Manchester-Chateau Neighborhood Plan

Inspiring Plan Helps Reconnect Divided Communities

The City of Pittsburgh engaged OHM Advisors to craft a reimagined plan for the future of its historic urban neighborhoods, Manchester and Chateau, divided decades ago by the construction of an elevated highway. Located immediately north of the North Shore and Heinz Field, Manchester boasts buildings of various architectural styles exhibiting the incredible craftsmanship of the past, and is the original home of the first Carnegie Library. The neighborhood has remained diverse over the years, but weathered a long period of disinvestment that is only recently rebounding. Chateau was also elementally changed by the highway division, and by associated urban renewal policies that removed original neighborhood features for the creation of industrial uses. After years of interesting uses, the area is now poised for potential large-scale changes.

OHM Advisors formed a team of architects, urban planners and engineers who immersed themselves in a lengthy engagement process with the communities to discover the wants and needs of the people who lived there before the highway divided them, and those who have lived there since. With that valuable firsthand feedback, the team created strategies for revitalization that encourage new investment in the communities at an opportune time for both, yet protect the individual character and heritage of each neighborhood. The team encapsulated the strategies in a plan that addresses aspects of housing, transportation, connectivity and funding strategies, and gives the City of Pittsburgh a roadmap to future success.

Project Highlights: urban revitalization, mixed-use, community redevelopment, community engagement, land use planning, design standards