" there. Over time, "wood" was substituted for IIHi11'1. Although the Hazelwood area had been surveyed in the post-Revolutionary period, it remained relatively undeveloped compared to the booming town of Pittsburgh down­ river. Large farms and estates were carved into the woodland areas along the Monon­ gahela, attracting numerous families of wealth to the region. This concentration of wealth brought its benefits to the entire area in the form of a wooden plank road - the first of its kind around Pittsburgh - built to bear the carriage traffic between the Point and Hazelwood. Industry inevitably followed. Hazelwood was strategically located between the Connellsville coal mines and the city of Pittsburgh. In 1861 Mr. B. F. Jones, of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad and later of Jones and Laughlin, built the first line of track through the area, bringing with it new residents and new jobs. Even with the railroad, Hazelwood retained its image of a tranquil place to live. Concerned citizens convinced Mr. Jones to build his railroad inland from the river in order to retain the natural beauty of the river banks. In 1869 the area was sufficiently developed to warrant annexation to the Cit y of Pittsburgh as the old 23rd Ward. The decades between 1870 and 1910 marked a period of great expansion. The iron and steel industries, railroading, boatbuilding and the river trade provided the majority of jobs. In the 1870's Braddock's Field, connecting Hazelwood to the Point, was paved and renamed Second Avenue. By 1885, at the peak of its development. the first street car line came to the area. Wi th cottage industries growing into vast enterprises and more and more people crowding into the area in search of job opportunities, the wealthy residents began a mass exodus to the suburbs, leaving behind a social and political vacuum. The vacant places in the power structure were soon filled by an aspiring middle class, whi le many newly-arrived immigrants filled the ranks of the working class. Today, Hungarian and Italo-Americans predominate, although many Slovak, Carpatho-Rusin, Polish and Irish names can be found among residents. An influx of Blacks has added to this ethnic mix. Today the Jones and Laughlin mill dominates the Hazelwood area.