Representing a North Side Neighborhood of Distinction
Explore the city’s new initiative, Burgh’s Eye View, and gain insight into 311s (non-emergency reporting), public safety, and building information (permits, violations, etc) in Troy Hill and beyond! Remember, if you see something, say something by submitting a 311 or messaging the Troy Hill Citizens Facebook. Thanks!
Click HERE to explore Burgh’s Eye View!
Continue reading “Burgh’s Eye View – a public safety mapping initiative”
Rialto Street Preservation Project (Description)
The Troy Hill Citizens 2016 officers will be announced after the first Board of Directors meeting in January 2016
Tim Vernon and the North Side Sound System, the project that was funded by the recent The Sprout Fund One Northside Pgh Neighbor-to-Neighbor grant, will be have a demo and brief information session on the North Side Sound System, tomorrow night (12/9) at the Troy Hill Citizens General Meeting (7pm at MHN School Hall) – Tim and the North Side Sound system provided the audio and visual equipment for the inaugural Troy Hill Movie in the Park night back on October 17th. For further info, or to donate, visit the ioby link below.
https://www.ioby.org/project/north-side-sound-system
Troy Hill Citizens December General Meeting
Wednesday December 9th @ 7PM
Held at the Most Holy Name School Hall (Tinsbury Street entrance)
Partial Agenda Items:
1) 2016 Board Elections
2) Holiday Lights for 2016 (info and strategy/project coordination in hopes we can have the utility pole Christmas lights operational for 2016)
Troy Hill Citizens November 2015 Newsletter Now Available in .PDF Format
Click below to download and view
Get Ready For Halloween – Come Watch The Night Of The Living Dead (The Original!)
Saturday October 17th, shown outside at the Citizens’ Park on Troy Hill – Location: Hatteras @ Claim Streets.
Arrive at ~7pm and put down a blanket or chair, then settle in before it gets dark and watch the classic
Night Of The Living Dead with your neighbors! Free – No Admission Charge!
Projection and sound provided by the Sprout Fund Grant 2015 Recipient, The North Side Sound System
Join the residents and business owners of Troy Hill as they open up their vibrant community to the city at the first ever Troy Hill N3D Festival. An open street Festival will take place between Noon-4pm celebrating everything that is distinctly Troy Hill. From the rich history of its churches and chapels to a community bake-off to performances by local rock bands and church choirs to offerings from new restaurants and emerging businesses, there is something for everyone to explore, tour, and celebrate.
12-12:45: Grooveshifter
1pm: Bake Off with Rick Sebak
2-3pm: David Bowers
3-4pm: Big Gypsy
Local artist, Berry Breene, will be painting a Troy Hill neighborhood mural on a building at the entrance to the Troy Hill neighborhood from Mt. Troy Hill Rd during Saturday’s Festival. Hop a FREE ride from Green Gears Pedicab to check her progress throughout or snap a photo of this work in progress on the Self(ie) Guided Tour.
Berry Breene paints. If you are interested in beautifying your space with interior or exterior murals, hand-painted furniture, portraits or other commissions on canvas, please contact her for a free consultation.
Venture via a FREE Green Gears Pedicab or short walk from the Festival area to visit Spaces Corners (1721 Lowrie St.) Saturday, October 3rd from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spaces Corners – an artist-run bookshop and project space dedicated to contemporary photography books – will be hosting their first ever store sale and launching their fall releases: April Flowers, Falling Asleep, and Hells Hollow Fallen Monarch. Stop by on Saturday for some art book browsing and grab a freshly baked treat to complement a Stumptown coffee brought to you by the dynamic duo behind the much anticipated Pear and the Pickle Café and Market.
