Move to Wilkinsburg? (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills, Bethel Park: job, home, suburban)

[zip95]

...well congrats...
...and also understand...
...and as 4 ur response...
...im simply stating my opinion...
...wat it has 2 offer...

I still don't believe him....especially with the above phrases. Again, he's either 12 or faking.

[jdrn]

Originally Posted by DUBshawtie412

ACTUALLY everybody i know in pittsburgh and from pittsburgh says yall so yea thank u very much smart 1

Born and raised in Pgh. Lived in Pgh for 41 years, worked in Pgh, attended undergrad and grad school in Pgh. Don't recall ever hearing anyone say "Y'all."

[homerjoker]

Originally Posted by DUBshawtie412

look here alot of yall talkin bout "dont move there blahj blah blahj" but most of yall r ALSO the ones sayin i have never been there yall get yall facts from where....the news?....google? really though im from the DUB and aint nothin bad about it (u may b tryna judge the place from the way i type dont try it boo) wilkinsburg is a good neighborhood yall stay tryna act like edgewood is the best place (YEAH ***** RITE) u feel me??? and yea wilkinsburg is mostly black get over it move on aint everybody there ghetto i live on LAKETON RD. dats back in the cut kinda and i got a nice circle of friends there we have known each other for around 6 years only 1 of our close friends got killed but let me name u some good things about it......the hosanna house a community center it has a pool gym toutoring and other activities.......the penn ave. district got all types of stores rainbows and kings (clothing) dollar general and save alot (general shopping) THEY EVEN GOT A ASIAN STORE U FEEL ME?!?!?!?!.....the local schools have nice education and there is also the football and cheerleading team (look it up)the fields r easy 2 get to as well [turner field and graham field] take it from someone WHO LIVES THERE its not a bad place to live

hey man you are totally right ... some people need to be insulated from reality to feel safe..... ive lived in nyc, sf, la... and never in the 'super' neighborhoods... always in the one's with "character" ... and the people to me have more of a connection ... there is more of a realness... and if the neighborhood is recently depressed, alll the more reason to move there, fix up your house, be a good person and neighbor, and that kinda stuff makes a difference and is then compounded. a person is not the house they live in... thats the problem with suburbia.... rainbows and unicorns..... but its also where all of the mass school shooters have come from... hmmmmmm?

im actully looking at a house on hill st. maybe ill be there soon.... peaceout

[Terrynat]

Ok. Here we go again. My family moved to Wilkinsburg from Alabama in 1969. We lived in Wilkinsburg from then until I moved to Swissvale July 1, 2007. I LOVE WILKINSBURG. If anybody knows anything about Wilkinsburg I am the one. NOOOO the taxes in Wilkinsburg are not higher.

It really makes me angry that there are a lot of posters on this forum that post about Wilkinsburg and other places but actually know nothing about the area. Yes. There are places I wouldn't go. Rebecca? Well, which side of Rebecca? One side is good and the other is horrible. There are also two Hay Streets. One side is good and the other is not.

Downtown Wilkinsburg? We refer to it as the "shopping center" or I'll say "I'm going down Wilkinsburg." I will give Wilkinsburg this, it is building itself back up and many black people there own strong businesses. There are many black people who live in Wilkinsburg who earn decent money but have always lived there and don't want to move. It is home. You can own a beautiful home in Wilkinsburg for cheap. There are some well to do people who live in the condos and townhomes in the Beacon Hill area of Wilkinsburg. You see these places advertised in the realestate sections of the newspaper as "Churchill area." I just laugh when I see that.

My husband and I lived in that area as well for one year. The neighbors were very nice and took great care of their property. The homes aren't all bunched together. We moved because I couldn't stand the traffic (on Penn Ave).

Wilkinsburg is divided by a wall upon which sits the rail road tracks. One side is bad and the other is very nice. Ever heard of "the wrong side of the tracks?"

So here it is in a nutshell:

The areas surrounding Wilkinsburg that you DO want to live border Churchill, Edgewood, City of Pittsburgh (i.e. Point Breeze). The Regent Square area of Wilkinsburg is very nice. My husband and I lived in Regent Square area of Wilkinsburg for nearly a decade on Hampton Ave. My neighbors were black and white, old and young and by the way the home right across the street from our apartment building IN WILKINSBURG recently sold for over $200k. Homes in that area do get snatched up. People (both black and white), however do send their children to private schools, but they love the area and they love their homes.

I don't care what you nay sayers think about Wilkinsburg. It will always be my heart. The school district is horrible, but they really pulled for my nephew to stay there. The Principal of the high school took me on a tour of the school herself and talked to me personally. The teachers talked affectionately to my nephew. That's more than I can say for Woodland Hills who won't let my nephew enroll yet even though school started a week ago. I was told "You only registered him last week! You gotta give us time...you gotta give us 5-6 working days...you'll get a call!" UNBELIEVABLE.

If I hadn't recently gotten custody of my nephew I would still be in Wilkinsburg, but moving to Swissvale was the biggest mistake of my life and we will be moving again next year when our lease is up. If I could afford to send him to private school I'd buy a townhome or condo in WILKINSBURG in a minute!!!!

[burgh]

I have lived there - for over three years. Near Kelly Elementary. Do not live here. There are many other safer, nicer, hip/cooler areas. Wilkinsburg closer to regent square/Frick Park is ok. I defintely would not buy property there. Taxes are astronomical and resale is usually for a loss. Do some more research first.

