family potentially moving to Pittsburgh - neighborhoods to visit during trip (Sewickley: school district, buses)

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Sluni

Greetings, everyone and thanks for all the info. I think it looks like we may be coming to your city around Easter during kids' break so I look forward exploring. I am sure I will be back with more Qs!

Okaydorothy - so glad for your Eu perspective :-) I found your other post about how very happy you were in the Burgh and how your kids are striving, that is absolutely awesome and I am so glad you all settled in, found friends and kids love it. So so happy for you.

Lot of you recommend Sewickley. I also read elsewhere that it is more "old money" and "Stepford town?" Can you comment on how welcoming and "keep up with the Joneses" it is there? Looks like our budget would not give us much there anyway but out of interest.

I heard about Upper St Clair too. That is more a car oriented suburb? It was not mentioned here much.

One slightly unrelated Q - I love downhill skiing. I know 7springs well, we go there often - where do Pittsburghers go for "bigger mountain" skiing without flying there? I am thinking within 8 hr drive - can you get to some bigger resorts in (I guess) Vt, NH, NY? I am not very familiar with resorts there so when looking at google maps, could not quite figure that out.

Thanks!

Snowshoe, WV is a bigger mountain. Cupp Run/Shay's revenge has a vertical of over 1500 feet. Seven Springs has nothing close. Canaan Valley and Timberline are also nice. 8 Hours might get you to close to southern Vermont. 9 might be more realistic.

I am not sure how much old money is left in Sewickley. I would imagine that a lot of money has left the area over the last 100 years. Frankly, this isn't a question that can be answered on this forum because none of us live there. There is money there but I am not sure if "old" money is accurate. Most of the people that I know that live there are wealthy but do not have old money. I really feel that Sewickely's reputation is just that a reputation.

The other thing to remember that there is the Sewickley Village, Sewickley Heights, Sewickley Hills, Bell Acres, Edgeworth, Osbourne and Leetsdale. So, it really is a diverse area in that there are people that have a lot of money and people that don't.

[The King of Um]

There is "old money" in the Sewickley region, but as others have noted, it's mainly outside of Sewickley village. Granted, there are some well-to-do families who own grand homes in the village who have lived there for many generations, but that's not typical. Most of the "old money" in the region is in Sewickley Heights (Wilpen Hall and a few others), and to a lesser extent, the more pastoral parts of Edgeworth (the Newington Estate amongst others). However, even those boroughs' populations are mainly well off, upper-middle-class or upper-class working professionals.

[okaydorothy]

When you come to visit, line up a few schools to look at. I researched schools on Greatschools.net and would only look at schools that were rated 9 and above.
We visited Hampton, Fox Chapel, Quaker Valley and South Fayette. One of the principals asked us where we were looking at, and when we told him the areas, he said to pick the house, not the school as those schools were pretty good. We didn't want schools where the kids would feel below the average income. The kids didn't like Hampton at all so that was out. They liked Fox Chapel but we couldn't find a house in our reduced budget that we could move right into. Many of the lawyers I work for live in Sewickley and Upper St. Clair. Our main focus was on schools as the kids were coming from a small parochial school and I didn't want them to go to a huge school.
Our lives here are so much better for the move. Of course we would say that. I am happy, the boys are thrilled although my younger son complains that many kids don't travel or know life outside the area. Thats ok, he got that even on Long Island. But he has some Indian and asian kids in his class that go home often.My dh would have liked to work part-time, and that will be down the line. We can even go to concerts in the city now, where in NY, we were at least 90mins drive to Manhatten. Our family life is so much better here ; we come home from work and we all watch tv together, or help with homework, or go to Rugby games (my son plays), and Fall is Football season ; Football is HUGE here.
If you need any more info, or have any other questions, ask away. This board was a huge help to me when we were moving.

[Goodjules]

I haven't read the entire thread but you should consider Crafton if it works geographically. We're not far from downtown and you can take the busway. For some reason the schools here have a so-so reputation, not bad mind you, but not great. Not sure why. My kids are grown, but I have lots of neighbors with school age kids who love the public schools. They are all middle class professionals who expect their children to do well in school and go on to good colleges. They wouldn't send their kids to bad or even mediocre schools. If you'd like to know more about the schools, pm me and I can connect you with one of my neighbors who's on the school board. I can also give you the name of my realtor. I was very happy with him. I bought my house here in Dec of 2012. Houses in Crafton are inexpensive, but most were built around 1900. They tend to be somewhat grand older homes. If you prefer newer housing Crafton probably isn't the place for you. As a newcomer to the state I can tell you that my neighbors were very welcoming and friendly. I am very happy that I bought a home here. Good luck with your search and welcome to PA. I agree with okaydorothy, this board rocks and is a tremendous help when you are relocating from far away.

[Hopes]

I scanned through the thread.

I adamantly oppose Highland Park. It doesn't meet her criteria as a bustling place with lots of businesses and I don't think she'd be happy with the safety of the surrounding area. Highland Park has a pool, but drug dealers are hanging out at that park all day long on the weekends and when the weather is warm. Sure, her kids will be safe. They won't mess with her kids, but I doubt that's the urban park she's hoping to find for her children.

Aspinwall and Sewickley don't have pools within walking distance. Aspinwall doesn't have many kids playing at the playground. The children will be very limited in where they can go on bikes in Aspinwall since it is surrounded by busy streets.

Mt. Lebanon meets all of her criteria.

Did anyone mention Oakmont? It has a community pool, library and almost everything she listed.

[Goodjules]

Crafton has a pool too.

[onwardandupward]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Did anyone mention Oakmont? It has a community pool, library and almost everything she listed.

While I'm a big Oakmont booster, the town does not, sadly, have a community pool.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Did anyone mention Oakmont? It has a community pool, library and almost everything she listed.

I did. I'm an uninhibited booster of Oakmont, but others chimed in with concerns about the below-average public school district it lies within (that's certainly news to me), and its relative geographic isolation (which does have some merit). The other day we were at the Oakmont Bakery, and as we headed back into the city traffic was backed up on Allegheny River Boulevard outbound (towards Oakmont) from the light at Sandy Creek Road almost all the way to Washington Boulevard. The opposing motorists we zoomed past looked absolutely miserable. Oakmont is such an idyllic community, but there's just no easy way to get there.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by onwardandupward

While I'm a big Oakmont booster, the town does not, sadly, have a community pool.

C'mon, you can just jump into the river, a'nat.

[Julien_Squirrel_Hill]

We also come from europe and we considered buying a property in Mt. Lebanon however when we visited the area, it looked way too suburban for us. We ended up buying a house in Squirrel Hill and our children go to Colfax, we live nearby Frick Park and are walking distance from buses and the business area of Squirrel Hill. If you are considering buying a house, you should use Zillow, this website provides useful info about schools etc.