Local Businesses and Neighbors Strengthen West View

A remnant of West View Park

When you hear the name “West View,” does it conjure up memories of the old amusement park, where families screamed as they rode The Dips roller coaster around Devil’s Elbow turn and couples cut a rug at Danceland? If so, you’re probably part of the Baby Boomer generation that enjoyed the popular park during its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s.

While the park no longer stands, West View still attracts visitors to the area, as well as homebuyers looking for affordable houses in a close-knit, walkable community. Numerous businesses and restaurants line Perry Highway (Route 19), which runs through the center of town, and the borough’s traditional homes and tree-lined streets attract those looking for a peaceful, safe, friendly place to raise a family.

“When I first moved my business to West View, I could tell it was going to be different,” said Phil Glotfelty, owner of Game Masters, who started his business 30 years ago in Ross Township and moved it to West View in 2022. “Everyone from the neighborhood came in and introduced themselves — and they still just stop in to say ‘hi.’”

“It’s really a great community,” he added. “My office area is in front of the window, and people have come in to check on me when they didn’t see me there for a few hours. A guy named Phil stops in on his way walking to the VFW. And now that we’ve added the Dragon’s Roast Café, we get even more visitors.”

Glotfelty moved to West View to expand Game Masters’ space, relocating from a 1,200-square-foot building to a 5,000-square-foot building located across from what was previously West View Park.

“I started the company because I wanted a place where people could not only buy games but come and play,” he explained. “I was raised on board games and card games and miniatures games, and I wanted to welcome that community of people to a clean, well-lit, organized place where they could socialize.”

Since adding the café, Glotfelty has found that it attracts more than just gamers. “People who live in the community come in and sit down — my neighbors, people who live up the street, young couples and old couples ... everyone,” he said.

“We get busy here at night and it gets loud, and I apologized to an older couple who had come in to have coffee,” he laughed. “They said they loved the energy and being around young people, and they come in all the time now.”

Paras Truffles from Betsy Ann Chocolates

Located just up the street on West View’s horseshoe curve is a staple of the area: Betsy Ann Chocolates. Established in 1938 by Betsy Ann Helsel, the company moved to West View in 1961, where it was later sold to Harry and Catherine Paras. Today the company is run by their son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Karen Paras.

“We really like the community here,” said Jim Paras. “It’s nice and safe, and people take pride in taking care of things. It also provides us with great employees; a lot of our workers live here or close by, and a number of people even walk to work.”

Known for its gourmet, high-quality chocolates, including Paras Truffles and chocolate-covered pretzels, Betsy Ann’s attracts people from all over the North Hills, as well as wholesale customers. Prior to the completion of Interstate 279, Paras said traffic to the store was steady; now even more people visit the family-owned, Pittsburgh-based business.

“We had a debate when they were building I-279, and I said it would increase traffic. Everyone else said West View would become a ghost town,” he laughed. “I won that one. Cars and people keep coming and coming.”

In addition to specialty chocolate, West View is also home to many other culinary options. Fast food abounds at the former West View Park site, but those who have time for a nice sit-down meal can enjoy coffee, pastries and locally sourced, handcrafted goods at West View Brew or hometown favorites (including chipped chopped ham) at Isaly’s. Chan’s Teahouse is the place to go for authentic Chinese cuisine, and Royal Myanmar is known for its delicious Burmese offerings. There’s also Severina, known for its homestyle Italian fare.

Caring for the Community

One of the most unique properties in West View is the West View Hub, which was started in 2019 by Scott Pavlot.

“My wife passed from cancer in 2008, and a couple of years later, I lost my brother, father and mother within 10 months of each other. When I turned 55, I was forcibly retired from the tech company where I worked,” he explained. “I figured God was pulling me in a different direction, so I decided to start my own foundation to create a community life enrichment center.”

Pavlot said he established the West View Hub to help provide services that might otherwise not be possible.

“While West View is a very vibrant and wonderful community, it is severely tax-strapped,” he explained. “It has a very high population density, 2,100 times higher than the state average. Yet a lot of the old homes are now multifamily units, so it has a low tax base.”

For this reason, the borough can’t afford to participate in certain amenities, like the local fee-based library system. Pavlot created a library and established “spokes” to support other needs in the community. A food pantry, which began by serving 15-20 families a week, now has 1,300 families enrolled. An art center, HUBworks, offers theater productions, music lessons, art lessons and even a full-blown recording studio. And everything is free to the community.

West View Hub offers well over 100 programs a year, as well as providing Christmas gifts for 160 homebound seniors, back-to-school bingo to help families win school supplies (every family wins!), technical training for seniors and services for the large non-English-speaking population that now lives in the borough. The Hub is also a state-certified counseling center.

“I believe that West View is on a solid, upward trajectory right now, and I like to think The Hub is part of the momentum to improve this community,” said Pavlot. “Any event, any need, we’re there. We’ll pull in our partners to help, and if we don’t have one, we’ll go find one. We are here to help, serve and share.”