Animoon Workshop handcrafts eco-inspired jewelry and one-of-a-kind collaged gifts and artwork to inspire you to live wilder. Whether a creation starts with a raw crystal, shed antler, salvaged jewelry part, or vintage field guide, the unique histories of their materials guide the design of pieces made to adorn yourself, your loves, and your habitat. Founded in 2013 after a decade of friendship and collaborative art projects, Animoon Workshop’s co-creators are now based in both Denver’s Front Range and Pittsburgh’s three rivers.
Here you’ll find handcrafted creations inspired with an esoteric flare. Everything in this shop has been created with conscious intentions, whether it is clothing, jewelry or knitting / crocheting patterns. Offering both original natural stone jewelry pieces and crochet items.
Wares: Beeswax Candles & Balms
Description: Created by hand in Pittsburgh, Radiant Buzz offers pure beeswax candles and beeswax-based moisturizing balms made with local beeswax from environmentally responsible, family-run apiaries in southwestern Pennsylvania. Available for retail, wholesale and special orders. Radiant Buzz is located in Spring Garden (the valley/neighborhood between Troy Hill & Spring Hill).
Join Assemble as they make postcards of Troy Hill. Design your own and keep as a momento of your time at N3d Troy Hill or send along to someone to tell them about your adventure overlooking the city!
Assemble connects artists, technologists, and makers with curious adults and kids of all ages through interactive gallery shows, community talk backs, learning parties, and workshops focused on teaching STEAM principles (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). We Assemble hosts these activities at their space in Garfield’s Penn Avenue arts district and at events throughout the Pittsburgh area.
In the main Festival area near Troy Hill Citizens Park, Troy Hill’s newest neighbors, Provident Charter School, will be hosting a pumpkin decorating activity for kids of all ages.
The Chalking Dad will lend his talents to help chalk the neighborhood with way finding messaging and also create a live on-the-spot chalk mural in front of Troy Hill park, complete with a kids’ sidewalk chalk activity, near Troy Hill Citizens Park.
Face Painting, Balloon Twisters & Caricatures Artists
Free Face Painting, Balloon Twisters and Caricature Artists will be available for Festival guests to enjoy throughout the Festival!
Past, present and future of the former North Catholic High School building with Provident Charter Schools. Snap a photo with your graduation year (whether it’s kindergarten or high school!) in front of the former North Catholic High School, which is soon to be the Provident Charter School. Remember the past and celebrate the future in a commemorative free photo as a part of the N3D Festival.. Take a FREE Green Gears Pedicab to the Class Photos/ North Catholic High School area.
Share your experience as a resident or visitor in our official N3D Story Booth. Your story will be compiled into a living record of the day in addition to Troy Hill’s past, present, and future.
Saint Anthony Chapel is home to the largest collection of publicly venerable Christian relics – 5,000 in total – in the world outside of the Vatican.
Free Tours will be available throughout the Festival. Simply register in advance by emailing saintanthonychairperson@gmail.com or gather at the Chapel during the Festival for these tour times:
12:00 Noon
1:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
A scenic bicycle tour of Troy Hill with Bike Pittsburgh, Grab a Tour de Troy map and bike through the community to see the sights or sign up for an organized ride happening mid-Festival. All riders who sign up for the organized ride receive a free drink ticket (21+)! Sign up at the Bike Pittsburgh tent, where you can also park your bike securely at the free Bike Parking Station.
Pick up your very own Self-Guided Tour booklet at the N3D Tent at the Festival, and start your journey through one of Pittsburgh’s hidden gem neighborhoods! While you explore, you will come across labeled areas for the perfect Troy Hill Photo Opps! Stop and take a selfie (or a photo with friends), then upload to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #N3DTroyHIll. Participants will win everything from free drink tickets that day to a spot on the Festival’s celebrity Bake-Off panel, to the grand prize of a feature in a future edition of NEXTpittsburgh!
Hop into a FREE Green Gears Pedicab! Travel through Troy Hill with various stops along the way visiting our many neighbors and activities taking place throughout the community.
