Polish Hill: Open for Business

Today was the first day that all three new businesses at the corner of Dobson and Hancock (in Polish Hill) were open. 

Third floor: Copacetic Comics (featuring books, DVDs, CDs, and graphic novels as well as comics) moved from Squirrel Hill into a space three times as big as the old one.

Second floor: Mind Cure Records sells a wide variety of vinyl records. A full website is coming soon.

First floor: Lili Coffee Shop is a lovely space, serving coffee drinks, pastry, pies, cakes, and other nosh. I had the homemade yogurt and granola and T. had the sweet-potato sweet bread; the quiche came highly recommended but was sold out by the time we got there. 

This is an exciting development for a neighborhood that has been gaining residents in recent years but has been terribly under-served for retail and services: It is a dense, walkable neighborhood that for decades has had almost nothing to walk to. Could this building turn the tide to send it in the direction of a sustainable neighborhood? Because of the density of its houses, and rising popularity with new homeowners, it is perfectly poised to be just that.

I plan to post more about each of these businesses in the coming weeks. Click here for more pictures of opening day or better yet, go down and see for yourself.