bi-racial family looking to relocate to pittsburgh (Philadelphia, York: homes, neighborhoods)

[caltex42]

Hi,
Can anyone give me good feedback on how life is in Pittsburgh? We are considering moving from sacramento, ca to this city. I want to know about home prices, gas prices, high schools, elementary schools, and the cultural/ recreational life? Are there festivals and farmers markets do you have flea markets or swap meets. As I stated in my title we are a bi racial family looking for ethnic diversity. Please give me some honest information. If this city is all I hope it to be. I will be prepared to move full steam ahead with my relocation plans.

[cryschap]

I don't live there yet, from my research its either white or its black. There aren't many well mixed areas. If you want safety, it seems they say to avoid the primarily black areas like Wilkinsburg and Duesquene (sp?) to name a few. I grew up in WV which didn't see much diversity but when I moved away we were in some very divrese areas, Raleigh NC, Charlotte NC, St Louis MO and Orlando FL. I (being white) would actually like for my kids to go to a school that has a well rounded population, but the way it looks is the crappy schools are in the bad/black areas and the good schools are in the upscale/white areas. I hate the stigma this type of stuff carries, I would have liked for things to be different for my kids than it was for me. Time changes, people's mindset doesn't seem to. As I said I don't live there yet but have been doing research for a few months so this is just my findings and understanding. If I'm wrong someone correct me. Home prices are vrey affordable, gas prices are about national avg and from my understanding there is lots of culture in the area, musems and such to see. Comming from CA though, I bet you'll be in for a bit of culture shock.

[guylocke]

Hehe, Caltex, I think the reason you haven't gotten responses yet is because we get so many posts from people like yourself asking the exact same things!!

I will try to start, though.

I want to know about home prices

We were just ranked the second most-stable housing market in all of the USA. Home prices are extremely reasonable and usually appreciate roughly 5% each year, slow-and-steady. You could buy really beautiful homes in some of our most premier neighborhoods for well under 500k. You can also easily get nice, quaint, homes in nice locations for less than $200. I believe our medium home price is about $125. That must sound incredible coming from CA.

gas prices

I'm not sure how we would rate on a national level, but our gas prices are less than CA, that's for sure.

high schools, elementary schools

Are you talking about city schools or any schools? Western Pennsylvania is home to plethora of great educational institutes from elementary to higher education and everything in between.

cultural/ recreational life

For a city of it's size, Pittsburgh has an enormous wealth of culture and recreational things. Over our history, we have been home to some of the world's wealthiest families who, lucky for us, had a great love for culture and invested a ton of money into our city. We have wonderful theater, ballet, and museums. We are home to the national aviary and the well-received Pittsburgh Zoo. We have a a Children's Museum, and African American museum, the Warhol (Andy Warhol was a native) and several very artsy and contemporary museums. We are home to three major sports teams, with beautiful stadiums and a soon-to-be built new arena for the hockey players. We are also very much an outdoor city and have recently been ranked by several places as one of the premier cities in all of America for outdoor enthusiasts. National Geographic also ranked us the number one "best urban adventure" city in America this past year.

In the end, I think for the cost-of-living, Pittsburgh offers a mix of culture and recreational things that many cities wouldn't be able to live up to. Plus we are smack in the middle of a large city-beltway, and I know many Pittsburgher's take weekend trips to places like Cleveland, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Cincinnati, Niagara Falls, and Detroit. We are short of centrally located and most of those places are less than a six hour drive.

are there festivals and farmers markets do you have flea markets or swap meets.

Festivals? Yes. Farmers markets? We have the Strip District and many little community farmers who have small shops scattered throughout the metro. Flee Markets? Yes. Swap Meats? I'm not sure what you mean.

As I stated in my title we are a bi racial family looking for ethnic diversity.

Pittsburgh is a fairly "white" city with a low influx of immigration like Hispanics. That being said, we are also a very friendly and helpful city, where neighbors go out of their way to help one another and mostly everyone is accepted. You may not see a ton of bi-racial couples, but I also seriously doubt anyone would have any sort of problem with it whatsoever. You would be welcomed to any neighborhood of your choosing I would think.

[beth ann]

Originally Posted by caltex42

Hi,
Can anyone give me good feedback on how life is in Pittsburgh? We are considering moving from sacramento, ca to this city. I want to know about home prices, gas prices, high schools, elementary schools, and the cultural/ recreational life? Are there festivals and farmers markets do you have flea markets or swap meets. As I stated in my title we are a bi racial family looking for ethnic diversity. Please give me some honest information. If this city is all I hope it to be. I will be prepared to move full steam ahead with my relocation plans.

We are considering a move to Pgh from the Wash, DC suburbs (NoVa).

Home prices are very cheaper in Pgh, but property/municipality, etc taxes are triple compared to Va. Don't know about Ca.

Gas prices are higher in Pgh then the DC area. I think Pa state adds on another high tax on gas of over 30 cents per gallon. Va is about 17 or 18 cents. Again, don't know about how Ca compares.

As far as being a bi-racial family....look back to the "Diversity" thread I started recently on this forum. I think that will shed some light on this issue.

[caltex42]

Thanks!!!!! too all that responded. It was my first time posting and I didn't know what to expect. guylocke, you were very informative. beth ann I will search for the diversity thread. cryschap I want to thank you also!!

[Madisonbaby]

We are interested in moving to Pittsburgh as well from Tampa. I'm originally from the Pittsburgh area and went to school downtown at ICM but that was in 1986. I'm white and my husband is hispanic and I wanted to know how many hispanics there are in Pittsburgh so he doesn't feel so alone. does anyone know if there are alot of hispanics? I'm just happy he's a Steeler fan with me!!!!

[guylocke]

does anyone know if there are alot of hispanics? I'm just happy he's a Steeler fan with me!!!!

Short and sweet??

No.

There's not.

hahaha.

I'm sorry to say, but that's the truth. VERY few hispanics. We have almost zero in-migration of hispanics. I think our largest in-migration population, modest as it might be, is Asian.

[Seaharbour]

I love Pgh, I grew up there and I hope we can move back soon, i miss it!!!!

[fleetiebelle]

There is a small hispanic population in the southern part of the city and the South Hills. I live in Beechview, and there are two hispanic stores and a video store on one block, and the restaurant that used to be a taqueria looks like it's about to reopen (hopefully as another taqueria, but that's just my wishful thinking.) And I believe the Catholic Church (St. Catherine's) has a Mass in Spanish. And I think Dormont has some of the same.

[Madisonbaby]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

There is a small hispanic population in the southern part of the city and the South Hills. I live in Beechview, and there are two hispanic stores and a video store on one block, and the restaurant that used to be a taqueria looks like it's about to reopen (hopefully as another taqueria, but that's just my wishful thinking.) And I believe the Catholic Church (St. Catherine's) has a Mass in Spanish.

Thank you!