Brighton Heights (Pittsburgh)


Brighton Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's northside area. It has a zip code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1. The Western gateway to the neighborhood, Brighton Heights Boulevard, is opposite the McKees Rocks Bridge and accessible via Route 65/Ohio River Boulevard. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 35 Engine and 33 Truck in Brighton Heights.
Once a predominantly German area, Brighton Heights now has a varied ethnic mix. The community is notable for its solid stately architecture, with many fine early 20th Century homes and churches built of stone and brick, featuring stained glass windows and ornamental woodwork and fireplaces. Because of the high quality and variety of the architecture of the neighborhood, Brighton Heights is one of the regularly featured neighborhoods of Pittsburgh's annual house tours.
Brighton Heights was featured in the July 2006 issue of Pittsburgh magazine article entitled "No Place Like Home: 10 Neighborhoods you need to know about." Many of Brighton Heights' streets are lined with large maple trees, maintained by the City of Pittsburgh. Recreational opportunities include the adjacent Riverview Park, the Jack Stack pool, and Marmaduke Playground.

Surrounding neighborhoods

Brighton Heights has four borders, including Ross Township to the north, Bellevue to the northwest, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Perry North, to the east, and Marshall-Shadeland from the south to the west.

Places of interest

Brighton Heights is within the city of Pittsburgh, and is in "zone 1" of the public transit system. Bus lines serving Brighton Heights include the , , , and .

Bridges

The Davis Avenue Bridge, which opened in 1899, spanned over Woods Run Ave. and directly connected Brighton Heights with Riverview Park in the Perry North neighborhood. After decades of deterioration and a lack of funding for a complete overhaul, the bridge closed to vehicular traffic in August 2001. By April 2009, it was determined that the bridge could collapse at any time, thus several residents whose houses were situated under the bridge on Woods Run Ave. were forced to evacuate. With a call made for its immediate destruction, the Davis Avenue Bridge was brought down with explosives on May 6, 2009. Since then, many long time residents of Brighton Heights have been distressed that this now unique transition to public green space no longer exists and are determined to bring the funding for a new bridge.
Wilksboro Bridge is a foot bridge that has been closed to pedestrians with plans to rebuild a new one.