Aspinwall/Oakmont/Sewickley (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills, Plum: chapel, house, to buy)

[suliata]

Can anyone give me a comparison of Aspinwall, Oakmont and Sewickley. I love that all three have quaint downtown areas and older homes. How do they compare with each other? Which has the easiest commute to downtown Pittsburgh?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by suliata

Which has the easiest commute to downtown Pittsburgh?

Aspinwall.

What other types of comparisons are you interested in hearing?

[suliata]

Well, I'm looking for a small town feel with easy acess to downtown Pittsburgh, and these three seem to fit the bill. I'm fairly familiar with Sewickley, but don't know much about Oakmont and Aspinwall. So, I just wanted to get a general feel for them.

[Hopes]

With the exception of commute times, they're all fairly comparable. You really can't go wrong with any of them.

Oakmont doesn't have as much wealth surrounding the area as Aspinwall and Sewickley.

Aspinwall has the easiest commute to Pittsburgh.

Aspinwall also has the most convenient shopping with Waterworks right up the road.

Aspinwall and Sewickly have better school districts than Oakmont, but Apsinwall has a better school district than Sewickley.

I guess Aspinwall wins by a nose.

[mountaineer510]

First of all, Hopes is somewhat wrong, Aspinwall is not that much easier of a commute to Pittsburgh than Oakmont, Aspinwall's school district is not necessarily better and Aspinwall in no means has more wealth than Oakmont, i believe that they are quite equal in wealth overall. Also Oakmont has the best Country Club and one of the most prestigous golf courses in the world

[burghgirl]

What is the school district for Oakmont? I know that Fox Chapel is the school district for Aspinwall residents, and Fox Chapel is rated one of the best school district in Allegheny County.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by mountaineer510

Aspinwall is not that much easier of a commute to Pittsburgh than Oakmont.......

Aspinwall is definitely an easier commute to Pittsburgh than Oakmont.

Here's the data via mapquest:

Aspinwall to Pittsburgh is 7.69 miles at 13 minutes.
Oakmont to Pittsburgh is 13.16 miles at 22 minutes.
Sewickley to Pittsburgh is 15.35 miles at 24 minutes.

There is simply no way around it, Aspinwall is the best commute of the three.

Originally Posted by mountaineer

Aspinwall's school district is not necessarily better.....

Thank you for correcting me on the performance of the school districts.

Here's the county rankings via PSK12.com:

Quaker Valley ranks 5th out of 64
Fox Chapel ranks 8th out of 64
Riverside ranks 15th out of 64

Here's the state rankings via PSK12.com:

Quaker Valley ranks 43rd out of 693
Fox Chapel ranks 75th out of 693
Riverview ranks 150th out of 693

Congratulations---you've proven that Oakmont's school district ranks last among the three.

Originally Posted by mountaineer

...and Aspinwall in no means has more wealth than Oakmont, i believe that they are quite equal in wealth overall.

I never said that Aspinwall has more wealth than Oakmont. I said the surrounding area of Aspinwall has more wealth than the surrounding area of Oakmont.

Let's look at the wealth for the three school districts. Since I'm going to include the number of families, I'll use "median family income", not household income, not per capita income.

Quaker Vally School District:

Sewickley Borough: $56,500 (1,000 families)
Aleppo Township: $66,667 (298 families)
Bell Acres: $70,288 (441 families)
Edgeworth: $116,613 (510 families)
Glenwood: $43,250 (60 families)
Haysville: $49,375 (21 families)
Leet: $62,292 (569 families)
Leetsdale: $37,500 (370 families)
Osborne: $71,667 (168 families)
Sewickley Heights: $158,756 (273 families)
Sewickley Hills: $92,102 (186 families)
Fair Oaks: no information available

Fox Chapel School District:

Aspinwall: $58,750 (728 families)
Blawnox: $43,500 (373 families)
Fox Chapel: $191,378 (1,599 families)
Sharpsburg: $30,500 (893 families)
Indiana: $65,110 (1,828 families)
O'Hara: $77,594 (2,538 families)

Riverview School District:

Oakmont: $57,821 (1,708 families)
Verona: $36,452 (806 families)

Granted, I can't find any information anywhere that Riverview School District is comprised of any other towns than Oakmont or Verona. The Riverview School District website simply states that Oakmont and Verona are part of the district. Where's the wealth in Oakmont's school district? If there are other towns included, please let me know, and I'll add them to the list. (But I'll forewarn you that the data for areas in Penn Hills and Plum aren't anywhere near the type of numbers you'd need to pull Riverview's wealth up.)

I was actually very surprised to see that the wealth in Sewickley is minor by comparison to Fox Chapel.

As it stands, Fox Chapel School District has the most wealth of the three.

Originally Posted by mountaineer

...Also Oakmont has the best Country Club and one of the most prestigous golf courses in the world.

Heck, there are country clubs right in the middle of Penn Hills, and we all know what Penn Hills is like.

Let's consider what the prestige Oakmont Country Club means to Oakmont. During the US Open, that means gridlock traffic for MILES that's so bad that people can't get out of their driveways.

The only reason a new family would care that the Oakmont Country Club was located in Oakmont is if they were going to become members. However, membership to Oakmont is by invitation only. If someone is invited, they can simply live just across the river in Fox Chapel and be among more wealth in a better school district.

Do you have any idea what a membership to Oakmont Country Club costs? I'll give you a hint---the income deomographics I just provided for Oakmont can't afford it. Few people who belong to Oakmont Country Club, live in Oakmont.

There's no logical reason to live in Oakmont just for the country club unless someone is an employee who enjoys walking to work.

For the record, Sewickley has the Allegheny Country Club and the Sewickley Heights Golf Club and Diamond Run Golf Club are in the immediate area; and Fox Chapel has the Fox Chapel Country Club, the Fox Chapel Field Club and the Fox Chapel Yacht Club.

I initially said that Aspinwall won by a nose; however, this further research indicates that Aspinwall has a significant lead in many ways.

Thank you for challenging my post, mountaineer.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by Hopes

but Apsinwall has a better school district than Sewickley.

That's very debatable, but they are both such good districts, I wouldn't let that influence my decision. You're choosing between really really good, and really good.

Also, I completely agree with the Oakmont Country Club statement. There are 200 members...you won't be one of them unless you are related to Mario Lemieux or the like. It makes absolutely no difference to the average person that it is even there, because you've got to be in the know to even step foot in the place (except as a spectator every now and then). If you were looking to actually JOIN a club, you'd have a far better chance being accepted to Fox Chapel than you would Oakmont.

Captain

[hinsey86]

I agree that Aspinwall and Oakmont are close enough in comparison in many ways that you would have to consider simply which area appealed to you the most. (I am not familiar with the other area. ) I simply like the feel of Oakmont better. I have family in both Aspinwall and Oakmont and recently looked at both areas to buy in. Aspinwall just gave me a closed in feeling as compared to Oakmont. The Hulton Bridge backup can be a pain at times but not enough to totally annoy me. You may want to do a tax comparison as well to see if it is a big enough difference to affect your decision.

Unfortunatly we had a limited to time to buy and could not find a house big enough in our price range so we ended up further North.

[PghREA]

Of the 3, Oakmont would be my choice. (I don't have kids in school though.)
For the school district, I would chose Aspinwall.