Bell Acres and Ben Avon....Opinions (Pittsburgh, Economy: houses, neighborhood, good schools)

[joannagraham77]

We are house hunting next week for a corporate relo. My husband will work in Moon/Coraopolis. I'm interested to hear opinions on living in Ben Avon and Bell Acres. We have two little ones so we're interested in good schools, but it won't be an issue for another three years. We're also interested in making sure the house would have a solid resale value as well since we're not sure if we'll be in Pittsburgh forever.... Also, looking to make sure that the commute would be close for his work.

[greg42]

Either is fine. Similar commutes I would say. Give the Quaker Valley schools (Bell Acres) a nod over Avonworth (Ben Avon). Resale should be fine either place, though I suspect there will generally be a bit more demand for the Sewickley area (Bell Acres). Bell Acres is going to be rural whereas Ben Avon is a sidewalk sort of community with smaller lots but generally large, older houses. However, within and nearby around Ben Avon there isn't exactly a ton of things to walk to apart from other houses.

Still, that should give you an idea of the differences. Ben Avon has the streets and sidewalks of an old, close-in suburban neighborhood (it's mostly filled with old trees too, very leafy). It also puts you closer to the various city amenities. Bell Acres although organized as a borough is more like a township (interesting, that is a good example for the other thread about townships vs boroughs, LOL) with no real center and a somewhat rural-type feel. It's rural as in close to the city and close to Sewickley rural, which means it's not exactly all farms but sometimes old houses on lots of land, sometimes new subdivisions with multi-acre lots for million dollar type homes, sometimes older subdivisions with smaller houses, and all kinds of things in between I suppose. It's all over the place. Also it goes from a low level down by Big Sewickley Creek to levels much higher on the hillside and high ground to the south of the creek. (The north hillside is in Beaver County, mostly Economy Borough.) If you look at things down in the creek area you should be aware of possible flooding, not for every house down there, but with a serious enough event some houses can flood that you might not otherwise suspect. Most parts of Bell Acres will put you a good three times as far from downtown Pittsburgh vs Ben Avon (about 30 minutes vs about 10, both at non-traffic times, so to any part of the city add about 20 minutes for Bell Acres vs Ben Avon, and that may be optimistic).