Article on Purchasing Abandoned Homes in Pittsburgh

[groar]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I actually foresee a bright future for a good chunk of Wilkinsburg, especially the areas closest to Regent Square (i.e. Hamnett Place and surroundings). Regent Square's desirability and reputation have boosted property values there to the point where they'll soon be rivaling Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill, and Shadyside, and those looking to live near the "buzz" (but who don't have the level of discretionary income now needed to buy in the core of the neighborhood) will be looking to live on the periphery.

Wilkinsburg's largest hurdle is obviously its deplorable school district, which I believe is actually worse than the city's schools, but places like Churchill and Forest Hills have remained desirable and stable despite being a part of the similarly nefarious Woodland Hills School District.

wilkinsburg's school district is the 2nd worst in the state. merging into pittsburgh or even woodland hills would be a big step up. the schools (and the accompanying sky-high property taxes) are a huge barrier to people buying property in wilkinsburg. we now have some progressive people on the school board who will at least consider a merger, which is great.

regardless, our house in hamnett place is worth almost double what we paid for it 4 years ago, not even taking into account the improvements we've made.

[BrianTH]

There may be some price convergence between the transitional parts of Wilkinsburg and the core Regent Square area, particularly if the commercial/busway-zone takes off (ala East Liberty). But I agree that in general this is the sort of situation in which a rising tide will lift all boats.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by groar

the schools (and the accompanying sky-high property taxes) are a huge barrier to people buying property in wilkinsburg. we now have some progressive people on the school board who will at least consider a merger, which is great. regardless, our house in hamnett place is worth almost double what we paid for it 4 years ago, not even taking into account the improvements we've made.

The good news is that I believe there has been enough appreciation overall in Wilkinsburg such that its post-reassessment millage should go down significantly.

In general, that's the reason I think a school district merger may well be feasible: Wilkinsburg actually has a decent amount of funding to bring to the table, and not a lot of students for a larger district to absorb. The overhead of being independent is killing the district financially, but that is the precise problem a merger would address.