where to move? (Pittsburgh, York, Bethel Park: mortgage, property taxes, apartments)

[juliegt]

[quote=lostinpgh;1140162]I've never had trouble coordinating a one-car family in Phoenix, LA, or Seattle, and those places are all considered pretty car-centric as well. But there were always places to live where it was physically possible.



Why not? I have been in the habit of walking or biking 2 miles or so as a part of my commute routinely. Are there sidewalks? And do the buses have bike racks on the front? Now that my son is older, I don't tend to bike as often, because he can walk farther.


La, Phoenix, and Seattle don't have winters like Pittsburgh. would you really want to ride a bike or walk as your sole means of transportation throughout the winter?

[Hopes]

Here are some links about Aspinwall:

Welcome to Aspinwall PA and the Aspinwall Chamber of Commerce - Pittsburgh PA

Your husband's commute could take almost 1-1/2 hours during times of traffic congestion:

Driving Directions from Aspinwall, PA to California, PA

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by juliegt

La, Phoenix, and Seattle don't have winters like Pittsburgh. would you really want to ride a bike or walk as your sole means of transportation throughout the winter?

I agree. I don't even work and we own three vehicles. We keep the third vehicle just in case one of the other vehicles are in the garage for mechanical maintenance. When I did work, I took public transportation into the city for the first few years. I still had a car at home for bad weather. There was nothing worse than waiting in windy weather with freezing temperatures for a bus that was 30 minutes late.

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by juliegt

La, Phoenix, and Seattle don't have winters like Pittsburgh. would you really want to ride a bike or walk as your sole means of transportation throughout the winter?

I would be willing to walk up to, say, a mile, to catch a bus. We will have one car to use if it's necessary, but we'd like the option of walking to grocery stores and restaurants and school on nice days. I understand Pittsburgh does have *some* nice days.

Phoenix has 120F summers, and monsoon dust storms that sweep in and engulf the city followed by downpours, and I used to work outside during those. I'm pretty sure I can manage 10 minutes of walking in the snow, too, even uphill both ways.

To me, a second car is a costly lifestyle choice and environmentally costly as well. If that changes, I'll buy a second car. But I would prefer to manage as many of the variables as I can so's to avoid being forced into that position.

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Here are some links about Aspinwall:

Thank you.

Your husband's commute could take almost 1-1/2 hours during times of traffic congestion:

Yep. It could be worse; I could be in Lawrenceville and my partner could be in California when our son needed to be picked up from school in Bethel Park. We want to live close to one workplace or the other, and California just doesn't seem feasible, as it's a college town without even a bookstore...

[Hopes]

Pittsburgh Winter:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Climate

Climate of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Granted, winters have been mild over the past years; however, mild to a native Pittsburgher will seem very cold and sloppy to someone who comes from a warm weather climate. There's also no telling when the weather pattern will switch back to more severe winters with blizzards and mutliple ice storms.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Yep. It could be worse; I could be in Lawrenceville and my partner could be in California when our son needed to be picked up from school in Bethel Park. We want to live close to one workplace or the other, and California just doesn't seem feasible, as it's a college town without even a bookstore...

Easier said than done. It becomes important for mothers and fathers to trade who misses days from work because employers become annoyed when one parent misses too much work. It's important to share the emergencies to protect your employment which is a very important consideration. A majority of Pittsburgh's population work and live as far away as Bethel Park is from Oakland and California, and they all manage to reach their children within a reasonable amount of time.

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Easier said than done.

I realize that you have different opinions about this.

How about Brookline? Friendship? Dormont?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

I realize that you have different opinions about this.

Not really. It can be done when both partners work nearby. That's not your situation though. Plus you have schools and other neighborhood desires that make it harder to accomodate your ideals. I can't help it that you are moving to a city with expecations that aren't in line with your family's employment demographics. I'm merely being honest with you about the situation you're creating for yourself. My opinion on the matter has nothing to do with the fact that what you want doesn't easily exist given your circumstances.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

How about Brookline? Dormont

Anywhere in the south hills will require transferring busses to get to work in both Oakland and Lawrenceville. You need to look northeast (shaler, fox chapel, aspinwall, blawnox, springdale) or east (oakmont, penn hills, etc.), and maybe southeast to have a chance at finding bus routes that go directly through Oakland or Lawrenceville without a transfer. The reason is because Oakland and Lawrenceville are east of Pittsburgh. Busses from the south hills areas won't go through Oakland or Lawrenceville to get downtown so there won't be any direct service to those areas.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Friendship?

Friendship is pretty much the same as Bloomfield. It runs immediately behind Bloomfield as sort of a suburb of Bloomfield. The yards are a little larger. It not only borders Bloomfield, but also Garfield which is one of Pittsburgh's more dangerous neighborhoods. Anything I said about Bloomfield applies to Friendship since they are almost interchangable regarding location, etc.

[Hopes]

I just wanted to let you know that I'm not just off-handedly disregarding your expecations as unrealistic.

I have been considering your situation extensively from the very start.

Every single neighborhood I think will be nice for your family doesn't have a bus route that goes to both Children's Hospital locations.

I thought you might like Regent Square, but there isn't a bus route that goes to the Lawerenceville location.

Highland Park would probably have bus routes to both areas, but the schools aren't good.

I just realized that Aspinwall won't work for both locations. You'll only be able to get to Children's from Aspinwall once you work in Lawrenceville.

All of these areas that require bus transfers are showing a commute of 70 to 110 minutes. That's outragous when these neighborhoods are only 15 minutes via car. You'll have more neighborhood options once your employment moves to Lawrenceville.

This is my suggestion:

Option One:

Since the MAIN problem is the fact you'll be working in Oakland for a couple of years prior to working in Lawrenceville, I think you should plan on renting while you work in Oakland. Use that time to find the perfect neighborhood to purchase a home for when the new Children's Hospital opens in Lawrenceville.

Option Two:

There's only one place for you to purchase property, commute to both locations without a car, and have good schools. That's Shadyside. If you think you want to purchase a home in Shadyside, go for it. Shadyside is a great place. Real estate is very expensive there compared to many suburban townships and other city neighborhoods.

Here are real estate listings for Shadyside:

Shadyside real estate — Shadyside homes for sale — Trulia.com

Learn more about Shadyside:

Pop City - Shadyside

Neighborhood Descriptions

Shadyside - Living in & Visiting the Pittsburgh Neighborhood of Shadyside

Shadyside (Pittsburgh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

If owning in Shadyside isn't a viable option financially, there are plenty of rentals in Shadyside for a temporary place to live until you get a feel for Pittsburgh.