where to move? (Pittsburgh, Pleasant Hills, California: house, rent, work)

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by Hopes

People from out west are a little amazed to learn that many Pittsburghers do not walk on sidewalks at all.

Um, yeah. Especially since everything online insists that Pittsburgh is walkable, and walkable means that you can walk from your house to groceries, a bookstore, restaurants, and the bus line on a handicap-accessible sidewalk.

It sounds like what the authors of those pieces mean is that the Golden Triangle, Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and Southside are walkable.

[tommygoat]

I grew up in Mt Lebanon. Full sidewalk access to shopping, restaurants, etc. is avaiable there in a couple areas. Uptown, The Hoodridge area, and the Beverly/Cochran Rd road area near the high school.

Edit: All of those areas are walkable via sidewalks to the T rail as well.

[Shenandoah]

Pleasant Hills is in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, walkable, with a grocery store, as well as mini-marts. It's off of rt 51, for easy access to 43 to California. Depending on how you manage the car situation with your partner, if you're driving to Children's, there is parking on the Southside for UPMC Presbyterian with shuttle service to Oakland, for UPMC employees. Contact your HR at UPMC for more info on parking and shuttle service for UPMC employees. They'll be able to assist you. If you're taking the PAT bus into Pittsburgh, then check the PAT website, or call their customer service on buses and commute times to the location you need.

California PA is a pretty town, and yes, there are bookstores there. Same with nearby Brownsville PA.

California would be easier for walking or biking, but with you working in Pittsburgh, it'd be easier to find somewhere between the two cities. Which is why I suggest Pleasant Hills. Also, the city of Monongahela would be very convenient to your husbands commute to California on 43. With convenient grocery stores, walkable, and there are many who commute to Pittsburgh from there. Either taking the 88 bus lines, or if you have the car, then drive the car to 51 via 837, or take 43 to 51, then on to Pittsburgh. Monongahela is a nice small city, known for it's antique shoppes.

Pleasant Hills is a bit more 'upper scale' with pricier homes, and higher taxes. Zipcode: 15036

Monongahela is older, family oriented, cheaper Washington County taxes. Zipcode: 15063

blessings, Shen

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by Shenandoah

California PA is a pretty town, and yes, there are bookstores there.

DH says there are not; they have closed. Google Maps tells me the closest bookstore is a Borders Express 13 miles away, which may be the one in Uniontown?

California gets an 8/100 on the WalkScore utility... and Charleroi gets a 34/100. However, they seem to be assuming you can walk across the bridge to the stuff in Belle Vernon -- but that would be walking along the 6" strip between the white stripe and the guard rail on the bridge over the Mon, on 70, which would just plain be taking your life into your hands.

Thanks for the info on Pleasant Hills.

[Katiana]

The walking score thing is a bit dubious. There was an active thread on it recently in this forum. I checked out my nieghborhood; they left off a park my friend and I walk to every day on a walking/bike path, and they seem to measure the distance in air miles, as the distances don't compute with what I know to be the case.

Hopes explained it well, that in the east there are not a lot of sidewalks in the 'burbs. Here in CO, and from what I've seen in CA as well, every subdivision is built with sidewalks, with the possible exception of some very rural areas. I think it is a cultural thing, as well as a topography thing. There are sidewalks in downtown Beaver Falls, but not in the burbs. These burbs were built, some of them, when they were still considered "the country". (This is within my memory, so not all that long ago in the scheme of things.) Also, when some of these burbs were built, there was not as much traffic. As a kid growing up in Patterson Hts in "suburban" Beaver Falls, we walked to school twice a day (home for lunch) with no sidewalks. The only sidewalks were along arterial roads, and it remains that way today, though there is much more traffic even in that little place.

Just a little history of the area, I don't know if it helps. I would think California would have a bookstore, being a college town. At least the University bookstore, which is probably open to everyone and sells things other than textbooks (at least most of them do).

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Ah, so this is why no one is suggesting we live in California?

To my knowledge, the reason nobody suggested living in California is because you said you didn't want to live in California in your first post.