Get an early start to the day’s celebration at the Grace Lutheran Church Pancake Breakfast, starting at 8 a.m. Indulge in pancakes with Bavarian cream toppings, plus, sausage, fruit and fresh juices for just $5.
Located at 1701 Hatteras Street, the Red Door will be opened for business from 9 a.m. to noon for a Fill a Bag Sale. Small bags are $1 and larger bags are $3. Fill your bags with children’s clothing galore, women’s clothing, men’s clothing, books, shoes, toys, bedding, skate boards, snow boards, household items, and much more. Come see what they have to offer!
Get a jump on some neighborhood finds by starting the day at the Most Holy Name Rummage Sale. The Most Holy Name Hidden Treasures Rummage House has sales monthly throughout the year. Generally, the sales are on the second Saturday of each month from March through December. The hours are from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Rummage House is the former convent located at 1626 Hatteras Street (Troy Hill).
As luck would have it, Most Holy Name will be hosting their Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 3rd, and we’re tagging along! Follow the Festival down Hatteras Street and let the celebration begin! Join in the fun with authentic German foods, live entertainment, activities, and more!
Most Holy Name is located at 1700 Harpster St.
Willkommen! (Welcome)
All Day: German Soup Sale
German Cookie Sale
German Cuisine
Children’s Activities: Dime pitch, Photo in German costume, German children’s games, etc.
Adult Activities: German sing-a-long, Enjoy German Dancers (in costume) strolling, Button Box player, Basket raffles, Bake off contest, Das Boot
Discover Most Holy Name: Parish activities spiritual, social, charitable and educational (From its beginnings to today) Docents will be on grounds to speak to anyone interested.
Oktoberfest Dinner: German Dinner
Mass – St. Anthony’s Chapel
Some Scripture Readings in German & English
Some Songs in German & English
Big Raffle Drawing
CALLING ALL COOKS AND BAKERS!
Think your cakes and bakes can persuade and influence the sweet tooth of Rick Sebak, Leah Lizarondo of The Brazen Kitchen and other celebrity judges?
Pre-register now by emailing N3Dinfo@gmail.com
or
Check-in and register from Noon-12:30 p.m. at the Bake-off tent near Troy Hill Citizens Park on Saturday, October 3rd.
You must provide 24 pieces of the dish you are entering.
The judging will take place in Troy Hill Citizens Park at 1 p.m.
*You must be a Troy Hill resident or have ties to Troy Hill to enter.
Grooveshifter
David Bowers
Big Gypsy
Join local organization, GTech, for some fun and lawn games! GTech has worked in Troy Hill activating vacant lots and is passionate for the neighborhood and its people.
Growth Through Energy and Community Health (GTECH) cultivates the unrealized potential of people and places to improve the economic, social, and environmental health of our communities.
Join comedian Missy Moreno (of WTAE’s 4 to the 1 to the 2) as she takes to the streets of Troy Hill for the first ever #THTweets. The Pittsburgh community, Troy Hill residents and guests of the Festival will tweet questions about Troy Hill and N3D Festival, then Missy will ask guests to read aloud and respond on camera- and on Twitter- throughout the day!
Get to know this Troy Hill proud organization, who will be selling water and soft drinks to thirsty guests to raise money for Troy Hill Community Projects. Troy Hill Citizens is a non-profit community development organization that was established to foster programs of a civic and social nature and to improve the quality of life for its residents. The organization strives to find creative and sustainable ways to enhance and revitalize the neighborhood.
Wes Banco, our sponsor, will be hosting a tent with giveaways, games and prizes! Be sure to stop by and learn about the Mortgage Seminar, happening as a part of N3D programming, on Sunday, October 4th!
This new eatery, which is currently renovating the site of Troy Hill’s legendary “Billy’s”, is already becoming known for it’s award-winning fare! Scratch will be serving up cold Penn Brewery beers, cocktails, and haluski to happy bellies at the N3D Festival. Coming in October, Scratch Food & Beverage is a community-driven kitchen and bar. Come as you are and enjoy a meal well served with friends well met.
