While most couples with young kids traditionally head for the ‘burbs, Anne and Bill Rielly did the reverse. Six years ago they moved their young family from O’Hara Township to Highland Park where they bought a spacious, 93-year old and architecturally stunning Georgian-style Revival.
Why Highland Park? Housing for one. “Highland Park has so many wonderful houses and it’s a little more affordable than other
neighborhoods, says Anne. Convenience for another. The four Rielly boys, now ages 10 to 18, all have bus passes and go anywhere, independent of Mom and the van. And they’re close to everything, from downtown and Central Catholic in Oakland where two of the boys go to school, to the Pittsburgh Zoo and the park the community is known for.
And finally there’s the diversity of living in the city. “The diversity makes everything so interesting. Different people, different walks of life. I like my kids being exposed to that,” Anne says. Although it was Bill, “a city boy through and through” who wanted to return to a more urban life, Mt. Lebanon –raised Anne says “now I can’t imagine leaving.”
The Convenience FactorLocated in the City's northeastern quadrant, just east of Morningside, and north of East Liberty, Highland Park is a quiet and yes, diverse neighborhood. Houses are spaced farther apart than in other city neighborhoods, and it might be the only place in Western Pennsylvania where you can find a pharmacy right next to an auto body shop and across the street from a rehabbed church.
This swath of land -- a little bigger than a square mile -- was passed through generations of the Negley family between the late 18th and 19th centuries. The park itself was constructed in 1893, and became public
when Edward Bigelow, Pittsburgh's Director of Public Works, spent nearly a million dollars in City funds to buy the land.
Today, Highland Park - unconsciously serene and unpretentious – is characterized by its tree-lined streets and architectural housing. So you might wonder, why go there? If you plan on visiting, as opposed to moving there like the Riellys, here’s one good reason: it's one of the best areas in the city to explore by walking.
Start at the one of top attractions in Highland Park,
the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. You’ll enjoy the stroll through this historic landmark and playground, where exotic animals have been housed and cared for more than 110 years. One of only six major zoo and aquarium combinations in the United States, the zoo sits on 77 acres of park land and exhibits more than 4,000 animals representing 475 species, including 70 that are either threatened or endangered.
Once you've had your fill of animals and animal friends—don’t miss the baby elephants!-- head up One Wild Place, the road running through the zoo that connects Butler Street with Negley Avenue -- and turn right at the serpentine bend with the muralled, concrete wall. The first major landmark is the reservoir on your right. The smaller of two in Highland Park, this one lies across the street from the grand Park Lane: 21 stories of apartments owned and operated by
Mozart Management. From here, there are two options to meander toward the East End. You can go left (toward Highland Park's larger reservoir and Highland Avenue, which
runs north and south), or you can head right toward Negley.
Highland Park's main connector, Negley Avenue is lined with Victorian architecture, home to Stanton-Negley Drug Co, and the Union Project, one of the most progressive locales for events and gatherings in the city.
A former Baptist Church,
the Union Project was reestablished as an inexpensive, nonprofit community venue. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says the Union Project is "a great example of how the people of a community ... can come together to make positive change." It's a space to rent, a place to eat, to create or buy ceramics and preserve historic glass. Most of their employees are in high school, and the bus stop in front will take you just about anywhere in the city.
From Negley Avenue, the most-heavily travelled street in Highland Park, you can easily access
The Nuin Center, a holistic wellness center that’s worthy of more exploration, the
Galerie Macondo a Haitian art gallery, and Highland Park Club Apartments, an elegantly designed complex with a wonderfully diverse population ranging from undergraduate students to retirees.
If you're in no hurry, and you decide not to take Negley from the zoo, the other option is to go left, up Bunker Hill Street. That's where you'll find
Highland Park's real gem: the park.
The entrance to
Highland Park is framed by two magnificent bronze sculptures by Giuseppe Moretti, atop 20-foot neo-Classical columns. Entering here (it's on your left, north of Bunker Hill) you'll find an athlete's wonderland: The street is a three-quarter mile loop with a giant lane for cyclists and walkers. Take a walk up to the majestic, fenced-in reservoir, dubbed a "cool hilltop oasis" by the city, or hang out in one of the many picnic coves in the vast green land that surrounds it.
Kids will love the impressive, mostly wooden, volunteer-built playground. In all, this area is nothing short of breathtaking.
Getting hungry? Exit the park proper and make your way toward Highland Park's quaint business district along Highland Avenue. You'll see more of the famed housing stock, with handsome homes lining both sides of the street -- not a vacant one in sight -- and one of the friendliest independent coffee shops in the city --
Tazza D'Oro. Make a point to stop here for a superb cup of coffee in a beautiful intimate setting. On weekends in good weather, bikes line the sidewalks and people spill into the street.
From here, you're a short walk from
Reynolds on Bryant, a restaurant
specializing in Italian, Portuguese, and Indian food, the Smiling Banana Leaf, a new and impressive Thai restaurant,
Joseph Tambellini's with its Italian fare with an expansive and classic menu and
Food Glorious Food a culinary Shangri-la offering first rate cooking supplies, catering services, and cooking and baking classes.
Continue on Highland Avenue toward East Liberty and you'll find Eaglemoor Apartments (also run by Mozart Management) and
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS). Founded in 1794, PTS is an internationally regarded Presbyterian graduate institution. It has one of the largest theological libraries in the nation, and is one of the last major buildings you see before you pass
Peabody High School, leave Highland Park, and enter the bustling environment of Penn Circle.
Highland Park is surprisingly diverse in its attractions, from the zoo to the Nuin Center, and a consistently stable neighborhood, where one can have a pleasant walk, run, bike ride, conversation. There's something to be said for a quiet walk. A peaceful cup of coffee. A day at the zoo. Enjoy.
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Pop City editors contributed to this article.
Captions: The Rielly Family (l to r: Billy, Jack, Patrick, parents Anne and Bill, Nick); PPG Aquarium; The Nuin Center; Highland Park main entrance; Tazza D'Oro
Photographs copyright Brian Cohen