PublicSource maps and chronicles the strengths of diverse communities.

You can zip past Beechview on West Liberty Avenue or Banksville Road and barely realize the neighborhood exists.

Cut through it on the T, though, and you glimpse a place unique in the Pittsburgh region. Don’t let the light rail car’s rumble rock you to sleep. Step out and listen, look, take a deep breath. The Pittsburgh neighborhood’s diversity awakens you.

Not too long ago, Beechview was viewed by some as a neighborhood for recovery, if not in recovery. It also became a landing pad for immigrants, especially from Latin America.

Beechview Puntos de Orgullo
FuentePública (PublicSource) mapea y relata las fortalezas de comunidades diversas.

Newcomers have since become “a huge asset” to the neighborhood, according to City Councilor Anthony Coghill, who lives in Beechview.

The 2020 census solidified Beechview’s position as one of Pittsburgh’s diversifying communities. The Census logged a population that was 72% white, but that was down from 81% a decade before. The Census counted 10% of the neighborhood’s population as Latino in ethnicity, the highest such ratio of any major neighborhood or municipality in the region. Beechview also boasts significant Black, multi-racial and Asian ancestry populations.

As part of PublicSource’s pledge to better connect with Pittsburgh’s diversity, our staff in April highlighted the strengths of Wilkinsburg. Through the summer and autumn, we built bridges to Beechview. Over the coming weeks, we’ll share what we’ve learned from that neighborhood’s residents, friends and advocates.

As with Wilkinsburg, these stories are neither a beginning nor an end. They aim to be an intensification of our relationships with, and coverage of, vibrant communities.

Communities are powerful because of the infinite ways in which their members interact and join forces. A map can scratch the surface of a community’s depth. PublicSource’s outreach to Beechview identified many assets, shown here, and we know there are more. Write to rich@publicsource.org to suggest other resources in Beechview.

Beechview merchants hope immigration, transit — maybe even witchcraft? — will prove a magic formula for Broadway Avenue

Beechview’s business corridor was upended when a rogue investor racked up debt on a swath of prime real estate, then fled the country. Today, neighborhood revival rests on a growing Latino community and the T.

In Beechview, a free bilingual clinic cares for children of immigrants

Undocumented children don’t qualify for public health insurance in Pennsylvania. A Spanish-speaking doctor and his team are treating them anyway, at no cost, in the South Hills neighborhood.

Undocumented but undaunted, young immigrants aim for degrees but get few breaks on costs

Many states allow undocumented students to tap financial aid streams or qualify for in-state tuition, Pennsylvania’s polarized legislature has yet to act.

How organizations in Beechview and Manchester are cooking, acting and bringing Black and Latino kids together

Casa San José and the Iota Phi Foundation start with “a clear division” and end with youthful friendships.

Latino immigrants are reshaping Beechview but lack voting power — for now

Doors into South Pittsburgh political and civic involvement have swung open, but the growing Latino population has not yet walked through them. Some local leaders hope to change that.

The Red Line is a lifeline for Beechview’s Latino community, but the T isn’t always reliable — or bilingual

Light rail’s centrality has helped immigrants to thrive, as employees and business owners, in Beechview. But with fortunes tied so tightly to the T, shortcomings in service and Spanish-language communication exact a price.

Explore more neighborhoods in our Points of Pride series