Highlighting the News and Lifestyles of Pittsburgh’s East End, Fox Chapel and OakmontSPRING 2012

ALL ABOUTHIGHLANDPARKNot Just a Park, but a Great Place to LiveNeighborhood People & PlacesOur Wonderful Zoo

ALSO INSIDEAspinwall Riverfront ParkThe Squirrel Hill Tunnel

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HighlandParkBig City Appeal,

Small Community FeelBY JENNIFER BAILS

PHOTOS BY MELODY FARRIN

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One of the many tree-lined streets that fill the neighborhood.

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out, having shown many of its homes toprospective buyers.

More young professionals and families arebuying these stately, yet relatively affordablehomes that help make Highland Park one ofPittsburgh’s true gems, according to Meade.“There’s a real vitality here now,” she says. “Ihave to say I’ve never seen so many young peo-ple with children and dogs march past myhouse in my life.”

The Bryant Street business district isundergoing an exciting rebirth as a foodiedestination, with new eateries popping up atan unprecedented pace—most recentlyTeppanyaki Kyoto. It’s a renaissance that cantrace its origins back to 1999 with the open-ing of Tazza D’Oro Café and Espresso Bar

egend has it you can hear the roar of the lionsat the zoo throughout Highland Park on awarm spring night. But there’s a lot more than

great cats roaring these days in this historiccorner of the East End with big city appealand small community feel.

You can sense the energy if you strollthrough the well-appointed gardens in the500-acre public park along the neighborhood’snorthern edge. Or take a hula-hoop or ceram-ics class at the Union Project at the corner ofStanton and Negley avenues. Or enjoy dinnerat Park Bruges or Joseph TambelliniRestaurant on Bryant Street before walking upto the reservoir for a free summer jazz concert.

Ask any neighborhood resident, andthey’ll tell you that Highland Park hasn’t beenthis vibrant in decades.

“When my wife and I moved in some 50years ago, we were the only people with youngchildren on our block,” says resident Al Mann,a retired engineer and president of the EastEnd/East Liberty Historical Society. “Now weare the old-timers, and a lot of young familieshave moved in here—and they are livening upthe place beautifully.”

The comfortable, well-maintained resi-dential community offers grand old housesthat usually come at lower prices than inSquirrel Hill and Shadyside, says real estateagent Kelly Meade, who has lived inHighland Park since 1976 and knows theneighborhood—quite literally—inside and

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Houses in the area generally sell for less than comperable homes in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, but sales prices herehave been on a steady rise.

Stately homes stand as a reminder of Highland Park’s history as a fashionable retreat for the wealthy, awayfrom the noise and pollution of the city center.

The reflecting pool and gardens at theformal entrance to the park for which the

neighborhood is named have been restoredto their original grandeur.

Enrico’s Tazza D’Oro Café and Espresso Bar serves as acentral gathering spot for the community and was one ofthe neighborhood’s pioneering restaurants.

So the HPCDC began to acquire and ren-ovate properties in the 5800 block of Bryant,where Park Bruges opened in February 2011to rave reviews and long lines. Owned by thesame team that runs Point Brugge Cafe inPoint Breeze, the Belgian-inspired bistroimmediately became a favorite neighborhoodhangout, with special events like the club-styleJazz Mondays once a month. It’s also a symbolof the success of the first stages of the BryantStreet experiment.

Bryant Street might be the most dynamicstreet in the whole East End right now, if notall of Pittsburgh, says Park Bruges co-ownerJesse Seager. “It’s becoming this hip, off-the-beaten-path restaurant row,” Seager says.“Everyone knows Walnut or Ellsworth orMurray. But people are starting to talk aboutBryant Street as a destination.”

around the corner on North HighlandAvenue. Café owner and neighborhood resi-dent Amy Enrico was the first to try tobreathe life back into Highland Park’s run-down commercial corridor.

Chef Joseph Tambellini later took a simi-lar gamble and opened his namesake Italianrestaurant on Bryant at the urging of Eyetiqueowner and friend Norman Childs. “I askedNorman whether he thought Highland Parkwas going up or down, and he called me a putzand told me the whole East End was really tak-ing off, and of course my restaurant would dowell here,” Tambellini recalls. “And we could-n’t be more excited about how everything ispanning out.”

The risks taken by Enrico and Tambellinihelped pave the way for revitalization ofBryant Street through the efforts of theHighland Park Community DevelopmentCorporation (HPCDC). The nonprofitorganization has been working to fight resi-dential blight in the 800 and 900 blocks ofMellon and North Saint Clair streets and hasalso been investing in building improvementsto attract new businesses to Bryant Street.

