Squirrel Hill in a Nutshell

the thing I like about Squirrel Hill is it it's still a community it's still a place where people come when they want to come home you can't walk down the street without knowing somebody through somebody else I just like the people I like the place Squirrel Hill is Pittsburgh's largest neighborhood and it's a study in contrast stately mansions sit alongside apartments it is bursting with students and seniors it is the heart of the Jewish community but is also the most ethnically diverse area in all of Pittsburgh people wise it's like a melting pot if you come early in the morning and look at a bus stop you'll see a little bit of everybody and everybody gets along what you're seeing is a whole new group of people coming from all over the world and this is their Ellis Island and it's a model for what urban communities should be I can walk 10 minutes and I have restaurants bangs movies or I walk five minutes and I'm basically in the forest we're standing here at the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues which to those of us who live here is the center of the universe we have a book club site there's so much to see and do but here is Squirrel Hill in a nutshell hey how are you good born on Phillips Avenue which is right up the street from videos and Aiello's and that police is a little further up so when I was a kid every morning I'd you know for lunch time you you'd have sixty-five cents in your pocket and you could get a slice of pizza Cory O'Connor is a familiar face in Squirrel Hill a neighborhood so large it actually has two City Council representatives it's not surprising that Cory is one of them considering his genes my dad Bob was obviously the late mayor of the city and 20 years to the day that I took office he was the councilman in the same district he taught me everything I know about politics and how to work with people he and I would walk up and down the streets and he would say hello to everybody yes our district is very diverse you walk down the street and you hear five six different languages and there are very few places I think in Pittsburgh where you have that kind of diversity and and I enjoy that it's part of what makes score Hill really unique from other parts of Pittsburgh this this is a great constituent base here I mean they will tell me what's going on what's right what's wrong and and that's the good thing our client tells from all four corners of the quarry listens and so does Bill Peduto Squirrel Hills other city councilman many afternoons you can find him at his unofficial office coffee tree Roasters on Forbes Avenue at Bloomfield one side Squirrel Hill on the other and everything in between it's like a big club sandwich with focaccia on one side and rye on the other and it really is where you're starting to see this whole new Pittsburgh emerge in the last 10 years the only area of the city that has grown is the area that I get to represent and it is increased by 10% nationally you're seeing people want to move back into cities and wanting to have this type of a city environment Squirrel Hill is blessed with an abundance of good things and it isn't just because it was given to them it was planned out well and then generation after generation has enhanced it Steve Hawkins is one of those people making Squirrel Hill better he's a past president of the Squirrel Hill urban coalition a citizens based organization that works to improve the lives of the 26,000 people who live here the population of the 14th Ward is a mix most of the people are white about 82% and the rest are the the next biggest group or Asians probably due to the proximity of Squirrel Hill to the universities and the medical facilities in Oakland and nearby and then african-americans and others including Hispanics in addition to serving on the coalition board Steve is an architect who lives and works here there are neighborhoods being designed and towns being designed all over the country trying to emulate the characteristics that we have right here in Squirrel Hill we have a fairly dense commercial district and beyond that plenty of residences within walking distance and we're very fortunate to be sandwiched in between the two major city parks Creek Park and generally Park so there's recreation there access to every where that's a walkable neighborhood just very comfortable to celebrate these things the urban coalition has begun officially designating places and people as Squirrel Hill treasures last year we recognized the intersection where we are right now Forbes and Murray as a Squirrel Hill treasure because it really is the center of the universe to us in 2012 one of the chosen treasures is the Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library it shares its 40th birthday with the coalition and like the coalition it was born of local residents wanting to improve their community there was a political battle in terms of whether there should be a library in in Squirrel Hill and it really was a citizen you know uprising really to have the library here they formed petitions and committees and there was this sense that well why would people even come to Squirrel Hill library since we have the main library in Oakland so close by but ever since we've opened we've been the biggest use outside of Oakland and in touch in terms of the entire city systems I think it says a lot about what this neighborhood is about I mean it's such a close-knit community in terms of family and it's a highly literate community so people bring their babies and they get them library cards after two weeks old or two months old and we are the most used in the entire Carnegie Library system in terms of our children's area and that means we circulate more materials we have more people coming