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Old 11-19-2012, 10:55 PM
 
10 posts, read 19,029 times
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I am a single mom with 2 pre-teen boys moving to the Pittsburgh area from Iowa so I need info on safe areas. We are moving from a very small rural community in Iowa where we don't lock our doors and we leave the keys in the vehicles. We have no street smarts...lol. I will be paying for a house, no mortgage and need to stay under $90,000, preferably around $60,000 - $70,000. I have been looking online and know I can get something for that, just do not want to be in a rough neighborhood. I am looking at a property in North Braddock....is this a good area? I homeschool, so school district does not matter. Thanks so much
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Old 11-20-2012, 04:56 AM
 
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North Braddock wouldn't be my choice for someone who doesn't have street smarts.

In order to provide the best suggestions, we'll need more information.

Where will you be working? If not working, why Pittsburgh? Is there a specific side of town you want for a reason?

Does it have to be in Allegheny County or can it be a smaller town in the Pittsburgh metro a half hour to an hour away?
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:16 AM
 
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I won't be working, so it does not matter what side of town. It can be a smaller town in the area, but would like to be as close to Pittsburgh as possible. As for why I'm moving to Pittsburgh.....been a Steeler fan all my life and I am ready for a change....I no longer have someone telling me what I can and can not do!
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:22 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh PA
1,125 posts, read 2,349,285 times
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North Braddock is ok, but I would be careful to stay in North Braddock and NOT Braddock. Another few options for reasonably priced real estate would be Crafton, Carnegie, Bellevue, Avalon, (possibly) Dormont, (possibly) Green Tree, (possibly) Monroeville. Living in these neighborhoods would require locking your house and car (although when I lived in Bellevue last year, there were times when I forgot to lock my house and nothing happened) and just take simple precautions. On the other hand, your chance of encountering real danger would be slim to none. For the properties in North Braddock, feel free to post them on here so someone more familiar with the area can give their opinion on the area.
As an aside, parts of Penn Hills also are an option since you home school, but you really need to tread carefully, Penn Hills is a HUGE municipality and parts of it (mainly the eastern parts bordering the cities worst ghettos) are to be avoided while other areas are beautiful. Anyways, I wish you the best of luck on your move and hopefully the steelers improve from where they are now
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:32 AM
 
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"Living in these neighborhoods would require locking your house and car"....LOL, I figured we would lock up once we left Iowa.....it's just the "real danger" part I want to avoid. Like I said...I'm just a farm girl. And yes, hopefully the Steelers get something going, but if not,there's always next year. I love em anyway!
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:34 AM
 
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Thanks for the suggestions....I will check them out!
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,620 posts, read 77,632,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bccdmmom View Post
I won't be working, so it does not matter what side of town. It can be a smaller town in the area, but would like to be as close to Pittsburgh as possible. As for why I'm moving to Pittsburgh.....been a Steeler fan all my life and I am ready for a change....I no longer have someone telling me what I can and can not do!
Welcome in advance to Greater Pittsburgh (a.k.a. "Steeler Nation!") As an individual who likewise just picked up everything and moved here two years ago from Virginia just because I was "ready for a change" I can say that my own transition here came fairly easily. Since you won't need to worry about commuting and don't care about prevailing public school district quality due to your intention of home-schooling your boys your options are wide open. Generally speaking most neighborhoods that have an ample supply of homes in the $60,000-$70,000 range wouldn't be considered "desirable" by most. With that being said there are people like alleghenyangel who bought a rowhome in cash for $10,000 in Stowe Township, just northwest of Pittsburgh, and even though that area (adjacent to McKees Rocks) has a negative reputation he's had very limited issues. When I first moved to my own neighborhood of Polish Hill in 2010 I was warned by a woman at Rivers Casino that I lived in a "bad zip code". Flash-forwarding just a few years my neighborhood is now considered "hot" with homes selling upwards of $250,000, so you never truly know just when you'll buy a property for dirt cheap and ride the coattails upwards of a revitalizing area.

One of the first areas that came to mind for me would be Troy Hill, which is a neighborhood within the city proper of Pittsburgh that has homes available within your budget. The neighborhood is very convenient to Heinz Field (Steelers) and PNC Park (Pirates) along with Downtown and the Strip District (our fresh market district). The neighborhood is relatively safe. Violent crime is rare, and the property crime that does occur is minor. There are a few businesses for your day-to-day needs (convenience store, laundromat, pizzeria, drugstore, etc.), and if you're looking to be in a quintessential blue-collar working-class historic Pittsburgh neighborhood, then Troy Hill fits the bill. Some of the nearby river towns that are adjacent (yet not part of) the city proper would also be suitable---Millvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg. None of these four areas are particularly "pretty", but they are dirt cheap, safe enough for someone with limited "street smarts" to not have any issues, and are very convenient to the heart and soul of the city. Moving further upriver along the Allegheny River you may also want to look into Blawnox,Cheswick, and Springdale. Those small towns are convenient to a lot of shopping options (Pittsburgh Mills Galleria, Waterworks, Harmar Twp. Target, etc.) and are also still within about a 15-minute ride of Downtown (non-rush-hour). Out of those particular communities I'm partial to Springdale, but that's very subjective.

Most of the towns/neighborhoods on here that come highly-recommended will be meteorically out of your price range. With that being said if you find your dream home online, and it's listed for $99,900, make an offer of $70,000 CASH anyways. Sometimes a seller will be willing to lower their expectations a bit if they know a prospective buyer will have immediate cash on-hand. I personally would NOT recommend North Braddock to you. Most of the areas around that particular community, including Braddock itself, a good chunk of Swissvale, Rankin, Braddock Hills, etc. are not only economically depressed but are also not the type of areas I'd recommend to someone moving here cold-turkey with two kids and no street smarts. Other areas within the city proper I'd recommend to you based upon your budget would be Greenfield, Lincoln Place, Hays, Mt. Washington (some deals CAN be had here), Beechview, and maybe Brookline (which is a tad above your budget, but, as I said, may come within reach for a cash buyer). I'd also say "yes" to Crafton (if you can find a place within your budget), Bellevue (ditto), and Ross Township (ditto again).

Would it be possible for you to up your budget a bit, put the $60,000 down, and then finance the remainder? You said you wouldn't be working, but is that for personal reasons? I just think if you increased your budget a small bit you'd have a greater selection of homes requiring limited or NO "TLC" in the above-mentioned neighborhoods whereas a home for $60,000, even in these recommended areas which are normally a bit more reasonably-priced, will come with some baggage (i.e. cosmetics mostly but some structural issues could also creep up).
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:40 AM
 
Location: Florida
22 posts, read 80,136 times
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I would suggest Monroeville or west view over Braddock anyday Braddock is a bad town and not a good place for kids period!
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:40 AM
 
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The property I'm looking at is at 1339 Erma Street, N Braddock. I love this house and it has a little land, which would be nice considering we are living on 160 acres right now. From what I could tell, it looked okay, it's right behind a country club.
I'm also wondering about dog laws. I have a Rottweiler, she is a sweetheart but I know some place don't allow Rottweilers.
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Old 11-20-2012, 07:46 AM
 
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I will definitely stay out of N. Braddock. Troy Hill sounds great!
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