Kiss passed away a few years ago, but the piece continues to fascinate all who discover it. Perhaps in time the “same lots” that have struggled for years will begin to flourish. Maybe regaining some density like the 1923 version of the neighborhood but with a better standard of living for all? 🤔❤️

Across the street are a small community garden, a little free library, and the legendary statue of “Sir Samelot,” brought to the neighborhood in 2010 by former Allegheny County Chief Architect Sam Kiss.

But in the area around Tustin Park, hope persists. There are murals, a playground, large shade trees, and a solar-powered phone-charging station, supposedly with public Wi-Fi.

Uptown. Bluff. Soho. Boyd’s Hill. Over the decades, this area has had many names, but in recent years it’s mainly known as an area that has languished, despite its proximity to Downtown, Oakland, and South Side. The ongoing construction along Forbes and Fifth is downright painful and doesn't help. 🧵

1923 had plenty of problems but too much empty space in Middle Hill wasn't one of them. Lots of buildings and... look at those trolley lines! I know the PRT bus goes through this neighborhood today but I just love seeing the trolley tracks. 🚋❤️

Everyone deserves better, and just because it has been a long-standing problem doesn’t mean it has to be a forever problem.

But Vincennes has a problem that’s not unique: litter, illegal dumping, and property managers/owners who don’t maintain their apartment buildings, including dumpsters and grounds. A public park isn’t a benefit when it’s adjacent to a nuisance property.

Like Lawrenceville, Oakland, and Homewood, the area collectively known as “The Hill District” is actually comprised of several neighborhoods. Each has at least one small park or playground that tends to be popular after school and on weekends.

Vincennes Park in Middle Hill offers a small playground surrounded by beautiful shade trees that turn the most vibrant colors in the fall. Nearby is a basketball court and a set of city steps that connect to Hollace Street. 🧵

The 1923 map shows the Bedford Basin Playground (the creation of which was QUITE a news item from 1901-1905…unlike today, people were not yet accustomed to how slow city govt could move 😂). Basin is closer to where August Wilson Park is today. Ammon Park is now where the lumber yard stood.❤️

The 800 new apartments won’t fix every issue, but it’s a step in the right direction. Easy access to public parks and recreational spaces makes it even more appealing.

Today, great expanses of Bedford Ave are under construction for new housing. If all goes well, affordable and market-rate apartments will be ready next year, with more units added each year through 2031. The entire Hill District’s population is ~12,000 today, compared to nearly 54,000 in 1950.

From 1931 to 1938, this area was Greenlee Field (later called Ammon Field), home to the Pittsburgh Crawfords Negro League baseball team. Greenlee was the first and only major baseball stadium in the East designed, built, and owned by an African American. #HistoricalMarker

Bedford Avenue has experienced many changes over the last century, some welcome, some not. Located near the center of its 2-mile stretch, Ammon Park offers a public pool, athletic fields, a playground, and a recreation center with youth programming, a weight room, and activities for all ages. 🧵

I reach the end of the football field, where there’s a shell of an ancient truck. I’m sure there’s a story about how it came to be there and why it’s still there. The story, like that of Kennard’s, is long gone, almost forgotten, but not yet.❤️

Kennard had a rare talent for connecting with both affluent powerbrokers and the working poor. In 1927, the City Council named the space after her, in honor of her work, and the name has stayed in place for a century.

Kennard is an old recreation area; it’s not the oldest, but its origins as the Soho Playground date to the early twentieth century, when the playground movement was gaining steam locally. One of those early advocates was Beulah Elfreth Kennard, a Pittsburgh resident devoted to child development.

But when games or practices aren’t in session, it can be a quiet spot. During my weekday afternoon visit, it was totally deserted.

Kennard Park in Crawford-Roberts is a much-used and loved space, especially for its football field (and rivalry with the Garfield Gators🐊). Throughout most of the year, the parking lot and nearby side streets are packed with cars and families. 🧵

In 1923, the Moorehead public school occupied the playground site. St. Bridget’s Church and its school occupied the adjacent lots. Oh, the dramas that certainly occurred after dismissal... 🎭❤️

If the style looks familiar, it’s because Holbrook, a Wilkinsburg native, has created more than 200 public and private murals around Pittsburgh. Look up, look around, wherever you are, beauty abounds!

But something you might not expect is right around the corner: a massive, full-building mural. A collaborative effort by artists Kyle Holbrook and AmunRay, with community input and many hours of volunteer time, the mural depicts two Black women in colorful dresses towering above the garden.

Remodeled in the early 2020s, Granville Park is adjacent to the CARES Community Garden and the Grayson Community Center in Middle Hill. With a basketball court, bleachers, and a playground, it’s an active space after school and in the summer. Just what you hope to see at a neighborhood park. 🧵

And so, the green has returned. The place that once had an abundance of people and a lack of trees is quite the opposite today. 🌳❤️

Today, the area still has a mix of income-dependent housing for families, seniors, and people with disabilities, built over the last 20 years, but it’s a fraction of what once stood on these flattened hills.

For a few decades, Terrace Village was a brightly burning star of hope. But it would not survive the economic, political, and social upheavals of the latter part of the twentieth century.

Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of earth were removed to level steep hillsides, enabling nearly 3,000 families to have affordable housing with “modern” features such as indoor plumbing.

At that time, before highways cut through the neighborhood and vehicles sped through the streets, this was a densely populated area. Over the next 20 years, significant changes would come: Terrace Village, one of the largest public housing complexes in the United States, would be constructed nearby.

Today, the Warren Branch Memorial Field and MLK Community Garden are quiet, green spaces surrounded by leafy trees. It’s a very different look and feel from 1923, when the Soho Playground was established slightly north of this area. 🧵

The 1923 maps make the area look so flat! 😂 Cliff Street is high above Bigelow Boulevard - was back then, still is now. 😮❤️