“One of most frustrating things aboutliving in Highland Park was to look atBryant Street and not understand why wedidn’t have a commercial district that was afitting complement to the great communityaround it,” says architect David Hance, pres-ident of the HPCDC. “Having a strongcommercial district does more than just sellfood and goods. It acts as an ambassador forthe whole neighborhood.”

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Up the street, diners can also enjoy Thaifood at the Smiling Banana Leaf, authenticJapanese cuisine at Teppanyaki Kyoto, deca-dent desserts at Food Glorious Food bakery,Italian-inspired fare at E2, and comfort foodand more at Park Place Pub.

Robert Collins, owner of Bryant StreetMarket, has witnessed the changes inHighland Park firsthand since opening hisneighborhood grocery and organic foodsmarket in 2010. “People are just really sup-

Missy and Joseph Tambellini inside their elegant Italianrestaurant, Joseph Tambellini, which they opened onBryant Street in 2007.

A line forms outside Food Glorious Food each Saturdaymorning, and eager customers cram into the smallbakery for freshly-made goods.

The Highland Park Community DevelopmentCorporation owns and restored the Victorian

building that houses Park Bruges, a Bryant Streetbistro that has been hugely popular since it

opened a year ago.

Above: Outside seats are at a premium during Sunday brunch at E2. “ We have hadsuch a warm welcome from the Highland Park Community and love being on BryantStreet,” says owner Kate Romane. Left: A mural on the side of the newly-refurbished ParkPlace Pub pays homage to the neighborhood’s namesake park, located just blocks away.

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portive of what’s going on over here,”Collins says. “As long as you are doing some-thing good, it will go.”

Certainly the spirit of community inHighland Park is one thing that isn’t chang-ing. Soon after moving into her Victorian-style home along North Highland in 2002,Dr. Maryanne Hugo and husband, PatrickHastings, received a loaf of zucchini bread, abottle of pinot noir, and several invitationsto tea or dinner from their neighbors. Thecouple now spends every Christmas andLabor Day with a family down the street—and Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve withanother neighbor.

“I sound like I’m on the chamber of com-merce, but we just love it here,” Hugo says.“We just feel like we’ve joined such a wonder-ful group—almost like a club.”

There actually is a neighborhood clubthat engages many of the neighborhood res-idents. The Highland Park CommunityCouncil (HPCC), the oldest neighborhoodorganization in the city, was founded in1945 as the Highland Park CommunityClub “to associate the families of the com-munity in sponsoring and directing socialand athletic activities for the boys and girlsof the neighborhood.”

The all-volunteer organization has sinceexpanded its focus to issues of education, safe-ty, zoning, and park maintenance. Recreationis still on the agenda, though, as membersorganize an annual Halloween parade, anEaster egg hunt, a marathon party, and a com-munity-wide yard sale on the first Sunday inJune together with the Bryant Street Festival.In addition, the HPCC sponsors the Reservoirof Jazz concert series in the park every Sundayevening in August.

More than 1,000 residents also subscribeto the HPCC’s listserv, where neighbors shareeverything from advice on contractors to blockwatch notices. “A woman recently sent an e-mail asking for a ride to the hospital,” saysMonica Watt, vice-president of the council.“The sheer fact that she felt comfortable reach-ing out on such a personal level speaks a lotabout our community.”

It’s a community with can-do spirit thatbands together to really get things done. Forinstance, in 1991, a team of neighborhoodvolunteers organized by the HPCC built thewooden, castle-like “Super Playground” in thepark. Residents also joined in the successfulfight in the early 1990s against a city proposalto install a cover over Reservoir No. 1 at thetop of the park, which would have spoiled theappeal of its walkway.

“We used to run around with buttons thatsaid, ‘Highland Park: You Can’t Top It,’” recalls

Mann, laughing. “It worked, though, andinstead the city built a microfiltration plant totreat the water after it leaves the reservoir.”

Mike Nadler and his wife, Bridgette,bought a house on Callowhill Street in 2002,drawn to the neighborhood by its wider lotsand laid-back feel. Tucked away behind a tun-nel of evergreens, their home is like an oasis forthem when they return from worldwide travelfor their scuba diving business.

“We can sit on our back porch and wedon’t hear anything,” Nadler says. “We’re inHighland Park, come on! But there’s no noise.It’s very calming. You have all the benefits of

city living, but you aren’t right on top of eachother.”

That’s one of the reasons why longtimeHighland Park residents Susan and DonCarlson recently decided to purchase anempty lot on Highland Avenue, where theyare in the final stages of building their dreamhouse.

The couple was in search of a home withmore open living space, but didn’t want toleave the community they love—and wherethey met and fell in love several years ago whenhe was the real estate agent who helped herbuy a house in the neighborhood.

Activities for children and adults can be found at theannual Bryant Street Festival.

