Suburbanites: What Would it Take to Entice You to Consider Urban Living? (Pittsburgh: mortgages, dorm)

[hinsey86]

Originally Posted by juliegt

Conversely, you don't have to hate or be afraid of suburbs to not want to live there. Some of my best friends live in the burbs.

Agreed! .

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Once the starvation kicks in & the pox begins to spread & not to mention the raping & pillaging once they break through, hiding out in the woods in cranberry might not seem so bad. You could start a gang of merry men.

The closest thing to woods in Cranberry is the sumptuous shrubbery around the McMansions. Everybody knows that.

[greg42]

Ain't nothing new going on here.

I mean, the question, "What would it take to entice you to consider urban living?" Well, the answer for us, to consider, is nothing. Consider it all the time. With work as it still is right now in most ways we'd probably love to live in the city.

Now if you want to ask what it would take to make it happen, that is still the same too: sell the house instantly (you know, actually sell, not take a huge freakin loss quick sale). Or otherwise, cash. Cos I'm tied up in this mortgage ya know?

[PreservationPioneer]

I have been looking to upgrade to a better house for at least a year, and what I have found is that the older suburbs tend to offer a much better value than city neighborhoods, in terms of how much house you get for your money, conditions of neighborhood, and condition of housing. I like the fact that I don't have to sacrifice urbanity or historic architecture in the older suburbs and river towns. The only downside is you are usually further from the action.

While there are cheap houses in the city, the conditions of the neighborhoods in the city with cheap houses are usually much worse than the older suburbs, and the houses themselves usually require major rehab. or are just plain ugly. I'm talking about houses in the under $40k range.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Many of Pittsburgh's inner ring suburbs are like city neighborhoods. I think it's silly when city people don't acknowledge that it's like city living to be in a suburb that borders the city.

Exactly. And don't forget the urban river towns and satellite cities. Most of the county seats do not feel like country or suburban living as people tend to see it (McMansion on a cul de sac or cabin in the woods). And anyone who has been somewhere like the Mon Valley knows that it does not have the suburban feel.

I think our metro area is too complex to be divided simply between city and suburb. Windgap and Stanton Heights (city neighborhoods) have a much more suburban atmosphere than Sharpsburg or Bellevue.

[steindle]

An element that makes me more inclined to live in the city than a less expensive suburb with roughly equivalent environment (e.g., I kind of like Sharpsburg, Oakmont, Bellevue/West View, Dormont, etc.) is that I want to support the city with my tax dollars to the greatest extent that I can, because the city is where the vast majority of the resources I use originate and orbit around. And the city's existence -- as a cultural hub, as a center of distribution, as an economic driver, etc. -- is essentially necessary to the existence of its suburbs. (This is the case historically at least -- Detroit is an interesting counterexample, but that might be why I have zero interest in living in or around Detroit.)

People on this board are going to think I'm insane for saying this, but I also want to do my tiny part by supporting the city's public schools.

This may be partially due to nostalgia because I grew up in the city and attended PPS K-12... I had a great childhood and a great adolescence here, and I feel like I should "give back" by helping to build a reliable tax base and stable, friendly neighborhood environment for everyone else who lives here. I know that it's an idealistic thought, but the idea that I would receive a great education from CAPA and then just evacuate the city so I can cut my tax rate by half a percent seems almost mean-spirited. I can't decry the state of urban education and then just stand on the margins, watching it sink.

[/RAMBLING HIGH-HORSE]

[ditchdigger]

Windgap and Stanton Heights (city neighborhoods) have a much more suburban atmosphere than Sharpsburg or Bellevue.

I really don't know Windgap, but particularly the shopping center side of Stanton Heights was developed in the early 60s, so it's not surprising that it mimics the feel of its suburban contemporaries.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by juliegt

I, personally, don't have anything against suburbs per se. Your life sounds wonderful and I would probably enjoy living there myself. I just prefer city or very close to city living. My problem with suburbs just about anywhere in the US is that there isn't decent public transportation. You have to own a car in the vast majority of US suburbs. My son lived and worked in San Francisco without a car. He moved to the 'burbs and had to take a crappy job because it was the only thing he could find that was walking distance from where he lives. He's looking for a car now so he can get a better job. I think we should require public transit to be part of the infrastructure of any development urban, suburban, even rural.

Really? My brother-in-law lived all the way out in Concord in the 1980s and took the BART into SF to work.

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Exactly. And don't forget the urban river towns and satellite cities. Most of the county seats do not feel like country or suburban living as people tend to see it (McMansion on a cul de sac or cabin in the woods). And anyone who has been somewhere like the Mon Valley knows that it does not have the suburban feel.

I think our metro area is too complex to be divided simply between city and suburb. Windgap and Stanton Heights (city neighborhoods) have a much more suburban atmosphere than Sharpsburg or Bellevue.

Exactly! The mill town where I grew up, Beaver Falls, and the ones around it weren't suburbs and they weren't exactly stand alone cities, either. To be sure, we were part of the Pittsburgh area. We could decide on the way out of church on Sunday at noon to go to a Pirates' game, or even a Steeler's game back in the day. My father, back in his day before WW II, took the train to Pittsburgh several nights a week to attend classes at CMU (then Carnegie Tech). But we were separate, too. I didn't know anyone who worked in Pittsburgh. We had our own downtown, and seldom went to Pgh to go shopping.

[Lock-Os]

Endless crowds of single females in their 20's in plain sight.

Close proximity to people willing to play D&D.

No burn laws.

Ice free streets 24/7.

Taxes equivalent to Westmoreland.

Really, there isn't much reason for me to live in the city, I just need to find a better way of getting around the city.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Exactly. And don't forget the urban river towns and satellite cities. Most of the county seats do not feel like country or suburban living as people tend to see it (McMansion on a cul de sac or cabin in the woods). And anyone who has been somewhere like the Mon Valley knows that it does not have the suburban feel.

I think our metro area is too complex to be divided simply between city and suburb. Windgap and Stanton Heights (city neighborhoods) have a much more suburban atmosphere than Sharpsburg or Bellevue.

Absolutely. The same can be said for older suburbs around many US cities. California has many sprawling ex-urbs that were built in the housing boom. People commuted ridiculous distances just so they could own an affordable home. Many of those places are now practically ghost towns due to the market crash. Florida, AZ, & Las Vegas also have tons of these places where just about every house in the development has been foreclosed. Those kind of suburbs are very different than post-war developments not too far from major urban centers, many of which have actual downtowns and a small town/city atmosphere. Apples and oranges as far as I'm concerned.