Shadyside is home to many upscale stores and boutiques, including Moda, Williams Sonoma, and White House Black Market. In Shadyside, businesses are located along three corridors: Walnut Street, Ellsworth Avenue, and S. Highland Avenue. Given the compact nature of this historic residential neighborhood, the three business corridors are all within walking distance of one another.
Walnut Street
On Walnut Street, there are more stores that belong to national chains, including Gap, Apple, J.Crew, UBS, Chico's, Victoria's Secret, Banana Republic, Talbots, and United Colors of Benetton. Pittsburgh's oldest jewelry store, the 4th generation Henne Jewelers, is also here, as are local restaurants, including , Cappy's, Mario's, William Penn Tavern, Pamela's Diner and La Feria. Pamela's Diner has been serving breakfast since 1980. Pamela's gained publicity when Gail Klingensmith and Pamela Cohen, the two co-owners of Pamela's P&G Diners, made pancakes in 2009 for President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and 80 veterans for a Memorial Day breakfast. The Jam on Walnut is a summer concert series that features local and regional music concerts. The concerts are held on the last Saturday of each summer month on the corner of Bellefonte and Walnut Street. Proceeds from beer sales go to Cystic Fibrosis. Walnut Street also hosts the Shadyside Arts Festival, a juried art show. This late summer/early fall street fair has been held on Walnut Street for so long that the event has been renamed "The Art Festival on Walnut Street."
Ellsworth Avenue
Ellsworth Avenue tends to have smaller, locally owned businesses, including Eons, Gallerie Chiz, and beauty salons such as , Capristo salon, and Mikel's. Ellsworth has a number of restaurants such as Bites and Brews, Umi, Fajita Grill, and Soba. Ellsworth also features two of Pittsburgh's gay and gay friendly bars, Spin and .
S. Highland Avenue
S. Highland Avenue features several upscale design and furniture stores, including Weiss House, Arhaus and Penhollows. Local restaurants and cafes include Birds on the Run, Casbah, Kahuna, Muddy Waters, Mad Mex, Urban Tap, Noodle Head, Millie's Homemade Ice Cream, and Adda Coffee and Tea House. Also on S. Highland is the entrance to East Liberty's Eastside retail complex, which features Whole Foods, Fine Wine and Good Spirits, Starbucks Coffee, Trek Bikes, and Eva Szabo Spa, as well as local restaurants Dinette and Plum. Work began to replace the S. Highland bridge in March 2013. Construction shutdown both S. Highland Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue until October 2013.
Residential Shadyside
Since the 1920s, residential Shadyside has been home to a mix of affluent families, young professionals, artists, musicians, students, and apartment dwellers. The residential areas of the neighborhood include Victorian mansions along with modern apartments and condominiums. The neighborhood has a compact layout, which prevents most houses from having garages. Public transportation is available via Port Authority bus system; express busway stops are located in the neighborhood on Negley Avenue and on Ellsworth Avenue.
Schools
The Shadyside school district consists mainly of The Liberty School, a public school; and private schools, Winchester Thurston School, The Ellis School, and Shadyside Academy. The Liberty School is located in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh, and consists of grades pre-kindergarten to fifth. The school's colors are navy and white and its mascot is the soaring eagle. It was built in 1872, and in 1911, the industrial arts portion of the school was built. From the years 1911 to 1934, the first and older building instilled primary instruction- such as the core subjects of learning- while the newer building offered woodworking, home economics, and other courses. In 1934, the eldest building was completely torn down to further renovate the school. Therefore, the newest building was attached to the 1911 building, consisting of both classrooms and an auditorium. Later on in the 1990s, playgrounds were constructed on both sides of the buildings providing more recreation for the students. Liberty is a "magnet school," which merely means it is a public school with specialized courses and therefore draws in a diverse group of students. Liberty's approximate student enrollment is 375 students per school year, with a student to teacher ratio of about 16:1. The percentage of males and females is fairly equal, with 45% male and 55% female. The Winchester Thurston School is a private co-ed institution located in Shadyside. It has two campuses-the North Hills campus in Allison Park and the city campus in Shadyside. The Ellis School is an independent school for girls ages three through grade twelve in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1916 by Sara Frazer Ellis. The Ellis School and the Winchester Thurston School are both part of the Pittsburgh Consortium of Independent Schools which is a non-profit organization consisting of these and eleven other independent schools in the area. Shady Side Academy, though founded in the neighborhood in 1883, is no longer located in the Shadyside neighborhood. The school originally occupied the present-day site of the Winchester Thurston School as an all-male day school, but relocated its Senior and Middle School campuses to suburban Fox Chapel in the 1920s. Its Junior School campus, however, remains in the city in nearby Point Breeze.
Shadyside Action Coalition
The Shadyside Action Coalition, known colloquially as SAC, is a community organization. This not-for-profit organization was formed in 1973. According to their website, their goals are to, "preserve values and laws of this community"; the issues they have chosen to focus on are "neighborhood safety, planning and zoning, parking, quality of life, preserving the character of the community, and being actively involved with the future development of our community".
History
Shadyside was originally named after a local farm, and was annexed to Pittsburgh in 1868.
