New Urbanism Communities in/near PGH (Pittsburgh, Mount Lebanon: chapel, townhome, neighborhoods)

[Radomom]

Hi all,
My husband and I are considering a move to the Pittsburgh area. We currently live in a new urban community (Neo Traditional Neighborhood) in the suburbs of Denver. I'd really like to do some research on similar neighborhoods. We're looking for a tight community with lots of kids, diversity and social activities. We have two children ages 2 1/2 and 5 1/2. In the city or out is fine. Can anyone give some advice for these types of areas? We ideally would like a single family home, not a townhome.
Thanks!

[gameguy56]

"New" urbanism? In Pittsburgh, urbanism never left.

Look at Squirrel Hill in the city. You can certainly get a nice detached home there.

[vtPGH]

If you're looking for a neo-traditional planned 'development,' two to check out are Chapel Harbor on the Water in the Fox Chapel School District, and Summerset at Frick Park in the Squirrel Hill section of the City of Pittsburgh. Both try to emulate the turn-of-the century aesthetics that seem prevelant among many new urbanist developments. However, both are still being built-out, and are noticeably short of the retail and business side at the moment...(i.e. they're not yet truly mixed-use communities)
Again, being an older city, the Pittsburgh area has many walkable, traditional neighborhoods and communities with a retail/residential mix that continue to thrive. Some that come to mind are Oakmont, Mount Lebanon, Sewickley, Aspinwall, and Bellevue outside of the city proper, and Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and Regent Square within Pittsburgh. There's many others as well, but these seem to be the one's with lots of detached homes, rather than more rowhomes and duplexes.

[guylocke]

I've not seen Chapel Harbor yet, is it a nice development?

[BrianTH]

As others above have noted, Pittsburgh is a fantastic city if you like this style of neighborhood because it has many such areas that were developed in the late-19th through mid-20th century. And many of those areas are currently among Pittsburgh's most vibrant and popular neighborhoods, in part because of the trend toward "new urbanism".

So, you will really have a lot of choices, both in the city and in various older suburbs. One thing you might consider is where you would likely be working and if you would like to take public transportation to work. For example, if you work Downtown, there are several possible commuter options (e.g., from neighborhoods like Mount Lebanon or the South Side you could take Pittsburgh's light rail, the T, and from East End neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill or Regent Square you could take a bus, some of which travel on a dedicated busway to Downtown for express service).

Good luck on your search, and please feel free to ask about specific neighborhoods as you learn more.

[gallacus]

As far as my understanding of "New Urbanism" goes, there aren't really any great examples of it in Pittsburgh. If what you are coming from is Stapleton, you wont find anything like it here. What limited new development we have here is more residential than anything.

I have heard talk of utilizing the New Urbanism school of thought to redefine the smaller towns along the T, though. This could be interesting to watch.

UDA Projects

[Radomom]

Thanks for the info everyone! I'm not sure what's going to happen yet, but if we take the plunge I'll be utilizing the forum.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by gallacus

I have heard talk of utilizing the New Urbanism school of thought to redefine the smaller towns along the T, though. This could be interesting to watch.

This basically happened along the Metro's Orange and Blue Lines running from Washington, DC, into Arlington, VA. In Arlington they call these neighborhoods that have sprung up around the Metro stations "Urban Villages".

[connorkl]

Don't Forget to look at Point Breeze. Many of the blocks host block parties in the summer. The only challenge of course is the public schools, you are at a better school there, but many people send their children to private schools.

[Nelson73]

Hi Radomom.....we too are looking to move from CO (Boulder) to Pittsburgh. During my investigation I've seemed to like Aspinwall alot due to the walkability (if that's a word) of the town with a small shopping and restaurant district. We also used to live in a new urbanism community in the Denver area (Bradburn Village).

I sent you a direct message and would love to connect with you.

Later