Shadyside (Pittsburgh)

Updated on Jan 28, 2024

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Country United States County Allegheny County Area 238 ha		State Pennsylvania City Pittsburgh Population 13,915 (2010)

Restaurants Shady Grove, The Yard Gastropub, William Penn Tavern, Steel Cactus Mexican, Noodlehe Hotels Shadyside Inn All Suites Ho, The Inn on Negley, The Mansions On Fifth L, Appletree Inc, Shadyside Inn All Suites Ho

Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has two zip codes (15213 and 15232) and representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8 (East Central Neighborhoods). Shadyside is drawn from the name of a 19th-century Pennsylvania Railroad station in the area, which was named for its shady lanes.

Map of Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Another neighborhood institution is Shadyside Hospital, a member of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Chatham University is located just across the southern edge of the neighborhood in Squirrel Hill, along with Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, which is also a part of Mellon Park. (A portion of Mellon Park is located in Shadyside as well as the Point Breeze neighborhood.)

In April 2014, Niche rated Shadyside the best neighborhood in Pittsburgh for millennials (Pittsburgh ranked 15th among cities nationally in the same study).

Business districts

Shadyside is home to many upscale stores and boutiques, including Moda, Williams-Sonoma, and White House Black Market. In Shadyside, businesses (retail & restaurants) are located along three corridors: Walnut Street, Ellsworth Avenue, and S. Highland Avenue. Given the compact nature of this historic residential neighborhood, the three business corridors are all within walking distance of one another.

Walnut Street

On Walnut Street, there are more stores that belong to national chains, including Gap (along with BabyGap, GapKids and GapBody), Apple, J.Crew, American Apparel, UBS, Chico's, Victoria's Secret, Banana Republic, Talbots, and United Colors of Benetton. Pittsburgh's oldest jewelry store, the 4th generation Henne Jewelers, is also here, as are local restaurants, including Up Modern Kitchen, Cappy's, Mario's, William Penn Tavern, Pamela's Diner and La Feria.

Pamela's Diner has been serving breakfast since 1980. Pamela's gained publicity when Gail Klingensmith and Pamela Cohen, the two co-owners of Pamela's P&G Diners, made pancakes in 2009 for President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and 80 veterans for a Memorial Day breakfast.

The Jam on Walnut is a summer concert series that features local and regional music concerts. The concerts are held on the last Saturday of each summer month on the corner of Bellefonte and Walnut Street. Proceeds from beer sales go to Cystic Fibrosis. Walnut Street also hosts the Shadyside Arts Festival, a juried art show. This late summer/early fall street fair has been held on Walnut Street for so long that the event has been renamed "The Art Festival on Walnut Street."

Ellsworth Avenue

Ellsworth Avenue tends to have smaller, locally owned businesses, including Eons (a vintage store), Gallerie Chiz (an art gallery), and beauty salons such as Salon 5844, Capristo salon, Dante Salon and Mikel's. Ellsworth has a number of restaurants such as Bites and Brews, Umi, Fajita Grill, and Soba. Ellsworth also features two of Pittsburgh's gay and gay friendly bars, Spin and 5801.

S. Highland Avenue

S. Highland Avenue features several upscale design and furniture stores, including Weiss House, Arhaus and Penhollows. Local restaurants include Casbah, Mad Mex, Buffalo Blues, Noodle Head and Millie's Homemade Ice Cream Also on S. Highland, is the entrance to the East Liberty aka Eastside retail complex, which features Whole Foods, Wine and Spirits, Starbucks Coffee, Trek Bikes, and Eva Szabo Spa, as well as local restaurants, Dinette and Plum.

Work began to replace the S. Highland bridge in March 2013. Construction shutdown both S. Highland Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue (which runs under the bridge) until October 2013.

Residential Shadyside

Since the 1920s, residential Shadyside has been home to a mix of affluent families, young professionals, artists, musicians, students, and apartment dwellers. The residential areas of the neighborhood include Victorian mansions along with modern apartments and condominiums. The neighborhood has a compact layout, which prevents most houses from having garages. Public transportation is available via Port Authority bus system; express busway stops are located in the neighborhood on Negley Avenue (between Ellsworth and Centre avenues) and on Ellsworth Avenue (at Shady Avenue).

Schools

The Shadyside school district consists mainly of The Liberty School, a public school; and private schools, Winchester Thurston School, The Ellis School, and The University School.

The Liberty School is located in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh, and consists of grades pre-kindergarten to fifth. The school's colors are navy and white and its mascot is the soaring eagle. It was built in 1872, and in 1911, the industrial arts portion of the school was built. From the years 1911 to 1934, the first and older building instilled primary instruction- such as the core subjects of learning- while the newer building offered woodworking, home economics, and other courses. In 1934, the eldest building was completely torn down to further renovate the school. Therefore, the newest building was attached to the 1911 building, consisting of both classrooms and an auditorium. Later on in the 1990s, playgrounds were constructed on both sides of the buildings providing more recreation for the students.

Liberty is a "magnet school," which merely means it is a public school with specialized courses and therefore draws in a diverse group of students. The institution specifically prides itself on its Spanish International Studies magnet program for students who desire to apply. The overall program of the school is based on the district's extensive curriculum, accentuating mainly on the basic and Pennsylvania standards in reading, math, science, social studies, art, music, and physical education. Liberty offers both learning and autistic support for students- for instance in the subjects of reading and math, Title I programs are offered to students who desire to enhance their academic skills. First and second graders have the opportunity to participate in the Creative movement through the prestigious Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The school offers a wide and diverse range of after school programs and activities including Peacemakers, Challenge 24 Math Club, Red Cross, Pittsburgh Chess Club, African Drums, and many more. Liberty is also stocked with a daycare program called Liberty Extended Daycare Program (L.E.D.P).

