For over a century Squirrel Hill, where you are now, has been the center of Jewish life in Pittsburgh and one of the most cohesive urban Jewish communities in the United States. Jewish families began settling in Squirrel Hill in the early twentieth century, many moving from the Hill District, where the earliest Jewish immigrants had first established themselves. As successive waves of Eastern European Jewish immigrants arrived — fleeing pogroms in Russia and Poland, then the Holocaust — Squirrel Hill absorbed them.
The neighborhood built synagogues, Jewish community centers, delis, and institutions that created a complete community life. Murray Avenue and Forbes Avenue, the two main commercial streets, are lined with restaurants, bookstores, kosher markets, and community organizations that have served Squirrel Hill for generations. The neighborhood has remained Jewish and vibrant even as surrounding neighborhoods changed dramatically.
On a Friday afternoon as Shabbat approaches, the commercial streets feel like a community preparing for the Sabbath. Fred Rogers — Mister Rogers — lived in Squirrel Hill and is buried at a cemetery nearby. His neighborhood of make-believe was, in part, this neighborhood.
The Tree of Life Synagogue, site of the 2018 massacre, is a few blocks from here.