An annual community yard sale gives everyone achance to do some spring cleaning—and pick up afew bargains.

Above: Jazz fans from the neighborhood and beyond gather on the grounds of Highland Park on Sunday evenings inAugust for Reservoir of Jazz concerts. Below: The “Super Playground,” a popular spot for children within the park, wasbuilt by residents of the community in 1991.

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Highland Park

“We would walk our dogs past this vacantlot with a rickety ‘For Sale’ sign, and Don kepttelling me he could build us a house there,”Susan Carlson recalls. “I kept telling him he wasout of his mind, but finally, I said, ‘Prove it.’”

The Carlsons hired an architect to designa modern, two-bedroom home on the lot—and plan to move in this spring. They say it’sthe only new house that’s been built in the pastseveral decades in the Highland ParkResidential Historic District, where most con-struction pre-dates the Second World War.

The first permanent European settler inthe neighborhood was Alexander Negley, aGerman who purchased a 278-acre farm alongthe Allegheny River in 1778 called “FertileBottom.” The property extended over much ofwhat is now Highland Park north of Bryant,according to a history compiled by the HPCC.

Negley’s son, Jacob, married BarbaraWinebiddle, the daughter of local landowners,and in 1799 bought the 443-acre farm theycalled “Heth’s Delight” that was later com-bined with his father’s property to the south

and west. It included the “Farmhouse,” nowused for park activities at Heberton andGrafton streets.

Upon Jacob Negley’s death in 1827, hiswidow sold some of his property to pay offdebts and later divided the remainder of theestate among her children, starting the processof the subdivision of land in what wouldbecome known as Highland Park.

County surveyor Robert Hilands laid outthe first streets, including Negley Avenue,Hiland Avenue (changed to “Highland” bythe city in 1890), and Stanton Avenue. By1868, there were some 5,000 people living inthe surrounds of East Liberty—growthspurred by the Pennsylvania Railroad’s mainline to Pittsburgh through the East LibertyValley, and later, the extension of streetcar linesfrom Downtown.

The neighborhood—annexed to the cityin 1868—became a fashionable retreat for thewealthy trying to escape the crowding and pol-lution of Pittsburgh’s center. A row of man-sions was erected along North Highland and

Negley, including the grandest of the survivorscalled Baywood, built in 1869 and later ownedby glass manufacturer Alexander King. It isnow on the market for $2.1 million.

In 1879, Pittsburgh’s need for a munici-pal water system prompted the constructionof a reservoir at the head of HilandAvenue. Reservoir No. 1 remains a crit-ical piece of the city’s infrastructure—it holds 120 million gallons of drink-ing water—and an iconic feature ofHighland Park. The mile-long path-way around the reservoir is afavorite among walkers, joggers, andthose who would prefer to read thepaper, play chess, or just shoot thebreeze on surrounding benches.

It was the reservoir’s popularitythat prompted neighborhood resi-dent and visionary PittsburghPublic Works director EdwardBigelow to build a park aroundthe water in the late 1800s. Hebegan to buy the properties sur-rounding the reservoirwith his own money andthen sold them back tothe city at his cost.

If families refused tosell, Bigelow would, in acontroversial move, evictthe tenants and have theirhomes condemned anddemolished. Among those relo-cated was the family of BillyEckstine, who would become a

famous jazz balladeer and bandleader. Astate historic marker has been placed atEckstine’s boyhood home at 5913 BryantStreet.

New York sculptor Guiseppe Moretti wascommissioned to create the bronze, neoclassi-cal statuary at the park’s entrances atHighland and Stanton avenues. The meticu-lously planned and cared-for entry garden—with a large fountain and reflecting pool—atthe top of Highland was considered one ofthe finest public spaces in Pittsburgh assoon as it opened.

After decades of neglect, the for-mal garden was restored in 2005 byPittsburgh Parks Conservancy, whichalso created a babbling brook thattrickles down a hill toward LakeCarnegie along Stanton. Named forsteel magnate Andrew Carnegie,the lake was created to serve as ahalfway station for water beingpumped from the Allegheny Riverup to the reservoir. It was later

opened to boaters,swimmers, and iceskaters, until severaldivers were injured,prompting conversion ofhalf the space into publicswimming pools.

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The grandest of the homes lining North Negley Avenue,Baywood—also known as The King Estate—was built in1880.

One of the most popular spots in the neighborhoodis the reservoir at the center of Highland Park.

Generations of people have enjoyed walking orjogging around it—or just watching the water.

Bronze statues by Guiseppe Morettistand in magnificent fashion at the entrance to Highland Park.

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exclaims Pittsburgh City Councilman andzoo board member Patrick Dowd. His districtincludes Highland Park, the neighborhood hehas lived in since 1998.