Here's what you said:

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

We could live in California and I could commute, but the schools don't look all that great, and we're not really interested in living in a very small town even if it is a college town; we'd prefer a stronger business environment. So we are assuming that means we'd like to locate somewhere in Pittsburgh.

My references to the Mon Valley were meant for the Allegheny County part of the Mon Valley. I was under the impression you wanted to live closer to Pittsburgh, within the city limits or at the farthest the county limits since you said you didn't want to live halfway inbetween your employers, so I didn't focus in areas outside of the Allegheny County. Since California is a college town, it can't possibly be depressed like an old steel town because it still has an industry, the college.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome. I don't know everywhere extensively. There might be some area that is obscure to me since I live on the other side of the county. Hopefully, others will be able to come up with some creative ideas for you. In the meantime, I'll just keep sharing whatever it is I do know about areas you ask about.

Originally Posted by tommygoat

I grew up in Mt Lebanon. Full sidewalk access to shopping, restaurants, etc. is avaiable there in a couple areas. Uptown, The Hoodridge area, and the Beverly/Cochran Rd road area near the high school.

Edit: All of those areas are walkable via sidewalks to the T rail as well.

So there are completely walkable areas on Mt. Lebanon and you just have to choose your home accordingly, right? Her friends must have bought a home in an area that was not easily accessible to the shopping district in Mt. Lebanon.

Question: is there a full service grocery store in Mt. Lebanon that can be reached via walking on sidewalks? I'm looking at a google map for Giant Eagle grocery stores, and it doesn't seem as if there is a grocery store in the business district for Mt. Lebanon. There's one in the Virginia Manor Shoppe, but can Mt. Lebanon residents reach that Giant Eagle via walking on sidewalks?

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

DH says there are not [bookstores]; they have closed. Google Maps tells me the closest bookstore is a Borders Express 13 miles away, which may be the one in Uniontown?

Have you decided to now consider a home in an area halfway inbetween?

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Pleasant Hills is in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, walkable, with a grocery store, as well as mini-marts.

Most of the grocery stores in Pleasant Hills are on very busy four lane highways that do not have sidewalks. That's not very walkable. There is one that is located on a less cogested road, but it's not necessarily walkable from all homes in Pleasant Hills. Check out the map of grocery stores: grocery store loc: Pleasant Hills, PA - Google Maps Pleasant Hills is not really walkable in the way you'd like an area to be walkable---unless there is a housing development righ near that ONE grocery store. It would be a very narrow area to search for a house, but that might be the only way to find what you're hoping to find.

I highly recommend asking a realtor to show you homes that are located within a few blocks of grocery stores in neighborhoods with sidewalks.

Have you talked to any realtors yet?

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by Hopes

So there are completely walkable areas on Mt. Lebanon and you just have to choose your home accordingly, right? Her friends must have bought a home in an area that was not easily accessible to the shopping district in Mt. Lebanon.

They rented; they didn't want to buy what with moving to a city they didn't know. Academics move often enough in the early years that renting for one more year wasn't going to put them out much.

Have you decided to now consider a home in an area halfway inbetween?

At everyone's suggestion I am entertaining both an area halfway inbetween (so long as it is commutable via bus/T) and while I was at it, I checked on the walkable scores for California. But I am seriously unconvinced -- primarily because the business density seems so low anywhere outside of the downtown core and the walkable situation does not seem to improve.

Have you talked to any realtors yet?

Nope. At the moment, I'm across the country, as is DH. (Three grocery stores within a mile, in three different directions, with sidewalks to all of them, in a house on an sixth-acre lot and on the busline up to the university.)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

They rented; they didn't want to buy what with moving to a city they didn't know. Academics move often enough in the early years that renting for one more year wasn't going to put them out much.

Let's see if Tommygoat thinks areas of Mt. Lebanon are walkable by your definition. It's an area to seriously consider even if it didnt' work out for your friends.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

At everyone's suggestion I am entertaining both an area halfway inbetween (so long as it is commutable via bus/T)

So you are entertaining public transporation that requires a transfer from downtown to Oakland. You could live almost anywhere then. I don't know the town very well, but ask about Cannonsburg. I at least know it has a book store.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

and while I was at it, I checked on the walkable scores for California. But I am seriously unconvinced -- primarily because the business density seems so low anywhere outside of the downtown core and the walkable situation does not seem to improve.