At the base of Troy Hill lies Pittsburgh famed and award-winning Penn Brewery! Penn Brewery will be serving up some of their delicious pub fare at the Festival.
Penn Brewery began brewing craft beer back in 1986, making them one of the earliest pioneers in the American craft movement. Penn beers have won a total of 19 Great American Beer Festival® and World Beer Cup® medals. Penn Brewery’s restaurant serves “Ethnic-Pittsburgh” fare including wurst, schnitzel, pierogi, and goulash, alongside contemporary Pittsburgh favorites, like the “French fry salad,” flatbreads, and sandwiches.
Grab a freshly baked treat to complement a Stumptown coffee from the dynamic duo behind Pear and the Pickle Café and Market when you visit Spaces Corners during the Festival.
Pear and the Pickle is a modern neighborhood store with a selection of fresh produce, canned and dry goods, sundries, dairy products, and bakery items that allows neighborhood shoppers to experience the nostalgia of a vintage corner grocery while adding a few modern upgrades including gourmet coffee, seasonal prepared foods, and a weekly Saturday supper.
Bratwurst $3.00
Bratwurst on a Bun with Sauerkraut $3.50
Kielbasa $3.00
Kielbasa on a Bun with Sauerkraut $3.50
Potato Pancakes (3 per order) $3.00
Mashed Potatoes $2.00
German Potato Salad $2.50
Spaetzle $2.00
Red Cabbage $1.50
Sauerkraut $1.50
Einlauf Soup $3.00
Visit the N3D Info tent for:
Self(ie) Guided Tour materials
Prizes
Information about homes for sale in the area
General N3D event information
After the Festival concludes at 4 p.m., stick around for some neighborhood fun!
Starting at 3:30 p.m. and benefitting Make-A-Wish.
Put your pumpkin carving skills to the test at GUTS, a friendly, live pumpkin carving competition sponsored by AIGA Pittsburgh, which will benefit Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Registration is $50. This event also includes a silent auction of carved pumpkins, beer tasting and raffles. All proceeds will go towards the wish-granting expenses for children living with life-threatening medical conditions.
Enjoy fresh-hopped libations, good conversation, autumnal treats and great music at the Wethoptober Fundraiser. 6-9 p.m.
In 2013, GTECH set out to grow hops on an unused, vacant portion of Garfield Community Farm to see whether it could be a creative (and delicious) way to reuse some of the 4,500 acres of vacant land in the city. With the help of Noah of the Hop Project and the fine farmers of Garfield Farm, we planted to grow a few varieties of hops for East End Brewery and — guess what — it worked! Inspired by the Hops on Lots project, GTECH throws the annual Wethoptober Fundraiser to celebrate and support our projects that creatively reuse vacant lots. This year we’re partnering with Wigle Whiskey and East End Brewery to offer an evening of wet-hopped brews and hopped whiskey, tasty food and great conversation at Wigle Whiskey Barrel House located in the Northside neighborhood of Spring Garden.
Starting at 6 p.m. at Most Holy Name Parish
Choice of:
Roasted Pork or Sauerbraten
Choice of 2:
Mashed Potatoes
Potato Salad
Spaetzle
Sauerkraut
Red Cabbage
Dessert & Beverage are included (eat in only)
All Troy Hill residents are eligible for a discount to Friday’s event. Tickets for Residents are $10 off. Please visit the ticketing site: http://wiglewhiskey.com/next-
Please pass this discount along to your neighbors!
Read more info on Friday’s (October 2nd) event below:
*Ticket includes 2 complimentary Wigle cocktails, live entertainment, food, and Penn Brewery Beer
Why Troy Hill real estate is hotter than ever
“We were sold when we saw the view from our backyard,” says Catanese. “Aesthetically, it’s a beautiful place to live, situated on top of the hill overlooking the Allegheny River and Polish Hill.”
