Mount Lebanon commute too long to CMU? (Pittsburgh, Oakmont: home, neighborhoods)

[city or suburb]

My husband and I are relocating to the Pittsburgh area this summer and are torn regarding which neighborhood/suburb to move to. He will be working at CMU and I, at least for now, will be staying at home with the kids. If I do go back to work, chances are good that it will be downtown.

While we love Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, and possibly some of the other downtown neighborhoods like Point Breeze and Oakmont, we just don't think we can afford private schools, which takes us to Mount Lebanon. From what we can tell, though, the commute would be horrible...does anyone know just how bad it really is? He would probably leave around 8am and come back leaving CMU around 6. What is the best time scenario (say not during rush hour), and what is the worst? The last time we came to visit Pittsburgh was on the 23rd of December and it was raining and really a miserable drive from downtown Pittsburgh to Mt Lebanon, but the school system and nice downtown area keeps us going back to it. We'll be back in town soon to try to test this out for ourselves, but any feedback would really be appreciated.