Recommend a neighborhood (Pittsburgh, Canonsburg, Denver: rent, home, transfer)

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Beechview and it’s sister city neighborhood of Brookline, and even the inner ring suburb of Domornt...

Affordable: Brookline/Beechview
Public Transportation: Dormont/Beechview/Beechview end of Brookline
Mexican Markets: Brookline/Beechview
Dense Rental Units: Dormont
Diversity: Brookline/Beechview is becoming more and more diverse all time, but has always had a nice mix of people.
Gay Life: Not sure exactly what that means, but i have LGBT friends that have moved to Brookline and are very happy here, although you are not going to find gay bars and clubs, but those are far and few between anywhere in this city.

People are going to basically write all of this off and say that since its not in the East End say that it is not diverse, walkable, or have decent public transportation, but I would suggest you at least try to spend an hour or two checking out these three areas as they often surprise people when they do actually give them serious consideration...

Beechview was the first place that i thought of, it has everything that the op is looking for. I am not so sure about the lgbt scene in that area, but i believe that the neighborhood is tolerant of all lifestyles.

[selltheburgh]

Beechview is what I thought of mainly because of budget. But it is like a scooby doo ghost town most of the time.

If you can raise your budget, then Lawrenceville or Shadyside (most of what you want, but you'll pay for it) or bordering neighborhoods (Bloomfield, Garfield, East Liberty - sometimes a 1 BR for $650 or less, but possibly more).

[Der Schwabe]

Originally Posted by Giselda

Hello. I'm a Texan with the current possibility to move to Denver or Pittsburgh (and a couple of more cities but those are tops). I'm wondering if anybody has good recommendations of neighborhoods to investigate based on the following (in order of priority): affordable, walkable/on public transit, compact rental unit living, diversity(especially Mexican grocers/establishments), gay life. I'm in my early thirties. I realize I will probably only be able to get some of those things.

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

Beechview is what I thought of mainly because of budget. But it is like a scooby doo ghost town most of the time.

If you can raise your budget, then Lawrenceville or Shadyside (most of what you want, but you'll pay for it) or bordering neighborhoods (Bloomfield, Garfield, East Liberty - sometimes a 1 BR for $650 or less, but possibly more).

Beechview would be an excellent option. Not sure I understand the scooby doo ghost town comment, but appreciate that as a clumsy segue to trot out of the usual suspects that would clearly (except for the truly run down extremeties of these areas) exceed the $650/month budget. Also unclear on where you would find Mexican establishments in those areas that would come anywhere close to rivaling the Beechview options (Patron's Cranberry-tastic Mexican offerings notwithstanding). Casa Rasta, El Milagro, Las Palmas, etc.

The T blows the buses out of the water and the OP would benefit from proximity to the West End of town to work. Getting Downtown or to the South Side for going out is a cinch. Best of luck to the OP.

[Faer]

Surprised no one has mentioned Lawrenceville or maybe the Strip yet. Both walkable, good transit, strip has mexican grocery covered and I know of at least 7 lgbt spots between 9th and 51st streets, on either Liberty or Penn.

[PghYinzer]

Those are great areas, but the OP mentioned that $650 a month for a one bedroom would be ideal....

[bluecarebear]

Up the budget by a couple hundred and you will get what you want.

[robrobrob]

I think people are recommending Beechview due primarily because of the Mexican Grocer. After price, you said your next most important thing was public transport. I think this is going to depend on where you work and how long of a commute you are willing to tolerate. A lot of the time, our buses make you transfer downtown.

Good luck in the search.

[JimboPGH]

As much as I like being a booster for Brookline and it's sister neighborhoods, I'd recommend sacrificing Las Palmas for the better public transit, walkability, larger gay community, and more connected urban fabric of the East End.

Within the OP's budget, I'd say Bloomfield, East Liberty/Highland Park, Western Wilkinsburg are all worth a look.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Der Schwabe

The T blows the buses out of the water and the OP would benefit from proximity to the West End of town to work. Getting Downtown or to the South Side for going out is a cinch. Best of luck to the OP.

The T is fine for getting to and from downtown, although not as fast as the East Busway. Outside of that, our public transit connection down here is lacking.

[SteelCityRising]

We're a 20-something left-leaning (although touchy people think I'm an anti-Semite now) gay couple living in the East End. We both own vehicles, but my partner COULD walk to work each day if he wanted to on the North Shore. I was formerly walking to work everyday in Oakland because parking was too much of a hassle, and I didn't want to pay to take the 54D bus.

There are LGBT individuals and couples scattered throughout the city and suburbs, and I can't think of any area I'd consider to be hostile towards us. If anything, old-school racists and bigots would probably still welcome us with open arms because they harbor the positive stereotype that if we start moving into the neighborhood and making it prettier and HGTV-like then their property values will shoot up.

What you're looking for is a tall order, and you're going to have to compromise somewhere. $650/month for a 1-BR in the coveted East End isn't really doable anymore. My partner and I live in a dumpy 1-BR in Polish Hill for $700/month (market value probably around $800/month these days), but that's because I've lived in this building for years now and my landlady probably doesn't want to rock the boat by jacking up the rent. Most 1-BR rentals that come on the market here these days are $800/month+, and we're one of the "cheaper" areas of the East End.

I like Beechview. I like Brookline. Those neighborhoods are just oozing with potential to be showplaces again someday soon like they each were in their heyday. You should be able to find a 1-BR for $650/month in Beechview and could take the "T" light rail to work (if you worked Downtown or the North Shore). If you work in Oakland, then the car-free commute from Beechview is going to be a hassle. The South Hills neighborhoods of the city proper of Pittsburgh probably have the densest concentration of Hispanic-Americans right now, albeit their numbers still aren't huge.

If by "gay life" you mean LGBT-friendly bars, then you're not going to find that in the South Hills at all. The East End/Downtown is the nexus of LGBT-friendly nightlife here. Shadyside has two very popular gay bars; Polish Hill has one; the Strip District has a few; Lawrenceville has a few; and Downtown has a few.

I couldn't imagine living car-free in Beechview if you'll be working/playing in the East End or Downtown most of the time. Let's say you'll be working in Oakland. You'll take the "T" Downtown and then transfer to a bus to Oakland. Then you want to go to 5801 or Spin in Shadyside in the evening to flirt and dance? You'd take a bus back to Downtown; take the "T" back to Beechview; change/shower/prep; then take the "T" back Downtown; take the East Busway to Shadyside; and walk about 1/3-mile to the Ellsworth Avenue nightlife scene. Then you'd have to leave Shadyside early enough to make sure you'd be back Downtown in time to grab the last "T" of the evening back to Beechview (or take a very expensive Lyft/Uber ride from Shadyside to Beechview).

Would you be open to having a roommate? Find a 2-BR/2-BA place somewhere in a cheap(ish) part of the East End, like Friendship, Bloomfield, or Polish Hill for ~$1,300/month if you can and split the rent two ways to get to your $650/month figure.

For as much as I like Beechview and Brookline, you will have a very good possibility of working in Oakland, our state's third-largest employment center, and neither has direct transit access to Oakland. I took a transfer once between two buses "for fun" one day. Not fun at all. Very long and cumbersome commute. Our transit agency really needs to re-examine its "spoke-and-hub" bus route system and make Oakland another "hub" so people outside the East End (minus the 54, which runs from the North Side to the South Side via Oakland) don't always have to take one mode of transit Downtown and then transfer to get to Oakland/East End.