Moving to Pitt in need of advice! (Pittsburgh, York: 2015, apartment complex)

[NYCerabroad]

Hey all,
I'm moving to Pittsburgh for my residency at the beginning of July and I wanted to get an idea about where is best for me to live. I will be at you UPMC. I'm in my early 30s and I'm looking for a place that is walkable/bikeeable to the hospital. My budget should be about 1-2K. I am in a relationship, but I don't really know anyone in the area and would prefer to be in a similarly aged social area. I am also interested in activities such as singing, sailing, kayaking, hiking, climbing and camping and any advice about groups that I could join would be very appreciated. Any thoughts on the nightlife for somebody my age would also be appreciated. I am from New York and will be traveling back pretty frequently so any advice on air travel back to New York City would be great as well (I'm noticing that round-trip flights seem to cost approximately $250 a few weeks out on average - is that standard or are there any tricks?).
Thanks for your help and I look forward to spending the next four years in Pitt!!!!

[SteelCityRising]

Hello, and welcome in advance to Pittsburgh!

First of all, we need to know which UPMC hospital you'll be heading to for your residency. I'm going to presume UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, since that is the network's "flagship" hospital, so to speak, but I could be wrong. If that's the case, then that hospital is in the city's Oakland neighborhood, which is the hub for its "eds" (Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Carlow University) and "meds" (UPMC). Oakland tends to be dominated by students---some parts more than others. It also has the densest census tract in the city, which has a population of over 30,000 people per square mile (which should be reminiscent of NYC for you). With that being said North Oakland has many buildings that are home to a good mix of medical residents, graduate students, young professionals, and (semi)-retirees. I'd recommend looking into some of the apartment buildings in West Shadyside, near to Morewood & Centre Avenues. Here you can find nice places within your budget that are a long walk or a short bike ride from the hospital as well as to numerous business districts with nightlife, restaurants, shopping, etc.

My personal favorite complex in this neighborhood from being a delivery driver who has served most of these buildings would be Shadyside Commons: https://reinholdresidential.com/prop...yside-commons/

This building is tucked away in a quiet corner at the end of Bayard Street at Amberson Avenue, yet it's still very close (within a mile) of Presbyterian Hospital and the business districts of Shadyside. 1-BR units are around $1,500/month, which is a tad high for the neighborhood, but the complex is nicer, in my opinion.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by NYCerabroad

Hey all,
I'm moving to Pittsburgh for my residency at the beginning of July and I wanted to get an idea about where is best for me to live. I will be at you UPMC. I'm in my early 30s and I'm looking for a place that is walkable/bikeeable to the hospital. My budget should be about 1-2K.

UPMC is a multiple site location- hospitals in Oakland, Shady, Uptown, McKeesport, McCandless, Monroeville and Aspinwall- clinics in South Side, Garfield, L'ville and elsewhere.

The biggest hospitals are in the east end, I'd suggest Shadyside for an easily walk/bikable for you, doc.

[NYCerabroad]

Thanks for the quick responses, I'll be rotating through all the places in the city limits; Presbyterian , shadyside etc... Most time will be at Presbyterian though. Any thoughts on activities?

[theta_sigma]

Definitely for outdoor activities of all sorts, look into joining Venture Outdoors. They arrange kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing and all sorts of activities in the Pittsburgh area. Great way to meet new people here, too.

[gladhands]

Has anyone ever called you a hipster? If so, Bloomfield or Lawrenceville.

If not, Shadyside or East Liberty.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by NYCerabroad

Thanks for the quick responses, I'll be rotating through all the places in the city limits; Presbyterian , shadyside etc... Most time will be at Presbyterian though. Any thoughts on activities?

The apartment complex I linked, along with the neighboring complexes, are literally a 5-minute walk from UPMC Shadyside, also, in addition to being a mile (flat) from UPMC Presbyterian. You can walk to Fifth Avenue to hop a bus to UPMC Mercy. UPMC Montefiore is literally next-door to UPMC Presbyterian. I'm not sure about bus service between Shadyside and UPMC South Side or UPMC St. Margaret, though, but I'm sure one of the many Shadysiders on here could address that. I'm also nearly positive that there are shuttles provided by UPMC for employees that run between Presbyterian, UPMC Children's, and Shadyside hospitals.

As far as activities are concerned I'd recommend joining the Pittsburgh Young Professionals group on LinkedIn. I'm always receiving invitations to their social functions/mixers, and that would be a great way to meet other young professionals in the community. MeetUp is also a great resource.

Pittsburgh is nice in that while it's a big city it is very convenient to the great outdoors! You can rent a kayak near PNC Park (Pirates stadium) and paddle all around the rivers around Downtown. Frick Park, Schenley Park, Riverview Park, and Highland Park are my four favorite city parks, and while they obviously pale in comparison to Central Park they all offer wonderful opportunities for hiking and running. There's a great trail along the North Shore for running/biking, too. Ohiopyle State Park, McConnells Mill State Park, and Raccoon Creek State Park are all within an hour of the city, and all of these parks offer great outdoor recreation opportunities.

[NYCerabroad]

Thanks for the advice, Steel! Other opinions are also appreciated!

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by NYCerabroad

Thanks for the quick responses, I'll be rotating through all the places in the city limits; Presbyterian , shadyside etc... Most time will be at Presbyterian though. Any thoughts on activities?

Welcome! You've gotten good advice on areas to live and some recreation. I'll add to the recreation info:

Pittsburgh Magazine just published an article about the 20 best hiking and biking trails.

PUMP has networking, fun events and a sports league.

See the live and play sections of the imaginepittsburgh website.

Regarding flights to NYC, airlines have reduced the flights and I haven't seen many deals lately. You probably know to do this but check all three airports - EWR, JFK, LGA. The train takes a long time - 7 or 8 hours just to get to Philly. Megabus is probably cheapest and fastest.

Tis the season for new medical residents so you'll have a lot of other peers just moving here and exploring the city too. Have fun.