Blawnox

Ranging from waterfront vistas of the Allegheny along River Road to the hilly network of homes hidden up Boyd Avenue, Montrose Hill packs a few flavors of suburbia into the space between Blawnox, O’Hara Township and Route 28. “It’s not a big neighborhood. It's nice, well-maintained,” says Linda Belkofer, a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway with 39 years of experience. “You can walk right down Boyd Avenue to Blawnox, but you’re in O’Hara Township. Fox Chapel School District is the big draw.” Run through by Freeport Road, Montrose Hill combines quick access to riverside commercial hubs from Harmar to Aspinwall, O’Hara Township parks and schools as well as the quieter perk of a civic association that knows the key to neighborly relationships is the occasional cookout. Past the field of gas terminals at the crest of Boyd Avenue, much of Montrose Hill is made up of more gently sloping streets lined by single-family homes built from the early 1900s through the 1980s. Small, prewar homes and those constructed in the 1940s through1960s line some streets in a blend Cape Cods, ranch-style homes, American Foursquares and Minimal Traditional homes that sell for $130,000 to $290,000. In the 1970s and 1980s, bi-levels and split-level homes popped up along other streets, selling for $250,000 to $390,000. Riverwatch at O’Hara Woods was developed in the 2000s and 2010s, consisting of a couple cul-de-sacs of larger New Traditional homes on more expansive, landscaped lawns that sell for $630,000 to $880,000. Over the train tracks down River Road, an assortment of single-family homes peer past trees, private decks and docks over the Allegheny River, selling for $160,000 to $270,000. O’Hara Elementary School earns an A-plus from Niche, as do Dorseyville Middle School and Fox Chapel Area High School. All Fox Chapel Area schools have earned the title of National Blue Ribbon School at least once, and the Middle States Association has recognized the high school’s arts programs as especially praise-worthy, designating both the visual arts and music departments as Programs of Distinction. Freeport Road connects to Route 28 for an 11-mile drive into downtown Pittsburgh as well as major highways in the opposite direction near Harmar. “You’re not far from the turnpike, it’s a straight shot down Freeport Road,” Pelkofer says. A couple of PRT bus stops on Freeport Road take public transit users on a route from Tarentum to downtown Pittsburgh. Up a staircase cutting through the trees at the corner of Central and Watson avenues, Raymond A. Schafer Jr. Memorial Park provides space for pick-up basketball and baseball games or some time on the playground. Boat owners can purchase seasonal dock slips at The Docks at Bell Harbor and set sail to poke around the vine-carpeted abandoned barge at Sycamore Island or head further down the Allegheny River toward The Point. Larger O’Hara Township recreation hubs are less than 3 miles away, including the pond and creek-side walking paths and updated playgrounds of O’Hara Township Community Park and the indoor courts, fitness center and group exercise classes at Lauri Ann West Community Center. While commercial life in Montrose Hill is limited to a self-serve car wash and Sunoco, a quick walk or drive down Freeport Road reveals the sleepy, lamppost-lined business district in downtown Blawnox. Patrons brush past lush houseplants on their way to grab takeout or stay a while at cafe-style tables at Maenam Thai. The Starlite Lounge has been a major player in the Pittsburgh pierogi sphere for over 50 years, owned by the same family as Moondog’s, an intimate live music bar with an enduring love for the national and local Blues scenes. The Waterworks Mall provides plenty of strip mall retailers and eateries alongside the anchoring Market District 4 miles away down Freeport Road, and AHN Harmar Neighborhood Hospital and Target are 4 miles in the opposite direction. The Montrose Hill Civic Association keeps residents up to date on happenings in both O’Hara Township and Blawnox on the community Facebook page, sprinkled with reminders for smaller annual traditions and pop-up community events of their own. Trick-or-treaters know to head to Raymond A. Schafer Jr. Park for a free hotdog and costume contest before the Montrose Hill Halloween Parade. At the same park, volunteers often organize community picnics in the summer, inviting families to bring a side dish, pull up a lawn chair and enjoy a day of catching up with old friends, cookout grilling, raffles and basketball. The smattering of homes on River Road sit just above the Allegheny River and may experience flooding during times of unusually heavy rain.