BRIDGING THE BUSWAY
Homewood and Point Breeze North Neighborhoods - Pittsburgh, PA
Urban Partners Partners was part of a consulting team
with Studio for Spatial Practice (SfSP) that was retained by the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority to develop a community-driven planning vision for Pittsburgh’s Homewood and Point Breeze North neighborhoods. Bridging the Busway explores the potential for building market strength through transit-oriented development around the MLK Jr. East Busway Homewood Station.
The Plan aims to enhance and leverage the health of Point
Breeze North to help stabilize and revitalize Homewood.
Three distinct assets stand out in their ability to help
revitalize the Homewood Avenue business district and the
surrounding neighborhood: the Busway station itself and
the underutilized land surrounding it; Homewood’s existing
institutional core, a unique asset that should be intentionally
branded as a regional destination for African-American arts,
culture, and services; and the relative strength of the North
Point Breeze housing market, just across the Busway.
Urban Partners’ role in the project was to examine the retail market of Homewood and the housing markets of both Homewood and North Point Breeze as a foundation for neighborhood-wide recommendations. For Homewood, recommendations included branding the institutional core of
the neighborhood to foster new development, support existing homeowners, stabilize the existing housing stock, develop new housing, develop anchor retail, green the neighborhood, and enhance the burgeoning environmental
industries district. For North Point Breeze, the Plan suggested enhancing open space, targeting housing improvements, and converting non-conforming uses into housing.
Bridging the Busway: A Transit-Based Community Plan for Homewood & Point Breeze North
