Relocating to Pittsburgh from San Francisco (Advice Needed) (York, State College: real estate, apartment)

[scottfleisher]

Dear TRO Z,

Thanks again. I think I'll probably take your advice on that one. We were considering Washington because we noticed there are a lot of larger houses there, and we wanted a fairly large area for entertaining guests. I hope our flip-flopping between Mt. Lebo and Squirrel Hill is not driving everyone crazy! It's a tough choice for us, because you can definitely buy more for your money in Mt. Lebo but we're afraid of the commute. Also, I'm more trepid to set up shop there, business-wise, since we'd be pulling from a smaller area. I think another visit may be necessary...

Best,
Scott

[tommygoat]

I have done rush hour in many cities on the West Coast icluding; SF, LA, SD, Sacto, etc, etc... Any commute in Pittsburgh will be a ride in the park by comparison. I would go with Mt Lebo.

[Hopes]

I would be more nervous about opening a practice in Mt. Lebanon.

[scottfleisher]

Hi Hopes (no pun intended),

You're right; that is my biggest concern. It sounds like you think Shadyside might be a better environment...

[Drover]

Schools schools schools! If you're going to live in the city proper, make sure you're in the right school zone.

Taylor Allderdice = Good!

Squirrel Hilll = Taylor Allderdice! (for the most part!)

Shadyside != Taylor Allderdice!

Keep it in mind.

I believe I provided a ZIP code breakdown in this thread regarding which ZIP codes wholly or partially feed into Taylor Allderdice High School.

EDIT: I did provide such information on PAGE 2 of this thread.

[scottfleisher]

Dear Drover,

Thank you for the info! I was looking at 15232 (in Shayside). It looks like that's not on the list - maybe I should look for a zip code map...

Best,
Scott

[Hopes]

Call the Pittsburgh Public schools and ask them for the borders. I highly doubt Pittsburgh feeds it's schools by zip codes.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Call the Pittsburgh Public schools and ask them for the borders. I highly doubt Pittsburgh feeds it's schools by zip codes.

Another thing -- out here in California, if you work in a city a ways out from where you live, you can put your kid near your work...

Is that something that Pittsburgh does? I had a friend who did it back at Seneca, but her's was a hardship case where her mom died in her junior year and she moved up to Butler with her Dad and they all felt for her it would be best to stay in Seneca.

That's something to think about.

[likepgh]

There is a street by street (block by block) directory on the Pittsburgh Public Schools website. It can be hard to find, but it's there. It is not by zip code but by street address. For each address, it will tell you which elementary, middle (if applicable) or H.S. is the feeder school.

You will find that all of Squirrel Hill feeds to Allderdice. I can't promise that a 15217 zip code will go to Allderdice but there the match-up will be quite close.

My understanding is that most of Shadyside feeds to Peabody for HS but I couldn't begin to sketch out the boundaries.

If I recall, kids are in the future (right?) so the more immediate concern is elementary schools. As I posted in another thread, you really can't go wrong with either Minadeo or Colfax, the 2 neighborhood elementary schools in Squirrel Hill. By the numbers, they are not as good as the elementary schools in Mt. Lebo (and by the numbers, Allderdice is not as good as Mt. Lebo HS) but they are fine schools.

There is a magnet Spanish school in Shadyside (Liberty) which has a good reputation. I don't know if living near it gets one geographic preference. Also--in Point Breeze--which is contiguous with Squirrel Hill and Shadyside--is Linden school, the German-language magnet. This used to be a neighborhood school so families in this area do get a geographic preference. (Most of Point Breeze feeds either to Minadeo or Colfax so one might feel less need for a magnet school there, however.)

You can live in Squirrel Hill and set up your practice pretty much anywhere in the East End depending on what your market research reveals. Frankly, you could live in Squirrel Hill and have a practice in Mt. Lebo (or vice versa if you decide that schools trump all) and still have a commute that will make your Bay Area friends very jealous.

We live in Squirrel Hill and love it. We have friends in Mt. Lebanon and it looks like a nice place to live as well. We like the diversity in Squirrel Hill and the more urban feel and are making our way (so far) with child #1 into the public school system and so far it's working out. But I can certainly understand the appeal of Mt. Lebanon.

Good luck with the search.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by scottfleisher

Dear Drover,

Thank you for the info! I was looking at 15232 (in Shayside). It looks like that's not on the list - maybe I should look for a zip code map...

Here ya go. PDF version also available there for zoom-in capability.

Originally Posted by Hopes

Call the Pittsburgh Public schools and ask them for the borders. I highly doubt Pittsburgh feeds it's schools by zip codes.

They don't, but there are ZIP codes that happen to feed entirely into a particular high school even if that's not a criterion the district uses. I used this PPS web page (broken link) to compile my info. (CAUTION: link is a pdf)

EDIT: It appears (broken link) the school district is working on feeder pattern maps for elementary, middle and high schools... "Coming Soon" as the page says.