They renovated in 2014 and moved in December of last year.
At Spaces Corners in Troy Hill. Photo by Brian Cohen.
Troy Hill, she says, “is like a secret. It’s super connected to everything – the Strip, Lawrenceville, Aspinwall. It’s two minutes to Downtown and convenient to all neighborhoods.”
And a lot of other young professionals are moving there, she notes, citing not just the affordability but also “the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Like Nicole Moga, 33, and her husband. She runs Boat Pittsburgh, a pontoon rental based in nearby Sharpsburg, and he works as an engineer at DEP on Washington’s Landing (which is also in Troy Hill).
Back in 2008, they were looking for a house when someone suggested under-the-radar Troy Hill, a place they had not considered. That led them to a red brick house on leafy Harpster St. that was in foreclosure and was “for the most part untouched by time.” They bought it and worked on it for six months before moving in. “We continue to work on it,” adds Nicole with a laugh but it’s evidently a labor of love.
“It’s convenient to a lot of things,” she adds of the location. “We like to go running with the dogs and we’re close to the Heritage Trail along the Allegheny River. We bike a lot so we go down Rialto or Troy Hill Rd. and we’re right on the trail.”
What ultimately sold them on the neighborhood, though, were their neighbors. “The people are so great,” she says. “And they’re like our family now.”
Kids at play in front of St. Anthony Chapel. Photo by Tracy Certo.
The neighborhood, only one square mile, is an impressively diverse mix of young and old, people who have lived there all their lives and new ones moving in, as well as different races and religions, including a small Burmese population. The authentic yet tiny Pittsburgh neighborhood also boasts a main street, community parks and gardens, independent businesses and, from its perch on a plateau high on a hill that hugs the Allegheny River, amazing city views.
And the price is right. Troy Hill is one of many Pittsburgh neighborhoods that is under the radar but won’t be much longer since real estate prices in prime neighborhoods such as Lawrenceville and East Liberty are pricing out many.
Proof? Here’s a comparison of the median and average sales prices for 2015 of Lawrenceville and Troy Hill, along with up and comer Polish Hill just for good measure, from RealStats.
Neighborhood Median Average #sales
Troy Hill $42,000 $44,000 18
Central Lawrenceville $310,000 $310,000 1
Lower Lawrenceville $148,000 $105,000 15
Polish Hill $92,000 $59,500 8
(Note: The Central Lawrenceville 2014 median, with more sales than listed here, was $170,000, and the average was about $150,000.)
Houses on Harpster St. in Troy Hill. Photo by Tracy Certo.
Like many recent transplants, Nicole has become an ambassador for Troy Hill, first working with the very active Troy Hill Citizens group and then recommending the neighborhood to all her friends. She now adds anyone who is interested to the Facebook group she created called Troy Hooligans.
Leah Hohman is another resident — in her 30s who moved to the city neighborhood fresh out of college — who promotes the neighborhood. She bought a house on Vinial Street, which borders Troy Hill, that she says was a “perfect fit.”
Her parents, who live on a farm north of the city, were skeptical and nervous until they met her neighbors. And then they felt a lot better, Leah adds.
After nearly a dozen years in the neighborhood, Leah is married now with three young kids—6, 2 and 9 months old–and has no desire to leave. “We have a really solid neighborhood and a really diverse group of people. I’m really happy that I could stay here as long as I have,” she says.
Like everyone else, she touts the hard-to-beat location, praising its proximity to major highways and to the Strip District, her favorite place in Pittsburgh, as well as attractions such as the Aviary and the Children’s Museum in the North Side.
The talented singer and stay-at-home mom is in a band, Brewer’s Row, that is about to release its second album (and will be playing October 2nd at Wigle Whiskey’s Barrelhouse during the NEXT 3 Days fest.) It’s a family affair with her brother, Nich Hohman, fronting the band, and her father, Mark Hohman, on guitar, that has local critics raving.
