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Old 04-01-2012, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Tarentum - for now
17 posts, read 17,287 times
Reputation: 18

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Quote:
You know, it's worth noting that after seeing the "5-7pm" again that if you go home at 6:30 or later 30 min won't be a problem to these places. It's when you leave earlier that you'll run into a problem. 5:00-5:30 is going to be about peak time, but for most areas I think you'd still have some problems at 6:00.
I agree with this - I commute from Tarentum to Cranberry, which would be horrid except that I work from 10:30 to 7, so I never, ever hit traffic, even on 228 if I go the "back way" instead of the Turnpike.
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Old 04-01-2012, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Gibsonia, Richland Twp, Western PA
42 posts, read 69,203 times
Reputation: 35
I'd consider the North Hills Area. Hampton (Hampton Township), Pine-Richland (Pine and Richland township, Gibsonia, Bakerstown, Wexford), North Hills, Fox Chapel, and North Allegheny are the major schools districts.
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Old 04-02-2012, 01:21 AM
 
118 posts, read 235,012 times
Reputation: 69
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jmark123 View Post
Thanks for all the tips. I am in Pittsburgh now and spent the first day seeing houses in the south hills. I like houses in Upper St Clair and South Fayette.

I am really trying to figure out the commute and it is tough. I tested the commute from Magee to Upper St Clair by leaving Magee at 5:45 and heading south. My GPS sent me over the Liberty Bridge and through the Liberty tunnel then down 19 most of the way. Honestly, the bridge and the tunnel weren't the issue, just the congestion on the streets after that. Is there a better way? It was a 30-40 minute commute time range depending of the area of Upper St Clair. I imagine South Fayette is worse? Or is it faster to take the Fort Pitt tunnel and then stay on the freeway the whole time?

I am looking at north hils houses tomorrow but I am not optimistic about the commute there either. I wanted to drive to Hampton this afternoon, but gave up after 45 minutes (leaving from Magee at 4) and we weren't even to Etna yet. The GPA sent us from Blvd of the Allies to 579, to 28, to 8. Again - is the GPS just messing with me and giving me the worst possible routes or is the drive really that bad?

Upper St Clair and South Fayette are great communities, but there's no way you're getting into Oakland in 25 minutes on a weekday morning. I'd say 50 minutes to an hour if you're lucky. What is your first priority? Commute time, school system, or real estate value? That's what you need to identify.

Mixing all of those together, I'd strongly recommend considering Whitehall. You should be able to commute to Oakland within 25 minutes via multiple routes, the school system is good(Baldwin-Whitehall), and you can find a lot of $200,000+ houses. I think they have a 5-k race in the summer that they call or used to call the Nice People 5-K Run or something, lol. Plus, there's virtually no crime there! I know there are at least 3 or 4 parks/ballfields in the borough, and it's less than 10 minutes from South Park, the main county park in the South Hills that offers everything you'd want as far as outdoor fun for the whole family goes. It's very suburban, yet close to everything, including Oakland. You're no more than 5 minutes from a grocery store anywhere in the borough. During off peak hours, you'll make it to Oakland in 15 minutes maximum. There are 3 or 4 different routes you can take. It flies under the radar, because it's older and more established than outer-lying USC and South Fayette. You can probably find a great deal there relative to USC, South Fayette, and the various North Hills communities. Plus, you'll get to Oakland in half, if not one-third the time.

I can't wait to hear where you decide on. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions.

Last edited by interested_burgher; 04-02-2012 at 01:57 AM..
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Old 04-02-2012, 05:19 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,590,624 times
Reputation: 5162
Quote:
Originally Posted by interested_burgher View Post
Upper St Clair and South Fayette are great communities, but there's no way you're getting into Oakland in 25 minutes on a weekday morning. I'd say 50 minutes to an hour if you're lucky. What is your first priority? Commute time, school system, or real estate value? That's what you need to identify.
Was stated at the beginning that morning commute would be before traffic is an issue. That said, I don't think it was ever mentioned just how early, and your post reminds me that I tend to start hearing about some traffic from the west as early as 6am or so. If the start time is, say, 7am, that would affect any easy drives from S. Fayette. If the start time is 6am, then it's probably marginal if any problems, and anything before that would be unaffected.

So noted just in case OP thinks traffic starts later. (From the north, though, it really does start later, and 7am start time wouldn't be a traffic issue.)
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Old 04-02-2012, 07:59 PM
 
10 posts, read 15,190 times
Reputation: 14
AM traffic definitely won't be an issue for me - I'll be leaving my house well before 5am most days. Ouch ... And from talking to more people I also confirmed that it will be a rare day that I leave the hospital during peak rush hour commute times.

We have a contract for a house in USC - beautiful house, I love the neighborhood, and ultimately really wanted those schools for my kids. It has easy access to both 79 and 19. I also talked to people out in the neighborhood this weekend to get an idea for the commute to that area specifically and it was very helpful (and wow, people are amazingly friendly and helpful there!).

I feel very good about it. Thanks for all the help!
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Old 04-03-2012, 05:37 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,590,624 times
Reputation: 5162
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jmark123 View Post
... I feel very good about it. Thanks for all the help!
Excellent! Moving fast there, but sounds like you're in good shape. Congratulations and good luck.
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