Former Shady Ave editor and publisher Nancy Polinsky Johnson reflects on the changes and enduring charms of the East End.
Nancy Polinsky Johnson Takes Us Into the Next Era of Shady Ave
I was surprised and honored when I was asked if I’d like to write something for the first issue of Shady Ave under Table Media’s ownership. I thought I’d written my last column when I bid farewell to readers in the fall of 2022; I had sold the magazine and was offered the opportunity to share some parting thoughts. But the publication I shepherded for 17 years has changed hands once more — and here I am again, excited to see what the new leadership team has in store and happy to be part of the start of a new era.
I remember when the first issue of Shady Ave arrived in my mailbox. It was in the fall of 1996, and I had recently moved from Highland Park to Squirrel Hill. In those earliest days, the magazine was intended only for residents of Shadyside, Point Breeze and Squirrel Hill (named for a street that ran through all three neighborhoods). I remember opening that first edition and thinking how lucky I was to have just moved into the circulation area of this wonderful new magazine.
Who could have guessed that I would someday be its editor — and then its publisher?
The Extension of Shady Ave
The magazine now covers a much larger geographic area, but I continue to think of the East End as its beating heart. Thirty years later, I’m still living in the East End exactly because of that pulsating heartbeat. But what changes I’ve seen!
Pitt and CMU have always made the East End the academic center of our region, but the growth both schools have undergone in three decades is phenomenal. It’s not just their expanding footprints and student enrollments; their prestige and reputations have also risen dramatically.
Likewise, the Carnegie complex in Oakland — the museums, music hall and library — plus nearby Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Frick Pittsburgh in Point Breeze and the Pittsburgh Glass Center in Friendship have all seen huge renovations or expansions that attract more and more visitors to the East End from around the world. These institutions are building on the area’s longstanding status as a cultural hub of the city. (And that’s just scratching the surface of the East End’s cultural offerings.)
It’s in the Environment, Too
The parks that fot the area of the East End enhance life for neighbors. But here, too, changes over the past three decades have only elevated everyone’s park experiences. Much of the credit for that goes to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (which was established the same year as Shady Ave), an organization that partnered with city government to substantially improve Pittsburgh’s park system.
Among the highlights of the conservancy’s many projects: the restoration of Frick Park’s Reynolds Street gatehouse and the construction of the park’s magnificent Environmental Center; the revival of the Highland Park entry fountain and its beautiful surrounding garden; and the preservation of Mellon Park’s historic Walled Garden. But the granddaddy of them all has to be the 2006 transformation of an asphalt parking lot into the Schenley Plaza green space we all know today. I can still recall the numerous cries from those in objection to the plan — “But where will we park?” Fortunately, the conservancy forged ahead. As I run around on the grass with my grandchildren, I’m forever grateful.
An Edible Legacy in the East End
Along with its parks and its academic and cultural amenities, the East End boasts a vibrant dining scene. It’s been amazing to watch its development over 30 years, with much of its growth in culinary options often attributed to the increase in international students and faculty at the universities.
Take Asian food, for example. As best I can recall, at the start of the magazine, there were maybe a dozen or so Chinese restaurants in the East End (certainly no Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese or Laotian places, as far as I can remember). Everyone I knew went either to China Palace on Walnut Street or Jimmy Tsang’s on Centre Avenue. (How Lee and New Dumpling House were more for takeout.)
Only a year later, however, Soba opened on Ellsworth, introducing us all to the concept of Pan-Asian, and Umi followed shortly thereafter, ushering upscale Japanese cuisine into the neighborhood. By 2007, when I published my first guide to the Shady Ave neighborhoods, there were 30 restaurants serving varieties of Asian cuisine in the East End. Last year’s guide included 75. Now we East Enders enjoy an array of Asian food — as well as Turkish, Polish, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Indian, Italian, French … the list goes on.
The amenities in the East End go far beyond dining options. Shadyside’s Walnut Street still has a strong nucleus of independent shops mixed in with national chains; Walnut retains its status as the city’s premier shopping street. School choices — public, private, charter, special needs — abound. The Manor Theatre in Squirrel Hill continues to show films that draw moviegoers from around the region.
The Future…
Yes, for me, the East End will always be the beating heart of Shady Ave. I plan to remain — and look forward to keeping up with all the neighborhood changes ahead in my favorite magazine.
Best wishes to Justin, Keith, Sean and the new team!
Story by Nancy Polinsky Johnson