The eclectic nature of Troy Hill, old world charm with modern touches. Photo by Tracy Certo.
Years ago, there used to be 25 to 30 houses on the market at a time, says Jerry Koch of Koch Real Estate on Lowrie St. in Troy Hill. Now? “There are three houses on the market and three under contract,” he adds. “They’re selling as fast as they come on market now. We’re getting a lot of people moving back to the city.”
And from other areas of the city. “A lot from Lawrenceville are coming to buy houses for a quarter to a third of the price,” he says. See the listings here which includes a townhouse for $82,500 and a fixer upper for just under $10,000. Not a typo.
People from other cities are discovering the neighborhood, too. “Troy Hill is a place like no other,” says Alexis Tragos, who recently bought a house there with her husband, Bobby Stockard when they moved to Pittsburgh from New York. “There are a lot of families,” notes the owner, along with her husband, of the soon to be opened The Pear and the Pickle Market and Café in Troy Hill.
Alexis and Bobby’s house as featured in the article, Could the next Brooklyn be Pittsburgh?
Alexis cites the block parties on her street, the cheery sound of children playing from her kitchen window and the fact that “we know our neighbors.”
A brick terrace off Goettman St.
She and Bobby were prominently featured in a widely read article from a Brooklyn site called “Could the Next Brooklyn be Pittsburgh?” about the many ex-Brooklynites moving to the city.
In the article, Bobby was quoted as saying, “When we moved to Pittsburgh we got a row house that had three floors and a manicured backyard and a washer and a dryer for $1,200.” That’s a cool $600 less than he was paying for their one bedroom in Vinegar Hill in Brooklyn.
As the writer put it, “Now they are rehabbing a three bedroom for which they paid—wait for it–$65,000 in a neighborhood called Troy Hill.
The $65k price was featured again in the photo caption of their house which touted architectural features such as “stained glass windows, pocket doors, leaded glass door and four fireplaces.” And to be fair, the couple dished on some gripes about Pittsburgh, including the fact that Pittsburgh closes early at night compared to Brooklyn.
Still, they are happy transplants, part of the group of young people that represents just one segment of the population of the village-like neighborhood. The others include long-time residents and natives like the friendly and devout Carol Brueckner, who leads tours of the famous Saint Anthony Chapel and whose grown son lives nearby.
One reason housing is more in demand than ever is because the extensive work on Route 28 below has been completed and the intersection at Rialto St. is far more pedestrian and bike-friendly, notes Nancy Noszka, a development consultant who has worked in Troy Hill.
“Now it’s less than a 10-minute walk to the Strip, making real estate that much more desirable,” she says.
Carole Brueckner, who has led countless tours of St. Anthony Chapel.
“Things are going fast,” she adds. “If it’s priced right and in decent shape, it’s under agreement within seven days.”
Adding fuel to the real estate fire are the “great mortgage rehab programs” offered by WesBanco, which has a branch in Troy Hill. “They’re like a one-stop shop,” says Noszka.
The modern rehab on Lowrie St. Photo by Tracy Certo
If you are looking up at Troy Hill from, say the bike path along the river, you will notice a standout modern building that overlooks the city. That’s a completely rehabbed space on Lowrie St. by a private owner who, the story goes, has not yet completed the building to code (say two different sources) so it’s still empty. But residents are hopeful that it will be occupied soon, especially since it’s on the main street, next to a gas station and just down from the charming mural called Troy Loves Hill.
The view from Troy Hill. Photo by Tracy Certo.
If you’re primed to check out Troy Hill, a good time is during the celebration called NEXT 3 Days with a kickoff party Friday, October 2nd at Wigle Whiskey’s Barrelhouse, a big community festival complete with an artists market and flea market, a bakeoff judged by Rick Sebak and Leah Lizarondo on Saturday, and an Open House of real estate for sale on Sunday. Find out more here.
