[3] It is bordered by the Downtown on the west, the Strip District next to the Allegheny River and Polish Hill to the north, the Bluff (Uptown) on the southwest, and Oakland on the east and southeast.

Beginning in the 1910s, the Hill attracted migrants from elsewhere in the United States (particularly from the rural American South in the Great Migration) and from abroad, including many Italians and Eastern European Jews.

[6] The influx of so many new residents resulted in a housing shortage which was exacerbated by the rigid system of segregation that limited potential dwellings for blacks almost entirely to the Hill District.

There is no space in these rooms, except for beds and as many of them are crowded in as can possibly be accommodated.The Hill developed a vibrant entertainment district that turned the area into a cultural hub for music, especially the jazz genre.

As historian Colter Harper notes, this thriving environment of entertainment venues served as a training ground for young innovators who needed regular employment to develop ideas and techniques, places in which to network with each other, audiences for feedback, and club managers to aid in accessing the music scene in other cities.

"[10] The thriving musical culture which was endemic to the Hill for close to four decades led the neighborhood to be considered as "the Crossroads of the World" by Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay.

Following World War II, the federal government committed to upgrade housing across the nation, and in Pittsburgh, 95 acres of the Hill District were selected for redevelopment.

In an article from 1943, George E. Evans, a member of the City Council, reasoned that public-private redevelopment could provide significant employment to returning war veterans, while ameliorating what he saw as an area beset by deterioration and urban blight.

"[13]Much of older housing in cities still lacked indoor plumbing and other amenities considered basic; planners did not fully take into account the effects of the disruption of residents and social networks by wholesale redevelopment of urban areas.

He established a law practice, became president of the local NAACP chapter, and served in the state legislature, supported by both black and white voters for eight consecutive terms.

In the 1940s, working with David Lawrence, Richard King Mellon, and other business leaders, Brown drafted legislation that opened the way to "urban renewal" in the Hill District.

This structural problem was exacerbated by the decline of Pittsburgh's population more generally, as jobs disappeared due to industrial restructuring, and numerous middle-class residents moved out to newer suburban housing.

Centre Heldman Plaza, wholly owned by the Hill House Economic Development Corporation, is a grocery store anchored retail center with fast-casual food and businesses services.