in to programs we have more people just walking into the door to use our children's area than any other library in the city another urban coalition treasure is the Manor Theatre just around the corner from the library on Murray Avenue over the years thousands of youngsters spent their Saturdays watching cartoons and serials at this grand old movie house we just celebrated our 90th anniversary so I think it's currently the oldest consistently running business in Squirrel Hill it opened on May 15 1922 my father Ernest and my cousin George took over the ownership of the manor Theatre in the mid 70s and during that time they renovated the theater and converted it from a single screen to a twin the family sold the manor in 1989 but Rick's turn was reeled back in then in 1992 I took back ownership personally of the theater and renovating the theater and converted it from its twin configuration to its current four flex to stay competitive in this era of giant theater chains the Manor recently underwent yet another renovation you can now have a drink and fancy nosh while sitting in cushy seats returning to Pittsburgh to help oversee the construction and changes was Rick's daughter Alexa so I grew up with my my dad and my grandfather in this business she grew up with with me and in this business so it's it's kind of like a family tradition while the manor maybe one of squirrel Hill's oldest institutions at the other end of the neighborhood is one of its newest Somerset development is eventually going to have about 700 units of various sorts from apartments to single-family homes it was a slag heap for the steel mills down below and sometime 15-20 years ago to its credit the the city government began to explore whether there could be a brownfield with development of that site and that has been a significant addition to the community to Michael Erman the development of Somerset is a link in the expansion of Squirrel Hill empty land becomes a thriving community it's how Squirrel Hill got its start there was a certain amount of scattered dwelling here probably around this the late eighteenth century about the same time as you know the British took over for to Kane Michael is chairman of the Squirrel Hill Historical Society another citizens group that meets monthly and has published a history of the neighborhood Squirrel Hill stayed unsettled longer than a lot of the neighborhoods around here because it was up on the hill it was not near what was the basis of settlement in those days which were the rivers what changed from native-american to a fair number of farms in the 19th century sometime in the mid to late 19th century Squirrel Hill went through two or three phases of change fairly quickly first of all a number of estates were established notably members the Mellon family we were particularly active in settling both here and neighbouring Shadyside else'd late 19th century over some more urban things started because the trolley was opened up along Forbes Avenue by the 1920s and 30s the wealthy families began selling off their land they subdivided and and ultimately replaced their own mansions they felt it was more valuable to get the proceeds as as Pittsburgh was expanding up the hill or as there was an openness now with the trolley you can still see remnants of those grand mansions like the Worthington mansion that's now part of Temple Sinai a Jewish congregation on Forbes Avenue or Mellon Hall on the campus of Chatham College and as the wealthy families left the middle class and immigrants began moving in including some who would go on to fame of their own Gene Kelly had his Studios here Willa Cather the author lived on Murray Hill Avenue for a while he ever go on a boat did it go like this more recent and more beloved than its world and for much not all of his life was Fred Rogers them there are lots of things to wonder about in this world I teach the American Jewish experience at Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh and I'm writing about the Pittsburgh Jewish community Barbara Burstyn explains how Squirrel Hill became an epicenter for Jewish life and how they came to Pittsburgh in the first place so by 1864 you had some Jews that had come from prussia eastern areas of germany as they became more established more comfortable they moved into Allegheny City which today is the North Shore beginning in the 1870s you had Jews from Eastern Europe from Russia from Poland who were really impoverished and coming here and they basically got off the train station and walked to the hill when Squirrel Hill began experiencing a growth in population at the turn of the 20th century both Jewish groups took note beginning in the 1920s certainly they talked about an exit off the hill into Squirrel Hill you had a great deal of construction you not only had that Shola the sanctuary we're sitting in this building began in 1922 you also had polos etic that moved from the hill to Squirrel Hill by 1928 by the 1940s most Jewish institutions were centered in Squirrel Hill and more Jews continued to pour in Holocaust survivors arrived in the late 40s and 50s during the 1970s there was another influx the Russians now are coming totally different Road fleeing the Soviet regime late 1970s 1980s at one point I understand there was something like 20 kosher butcher shops along Murray Avenue Jewish bakeries bagel stores it certainly appeared as if it was overwhelmingly Jewish but it really in fact was not from what I understand no more than 40 percent was Jewish that community has made its presence felt I have in the last few years given out over 65,000 cards helping Squirrel Hill retain that Jewish flavor are people like Miriam Rosenbloom she can usually be found outside the giant eagle passing out the good card and that