Moving my family to Brighton Heights

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The Ross Twp. Giant Eagle on Brighton Rd is virtually in the neighborhood,

Interesting, I hadn't even considered that the Giant Eagle might not technically be within city limits. If Google Maps is to be trusted Ross Twp. does have a little sliver of its boundary extending to where the Giant Eagle is. On the other hand, Giant Eagle's website calls it the 'Brighton Heights Giant Eagle.' In any case, it's pretty convenient for the entire neighborhood, and is walkable from a lot of it too.

[kylsttn]

Thanks, everyone. I'm finding this to be really encouraging. Commute seems reasonable. Neighborhood stable and trending younger. The schools might be a little dicey but there seems to be options.
Any thoughts on the parks, the playgrounds, the library?

[steindle]

Originally Posted by kylsttn

Thanks, everyone. I'm finding this to be really encouraging. Commute seems reasonable. Neighborhood stable and trending younger. The schools might be a little dicey but there seems to be options.
Any thoughts on the parks, the playgrounds, the library?

- The Woods Run library would be your closest option... I've only been there once, but it seems fine -- lots of events for kids each week, etc. That said, the Allegheny library is also relatively close and very new... Good for branch libraries, but obviously you can't beat the Main (Oakland) branch.
- As far as parks go, Riverview is right there and is, in my opinion, the most underrated park in the city by far. Essentially as big as Schenley, but not used nearly as much. There's also... I think Benton Field(?), which has baseball fields, a pool, etc. You'll also be very close to the Ohio River bike path. There are also presumably parks in Bellevue, Avalon, West View, etc.

[ferraris]

Riverview Park is really nice, but for now it's probably a driving destination by most people's standards, despite being adjacent to Brighton Heights. The Davis Avenue Bridge used to connect the neighborhood to the park, but it was demolished a few years ago. I did contact the city and they said there are plans to rebuild the bridge, but there was no time frame they could give me, so not anytime too soon (if ever). Steindle mentioned Benton Field, and there is also Marmaduke Playground, and the Playgrounds/fields at Morrow Elementary and the closed-down Rooney Middle School. If you go to the Woods Run Library there is a playground right next door, behind the fire station.

I haven't looked into it yet, but I'm pretty sure you can use the libraries in Bellevue and Avalon as well, even as a city resident.

How familiar are you with Pittsburgh in general? With small children the northside is a great location. It's a quick drive down Brighton Road to reach the lower northside where there's the playgrounds at Allegheny Commons, along with feeding the ducks. There's also the Children's Museum, National Aviary, Water Steps, Science Center, and PNC Park.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Riverview has a playground in it as well, along with tennis courts, a bunch of walking trails and a dog park. There are also some cool, free events there in the summer like jazz concerts and family friendly outdoor film screenings.

[robrobrob]

I have no idea where stay at home moms live. In my neighborhood, most of the moms have graduate degrees and work. We live in an upper middle class area. Relatives live in a more blue collar neighbodhood and the mothers work there as well. A friend told me that her sister lives in Mt. Lebanon and she is one of the few working mothers.

So, I am not sure that I buy the premise that if an area is affordable there will be more stay at home moms. I think you really need for the area to be fairly affluent and even then if the mothers are educated there is a good chance they are working.

[Hopes]

I'd say there is a higher percentage of stay at home parents in the upper class and working class neighborhoods. Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Fox Chapel, Mt. Lebanon, etc., more commonly have stay at home mothers. They're highly educated. Even though they stay home, many of them have full time nannies. There are stay at home mothers in working class neighborhoods where the parents decided that being home was more important than being middle class via two incomes. If having a second income just means having a bigger house, that's a trade off some couples are willing to make.

In middle class and upper middle class neighborhoods, the percentage isn't as high, but there are still plenty of stay at home parents. It requires one parent earning enough money for the family to live at that lifestyle level. I'm certainly not the majority in my neighborhood, but I'm not alone. On my street, there are four stay at home parents. Myself, a mother from a lesbian couple, and two stay at home dads. There are other stay at home mothers on nearby streets. Most of my stay at home friends are in other neighborhoods in the township. I met most of them doing things with my kids during the day, like being at the library, the park, etc. I met others once our children started school. The children became friends and the parents became friend as a result.

When you're not a stay at home parent, you don't realize who is staying home, unless they literally live on your street. You're at work during the day so you don't see the stay at home parents. You don't run into them at school because you're less likely to be volunteering at school during the day. You don't run into them at the parks, pools and library because you're at work.

Education doesn't really have anything to do with it. There are many highly educated women who feel it's important to raise their children themselves. I think it sometimes comes down to being materialistic or not. You'd be surprised how many people with money live well below their means.

If we lived in an area with a higher cost of living, I know for a fact my sister would have needed to be a working mother. She is a mother who chose to stay home in a more working class neighborhood. They wouldn't have been able to financially survive on one income if the cost of living was higher. Once her children graduated from high school, she returned to work and now they are upper middle class. I probably would have still stayed home, but we would have lived in a lower-middle-class neighborhood compared to where we live now.