Forrest hills or Squirrell Hill

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by guylocke

Regent Square has seen a lot of flash appreciation recently, huh, BrianTH?

It certainly seems that way, although Regent Square is such a small and diverse neighborhood (as far as housing is concerned) that it is tough to say anything too definitive. But last year at least, some of the renovated places near the "downtown" area were selling for probably on the order of twice as much as they would have cost 5+ years ago.

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by hildi200

We are moving from the bay area to Pittsburgh

Such a great forum!

I fell in love with Pittsburgh when I visited two years ago. I wanted to relocate but after going through a divorce I felt that it wouldn't be fair to my two teenagers to move them while dealing with so much other stuff in their lives. My youngest will be off to college in five years and I plan to move then.

I currently live in the SF Bay Area and would love to hear your thoughts about life in Pittsburgh after you relocate.

when will you be making the move? what part of the Bay Area do you live in now?

[hildi200]

Thanks to all for all the comments and tips!

Juliegt, I will be moving in April. We are now in Palo Alto CA and even though it is nice we are tired of barely making ends meet! We are both scientists and have been offered faculty positions at UPMC. A year ago we visited and we fell in love with Pittsburgh! The idea of affording a house is surreal and we couldn't be happier! It is amazing to see people in the bay area with decent jobs and salaries barely making it! So I am sure I will miss the weather but that's it... ( although the sun can be too bright at times LOL). I can certainly let you know how is our new life in Pittsburgh comparing to California. Good luck in the meantime.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by hildi200

It is amazing to see people in the bay area with decent jobs and salaries barely making it!

It really is amazing that highly-educated and successful professionals have found themselves in the position in places like SF or NYC that they cannot find affordable housing.

Oh well--their loss is Pittsburgh's gain, so welcome!

By the way, my mother grew up in the Bay Area, and is now back there with a lot of my relatives on that side. Interestingly, I think there are some resemblances, mostly due to geography (e.g., hills next to water) but also the fact that at least old San Francisco matured at around the same time as old Pittsburgh.

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by hildi200

Thanks to all for all the comments and tips!

Juliegt, I will be moving in April. We are now in Palo Alto CA and even though it is nice we are tired of barely making ends meet! We are both scientists and have been offered faculty positions at UPMC. A year ago we visited and we fell in love with Pittsburgh! The idea of affording a house is surreal and we couldn't be happier! It is amazing to see people in the bay area with decent jobs and salaries barely making it! So I am sure I will miss the weather but that's it... ( although the sun can be too bright at times LOL). I can certainly let you know how is our new life in Pittsburgh comparing to California. Good luck in the meantime.

Hildi,

I live just a few miles north of you in Redwood City. I know what you mean about barely making ends meet. My mortgage is outrageous and I'm paying exorbitant private school tuition for one of my children. UGH! Let us know what area/neighborhood you decide on. Good luck!

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

It really is amazing that highly-educated and successful professionals have found themselves in the position in places like SF or NYC that they cannot find affordable housing.

Oh well--their loss is Pittsburgh's gain, so welcome!

By the way, my mother grew up in the Bay Area, and is now back there with a lot of my relatives on that side. Interestingly, I think there are some resemblances, mostly due to geography (e.g., hills next to water) but also the fact that at least old San Francisco matured at around the same time as old Pittsburgh.

Brian,

I think one of the reasons I liked Pgh so much was that it reminded me of San Francisco in many ways. Victorian era housing stock, hilly, near the water, grey weather, ethnically mixed, edgy art scene... Many differences too, but a very similar "feel" to the place.

[Windwalker]

Don't overlook the tax rate on your home and the school tax that's computed on top of that. Squirrel Hill is a great neighborhood for lots of reasons.

Check out Friendship, too, if you want a big old house for probably less money and convenient to all of the neighborhoods mentioned. My daughter walks to Oakland, Shadyside, and rides excellent bus service everywhere.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by juliegt

I think one of the reasons I liked Pgh so much was that it reminded me of San Francisco in many ways. Victorian era housing stock, hilly, near the water, grey weather, ethnically mixed, edgy art scene... Many differences too, but a very similar "feel" to the place.

I think that similarity is also becoming more noticeable over time. Just to give one random example, it seems to me that recently more people in Pittsburgh have become interested in using "Painted Lady" (aka polychrome) paint schemes on their homes (for whatever reason a lot of the late-19th/early-20th century homes had been painted in more monochromatic schemes, which often failed to highlight some of the wonderful details).

Of course, we did that ourselves (just to give an idea, when I tell people in my neighborhood which house is ours, my description ends with "you know, the orange and red one," and they usually start nodding), so I may be projecting. But I could swear that in general, the colors have gotten a lot brighter around here lately.

[commo]

Squirrel Hill is a great choice and the neighborhood in which many Pitt and CMU faculty members make their homes.
Traditionally, Forest Hills has rightly been considered a pleasant place to live but these days it is definitely looking shabby and I would not feel totally confident that a house purchased there would hold its value over time. Furthermore, it is on the wrong side (i.e. eastern side) of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and a commute to Oakland would not be quite the breeze that it is from Squirrel Hill.
As others have pointed out, there might be other viable options in Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville, Friendship, Shadyside) but there's absolutely no way that you can go wrong in Squirrel Hill. Welcome to Pittsburgh!!

[JStraub]

We currently live in Forest Hills, which is a quiet, little neighborhood next to churchill. From my experience, Forest Hills is a great place to live. The neighborhood is full of young couples, middle aged, and older folks that have been there for years. It is a very active, yet quiet community. Unfortunately we are moving to virginia for my husbands job, otherwise we would stay here forever. We are in the process of selling our house and the market here is really moving. If you are looking for a quiet, but very friendly safe place to live - check out forest hills! Please feel free to contact me if you would like to chat more!