JewBagel

West Liberty Avenue is a main artery to the city for a good portion of the South Hills. It is home to a variety of restaurants, including a longtime favorite of most locals, Tom’s Diner. You can stop by the Apple Inn for a drink after work or head to The Vasta on a Friday or Saturday night for dancing into the A.M. and then make your way a few blocks down and across the street to Eat ‘N’ Park for a Super Burger or a Breakfast Smile.

Located right above beautiful Dormont Park and Dormont Pool, Annapolis Avenue is a flat and family friendly street. It is home to Dormont Elementary, located next to what is now a parking lot and a baseball diamond but was the former home of Jay Neff Middle School, which itself was previously Dormont High School. This street is just far enough away from any major roadway that most local children can safely walk to and from school but the surrounding streets are situated in such a way that allows student drop-off and pickup to be easy on everyone.

Hillsdale Avenue, yet another throwback to my youth. Always a safe and wonderful street, it used to be home to (historic) Hillsdale Elementary. My beloved (revamped) elementary school is now the site of the Dormont Police station and also houses the LifeSpan Hillsdale Senior Resource Center. Across the street (where one of our school playgrounds used to live) sits our fire department. The elementary school (Now Dormont Elementary) is a five minute walk toward Dormont park, the middle and high schools are an 8 - 10 minute stroll in the opposite direction (across West Liberty).

I could be a tad biased because Potomac Avenue has been my "Mainstreet USA" almost since birth. It connects Banksville Road to West Liberty Avenue, two extremes to say the least. Perfectly flat and business lined where it intersects with West Liberty, family homes are what you walk or drive by as you tackle the large hill where it meets Banksville Road. I spent the better part of my happy childhood on the 1700 block of Potomac Avenue but the entire stretch is family friendly and provides access to everything from public transportation and restaurants (Campiti's Pizza is the best!) to a neighborhood pharmacy where you can still purchase hand dipped ice cream!