Wilkinsburg and race. (Liberty, Mifflin, Lawrenceville: middle-class, section 8, sale)

[Quiet-T]

I don't know how else to go about asking this, so I'll just ask...
Is there racial tension in Wilkinsburg?

[squarian]

A blunt and honest question, but I'm afraid there isn't a correspondingly simple answer.

If you're asking whether there is overt hostility or animosity between white and black in the borough, I'd have to say I'm unaware of it.

If you're asking whether there is any degree of wariness or distrust or friction, I'd certainly say there is, though probably no more so than any other urban American setting.

If you're asking about crime statistics, that's another question again.

It's not race-harmony Elysium, but at least at the official level many people are willing to work with or vote for someone with a different skin colour. What this means in a day-to-day mundane-life way probably depends on exactly what part of the borough and what time of day you have in mind.

[Uptown kid]

Originally Posted by Quiet-T

I don't know how else to go about asking this, so I'll just ask...
Is there racial tension in Wilkinsburg?

I'll start off by asking you a question... Was there anything specific that prompted you to ask?

To resond to your question there is definitely racial tension/prejudice at the individual level between gang members/other criminals and riff-raff from the westside of the busway. Most of the Wilkinsburg neighborhoods located west of the busway (ie. Kelly West, Pebbles Square & Whitney Park) made up an area that was called "City Bound", which was the original home for/claimed by the City Bound Gangstaz (aka City Boyz) branch of the Wilkinsburg G'z (aka Wilkinsburg Hoods). They claimed the area from 1990-until the 1995/1996 indictments, and regrouped during the early 2000's. Due to recent gentrification, they along with most low-income residents (which happened to also be black) largely relocacated to Wilkinsburg- east of the busway- north of Penn Avenue. However, a fair population of residents from Western Wilkinsburg had to move out of the neighborhood all together... My guess is that gang members, riff-raff, and average hard working people alike feel disenfranchised that they got pushed out by a majority white population; therefore there's racial tension about that.

On the other hand, the lower middle class whites who became/now are becoming the majority aren't for "sketchy looking" black people frequenting their neighborhood either. Yet not everybody who looks "sketchy" is sketchy if you no what I mean. So there is racial tension due to skepticism and prejudice on that end.

All and all its nothing compared to Wilkinsburg's past. Other than the discontent that a fair percentage of working class-lower middle class blacks have with the police, there's no other scenarios that I can fathom... In fact: the Hamnett Place, Black Ridge, Upper Penn and Laketon neighborhoods are fairly diverse (and seemingly so with no problems). Even Wilkinsburg's rough parts- east of the busway are fairly diverse for inner-city ghetto standards.

[squarian]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

Due to recent gentrification, they along with most low-income residents (which happened to also be black) largely relocacated to Wilkinsburg- east of the busway- north of Penn Avenue. However, a fair population of residents from Western Wilkinsburg had to move out of the neighborhood all together... My guess is that gang members, riff-raff, and average hard working people alike feel disenfranchised that they got pushed out by a majority white population; therefore there's racial tension about that.

A fair and informed opinion as always, UK. I'd just add that, for all the attention which gentrification in the western areas of Wilkinsburg has received on this forum, it really only amounts so far to a very small area.

The Regent Square bit wasn't really affected by black migration from the Hill, which in the course of a few decades transformed Wilkinsburg as a whole from an upper-crust enclave to a branch of the East End ghettosphere. What has changed in Rgt Sq is mostly a shift from older blue-collar or grey-collar white families to upper-middle-class owners, including a few who are black or Asian, as property values began to rise in the 90s.

In Park Place, gentrification certainly seems to be underway, to judge by recent house sale prices, but that has mostly affected the city portion and has only just begun to have a noticeable effect on streets like Mifflin and Trenton Aves. in Wilkinsburg. This forum in particular has exaggerated the change, in my opinion.

Hamnett Place, Whitney Park and adjacent areas east of the busway fall to a lesser degree into the other two categories: either were relatively little affected by Wilkinsburg's "decline and fall" (Whitney Park) or have only just barely begun to be gentrified (Hamnett Place).

This isn't to say that perceptions haven't been affected disproportionately to what is actually happening: in that respect, I think you're probably right that there is some resentment among people in central Wilkinsburg at being "pushed out" similar to feeling in E. Liberty or Lawrenceville. The total number of people actually displaced has probably been very small, but that doesn't prevent people forming opinions on the basis of what a friend of a friend said.

[Quiet-T]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

I'll start off by asking you a question... Was there anything specific that prompted you to ask?

I was checking out the area in the vicinity of Woodlawn Ave at Princeton Blvd and was frankly curious if a white family would be out of place.

[Uptown kid]

Originally Posted by Quiet-T

I was checking out the area in the vicinity of Woodlawn Ave at Princeton Blvd and was frankly curious if a white family would be out of place.

No however, that area is in major decline... That area is called Princeton Park, a neighborhood that was once a somewhat racially diverse middle class enclave. Yet now its a riddled by section 8 riff-raff and drugs-related violence. So if you buy a house there it will be worth much less when you sell.
Check out my map https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...c447bb25&msa=0 ... In a sense green is where to buy/rent red is where not to buy/rent... Wilkinsburg in 2012 had 12 homicides (including a civil dispute that resulted into a double homicide on Princeton Blvd) and most of them were gang related. So its very important that you know whats safe and unsafe if your moving with a family. Princeton Park is not a neighborhood in the borough of Wilkinsburg that you want to move into if you have options.

[Quiet-T]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

No however, that area is in major decline... That area is called Princeton Park, a neighborhood that was once a somewhat racially diverse middle class enclave. Yet now its a riddled by section 8 riff-raff and drugs-related violence. So if you buy a house there it will be worth much less when you sell.
Check out my map https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...c447bb25&msa=0 ... In a sense green is where to buy/rent red is where not to buy/rent... Wilkinsburg in 2012 had 12 homicides (including a civil dispute that resulted into a double homicide on Princeton Blvd) and most of them were gang related. So its very important that you know whats safe and unsafe if your moving with a family. Princeton Park is not a neighborhood in the borough of Wilkinsburg that you want to move into if you have options.

Sounds like things may be getting worse for that area.
I just found a map from the 2010 Wilkinsburg Comprehensive Plan that shows it as 'In Transition.'

Wilkinsburg Neighborhood Conditions

[groar]

good thread, i was a little afraid to open it, but i think everyone is right on the money here.

there are some local politicians who have very openly used racial (and gentrification) issues to try to win elections against political factions seen as mostly white and middle/upper class. they've also capitalized on people's homophobia since a lot of people in that political faction are gay or gay friendly.

there are some old school white wilkinsburg residents who say "this place was so nice before THOSE PEOPLE moved in". the guy who owned my house before me used to trash talk black people to my white neighbors (who are gay) and trash talk gay people to my black neighbors on the other side. everyone is glad he's gone!

there's definitely racial tension but living in hamnett place, it's not a big part of my life. kids of different races play together, i have friends in the neighborhood from lots of different races, for the most part everyone i say hi to on the street (and i say hi to basically everyone!) is friendly regardless of race.

a few times i've been walking down the street and said hi to young african-american men and they've said nothing and spit. that sucks. but it's not a very common occurrence.