Like so many generations of neighbors,Dowd and his wife, Leslie, have fine memo-ries of walking with their six children tospend a day at the zoo. He sees HighlandPark as a microcosm of Pittsburgh. “It has alot of things that we are dealing withthroughout the city, both positive and no-so-positive,” he says.

One of those issues is how to continue toimprove the neighborhood’s housing stock—particularly in the more neglected southwestquadrant—without pushing people out ofHighland Park. “That’s a very fine line towalk,” Dowd says. “And as the neighborhood

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Now you’ll find the only long-course swimming pool in the citythere, with two sand volleyball courtsand tennis courts nearby. The bankedhalf-mile oval loop for bicyclists alongWashington Boulevard also sits withinthe park confines, as does thePittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

The Pittsburgh “zoological gar-den” opened on 20 acres in the parkon June 14, 1898, a gift of formermayor and political boss ChristopherMagee. With nearly one million visi-tors each year, the zoo has become theregion’s most popular cultural attrac-tion, also respected worldwide for itswildlife conservation and research.

“If you walk around the reservoir,you can hear the lions—it’s crazy!”

This postcard, which dates back tothe period when Pittsburgh was spelled withoutan “h,” 1890-1911, shows the park entrancewhen its trees were in their infancy.

Highland Park

Within the park, visitors will find several swimming pools (above)

and numerous tennis courts (below).

Volleyball is another popular sport enjoyed in Highland Park.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium draws visitors fromaround the world to Highland Park.

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was important to us that our children weregrowing up in a place where they didn’t thinkeverybody was one color or the other, andHighland Park has that mix,” Randall says.

The neighborhood is also known for itssocioeconomic diversity. “This is one of themost interesting parts of the city with a veryrepresentative mix of people,” says the Rev.Bruce Robison, rector of Saint Andrew’sEpiscopal Church on Hampton Street. “Thereare a whole lot of homeowners in beautifulhouses and some real mansions, but also lots ofrenters and smaller homes.”

Saint Andrew’s is a 1906 Gothic Revival-style church featuring a signed Tiffany win-dow and an E.M. Skinner pipe organ. It servesas an essential community hub, like a modern-day village church. “We have all the scouttroops, the block watch, the 12-step meetings,you vote here,” Robison says. “It’s the publicspace of the neighborhood.”

Also starting to play that role is the UnionProject, a nonprofit organization in the formerUnion Baptist Church at the corner of Negleyand Stanton that provides working space forartists, office and event space for rent, andcommunity classes ranging from juggling toyoga. More than 23,000 people came throughthe building last year, and the newly openedOla Appetit Café has earned a loyal lunch fol-lowing.

“We’ve transformed the building from aplace that attracted drugs and crime to avibrant space at the neighborhood gateway,”executive director Jeffrey Dorsey says.

Plans are in the works to develop theUnion Project’s side yard into a public green-space that could be rented for weddings andother occasions. And more improvements arein the pipeline throughout the neighborhood,with continued focus on Bryant Street by theHPCDC, including the rehabilitation of abuilding across from Park Bruges. A project isalso kicking off to replace the decrepit, butonce picturesque Heth’s Run Bridge that car-ries Butler Street past the zoo and to createaccess to the Allegheny River by buildingpedestrian and bicycle trails.

“Highland Park is a bit of a place in tran-sition with a lot of experimentation going on,”says Cathy Raphael, owner of the NUINCenter on Bryant, a holistic and integrativewellness and conference center. “I find it real-ly fascinating to watch the process, and theway it’s flowing into a new kind of neighbor-hood. ”

So stay tuned for even better days aheadin Highland Park—and if you listen careful-ly enough, you just might hear those lionsroar. SA__

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becomes more popular and property valuesincrease, it’s something we have to be more vig-ilant about.”

Residents are also watchful about changesto the neighborhood’s schools. Elementaryschools in Highland Park include PittsburghFulton K-5, a partial French magnet housed ina historic building on Hampton Street, andPittsburgh Dilworth PreK-5, a magnet schoolon Stanton Avenue. For decades, HighlandPark teenagers attended Peabody High Schoolin East Liberty, but they are now being fun-neled to Pittsburgh Westinghouse in PointBreeze.

Highland Park is considered one of the moreracially diverse and integrated neighborhoods inthe East End. 2000 U.S. Census data showed theracial balance of the some 6,700 people in thecommunity was 65 percent white, 30 percentblack, and 5 percent Asian and other groups,quite similar to the city as a whole.

HPCC president Eric Randall, an engineer,says that diversity attracted him and his wife tothe neighborhood as an interracial couple. “It

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A full range of housing stock and a racially diverse population are characteristics of Highland Park that are making itmore and more appealing to many people.