Northview Heights

For the high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, see Northview Heights Secondary School.
Northview Heights
Neighborhood of Pittsburgh
Coordinates: 40°28′37″N 80°00′07″W / 40.477°N 80.002°W / 40.477; -80.002
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyAllegheny County
CityPittsburgh
Area
[1][better source needed]
 • Total0.313 sq mi (0.81 km2)
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total1,214
 • Density3,900/sq mi (1,500/km2)

Northview Heights is a neighborhood in the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It has a zip codes of both 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1 (North Neighborhoods).

Northview Heights was part of Reserve Township before being annexed by Pittsburgh in 1932.[2] At that time, what is now Northview Heights consisted of vacant land which, due to topography, was isolated from Spring Hill (to the south) and Summer Hill (to the north).

During a seven-year period from 1955 to 1962, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh developed this vacant land by creating a 999 unit public housing project called Northview Heights. Court action taken by nearby residents opposed to its construction held up the project for three years.[2][3] Because the housing project was isolated from the surrounding neighborhoods, it has since been treated as a neighborhood in its own right, called Northview Heights. The neighborhood had its own elementary school, Northview Heights Elementary School.[4]

The neighborhood's status as an isolated public housing development has been a source of controversy from its outset. In 1968, just three years after the development was opened, a group of teenagers attacked a policeman and later burglarized his home.[5] Residents who had been living in the project since it opened blamed new residents who had moved in recently, and who had not been screened by the Housing Authority, for the violence. In 1985, the Pittsburgh Public Schools considered integrating the neighborhood's school by busing in children from other neighborhoods but dropped this plan for fear of opposition from the parents of those children.[6] In 1993, firefighters and utility personnel refused to enter the neighborhood without police protection for fear of assault.[7] In 1998, the City of Pittsburgh - over the objections of Northview Heights residents - closed three of the development's five entrances and installed security stations at the remaining two entrances. Studies had showed that while Northview Heights residents owned 125 cars total, some 3,000 cars a day were entering and leaving the development, suggesting that the development was used as a drug market.[8]

As of 2010, Northview Heights had a population of some 1,200 people, of whom 90.5% were African-American. The neighborhood had 723 housing units, of which 63.6% were occupied and 36.4% were vacant. Nearly all (96.3%) of the occupied units were rental housing.[9]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1940662—    
1950727+9.8%
1960527−27.5%
19704,561+765.5%
19803,217−29.5%
19902,746−14.6%
20002,526−8.0%
20101,214−51.9%
Source: University of Pittsburgh[10]

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 38 Engine in Northview Heights.

  1. ^ a b "PGHSNAP 2010 Raw Census Data by Neighborhood". PGHSNAP Utility. Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  2. ^ a b "North Side: History: Northview Heights". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh Northview". School Profile. Pittsburgh Public Schools. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Northview Heights Council Gives Police "Pat on Back"". Pittsburgh Press. June 29, 1968. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Northview Heights School busing delayed by Board". Pittsburgh Press. February 21, 1985. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  7. ^ Smith, Matthew P.; Pro, Johanna A. (March 31, 1993). "Firefighters Attacked: Incident called ambush in Northview Heights". Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  8. ^ "Safety First: Northview Heights residents need more protection". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 9, 1998. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  9. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Pittsburgh Census Tracts". pitt.libguides.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018.