By John Ruch
Add Pittsburgh to the list of Atlanta neighborhoods considering stronger historic protections as a bulwark against madcap redevelopment.
Members of the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association (PNA) and other advocates for the historically Black community met last week with the City’s historic preservation chief for advice on what kind of historic district protections to pursue and how to gather community input.
“There’s a lot of interest in Pittsburgh right now,” says PNA Vice President L. Winfrey Young, “and we’re trying to weave it all together in a fabric that will speak to the history and culture of the community and help us move forward into the future as a beautiful, unified space in the city of Atlanta.”
It remains to be seen if a consensus can be reached. And a practical decision is already coming in the form of the “Pink House,” a commercial building at 1029 McDaniel St. that is infamous for crime and is now under redevelopment considerations. Community conversation includes “whether to preserve that particular building or build something new,” says Young.
One thing’s for sure – the pressures from outside developers and new residents are not lessening.
“These historic neighborhoods are more than endangered; they are truly under siege,” says David Yoakley Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC), which has helped the PNA convene the historic district discussions. “… The Pittsburgh neighborhood and those that have called this space home for generations, decades and a few years should be applauded and thanked profusely. Their courage to say we have always been here and we are not going to be forgotten or removed is the very purpose of historic preservation.”
Pittsburgh is a roughly triangular neighborhood bordered by Metropolitan Parkway to the west, a railroad line and the Downtown Connector/Pryor Road to the east, and the Atlanta BeltLine and University Avenue to the…
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