We often label neighborhoods by who settled there first.

Carnegie had its strong Ukrainian roots, while Bloomfield became known as little Italy.

But here, it isn't on immigrant story that stands out.

It's all of them perched above the Strip District and below Polis Hill in the heart of Pittsburgh.

This is a neighborhood shaped by the world.

This is destination Lawrenceville.

So, Dave, let's talk a little bit about where we are, because I'm looking around this room.

I'm seeing so much.

So this is the AOH which stands for the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

It is a ethnic social club.

But the Ancient Order of Hiberians were originally created in Americ with waves of Irish immigrants to protect Irish immigrants from discrimination.

Its one of the largest AOH chapters and Allegheny County in Pennsylvania.

We were talking a lot on this show about waves of immigrants that have come into Lawrenceville.

At what point wer the Irish really settling here?

Well, like a lot of the development of Lawrenceville, you know, was really formed by immigrants from Europe, you know, coming to fill our in our steel mills and all of our industrial spaces.

So but it wasn't just one, you know, kind of immigrant.

We had Irish folks, Germans, Polish folks, you know, Slovenians.

And that's been kind of the story of what it's one of the reason why my organization is called Lawrenceville United is because a lot of the rivalries within the neighborhood were across wards.

So in Lawrenceville still today, you'll hear us refer to it.

We have three different city neighborhoods that make up Lawrenceville and it's Lower Central and Upper Lawrenceville.

But people refer to them by their words, 6th Ward, 9th Ward, 10th Ward.

And each of the sort of had a different ethnic background.

Sure.

And I think mayb that had something to do with, you know, some of the rivalries.

But the reaso why we're called Lawrenceville and I was like kind of uniting the three wards, bringing everyone together around, you know, shared, missio of of developing the community.

Now, in 2001, when Lawrenceville United was created, a lot of the challenges in the neighborhood were one of blight vacancy and violent crime, and disinvestment, you know, so it was really a group of residents coming together and rolling up their sleeves and trying to work together t address some of those problems.

We're kind of all on top of each other.

You know, like there's no where it is right way.

There's no breathing room.

But we're all here.

We're all tryin to make it work, and get along.

And I think that's been kind of the stor of Lawrenceville all along is, you know, it's not just one thing.

It's lots of different things.

All, you know, together, all smushed together and trying to make it all work together.

And Dave's not kidding.

Things are a little tight over here, but imagine a few hundre years ago when indigenous tribes settled into wide open spaces with dreams of their own.

So the whole western Pennsylvania region was actually, looked after, and then, protected by an indigenous group called the heart of the Shawnee, which is the now known as the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Iroquois Confederacy was at that time i the 1700s, was a group of five and then late six indigenous tribes or nations that spread all the way from western Pennsylvania, all the way east into upstate New York.

And they were lined up, one tribe after the other in a in a line in a row.

The first tribe right here in the West were the Senecas.

So we we are the homeland of the Senecas is right here.

Western New York, western Pennsylvania.

They had a policy of allowing othe indigenous people who had a need to, live in this area to come in and settle in this area with permission, under their guidance.

And one of those groups were the Lenape.

The Lenape people are originally from, eastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia region.

A lot of people know them by the name of Delaware.

And they were driven out of eastern Pennsylvania by English settlers.

And they came in here and settled in this region in the 1700s.

And they, established a very large community right here in Lawrenceville.

Known as Shannopins Town.

What began as Shannopins Tow changed throughout the centuries as more immigrants came to the United States, including those from Eastern Europe.

Oh.

Such service.

Thanks, Jim.

Much.

Well, cheers.

Barb.

I'm so glad to meet you.

Cheers to you.

Glad to meet you all.

So, Natalie.

Thank you.

I'm really looking forward to today's discussion because I wanted to talk with you about just your own upbringing and how interesting it is to me because you've been here a long time.

How was my life?

Oh, all my life, 75 years.

This is.

This is where I was born and raised.

I mean, this is our neighborhood.

Most of our family was here growing up.

We went to school here.

Went to church here.

I mean, this this is just our community.

My parents were here all their life.

My my mom and my dad both grew up in the Strip.

They, that's where they, their family was.

But then they moved up here to Lawrenceville.

So my, my mom was 38th Street and my dad was 45th Street.

My father's, my father's side was Polish.

My mother's side is Croatian.

My mom's mother grandm she came over from the Soviet.

But my dad's family was here.

I didn't remember when they were here.

And so we're talking many generations back.

Yeah.

You know, we were always together.

So there was, like, a lot of interconnectedness and sharing of traditions with your family time.

And.

Yeah, we wer we were very close.

Both sides.

So what brought you to this particular club?

There's local little clubs.

There's one in 6th Ward.

There's one here in the 9th.

It's a community place.

People come to gather, have a beer, have a drink.

Sometimes they have bingo games.

Sometimes there's little parties just to keep everybody together.

The biggest thing about this club.

My wedding shower is on the second floor here.

When I got married, 55 years ago.

Oh my gosh.

You've seen how Lawrenceville has changed since you've been here your whole life.

Yeah.

Can you talk a little bit about the changes that you've seen throughout the years?

I mean, the the neighborhood was just a little mo and pop area when I was a kid.

You know, you had stores galore, all little, you know, neighborhood people.

I mean, you had everything here.

You didn't have to go anywhere else if you wanted to shop.

And there was a period of Lawrenceville history not that long ag where there was a lot of blight.

There was a lot of dilapidated buildings.

Can you.

Because you were here, you'v been through all of the phases.

Can you talk about some of the highs and lows that you've seen over the years?