[burgh]

Regarding taxes - they are significantly higher. The municipal property taxes are the highest or second highest in the state of PA. We almost purchased a home around $145k. Annual property taxes were close to $7500 - that is ridiculous. It was a beautiful home in Blackridge. We were willing to send our kids to private school - but in the end couldn't justify those taxes.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Terrynat

Ok. Here we go again. My family moved to Wilkinsburg from Alabama in 1969. We lived in Wilkinsburg from then until I moved to Swissvale July 1, 2007. I LOVE WILKINSBURG. If anybody knows anything about Wilkinsburg I am the one. NOOOO the taxes in Wilkinsburg are not higher.

The rest of your post is your opinion and you're entitled to it so I won't begrudge it. But to say "the taxes are not higher" is a factual claim that can either be verified or corrected. And I intend to do the latter. I guess one can always say "the taxes are not higher" compared to some other place somewhere, but my basis of comparison is the neighboring communities. The combined county, municipal and school tax rate in Wilkinsburg are higher than every single municipality in Allegheny County except for DuQuesne. The combined property tax rate in Wilkinsburg is $5,369 per $100,000 of assessed value. Compare that to nearby areas such as Regent Square/Homewood/Point Breeze ($2,941), Penn Hills ($3,268), Rankin ($4,239) Swissvale ($3,769), Edgewood ($3,525), Churchill ($3,259), Forest Hills ($3,594), and so on. So say whatever else you will about Wilkinsburg... "the taxes are not higher" is one that does not stand up to scrutiny.

[PApisces]

Originally Posted by DUBshawtie412

look here alot of yall talkin bout "dont move there blahj blah blahj" but most of yall r ALSO the ones sayin i have never been there yall get yall facts from where....the news?....google? really though im from the DUB and aint nothin bad about it (u may b tryna judge the place from the way i type dont try it boo) wilkinsburg is a good neighborhood yall stay tryna act like edgewood is the best place (YEAH ***** RITE) u feel me??? and yea wilkinsburg is mostly black get over it move on aint everybody there ghetto i live on LAKETON RD. dats back in the cut kinda and i got a nice circle of friends there we have known each other for around 6 years only 1 of our close friends got killed but let me name u some good things about it......the hosanna house a community center it has a pool gym toutoring and other activities.......the penn ave. district got all types of stores rainbows and kings (clothing) dollar general and save alot (general shopping) THEY EVEN GOT A ASIAN STORE U FEEL ME?!?!?!?!.....the local schools have nice education and there is also the football and cheerleading team (look it up)the fields r easy 2 get to as well [turner field and graham field] take it from someone WHO LIVES THERE its not a bad place to live

My eyes hurt from attempting to read this. Have you ever attended a school of any kind? If YOU are an indication of the type of person who lives there as you say you are, who in God's name would move there?

Wilkinsburg is just plain bad. Run, don't walk away from this neighborhood, lest you might get hit by a stray drive-by bullet. There are sooooo many nice areas of Pittsburgh.

Why even consider a ghetto neigborhood? Contrary to what some folks believe, these areas will never change for the better unless they are bulldozed. Even then, the "bad elements" will just find new neighborhoods to ruin.

[la_torquemada]

Originally Posted by PApisces

Why even consider a ghetto neigborhood? Contrary to what some folks believe, these areas will never change for the better unless they are bulldozed. Even then, the "bad elements" will just find new neighborhoods to ruin.

I don't think that's quite true as a blanket statement -- in cities where real estate is dear, neighborhoods "gentrify" regularly. But Pittsburgh is not one of those places. We're up to our eyeballs in cheap real estate -- there's just not enough critical mass to improve these places piecemeal. There are some examples -- for instance, Friendship has changed pretty dramatically in the last 10 years -- but you have to choose a small neighborhood with an active community organziation and a lot of people who are hands-on involved with the neighborhood. Somewhere as huge as Wilkinsburg with so many different sections is just too big a job.

Finally, on the part over by Regent Square -- I know some people who live over there -- lovely house, looks nice, good neighbors, but no end of trouble. Car stolen 3 times. Last straw was when a naked, drugged out woman got in my friend's car with her husband three children (4, 6, and a baby) and started trying to make out with her husband and threaten the kids. The husband couldn't leave the car because he was unable to get the woman out and away from the kids. The Wilkinsburg police said "that's not a serious matter," and refused to come. About an hour later, after many calls, the Swissvale police finally showed up, even though the matter was not in their borough.

[PApisces]

Originally Posted by la_torquemada

I don't think that's quite true as a blanket statement -- in cities where real estate is dear, neighborhoods "gentrify" regularly. But Pittsburgh is not one of those places. We're up to our eyeballs in cheap real estate -- there's just not enough critical mass to improve these places piecemeal. There are some examples -- for instance, Friendship has changed pretty dramatically in the last 10 years -- but you have to choose a small neighborhood with an active community organziation and a lot of people who are hands-on involved with the neighborhood. Somewhere as huge as Wilkinsburg with so many different sections is just too big a job.

Finally, on the part over by Regent Square -- I know some people who live over there -- lovely house, looks nice, good neighbors, but no end of trouble. Car stolen 3 times. Last straw was when a naked, drugged out woman got in my friend's car with her husband three children (4, 6, and a baby) and started trying to make out with her husband and threaten the kids. The husband couldn't leave the car because he was unable to get the woman out and away from the kids. The Wilkinsburg police said "that's not a serious matter," and refused to come. About an hour later, after many calls, the Swissvale police finally showed up, even though the matter was not in their borough.

I am glad to hear that Friendship is coming along well. When I lived there, I believe the Friendship community association was in it's infancy. I wasn't really concerned with issues of neighborhood beautification being a young college student though.

There are some truly beautiful old homes in that area. The movie "Wonder Boys" does a great job of spotlighting the Friendship area as well.