Liberty's approximate student enrollment is 375 students per school year, with a student to teacher ratio of about 16:1. The percentage of males and females is fairly equal, with 45% male and 55% female.

The Winchester Thurston School is a private co-ed institution located in Shadyside. It has two campuses-the North Hills campus in Allison Park and the city campus in Shadyside. It prides itself for a devoted faculty and administration that focuses on the strengths and improvements of each individual student.

The Winchester Thurston School concentrates on five specific core values including critical thinking, integrity, empathy, community, and diversity in order to encourage and inculcate each student with motivation and fervor. It has a diligent academic system with a majority of students taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and accepted in and attending several of the most competitive and highly regarded colleges in the country, as well as receiving an assortment of scholarships. The teaching at each school is advanced and contemporary as the administration strives to instill global ideals in the students. For instance, Winchester Thurston has collaborated with University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Confucius Institute to provide cultural studies.

The school has recently received a three-year grant of $250,000, named the Edward E. Ford Foundation Leadership Grant, in order to take on the City as Our Campus program. It allows students to take their learning beyond the classroom environment and interact with their city, enriching their minds with concerns of crime, poverty and renovation.

The Ellis School is an independent school for girls ages three through grade twelve in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1916 by Sara Frazer Ellis who was dedicated to prepare girls for their futures in college and provide them with adequate means to fulfill and go beyond admission requirements. This preparation further anticipated the girls to survive in the real world.

The Ellis School has a set of core beliefs in which it bases its teaching and learning. It instills a rigorous academic schedule, encourages girls to work with faculty to enhance their critical thinking and individuality, creates an environment to pursue ultimate academic achievement, offers an opportunity for students to collaborate and create connections, and offers a diverse curriculum to encounter global aspects as well. The students come from diverse backgrounds-from different areas, ethnicities, and familial incomes. The approximate student enrollment at Ellis is 462 students, with a student to teacher ratio of 6:1 and a 100% college acceptance rate.

The school's advanced technology program equips each student with a personal laptop starting in grade eight. The libraries are equipped as well, with 12,00 volumes in the Lower School library, and 36,000 volumes in the Middle and Upper School library. The Ellis School has a number of memberships including National Association of Independent Schools, National Coalition of Girls' Schools, and National Association of Laboratory Schools.

The Ellis School and the Winchester Thurston School are both part of the Pittsburgh Consortium of Independent Schools (PCIS) which is a non-profit organization consisting of these and eleven other independent schools in the area.

Shady Side Academy, though founded in the neighborhood in 1883, is no longer located in the Shadyside neighborhood. The school originally occupied the present-day site of the Winchester Thurston School as an all-male day school, but relocated its Senior and Middle School campuses to suburban Fox Chapel in the 1920s. Its Junior School campus, however, remains in the city in nearby Point Breeze.

Shadyside Action Coalition

The Shadyside Action Coalition, known colloquially as SAC, is a community organization. This not-for-profit organization was formed in 1973. According to their website, their goals are to, "preserve values and laws of this community"; the issues they have chosen to focus on are "neighborhood safety, planning and zoning, parking, quality of life, preserving the character of the community, and being actively involved with the future development of our community". Composed of 34 organizations, book clubs, and churches, SAC has "sought to be the instrument through which Shadyside could control its own destiny, mainly by generating sufficient power to influence forces such as government planners, larger property investors, banks, and school boards".

Within the larger Shadyside Action Coalition, there are six different committees: community networking, fundraising, historic Shadyside, membership, public safety, and zoning. Community networking's stated goal is to, "maintain collaborative relationships with adjacent community groups to work on shared projects along borders". They are involved with liaisons in many other neighborhoods around Pittsburgh. These neighborhoods include East Liberty, North Point Breeze, South Point Breeze, Bloomfield, Friendship, Oakland, and Squirrel Hill. Projects that are being worked on as of 2010 are the Baum Centre Initiative and Bakery Row.

The Baum Centre Initiative is a project with the goal of, "developing a cohesive, renewed, and thriving Baum-Centre Corridor". The Baum-Centre Corridor is a section of UPMC Shadyside, and there has been much debate surrounding this project. Concerns include whether this project constitutes an expansion of UPMC Shadyside or if it is a transformation of the building that is already there. The project has encountered some legal and legislative problems.

Bakery Row is a collaborative effort with East Liberty Development Inc. and SAC to develop the "Bakery Row" section of Penn Ave. Seven districts converge at Bakery Row: East Liberty. Homewood, North Point Breeze, South Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and Larimer. Plans include development of Penn and Shady, the resurrection of an East Liberty Station, reopening the Reizenstein Middle School, redevelopment of buildings in "Bakery Square", creating more pedestrian-friendly transportation, as well as more "transit-oriented" transportation.

Other projects the community networking committee has worked on include the Pedestrian Bridge, the Doc Economou project, UPMC's Cromisa halfway house, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Fidelity Bank on Centre, Hertz on Baum and Bobby Rahal's on Baum.

SAC has one annual fundraiser- the house tour. According to their website all of the money raised through this event is put into the community. In 2010 the funds were utilized for scholarships for summer arts camps at Shadyside Center For the Arts, bike racks, block watch signs and safety programs, an architect/zoning real estate attorney opinion about a neighborhood issue, "Welcome to the Neighborhood" packets for new people in the area, and the creation of a quarterly newsletter. In 2010, for the 32nd annual house tour, people went through eight homes on a self-guided tour. Transportation from each private home was provided by Molly's Trolley's.