Thinking of Pittsburgh relocation (Liberty, McDonald: coop, neighborhoods, where to buy)

[npauthor]

Thanks, Brian. Regent Square sounds like my kind of neighborhood. Please clarify "quick access to more shopping." I need to be within walking distance of shopping and other services. And near reliable public transit. Also, how much can I expect to pay for a nice studio or one-bedroom? Nothing fancy, just well maintained, clean, safe, comfortable. Preferably with onsite laundry facilities and management.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by npauthor

Thanks, Brian. Regent Square sounds like my kind of neighborhood. Please clarify "quick access to more shopping." I need to be within walking distance of shopping and other services. And near reliable public transit. Also, how much can I expect to pay for a nice studio or one-bedroom? Nothing fancy, just well maintained, clean, safe, comfortable. Preferably with onsite laundry facilities and management.

Regent Square is close to popular bus routes, but not to supermarkets or grocery stores you can walk to. You'd need to drive or take the bus. I don't know the area well enough to tell you your closest supermarket. It might be the Giant Eagle in Squirrel Hill, but there might be one at Edgewood Town Center.

I think parts of Shadyside, Friendship, East Liberty, and Squirrel Hill/Greenfield will be better choices. Here are some of the local stores:

Giant Eagle and Market District:
Giant Eagle Market District - Location
Giant Eagle - Store Details

There's another GE in Squirrel Hill, at 1901 Murray Avenue, but their website isn't working at the moment. Also one in Greenfield, at 4250 Murray Avenue.

Whole Foods:
Store List | Whole Foods Market | WholeFoodsMarket.com (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/store-list/?zipcode=15232&source=header&x=26&y=7 - broken link)

Trader Joe:
Trader Joe's

There's also a cheap grocery store in Bloomfield called ShurSav.

These are all neighborhoods you can walk to the store from, with a substantial number of apartments. However, parts of East Liberty are still rough, and parts of Greenfield are inconvenient for walking and busing.

[Hopes]

The East End Food Coop is right in Regent Square. The shopping district is very small. The bus transportation is good.

I agree that Greenfield isn't very convenient for walking to the business district, which is strangely spread out.

Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and Bloomfield have the largest shopping districts. I'd focus my search in those areas.

Here are apartment listings on Craig's List to give you an idea of costs:

pittsburgh apts/housing for rent classifieds "friendship" - craigslist

pittsburgh apts/housing for rent classifieds "bloomfield" - craigslist

pittsburgh apts/housing for rent classifieds "squirrel Hill" - craigslist

pittsburgh apts/housing for rent classifieds "shadyside" - craigslist

Bus transportation is good in all of these areas.

Living in a big apartment building with on site management will be more expensive.

[Hopes]

I forgot Lawrenceville. Big shopping district. Good transportation.

[sith]

i don't think you will have a problem finding something in your price range, the biggest decision will be which area appeals to you. a visit is certainly in order!

[npauthor]

Thanks to everyone for all these incredibly helpful and encouraging replies. Pittsburgh sure seems like a most friendly, welcoming place. And inexpensive doesn't hurt.

[BrianTH]

Just to ditto the above, if walking to the grocery store is a must-have, Regent Square probably isn't ideal (although both the East End Food Co-op and the Giant Eagle in the Edgewood Town Centre are potentially walkable--it is just a bit of a haul, and the walk to the Giant Eagle isn't very pleasant since it goes under a highway).

[bcar72]

HEY STEELCITYRISING, I would ask for your advice since you are from my neck of the woods and know exactly what I would be looking for i am from scranton i am looking to move my family to a neighborhood similar to mine safe with good schools etc.i live by the scranton/dickson city line I seen you have many posts and give good advice thanks in advance

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by bcar72

HEY STEELCITYRISING, I would ask for your advice since you are from my neck of the woods and know exactly what I would be looking for i am from scranton i am looking to move my family to a neighborhood similar to mine safe with good schools etc.i live by the scranton/dickson city line I seen you have many posts and give good advice thanks in advance

First off, thanks for the compliment!

With that being said it will be a bit tough to give you solid advice here. I'm guessing you live in North Scranton (near Schiff's)? If so, then you currently enjoy being a stone's throw from the Viewmont Mall shopping area along with living in a tight-knit city neighborhood. Scranton's schools aren't "great", but they're certainly better than most of the public schools in the city proper of Pittsburgh. As with any major city in this country the public schools generally aren't the best unless you're willing to pay top dollar to live in the wealthiest neighborhoods.

Without knowing your housing budget I'd give you the following recommendations:

1.) West View: This small town of just under 7,000 has some day-to-day business conveniences within it (i.e. grocery store, barber shops, restaurants, etc.) and is located very close to the Ross Park Mall shopping area (pretty much 2-3 times the size of the Viewmont Mall area). It is part of the North Hills School District, which is above-average (and certainly better I'd imagine than what I've been hearing as of late about Scranton High). It is bordered by Ross Township, a pretty large suburban community with a of 1960s-1970s era housing developments with homes generally in the low-to-mid-$100k range. It offers easy access down I-279 into the city, and the commute down from the north of town is the easiest direction in terms of traffic flow. I think if you're looking for an older and more "tight-knit" city neighborhood like North Scranton that is also convenient to shopping areas in Dickson City as well as the city of Pittsburgh itself, along with good schools, then West View wouldn't be a bad option. Ross Township would offer you a more suburban feel. I don't know if diversity is important to you, but West View is about 98% white, which is probably even less diverse than your part of Scranton. West View's crime rate is approximately half the national average.

