Pittsburgh's East Liberty may emulate Market Square

East Liberty is a 254 acre neighborhood in Pittsburgh and one of the city’s more overlooked areas with crime rates that are higher than the rest of the city and a general lack of robust economic activity, which has led to some degree of social decay.

The area’s problems started in the 1960’s when the current Penn Circle was built. At the time, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) was concerned by the level of suburban flight taking place in Pittsburgh, with many residents moving out into the suburbs and businesses following them. This was the age when shopping malls and major retail complexes were beginning to open on the outskirts of cities and traditional market centers like East Liberty were feeling threatened.

The URA decided to enhance the area’s potential for business activity by creating an outdoor pedestrian mall on Penn Avenue, which was to be surrounded by parking lots and roads better equipped to handle increased traffic volumes. These new one-way thoroughfares are what East Liberty now know as Penn Circle.

The project was a massive undertaking and involved the demolition and rebuilding of around half of East Liberty. At the same time, the housing authority built three large residential complexes for African American neighborhoods displaced by the demolition of Hill District. These new housing blocks were placed on the newly built roads.

A mixture of racism and bad urban planning led to the failure of the redevelopment plan. The re-routed roads were confusing and did not attract business investment, and due to the fact that many small businesses had been closed during the project, the area was chronically short of jobs and economic activity, which led to an increasing crime rate and general social dysfunction.

Of the 575 business that were operating in East Liberty in 1959, just 98 remained by 1979.

East Liberty has begun to recover from this setback, in 1979 a non-profit organization called East Liberty Development Inc (ELDI) was created, which focused on redeveloping small parts of the area such as Kelly-Strayhorn Theater (formerly Regent Theatre) and Motor Square Garden. It also lobbied for the removal of the failed pedestrian mall and had it made into a two-way thoroughfare once more.

From 1996 to 2006 the City of Pittsburgh used a number of incentives to attract investment to the area, such as Tax Increment Financing, which saw a number of large retailers set up shop in the area, such as Home Depot and Whole Foods, which paved the way for smaller businesses to invest in the area as well.

Now, major redevelopment is to be undertaken again with Pittsburgh news media recently reporting that the Penn Circle, which originally led to the area’s decline, will be expanded to accommodate two-way traffic flow, which it is hoped will create a main street feel ahead of the opening of a Target store in 2011.

During the new project, which is expected to last 12 months, there will reportedly be significant lane restrictions throughout Penn Circle. Within East Liberty, feelings are mixed on the wisdom of the new development.

“Violence is still here and stuff needs to be patched up. Even if you do bring more stores in the area, it still doesn’t help,” said Samara McGraw, an East Liberty resident.

Others have voiced their support. “It will be real convenient for me to come down here and shop for my kids and everything. I won’t have to go way far out. So, I think it will be pretty good for around here,” said Tara Bryant, another resident of the Pittsburgh neighborhood.

In addition to the development of two way roads in the circle, the pavements and general area will also be enhanced, according to early plans released to Pittsburgh news media. It seems that the recent successful redevelopment project on Market Square has given some inspiration to the Penn Circle re-designers.

Market Square is a famous hub of commercial activity in Pittsburgh. First built in 1764, it has been the ‘heart’ of the city for many centuries and was the location of Pittsburgh’s first courthouse, first jail and the first Pittsburgh newspaper in 1786, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG, as it is known in Pittsburgh, continues operations to this day.

In 2009, Pittsburgh news media reported that all traffic would be diverted around the square as construction began on a major $5 million redevelopment that would provide our beloved Square with a makeover intended to restyle it into that of piazza similar to those beautiful pedestrian city squares found in Europe.

The project was intended to both modernize and beautify the area, which had begun to age, as well as to attract investment from businesses during a rough time for the city’s economy.

New lighting, new pedestrian areas, new sidewalks, new roads and new common area have been created and the finished product is rather fetching, according to many.

“Now it's a European piazza. People who have been to Europe tell me it's very much what they experience in Europe,” Mike Edwards, of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership told Pittsburgh news media.

Part of the new pedestrian-friendly design’s intention had already been achieved with many shoppers remaining in the square to enjoy themselves and, crucially, spend more money on local businesses. Before, the Square suffered from traffic congestion, which was a disincentive to longer stays in the area.

Market Square is a success then, hopefully the redevelopment of Penn Circle will be this time as well.