Why I Moved to Pittsburgh: West End

 To whatever extent it's possible for people to embody the spirit of a city, Wendy Downs and her husband Jeremy Boyle are Pittsburgh personified. Hard working and kind, they take pride in what they do their company called Moop.

Moop specializes in handmade bags for men, women and children. This dynamic couple designs, cuts, preps, sews, photographs, models, and then ships everything they create. 

Their 1,000 square foot storefront space is quaint and peaceful with cool pale blue walls, and warm wood floors that Jeremy refinished. The furnishings, many designed and built by Jeremy, sport clean lines and efficient design – much like the handbags they create.

Humble Beginnings
Wendy started Moop in their family's apartment loft space in a converted mill building in western Massachusetts.  As it grew they relocated to a 10,000 square foot live/work warehouse space, more room than they needed.  Wendy's brainchild took off and they started filling orders across the country. Meanwhile, Jeremy, an artist and musician, was teaching at the University of Massachusetts while Moop continued to grow and thrive. The couple discussed the possibility of Jeremy leaving his teaching position to work with Wendy full time, but with their then current high cost of living, it wasn't feasible.

A New Home
Moop was created primarily as an online business, making relocation an option. The couple discoved that, as cool as it sounds, living and working in a closed-off warehouse space doesn't lend itself to community interaction. And while their Massachusetts locale offered opportunity, it wasn't their perfect fit. Wendy and Jeremy, along with their daughter Parker, were looking for a place to call home that spoke to their ideals and way of life, ideally with a  cost of living low enough that Jeremy could leave his teaching position to join Wendy full time. Chicago was out. St Louis, Columbus and so many other places they lived before didn't cut it, either.

Although Jeremy is originally from Pittsburgh, he has lived in many other places and has displayed art in galleries across the country. In Pittsburgh, he collaborated on the art and music installation in Downtown on Strawberry Way. Wendy, who hails from the suburbs of D.C., took family trips to the 'Burgh growing up. Now she is impressed with the city's sense of community, pride, history and its ability to reinvent itself.

"My family moved here to work in the steel mills in Homestead, and that history of labor and steel is something I was always interested in," says Jeremy. "Pittsburgh is one of those places where resource of idea, energy, and creativity can get you where you want to go. The ceiling isn't so high here."

In Wendy's words

"New York City never had an appeal to either of us," says Wendy.  In Masschusetts, "we had no connection to the community, " she adds. "It was a beautiful area, but there were very few people working the way we were working. In the month that we've been here, every person we've met is doing something really interesting, and it's so varied and energizing."

Once they made the decision to move to Pittburgh, they opted to live and work in the West End .Unlike the East End or the North Hills, there is a misconception that West End is an area, when in fact it's one of Pittsburgh's 90 distinct neighborhoods. To reduce confusion, this neighborhood has been newly christened West End Village.

That's West End Village
Only two miles from Downtown and less than a mile from the North Shore, home of Heinz Field, the Rivers Casino, and the Carnegie Science Center, West End Village looks in fact like an intimate village than a city neighborhood. It's an emerging design community, with businesses ranging from antiques, to florists, to home design and improvement. Over 150 businesses call West End Village home, including James Gallery, Artifacts, Evenement, HJ Muetzel Florist, Sue's Cozy Corner and Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

Moop fits in perfectly. Unlike their manufacturing-type loft space in Massachusetts, their new, quaint Main Street locale is more conducive to mixing with visitors and community. Moop's current space, they feel, is repurposed and efficient; a personally designed space to hone their handmade craft.

The Goods
One key to the success of their creations? Moop's clean-lined bags are made from all natural materials – cotton canvas with cotton or cordura (a functional waterproof material) lining. Because the designs are handmade in-house by Wendy and Jeremy, they can quickly improve upon concepts and needs as they arise. These smart bags are machine washable and have multiple pockets for organization. To see the bags at their  online store, click here www.moopshop.com. They can also be found on www.etsy.com, a nationally known marketplace for independent, handmade wares. For all things Moop, log onto Wendy's Moop blog at www.moopshop.blogspot.com, which also highlights other independent, creative and interesting people and endeavors.

Rachel Booth is a freelance writer and entrepreneur living in Downtown Pittsburgh with her husband and 2 year old son.

Photographs copyright Brian Cohen