Philadelphia Suburbs v. Pittsburgh Suburbs (Chester, Mount Lebanon: rent, chapel, house)

[Gritty]

My husband and I are moving to Pittsburgh with our infant daughter and fur-son. We currently live in Northern California (Bay Area), but we are originally from the Philadelphia-area.

Due to COVID, we are looking to buy a house sight-unseen. We are struggling with understanding what Pittsburgh neighborhoods we would like best.

For those of you who have lived in the Philadelphia area and the Pittsburgh area, can you compare the suburbs? I.E. Which towns in Pittsburgh are most similar to Radnor, Wallingford, Media, Wynnewood, Rose Valley, Devon, Darby, Ridley, Brookhaven, etc. If Fox Chapel, Wexford, Upper Saint Clair, Mount Lebanon, Allison Park, Sewickley, Ross, Hampton, McCandless, Franklin Park, Bradford Woods, etc. were in Philadelphia, what Philadelphia suburb would they be.

Thanks so much!

[Pilot1]

Why would you want a suburb similar to Darby or Ridley? The other ones I can understand. Sewickley is very nice, kind of main line in some ways.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by Gritty

My husband and I are moving to Pittsburgh with our infant daughter and fur-son. We currently live in Northern California (Bay Area), but we are originally from the Philadelphia-area.

Due to COVID, we are looking to buy a house sight-unseen. We are struggling with understanding what Pittsburgh neighborhoods we would like best.

For those of you who have lived in the Philadelphia area and the Pittsburgh area, can you compare the suburbs? I.E. Which towns in Pittsburgh are most similar to Radnor, Wallingford, Media, Wynnewood, Rose Valley, Devon, Darby, Ridley, Brookhaven, etc. If Fox Chapel, Wexford, Upper Saint Clair, Mount Lebanon, Allison Park, Sewickley, Ross, Hampton, McCandless, Franklin Park, Bradford Woods, etc. were in Philadelphia, what Philadelphia suburb would they be.

Thanks so much!

Radnor, Wallingford, Media, Wynnewood, Rose Valley, Devon, all very nice.

Brookhaven is a standard middle class post-war suburb.

Ridley is okay.

Darby is not nice.

Also, those towns vary widely on the price spectrum. A small home in Radnor will set you back $500k minimum, whereas Ridley and Darby are very affordable.

The biggest differences in the suburban regions are size. The Philadelphia suburbs are much larger, more affluent and offer more amenities (shopping, recreation, institutions, etc.). There are plenty of very nice Pittsburgh suburbs, but its a much smaller region.

Perhaps this thread would get more traction in the Pennsylvania section since Pittsburgh posters can chime in more.

[Duderino]

I get the sense that more affluent, denser suburbs like Radnor, Haverford and Lower Merion are more comparable to areas within Pittsburgh's city limits (neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside), although Mt. Lebanon, Oakmont and Sewickley are decent comparisons, too.

Low density, high open space wealthy suburbs like Fox Chapel and Wexford would be more akin to Chester Springs, Chadds Ford, or Blue Bell.

Generally speak, cpmp is right, though. Philadelphia's suburbs are MUCH more developed and generally much less disjointed, if you will, by the extremely hilly topography of the Pittsburgh area (even though the Philly area is fairly hilly itself, Pittsburgh is of course on another level).

There's also seems to be more struggling post-industrial river towns outside of Pittsburgh proper. Towns like Glassport or Clairton aren't terribly far off from municipalities like Chester or Darby in condition, which are much fewer in number as a proportion of the Philly area overall.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Duderino

I get the sense that more affluent, denser suburbs like Radnor, Haverford and Lower Merion are more comparable to areas within Pittsburgh's city limits (neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside), although Mt. Lebanon, Oakmont and Sewickley are decent comparisons, too.

Low density, high open space wealthy suburbs like Fox Chapel and Wexford would be more akin to Chester Springs, Chadds Ford, or Blue Bell.

Generally speak, cpmp is right, though. Philadelphia's suburbs are MUCH more developed and generally much less disjointed, if you will, by the extremely hilly topography of the Pittsburgh area (even though the Philly area is fairly hilly itself, Pittsburgh is of course on another level).

There's also seems to be more struggling post-industrial river towns outside of Pittsburgh proper. Towns like Glassport or Clairton aren't terribly far off from municipalities like Chester or Darby in condition, which are much fewer in number as a proportion of the Philly area overall.

I’d say Lower Merion is a combination of Fox Chapel/O’Hara (Gladwyne/Rosemont/Villanova) and Mount Lebanon (the remainder of the Township). Fox Chapel is low density, but it’s very close to the city limits (much like Gladwyne).

[rowhomecity]

Honestly I would recommend renting in a new area sight unseen rather than buying, to get a sense of what parts of the Pittsburgh metro you like most.

I know Southeast Pennsylvania quite well and I also know the Pittsburgh suburbs well.

If you want that Old Money Main Line feel move to Sewickley and the surrounding communities. Pittsburgh has a measurable amount of old money and you will find the same social clubs and affluence that you find in Gladwyne, Radnor and Wayne as you see in Sewickley. Just to a bit of a lesser degree.

Pittsburgh's suburbs are divided primarily by the South Hills and the North Hills. North Hills includes places like Sewickley, Wexford and Fox Chapel. All highly desirable areas. Fox Chapel in some ways competes with Gladwyne as Pennsylvania's wealthiest suburb.

The south hills are also full of tons of character and wealth. Places like Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Claire are absolutely beautiful with some of Pennsylvania's best school districts. Think of hilly terrain abound with beautiful established neighborhoods. The south hills suburbs offer direct high frequency public transit with Pittsburgh's T High Speed Light Rail system to downtown Pittsburgh.

So if you are looking for some transit access stick to the south hills. Honestly I would rent in Mt. Lebanon for a year. (Great neighborhood) and go from there. Enjoy Pittsburgh. It is a beautiful area.

I personally prefer Upper St. Claire because it has the rail transit access to downtown Pittsburgh and the topography is just gorgeous. Enjoy Pittsburgh. It ranks up there with San Fran and Seattle with the best topography in the USA! There is a reason it was on Amazon's short list.