actually paraphrases what the rebus said that every acts of kindness and goodness does count mrs. rosenbloom is a member of the Lubavitch jewish community which has a large presence in Squirrel Hill but there are Jewish institutions synagogues schools stores social service agencies of all types in this neighborhood slowmo Perlman is a part of it all I'm an owner of Penn scripter data center along with my wife Hannah right now we're in the wine room it's been expanded recently to accommodate an explosion of kosher wines that has happened over the five to ten years you can find anything you need to lead a Jewish lifestyle at the store which opened back in 1954 well the mezuzah that goes out on the door a wine cup that we call kiddush cup which we use to sanctify the Shabbat then also holidays at Aulis that we wear during prayers things like that which are specifically tied to mitts vote Commandments who sell these we just got in from Florida lived here all my life came to Pinsker this is my first thought the dirty Oh non-jews come to this Murray Avenue institution too we have regularly bus loads of non Jewish students high school students mostly from Catholic schools who come as a field trip to Squirrel Hill to see the Jewish community and one of their main stops is pinch curse [Music] they also visit Murray Avenue kosher skoros only kosher food store or Moshe put car the silversmith on lower Murray Avenue or they come to the largest presence of all the Jewish Community Center with its distinctive Hebrew lettered clock on the tower take your hand and pull it this way and it will do wonderful magical things it'll give the painting the energies there is nothing you can't do but you've got to know you cannot be afraid of it these are students at Lila Hirsch Brody's acrylic art class one of the many programs the JCC offers but I I've been with the Jewish Community Center for 36 years I teach on Wednesday as you see I have a fabulous class of people these people come from all walks of life our religions all races and they are welcome what's to be afraid of all you have to do is smear it out get white again it's not a life [Music] if you look back at our history for the hundred years you'll see back when we were in the Hill District we were serving the whole community as well but as Squirrel Hill has diversified our agency has diversify with that JCCC president Bryan Schreiber says that while the majority of the center's membership is Jewish its facilities are used by the entire neighborhood the JCC is a multi-faceted social Human Service recreational social agency we call it babies to bubbies we are both the Jewish at the center of the community and also a community center for the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill and that's something that's evolved over time within our early childhood program we have 20 different languages spoken and almost 50% of the children in the early childhood program English is not their first language their parents first language that reflects the changing face of Squirrel Hill a neighborhood that is once again in transition the butcher shops are gone the delicatessens are basically gone many of the smaller businesses that are owned by Jews are gone and what's left is a much more multicultural neighborhood that has been influenced a lot by CMU and get the students it's so identified as Jewish but from a practical point of view driving up and down or walking up and down the street its Jewishness has been lessened significantly just visually Murray Avenue has become in Pittsburgh the Yiddish Agosti Jewish Street well 30 years ago I did a movie called Murray Avenue a community in transition and now I'm looking at it 30 years later Murray happened it was really a different Street my original thought was oh it hasn't changed that much and in some ways it really hasn't but in many ways it really has Shelagh shame Yvette's is a Pittsburgh filmmaker who has watched her community first it went from Jewish from kosher butcher shops to Italian pizza Ria's and then it went from Italian pizzerias to Asian restaurants so it has its kind it's changing its character and in many ways it's shishi up that's evident in the variety of stores and restaurants up and down the commercial corridor Mike Wow and his family owns several Asian restaurants on Murray and Forbes and are leaders in the explosion of Asian owned businesses may my family we've been here for almost 20 years just recently we just started to open a lot more kind of expanding in this area Mike grew up in Squirrel Hill moved away and then came back to help run the family business he says the growing Asian population has increased the demand for Asian restaurants bakeries and stores I think it's you know the increase of recruitment by the universities and the colleges nearby attracts other Asian families to move in as well so over time I think the Asian population is going to grow by quite a bit jean-pierre Nutini serves another growing squirrel presence the Hispanic community he and his wife Lisa own Mexico Lindo which carries Mexican arts and crafts the Latino community has always had quite a bit of influx into the Squirrel Hill area because of the hospitals the universities as well as the Pittsburgh Symphony the ballet the Opera the latest influx of Mexican population doesn't necessarily live in this area although they do work here in every store along maria forbes port corridor can be found to be manned by Mexican chefs cooks dishwashers and waiters they don't so much live in Squirrel Hill as they do work in Squirrel Hill because they can't afford it yet while Mexico Lindo is part of the evolving Squirrel Hill landscape just across the street is a remnant of the old the Murray Avenue newsstand which seems suspended in time