Braddock Hills

On either side of the car-jammed Parkway East corridor lies Edgewood, a borough east of Pittsburgh where towering oaks, maples and sycamores shade blocks of historic housing, Regent Square commercial hubs and neighbors taking in the views along tranquil sidewalks. “People say hello to each other walking on the streets, it’s very cordial,” says Maureen States, owner of Neighborhood Realty Services who has worked in Edgewood for 22 years. “They can go straight down the street to restaurants or into Frick Park.” Home to combination Historic Landmarks and ongoing social hubs like the towering First Edgewood Presbyterian Church and Mission-style Edgewood Club, Edgewood is a mosaic of historic architecture and modern amenities 7 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. On long, sloping streets and densely plotted, sidewalk-lined blocks, Edgewood’s single-family homes come in a breadth of loud and more reserved styles popular from the mid-19th century through the late 20th century. “There’s a lot of Craftsman styles and Victorians, yet you also find 1950s houses,” States says. “It’s a wide variety with a lot of trees and pretty landscaping.” For $150,000 to $350,000, homebuyers find a wide array of smaller and less updated single-family homes ranging from brick American Foursquares to colorful Victorian-inspired homes with column-lined front porches. Homes in the $400,000 to $750,000 price range typically have upward of four bedrooms and more yard space, more updated appliances and amenities like on-property driveways, or larger frames adorned with Dutch Colonial roofs or Tudor-inspired wood detailing. Roads vary between asphalt and bumpy stretches of brick paving, and the neighborhood’s diversity of trees make for big, multi-colored piles of leaves to rake in the fall. A block and a half of South Braddock Avenue in the Regent Square area of the borough houses a small commercial district lined by broad sidewalks and limited street parking. Coffee lovers can stop into the 61B Cafe, named for the Port Authority bus line. For more of a meal, D’s Six Pax and Dogz serves loaded hotdogs and an impressive stock of beers, while Thai Cottage is a favorite for Thai cuisine and a cozy dining experience lit by dozens of hanging lanterns. Down the block, 3 Rivers Outdoor Company is a rugged, locally owned retailer for outdoor apparel, gear and equipment rentals. For more extensive shopping, locals head to Edgewood Town Centre. Giant Eagle anchors the plaza, but shoppers can head to Pet Supplies Plus, Planet Fitness and several fast-casual eateries a few storefronts away and across the central parking lot. Each summer, locals celebrate Edgewood Community Day on front porches and at Koenig Field. Packrats clear garages and closets at the Community Day Yard Sale in the morning before heading to the field for an art market, games and food, culminating in a fireworks show at dark. At Community Day and a few other events throughout the year, residents can buy tickets or rosin their own bows for Edgewood Symphony Orchestra concerts, a community-based volunteer ensemble making music together for over 35 years. Frick Park sprawls over more than 600 acres of woodland just west of Edgewood, sending hikers down miles of trails broken up by wooden staircases, bridges over trickling creeks and toward specialized recreation hubs like the clay tennis courts off South Braddock Avenue or the cardboard sled-strewn Blue Slide Playground closer to Squirrel Hill. Tennis and pickleball players can hit the courts at Koenig Field while walkers do loops of the asphalt track meandering past two baseball diamonds and the nearby playground. Membership at the Edgewood Club opens access to the swimming pool, tennis courts and basketball courts outside the clubhouse and C.C. Mellor Library during the warmer months. Kids attend Woodland Hills School District, starting off at Edgewood Elementary STEAM Academy which earns a C from Niche, followed by Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy which also earns a C and Woodland Hills Senior High School which earns a B-minus. Woodland Hills partners with VEX Robotics to provide hands-on robotics, coding and engineering experience from elementary school through high school. Down the street from Edgewood Elementary, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf provides deaf and hard of hearing students with tuition-free private education from birth through high school graduation. I-376, also called the Parkway East, runs through Edgewood, providing a 7-mile commute into downtown Pittsburgh. Port Authority bus stops run along Edgewood Avenue and South Braddock Avenue for those wanting a public transit option.