Currently living in Los Angeles, want to move family. TONS of questions! (Pittsburgh: insurance, house)

[Tallysmom]

Here's the thing -- when you CHOOSE to move into a marginalized neighborhood, you have to take it, warts and all. And those warts include drug dealers (call the cops over and over and see what that gets you) parties (IBID) and vandalism (IBID).

You cannot move into a place like this and expect CRANBERRY. Or a walkable version of that.

It's like when I watch House Hunters on HGTV. The buyers want a historic house and then complain when there's no walk in closets, no granite in the kitchen and my stars -- no double sinks and no "En Suite" -- what we used to call a master bath. You know why? Because no one had that in historic houses. And historic houses that have that are remodeled and will be WAY out of your price point.

An frankly -- we've lived in a marginalized neighborhood for 25 years and frankly, I like the fact that people live and let live.

[Uptown kid]

I'm sorry but the ghettos on the Northside are all located on the other side of the highway with (the ececption of Northview & Three Rivers Manor) and don't include Brighton Heights south of Davis Ave.

[KillerK]

Everyone else has covered stuff well, I'll just put in my two cents that I love Pittsburgh. I grew up a bit north of there, went to school near there and spent a lot of time there. I really enjoy that city.

I will say you ought to visit in winter sometime. It's not terribly cold compared to many places but it definitely does get snow and it will probably be a lot cloudier there than SoCal on average. Just make sure you visit in winter so you know whether or not you'll end up hating living there because of the weather. Personally I like snow and getting distinct 4 seasons, but some people can't really take it very well.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by WPANative

I hate these posts too. Oddly enough, I'd pack up and leave for Boston in a second. Boston is often looked at and rated as one of the most rude cities in the US, and we've never been treated anything but polite there. We also travel extensively through Canada, and we often hear how rude Canadians are, and again, we've never been treated with nothing but respect in that country.

I think Boston is a cool city as well, get there a few times a year, a good frat buddy of mine lives there. But it is so expensive, his house, a Maronda style 2200 sf pos is valued at 900K. Sorry, don't want to be house poor.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Sorry, don't want to be house poor.

That's how we felt about the Pacific Northwest. We fell in love with the area, but we don't want to be financially stupid.

[Yac]

50(!!!) deleted posts later I feel I have to remind some of you that the questions asked by the OP are not an invitation to rant, about anything. If you want to discuss a particular aspect of the city or whatnot, start a specific thread about it. Next time think about actually helping the OP.
Yac.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

I have a ton of questions. I'd greatly appreciate some insight

1.) Are there web design/graphic design jobs in Pittsburgh?

Unfortunately, I don't know.

2.) Would he still be able to make $60K, or would his income have to decrease significantly due to the difference in cost of living out there?

Sorry, again, I don't know. I'm not being very helpful yet, haha. My guess would be that the salary would decrease in proportion with the cost of living.

3.) Are there any colleges/universities in Pittsburgh? (I'm going back to school to finish my degree in Nutrition)

Yes, we have approximately 2 billion universities. Alright, maybe not that many, but we do have a ton. People often refer to PGH's economy as "Eds & Meds."

I think Pitt is supposed to have a pretty good Nutrition program, but I only say that because I've known three graduates from it in the past three years who all said so and all found jobs in Nutrition pretty quickly after receiving the degree. Two of them moved away, though, haha.

4.) How long is your commute? (Living in LA, sometimes it takes us 1-2 hours to get home because of the awful traffic.)

Of course, it depends on the neighborhood. If you live somewhere in the city limits, you'll be better off. The suburban areas get some obnoxious rush hour traffic. That said, my only West Coast traffic experience is San Diego, and the worst day in PGH seems to be much nicer than the best day out there.

I can't believe people stay sane in San Diego with that stuff. Well, it is an absolutely beautiful area, so that probably helps, hahaha.

5.) Right now we're paying $1,045 for a STUDIO APARTMENT in Los Angeles. On average, how much are apartments? What about housing? (looking for 2 bed, 1.5 bath)

Apartments will be significantly cheaper, but rent will vary by neighborhood. You should have no trouble finding a two bedroom apartment for $800 (or less if you take you time looking). I've never rented a studio, so I don't know about them.

Housing is cheaper than the other cities I am familiar with. I bought two years ago and seriously considered moving to another city at that time. The reason I stayed was the housing cost. I did some looking in the other cities I've spent time in (Philadelphia, Baltimore, very briefly in Harrisburg), and couldn't find anything in city limits that was A.) safe and B.) anywhere near my tiny budget.

In PGH my girlfriend and I ended up getting a nice, non-fixer-upper home in a safe, quiet neighborhood that is about 5 miles from downtown. There have been no shots fired, no muggings and no burgalaries in my area for the two years I've lived here, haha. My mortgage payment is also less than any rent I've ever paid in the city. It's ridiculous. For reference, we both make less than 35k a year.

6.) How safe do you feel? Right now, we don't go out after the sun sets. Between people getting randomly set on fire, and shot, (only a few blocks away from our apartment,) the crime is AWFUL here.

Safe. If you're familiar with sketchy areas in bigger cities, Pittsburgh will feel like quite safe. I'm not familiar with LA, but if you use Baltimore or Philadelphia as a reference point (which I'm guessing are comparable to LA at least to some degree), the worst neighborhoods in PGH don't hold a candle to what you experience there.

In the past I've lived in PGH neighborhoods that people cautioned me against because of them being dangerous, and each time I've ended up chuckling and thinking, "Man, if you people ever went to a real city and saw what a gritty neighborhood over there involves, your mind would explode."

I've never been to Pittsburgh. Neither has my husband. I'm thinking we should take a trip and just walk around and explore and see how the city feels to us. But I need to know those things ^ there first before making any decisions.

I'm 200% behind you on this idea. No matter what kooks like me say on the internet, there's really no substitute for checking a place out on your own.

[rsrobbins]

In regards to web design / graphic design jobs in Pittsburgh, I've read a book, Urban Guru: Pittsburgh by Amy Campbell, Bridget Daley, Matt Hamman, Jen Vella. As I recall, that book suggested the area is not great for that kind of work. However, I think Pittsburgh does have a vibrant arts scene which attracts creative people.

I work as a web developer and it really does not matter where you live since you can telecommute. I recommend finding a lot of freelance work just as a fall back to your full time job.

If I had to move, I would relocate to East Stroudsburg PA. There will you enjoy Pennsylvania's low cost of living with New York City close enough for professional and cultural opportunities.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by rsrobbins

If I had to move, I would relocate to East Stroudsburg PA. There will you enjoy Pennsylvania's low cost of living with New York City close enough for professional and cultural opportunities.

Eastern Pennsylvania's COL is increasing dramatically due to people from NYC and NJ hopping the border and pushing up housing costs, etc. It is becoming a suburb of NYC similar to how CT is. The same applies to the southeastern state line with people from the Baltimore and DC metros hopping the boarder.

[captainmidnight]

A $60K salary in Los Angeles translates to about $43K here. So if your husband finds a job that pays around $43K here, you would have roughly the same cost/standard of living as in Los Angeles. According to Indeed.com, the average Pittsburgh salary for a web designer is $62K. The only question is if there are any jobs like that here..