West View, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.city-data.com/city/West-V...nsylvania.html

North Hills School District

I also came across this site, which is eerily reminiscent of the "Doherty Deceit" message board back in Scranton where locals lobbed critiques and insults at their government officials. Perhaps Hopes, Copanut, or another nearby resident could shed some light as to whether or not West View really is this politically corrupt:

wEST vIEW---an excess of evil in western Pennsylvania. Nepotism rules! Patronage is commonplace.

2.) Dormont: Another small town of around 8,500, Dormont has its own small business district and also offers easy access into the city. Unlike West View, which doesn't have rail service, Dormont sits along the "T", a trolley/light rail line that links Downtown Pittsburgh (including nearby attractions like Station Square and soon the North Shore---PNC Park (Pirates), Heinz Field (Steelers), Rivers Casino, Carnegie Science Center, etc.---to its southern suburbs (Dormont touches the city's southern neighborhoods). You sit right above Mt. Lebanon, which is an affluent town with a very good public school district (think of a much larger Abington Heights/Clarks Summit). Dormont reminds me the most of Old Forge (with a bulkier business district) or maybe Pittston (with less blight/property crime). Dormont is located within the Keystone Oaks School District, which is average by local standards but probably a bit better than Scranton. On the other side of nearby Mt. Lebanon sits South Hills Village, which has a mall and numerous other outparcel chain restaurants and "box" stores nearby. Dormont generally has reasonable housing prices, but that is offset by generally high property taxes.

Dormont, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Borough of Dormont*

Dormont: On Golden Mountain

http://www.city-data.com/city/Dormont-Pennsylvania.html

Keystone Oaks School District - Home

I personally prefer Dormont over West View, but where you end up working will also help dictate where you should consider living. For example, if you get a job in Cranberry Township, you'll want to live in West View for an easier commute since both are located north of the city. Downtown Pittsburgh may give the edge to Dormont so you could take the trolley line. A job in Robinson Township or Moon Township would give the edge to Dormont because both are south/west of the city.

3.) Oakmont: A small town of 6,300, Oakmont is a very idyllic place. It has a nice brick main street lined with small shops (a mystery book store, an ACE Hardware, a Panera Bread, the famed Oakmont Bakery, a small movie theater showing mostly independent films, jewelers, and much more). It is more "removed" from the pace of the city than either Dormont or West View, and it probably offers the worst commute into the city. You either have Allegheny River Boulevard, which becomes congested at rush hour, or you can cross the congested Hulton Bridge to Route 28 in either Blawnox or Harmar Township. The housing stock overall is very well-maintained, and there are lots of younger families in Oakmont. From what I understand the Riverview School District, which also serves neighboring Verona, has been steadily declining in terms of overall academic quality over the years as Verona attracts more lower-income families who are being priced out of Pittsburgh's East End as it continues to revitalize itself, but Oakmont itself is very stable. Oakmont feels like a larger version of Honesdale or Tunkhannock, in my opinion, and it really does have a "Mayberry" aura around it. A relatively large new neighborhood, Edgewater (see link below), is under construction in the southern part of the borough, and all these new residents might spur new business growth as well (i.e. the town's Giant Eagle grocery store closed several years ago and relocated to Verona). If you cross the Hulton Bridge and turn right onto Freeport Road you're probably about 3/4-mile from Harmar Township's growing business district, which has a Target, numerous fast-food restaurants, and some other conveniences right at the PA Turnpike interchange. Parts of Oakmont, especially near to the Oakmont Country Club, have a rather "old money" aura while the majority of the town feels middle-class to upper-middle-class.

Oakmont, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edgewater Neighborhood in Oakmont, PA - Real Estate in Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Oakmont Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce

Borough of Oakmont Pennsylvania

http://www.city-data.com/city/Oakmont-Pennsylvania.html

Riverview School District (http://www.rsd.k12.pa.us/rsd/site/default.asp - broken link)


These are the only three recommendations I'll list for now until you reply with some more things that you're looking for:

-Are you looking to stay in a city neighborhood like North Scranton (sidewalks, tight-knit neighbors, occasional property crime?)

-Do you want to stay as close as you are now to Viewmont-like shopping?

-Are good public elementary schools okay if you're willing to invest in private or religious high school? (This will open up more city neighborhoods).

-What is your approximate housing budget?

-What do you do for a living? (I could help suggest places to try job-hunting).

[bcar72]

Hey steelcity thanks for the quick reply, certainly a few things to tell ya, i currently have a job out there at UPMC the reason I'm leaving here and oas you know its not the scranton I grew in although still not bad, but jobs are not here, all the homes going up for sale is terrible and now with the county tax and scranton tax going up totalling nearly 70% is all is passed, enough said on that you know what i mean, you are correct I am right by schiffs behind johnson's actually very close to vo-tech, the mall doesnt really matter how far it is, and and for schools scranton high is not one's first choice you are right there. my budget i would say 900/month give or take, i do like the sidewalk, decent size properties, but i dont know if i could rent something like that or not i dont want to buy until we're out there and settled and things are going well. my fiancee did live out there and mentioned north hills but she did admit she was out there years ago and don't know if its still the same. and thank you for taking the time to post all them places i really do appreciate it cause this whole relocation thing is a little overbearing to be honest.