Greensburg - East End Pittsburgh commute (McKeesport, Jeannette: how much, to buy, living in)

[PreservationPioneer]

How would a commute be from downtown Greensburg to the East End (Lincoln-Lemington) of Pittsburgh? Keep in mind, I have a reverse commute (into the city in the evenings, and outbound in the morning). How bad would it be?

[Drover]

I did the commute briefly from Point Breeze. It's tedious but painless if you're willing to pay tolls. Otherwise it's tedious and a chore. Mind you this was... wow, going on 15 years ago that I did this commute (how the time flies). Traffic patterns may have changed since then.

[BrianTH]

I think I'm confused--you would be working a night shift in the East End while living in Greensburg?

[Drover]

BTW, does this mean you're moving?

[PreservationPioneer]

I found a really beautiful multi-unit Victorian in Greensburg and was pondering what it would be like to make the commute if I were to buy it and live in it. I figured the commute would be too painful, but thought I would get some opinions.

[Pitt Chick]

You would be able to do it in under an hour.
Our record is 45 minutes, via the turnpike, and that is from further east than downtown. IF you avoid toll roads, it will probably be over an hour every time.

[PreservationPioneer]

It does sound like kind of a rough commute. I guess my Victorian mansion goal will go unfulfilled for now.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

How would a commute be from downtown Greensburg to the East End (Lincoln-Lemington) of Pittsburgh? Keep in mind, I have a reverse commute (into the city in the evenings, and outbound in the morning). How bad would it be?

I did a reverse commute to the East three different times. For about 8 months I commuted from Oakland to Jeannette, outbound in the morning, inbound in the evening, and it was not terrible. There was congestion, but very rarely was there much sitting traffic. My usual route was Turnpike outbound in the morning, Route 22 inbound the evening. Route 30 can be frustrating, especially in the area of Jeanette and Hempfield.

After that, I had three different offices in Monroeville to which I commuted from Oakland for about one year and from Downtown for about a year. I hated that commute. The morning was generally fine, but driving in Monroeville I found to be terribly frustrating. Also during that time my schedule was such that I would come inbound around 430 and often sat in traffic before the tunnels.

Finally, my girlfriend now commutes daily from Pittsburgh to Latrobe (outbound AM, inbound PM) and it typically takes her about 50 minutes each direction. Again, there tends to be very little traffic in the AM, but Route 30 can be a pain in the late afternoon/early evening.

I'm not sure if you've ever had a long distance driving commute, but personally I think they should be avoided if at all possible. Once you look at the costs of such a commute, it really makes you think twice about whether or not it's worth it. Greensburg is a nice little city, though, and for the right place it may be worth exploring some other options. I'm not sure of the schedule, but you may want to look into Westmoreland Transit buses.

[captainmidnight]

Originally Posted by ML North

I did a reverse commute to the East three different times. For about 8 months I commuted from Oakland to Jeannette, outbound in the morning, inbound in the evening, and it was not terrible. There was congestion, but very rarely was there much sitting traffic. My usual route was Turnpike outbound in the morning, Route 22 inbound the evening. Route 30 can be frustrating, especially in the area of Jeanette and Hempfield.

After that, I had three different offices in Monroeville to which I commuted from Oakland for about one year and from Downtown for about a year. I hated that commute. The morning was generally fine, but driving in Monroeville I found to be terribly frustrating. Also during that time my schedule was such that I would come inbound around 430 and often sat in traffic before the tunnels.

Finally, my girlfriend now commutes daily from Pittsburgh to Latrobe (outbound AM, inbound PM) and it typically takes her about 50 minutes each direction. Again, there tends to be very little traffic in the AM, but Route 30 can be a pain in the late afternoon/early evening.

I'm not sure if you've ever had a long distance driving commute, but personally I think they should be avoided if at all possible. Once you look at the costs of such a commute, it really makes you think twice about whether or not it's worth it. Greensburg is a nice little city, though, and for the right place it may be worth exploring some other options. I'm not sure of the schedule, but you may want to look into Westmoreland Transit buses.

I agree with this. It wouldn't be a horrible commute, but it would be tedious. You would find pockets of congestion on Route 30 around the shopping centers in Hempfield and around Jeanette and Route 22 in Monroeville. It is not stop and go traffic, just delays.

I would take I-76 and pay the tolls. The less time you can spend on Route 30 or 22, the better IMO.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I found a really beautiful multi-unit Victorian in Greensburg and was pondering what it would be like to make the commute if I were to buy it and live in it. I figured the commute would be too painful, but thought I would get some opinions.

Do you work in Lincoln-Larimer now? If so, how much worse could the commute be from Greensburg versus McKeesport or wherever you live?