You really should go check out California and surrounding towns personally. As you're discovering, it's next to impossible to get an idea about an area on the internet.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Nope. At the moment, I'm across the country, as is DH.

You can still contact realtors to get their advice on areas that meet your criteria even if you're not buying (they don't have to know that) right away.

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

(Three grocery stores within a mile, in three different directions, with sidewalks to all of them, in a house on an sixth-acre lot and on the busline up to the university.)

Sounds wonderful. You won't find a house on six acres with sidewalks and three grocery stores within 1 mile anywhere around Pittsburgh. I know you said academics move often, but it's a darn shame you can't stay where you're at since it sounds like heaven.

What if California has everything you need within walking distance except for a bookstore? Are you going to let a bookstore stop you from living there? I did see that California has a public library. There are few neighborhoods in Pittsburgh that will have a grocery store and a bookstore within side walk walking distance from a home. Mt. Lebanon, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Bloomfield/Friendship, Regent Square, Aspinwall (B&N and privately owned bookstore + Giant Eagle grocery store plus a small italian grocery store), Oakmonth (privately owned mystery lovers bookstore), Sewickly has three bookstores and three privately owned grocery stores.

Aside from living in the city neighborhoods surrounding Oakland, the only other area that might make you happy is Sewickley. If you live right in the town of Sewickley, it's sidewalk walkable with level terrain. As mentioned, there are three privately owned grocery stores and bookstores there.

Your commute from Sewickey to downtown Pittsburgh (you'd have to transfer to Oakland) would be 24 minutes: Driving Directions from Sewickley, PA to Pittsburgh, PA

Your husband's commute from Sewickley to California would be a little over 1 hour (but it's all highway driving since I79 is literally right next to Sewickley): Driving Directions from Sewickley, PA to California, PA

Since you would be transferring public transportation in downtown, your commute times would be fairly even.

Here are some links to learn more about the town of Sewickley:

Sewickley, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sewickley -- Welcome to our recently updated Web site

Welcome to Sewickley!!!!

The Chamber of Commerce lists lots of great businesses. Check it out!

[janiesgirl]

Hopes - I'll answer about Mt. Lebanon.

There are several business districts in or near Mt. Lebanon. Only a few have grocery stores. The OP may not find them walkable, so I'm not recommending Mt. Lebanon to the OP.
The Mt. Lebanon Blvd. corridor has many amenities, including a grocery store, and can be reached by walking, even without sidewalks, because people here walk on the streets. We just do. Once you reach the strip mall on Mt. Lebanon Blvd, you walk along the mall sidewalk. If you were interested in this area, you could live in the Foster School area or around Mission Hills and reach the grocery (plus many other shops).
The Lincoln school area nearest Banksville Rd. is close to Kuhn's grocery store (in Dormont?). The sidewalks end on Banksville Rd., but transition into a reasonably wide grassy strip that you can walk to the grocery store. The hardest part is crossing Banksville Rd. You would need to cross at the intersection of Beverly Rd. and Banksville/McFarland. The OP may not find this appealing.
The Washington Road corridor (Rt. 19) has many walkable amenities, but no grocery store.
The Beverly Rd. corridor has several amenities, but no grocery store.
The Giant Eagle in the Manor Shops is actually in Scott Township. It cannot be reached on foot, unless you're willing to walk down a heavily trafficked 3 lane road.
The Shop n Save grocery in Castle Shannon can be reached by taking the T and walking across the street. Doable if you intend to live near a T station and you intend to purchase a Port Authority pass. People do walk there, but I doubt it would appeal to the OP.

Mt. Lebanon used to have a full service grocery store on Bower Hill Rd, but that folded last year. We also used to have a full service grocery on Cochran Rd., but that closed almost 9 years ago.

[tommygoat]

Well Done. Is the Foodland still at the MtL. Shops? I noticed that Rogers Hardware closed