The Strip
District is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.
It is a one-half square mile area of land northeast of the central business
district bordered to the north by the Allegheny River and to the south by
portions of the Hill District. The Strip District runs between 11th and 33rd
Streets and includes three main thoroughfares (Smallman Street, Penn Avenue,
and Liberty Avenue) as well as various side streets.
In the early
19th century, the Strip District was home to many mills and factories as its
location along the Allegheny River made for easy transportation of goods and
shipping of raw materials. It was the home of the Fort Pitt Foundry, source of large
cannons before and during the American Civil War, including a 20-inch bore Rodman
Gun. Early industrial tenants of the Strip District included U.S. Steel, Westinghouse,
The Pittsburgh Reduction Company (ALCOA), and later The H.J. Heinz Company,
famous ketchup and condiment manufacturer.
The shipping
infrastructure built around the manufacturing companies attracted other types
of merchants to set up shop in the Strip. By the early 20th century, the Strip
District became a vibrant network of wholesalers—mostly fresh produce, meat,
and poultry dealers. Soon, auction houses rose around the wholesale warehouses.
Many restaurants and grocery stores opened to feed hungry shift workers at any
hour of the day. By the 1920s, the Strip District was the economic center of
Pittsburgh.
By the
mid-to-late 20th century, fewer of the Strip's products were being shipped by
rail and boat, causing many produce sellers and wholesalers to leave the area
for other space with easier access to highways, or where there was more land
available for expansion. In the early 21st century, there are still several
wholesalers and produce dealers in the Strip District, but some estimates say
more than 80% of the produce industry left the area, preceded by the
manufacturing plants and mills in the mid to late 20th century restructuring of
industry. Today, many of the abandoned warehouses have been renovated as small
specialty shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. The historic St. Stanislaus
Kostka Church, an 1891 landmark built in the ornate Polish Cathedral style,
lies in the heart of the Strip District and served early generations of Polish
immigrants.
Since the
late 20th century, the area has developed into a historic market district with
many ethnic food purveyors, some art studios, antique dealers, unique
boutiques, and other businesses setting up shop where trains once delivered
produce by the ton. The lack of weekday activity is in some ways compensated by
retail and leisure facilities which are used primarily on weekends.
Particularly in the summer months, there are open-air farmers' markets, a range
of street vendors and facilities to enjoy open air drinks. Residential
developers have begun to convert old factory and warehouse buildings into
apartments and lofts. Examples include the Armstrong Cork Factory, Brake House
Lofts, and the Otto Milk Building. A mixed-use tower is planned for the Ayoob
Fruit Warehouse site.
More
recently, the area has attracted a number of technology companies and become a
hotbed for autonomous vehicle and robotics technology. The area is home to Uber's
Advanced Technology Group, which leads the company's vehicular automation
efforts, as well Argo AI and Aurora Innovation. Other technology companies with
offices in the strip district include Apple, Robert Bosch GmbH, Target
Corporation, Wombat Security, JazzHR, Petuum, and BossaNova Robotics.
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