At one time there was a lot of trouble here.

We had a lot of issues with empty homes, blight that went on for a while.

I mean, you know, a lot of things were going on and that changed.

I think Lawrenceville United had a lot to do with that.

You see, now we're we're fortunate we don't have all of that.

The the different buildings are so many of them are being taken care of the homes.

They're addressing those issues now, which is important also.

Was there ever a point when things were kin of not great here that you said to your husband, should we move to another neighborhood?

No.

Truthfully, no.

We never wanted to go anywhere else.

I mean, it just this worked for us.

We're looking at the businesses along this street, Butler Street.

You know, it's now known as, like, one of the coolest streets in the whole country.

Can you talk a little bit about why you think it has been that way?

Well, I think the community I, you know, we've had all different kind of businesses for years and years now.

We just have a different type of businesses to, adapt with the people who are here now.

It's a totally different type of people.

So you have to have businesses that work with them.

Along the stretch, there are businesses that were started by people from all over the world.

You could say from every nook.

I'm a Turk, I'm originally from Turkish, and today I'm a Turkish American.

And, I came back in 2002 and started studying when we started here back in 2021, right after the pandemic, when everyone fear about what's going to happen, we take the chances and we decided to open the opened this restaurant.

Why did you call it The Nook?

We call it the nook because we are in the corner.

We put a nook here, so it's like, it's like, making people comfortable.

Just like their home.

Like, like like, you know, home style.

You know, they fit the culture.

They fit the.

They fit the nook.

But before the nook, there was a pedal cafe.

And what he did with it may surprise you.

Well, I was working with a crew that, loyal to me.

They work for, like, long period of time, so I decided to transfe my shares to my employees, like, couple of my employees.

So they became an owner operator at Jet Pedals.

Why I do that?

I believe they deserve to excel, and they're also immigrants.

I want to empower, empower, people who ca who came here for with nothing.

And they work har and I believe they deserve it.

So that's why that's why I decided.

What did it feel like to be an immigrant here in Lawrenceville working we have surrounded by immigrants.

You know we have literally Italy Polish.

You touched on it is clustered.

So I think was a good, location for me to be comfortable.

When you see own cafes, restaurant tech workers, construction crews, we are contributing.

We are contributing.

What are you hearing from you?

I mean, you run restaurants.

People are in here talking all day long.

Eating.

What do you hear from the community right now?

I see a lot of fear.

Fear?

Exactly.

From the neighbors, from the workers.

Because even though you are a perfectly fine permanent resident or you're legal in this country, no problem.

But people are fear because of ice.

Yes, I see that fear.

And we are not that type of country.

We are not.

So that's why I came to you here.

Freedom of speech.

You know.

So you know, take a moment.

It's a lot I appreciate you so much.

I just it's overwhelming.

Take a moment.

It is.

I think people needs to understand how they came to the United States.

Yeah, I think we need to start from that point.

They they can leav nothing up a suitcase and accent and a lot of hopes.

I'm not myself.

I'm an immigrant.

I was born in Cuba.

Okay?

I, I belong to an indigenous tribe from Central America, from, from the Caribbean.

So I moved to, the United States in 1961, and I moved to Pittsburgh in 1977.

And one of the places that I lived in was here in the Lawrenceville area.

I came as a ten year old when I was growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania.

They taught us the what is writt Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send me the homeless tempest tost to me.

I actually believe that.

I saw that, and I experienced that welcoming attitude in this country.

Lawrenceville is a fun place to go and explore, to shop, to eat.

But beneath that there are these beautiful stories that have woven a very unique tapestry through time.

And I hope the next time you visit, you carry a bit of prid for how special Lawrenceville is and how close, how welcoming it has always been.

You know, you've gotten a lot of wonderful press over the past several years about being this incredible district of independent and small owned businesses, of having this really robust community of people, a very welcoming community of people.

Why was that so important?

Strong social bonds are really what, you know, makes us be able to do the work effectively.

But it's also what makes community worth living in, like knowing your neighbors having the strong connections, you know, coming together to celebrate birthday and baptisms and whatever else.

Like that's what that's what makes the neighborhood not just a place, but a family.

What does it mea to you to be a Pittsburgh, PA?

Wow.

Pittsburgh is a part of my, You got the Pirates?

Yeah, exactly.

Yes.

I feel I'm in Pittsburg right now after 20, 23, 25 years when I travel to Europ or when I travel to a different part of the part of the, countries, I wear my Steelers t shirt, I wear my Pittsburgh t shirt, I use my hat.

So when people see the Steelers o Steelers so it makes me proud.

Yeah, makes me proud.

That's very cool.

What does it mean to you to be an American?

You know.

To be a United States person.

A person of the United.

Because yeah, I have a I have a little bit of trouble with that word American because that that word is really a continent is not a nation.

You're right, you know?

So to be a citizen of the United States is to participate in a history that is based on amazing traditions of liberty, hospitality, welcoming.

What has struck me is that in spite of all the conflic that you see around the country, Lewisville has always proven to be very welcoming, always has proven to be a plac where you could say, you know, I can be an American here.

So far, word is on the street.

You really like WQED?

Oh, yes we do.

We we watch a lot of the oldies shows that they place play on there all the time.

I thought I just watched Barry Manilow last week.

I watched Barbra Streisand and, my son, I told you, grew up with Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and Electric Company, so we always were.

QED fans were still to today.

And I mean, now you get to be on destination with Natalie, Pennsylvania.

So that's got to be pretty cool.

That's true.

I never would I think I would be on TV.