I bought this Thor 31 years ago Eddie millstone who was here for 32 years so the store has been here for about 63 years well when I bought the story was more of a it was a newspaper store in toys the Sunday morning we would move 1,200 newspapers out of this store now if we knew 75 to 100 it's a lot some winners yeah we're mainly lottery Western Union bill paying and we still do some toys but not like it was 20 years ago Marx had to adapt to stay in business and so has Bill swoop the most competitive coffee market in the city of Pittsburgh is Squirrel Hill for sure there are more than a half dozen coffee houses lining Forbes and Murray avenues they'd always heard the Pittsburgh was the highest consumption per capita of coffee in the world but Bill has an edge he and his dad owned squirrel Hill's oldest coffee house my father and I together started the coffee tree Roasters and our square hole location was our first and it opened in July 3rd 1993 we were looking for a good cross-section of people as far as density and we really like the walking traffic here fresh Road you'll find many unique things in Squirrel Hill not only places but people people like Kimberly fought I like to call myself the Skouras old gypsy violinist when I was very tiny we lived in Iran we then live for about nine years in Italy and we've traveled a lot and I love love love gypsy music I really love my little spot here at the Manor it's my stage and the acoustics are great [Music] and there's Moe the crossing guard who's been at the corner of Forbes and Murray for years just up the street from Moe's busy corner is another Squirrel Hill landmark this is my family shoe store my dad's owned it about 29 years now the stores a hundred years old a visit to Squirrel Hill isn't complete without a trip to one of its destination stores and littles really foots the bill there was a little family that started littles where it got its name it actually used to be around the corner on Murray Avenue and at some point moved up here as Justin Siegel will proudly tell you littles is one of the country's top independent shoe stores I am fourth generation in the shoe business so I would say that if you probably looked at my DNA under a microscope you'd see little shoelaces and pumps and heels and all kinds of different shoes people's kids have moved out they come in and the first place they go they don't stop at home they do not pass go and collect $200 they come straight to littles or they go straight here I'm Gerry Weber donors Gerry's records in Squirrel Hill what's up you find anything good today always people come here from out of time West Virginia New York Ohio even Philadelphia there's no big record stores there they come from all over the world action for almost 40 years Jerry's been buying and selling vinyl we have over a over a million here we have about 800,000 45s and then we have probably two or three or four hundred thousand albums I've never really counted them but I also have a warehouse and I have another million in there I stock stuff that nobody else would even bother with like ethnic music and classical and opera and gospel music I like it all when you're finished thumbing through all those albums mosey down the hall into whistling willies 78 the store owned by Jerry's son I gave him the room a year and a half ago he had like 578 now he has 70,000 of them over there it's one of the only stores in the eastern United States and 78 and right next to him is Galaxy electronics away from the hustle and bustle of Forbes and Murray you can join Marika hebt she's director of education with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy what makes Squirrel Hill such a special neighborhood is that it has three fabulous parks flanking it we have Frick Park which is where we are right now which is the largest city park and then we also have Schenley Park and Mellon Park we're really lucky in Pittsburgh that the kind of industrial leaders of the earlier 20th century had the vision to create these parks for the public Helen Clay Frick asked her father as a gift for her 16th birthday to bequeath about a hundred and twenty acres at that time to the city of Pittsburgh the Schenley story revolves around a woman and Mary Shanley who it had actually left the city of Pittsburgh but was convinced to give her land through the city on behalf of all of our residents Mellon Park is actually the backyard of the Mellon estate first Park is legendary for its Blue Slide built into the side of a hill for decades children have been coming here it's so famous that local rapper turned national recording artist Mac Miller wrote a song about it anyway in the summer you can listen to live music at the Bach Beethoven and brunch and Mellon watch the vintage Grand Prix winding through Schenley or visit the dog park at Frick parks improve the quality of life for people without a doubt they improve your property values but they really just improve your experience as a city resident so squirrels very lucky [Music] good schools public and private great housing options tree-lined streets providing an oasis in the city a changing population but a neighborhood full of people who care about their home it's like an old-style neighborhood that still has all the amenities that you can walk to and I think a lot of people still enjoy that I just have very fond memories of school I think of it as a very diverse community and I really think of it as actually the word community and I would use a capital C that's squirrel hill in a nutshell if you want to find out more come stroll the streets for yourself [Music] you

Channel: WQED Pittsburgh

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Length: 28min 2sec (1682 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 25 2019