Friendship Apartments
Friendship is a neighborhood of large Victorian houses in the East End of the City of Pittsburgh. It was built by upper middle class industrial managers at the dawn of the 20th century, abandoned in the 1960s, and rediscovered by graduate students and professionals in the 1990s.
Friendship is located some three miles east of Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle, and takes its name from Friendship Avenue, an east-west street running through the middle of the neighborhood.
The neighborhood is bordered by Bloomfield on the west (at South Graham Street), Garfield on the north (Penn Avenue), East Liberty on the east (Negley Avenue), and Shadyside on the south (Baum Boulevard).
However, the residential area directly west of Friendship, bounded by Liberty Avenue and Penn Avenue is locally referred to as being a part of Friendship, rather than Bloomfield. This is mainly due to the uniform continuation of large Victorian Mansions and wide avenues that distinctively mark Friendship.
Friendship is currently involved in the process of East End Revitalisation, a movement of the City of Pittsburgh to improve and develop the neighborhoods of Bloomfield, East Liberty, Garfield, Lawrenceville, and Point Breeze. The movement specifically focuses on reducing crime, attracting businesses to the area, and new construction.
Friendship is a strictly residential neighborhood, and has few self-contained businesses or job opportunities. However, many of the local population are employed by nearby hospitals, most notably University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Friendship is within walking distance of UPMC – Shadyside, West Penn Hospital, and the new Chilren’s Hospital on Penn Avenue, currently under construction. Another major employer is the University of Pittsburgh.
