Looking for more ideas on next neighborhood... (Pittsburgh, Allentown: for sale, homes)

[mjyarish]

Originally Posted by rockthecasbah121

I think Pittsburgh's zoning is pretty hard to deal with when it comes to some of this stuff.

This is true, I'm sure. But it sounds like that'd be easier to deal with than the OP's preferences :P

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by mjyarish

You're far better off just adding on somehow to what you already have, whether it's an addition off the back, top, side.. heck, you can even dig the basement out and relocate utilities. Then you'd have the ONLY house like it in the neighborhood and you'd never have to think about moving again!

We live in a rowhouse. There is no way to expand to either side unless we buy out our neighbors on one side and knock holes in foot-thick brick walls. Which my wife has seriously thought about in the past, but is probably outside of our price range now.

As to the front, we sit right on the sidewalk, with zero setback. We have a fully furnished attic already. My wife has been complaining about a flip across the street where they are putting in a larger dormer having "ruined the integrity of the row" so there's no chance of expanding in that direction.

Regarding the backyard, there is an easement covering the entire yard (which is small). It's one of our biggest issues with the house. Essentially the four houses in our row, and the five houses around the block, have right of "ingress, egress, and drying of clothes" on our property. What this means in practice is we cannot make any improvements to our yard at all. We cannot even put up a fence. It's a big PITA, because at some point in the past, people paved the yard, which is now cracked and subsiding. While we can redo our segment, we can't put up a fence to block our neighbor's blight, and they don't have the money to spend on fixing their portion of the yard.

About the only realistic option we'd have would be take off the rear half of the main roof and the slant roof over our ell/dog leg, and build a flat roof back there instead. This would result in space we could stick a bathroom in in the attic. However, it would be a ton of work for what would amount to adding 126 square feet to the house.

[mjyarish]

Originally Posted by eschaton

We live in a rowhouse. There is no way to expand to either side unless we buy out our neighbors on one side and knock holes in foot-thick brick walls. Which my wife has seriously thought about in the past, but is probably outside of our price range now.

As to the front, we sit right on the sidewalk, with zero setback. We have a fully furnished attic already. My wife has been complaining about a flip across the street where they are putting in a larger dormer having "ruined the integrity of the row" so there's no chance of expanding in that direction.

Regarding the backyard, there is an easement covering the entire yard (which is small). It's one of our biggest issues with the house. Essentially the four houses in our row, and the five houses around the block, have right of "ingress, egress, and drying of clothes" on our property. What this means in practice is we cannot make any improvements to our yard at all. We cannot even put up a fence. It's a big PITA, because at some point in the past, people paved the yard, which is now cracked and subsiding. While we can redo our segment, we can't put up a fence to block our neighbor's blight, and they don't have the money to spend on fixing their portion of the yard.

About the only realistic option we'd have would be take off the rear half of the main roof and the slant roof over our ell/dog leg, and build a flat roof back there instead. This would result in space we could stick a bathroom in in the attic. However, it would be a ton of work for what would amount to adding 126 square feet to the house.

The attic bathroom plan doesn't sound too terrible, actually - you'd be getting that 2nd bathroom, and you might even consider moving laundry up there as well so you wouldn't have to trek up and down the basement (that's one of my biggest pains!).

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by eschaton

We live in a rowhouse. There is no way to expand to either side unless we buy out our neighbors on one side and knock holes in foot-thick brick walls. Which my wife has seriously thought about in the past, but is probably outside of our price range now.

I have a friend who did this in Lawrenceville. It makes for a very strange house.

[sealie]

Have you considered some sort of counseling? It sounds like you have thought of most of the things people have suggested, so I don't think the problem is that you are out of ideas. Some of the stipulations sound like this has gone beyond any issue with four walls and a roof.

[jay5835]

South Oakland? 3332 Dawson Street, Oakland PA - Trulia

South of the Boulevard, and it looks unremuddled on the exterior, to the best of my ability to perceive such from a single photo.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by jay5835

South Oakland? 3332 Dawson Street, Oakland PA - Trulia

South of the Boulevard, and it looks unremuddled on the exterior, to the best of my ability to perceive such from a single photo.

That's adorable. He can afford to fix any remuddling for that price. It's probably a foreclosure since there are no interior pics.

[Uptown kid]

^This is the alright part of South Oakland. https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=...a3e7ae4f&msa=0

[Hopes]

Even if she does finally agree on a house, it will probably be sold before she decides.

[Hopes]

Give her a link to this thread and let her read our comments. Maybe she'll realize she's being unreasonable.