moving from california to pittsburgh...where to live?? (real estate, apartments)

[amanda6312]

can anyone tell me if the "strip district" is close to the "southside"?? we are kind of interested in the cork lofts but just wondering how close it is to the southside...another area we are considering! someone early on said there are lots of restraunts and bars and a market within walking distance to the cork lofts....so maybe we wouldnt need to go to southside anyway???

[PeterRabbit]

2 miles, less than 3 to South Side. The Strip District isn't huge. It's a place where you usually park and walk. You would still want to go to the S. Side. You might rather visit than live there, depends what you want and how you'll feel after checking the areas out. The Strip is a better location to go any direction you want, more convenient. The strip is lots of markets.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by amanda6312

can anyone tell me if the "strip district" is close to the "southside"?? we are kind of interested in the cork lofts but just wondering how close it is to the southside...another area we are considering! someone early on said there are lots of restraunts and bars and a market within walking distance to the cork lofts....so maybe we wouldnt need to go to southside anyway???

At their closest point they are pretty close, thanks to both being along the rivers which are coming together at the confluence. In other words, at the closest point to get from the Strip you just need to go across the base of the Downtown Triangle and a bridge, and you are in the South Side.

The Strip does indeed have a lot going on within the neighborhood, so you wouldn't need to go to the South Side, although you might go sometimes just because you want to. Other nearby neighborhoods with a lot to do include Downtown, Lawrenceville, and Bloomfield. In that sense the Strip is very well-located--which makes sense, because it is the place a lot of local restaurants get their supplies.

[amanda6312]

it seems like there is a lot going on in the strip which is what we are looking for. and the farmers market is a big plus...someone i know said that the strip district is not safe, and there are shootings there a lot...is this true? we are very interested in this area, but would need to feel safe in our apartment and outside walking around. a few other areas and apartments i have called about our completely full so, this seems like a good place to settle in and get to know pittsburgh.

[BrianTH]

The statistics I have seen suggest the street crime situation in the Strip is about the same as in the South Side, but the crime per capita rate will seem very high in the Strip because relatively few people actually live there. Generally, places with a lot of night life will have more street crime than quieter residential neighborhoods, but among such neighborhoods, I don't think the Strip is worse than the other notable possibilities.

[By~Tor]

Originally Posted by amanda6312

ive read a lot on here about people saying there is like one block of southside that is nice and the rest is "ghetto"...so that kinda worries me....

The Southside is about as "ghetto" as the Village, in New York. . . . . it's trendy, bohemian, and has all the things you mentioned, in a close-knit community that is close to EVERYTHING "Pittsburgh"... the Strip District is only about a 10-15 minute drive from most of the Southside Flats / Slopes, and the "T" or the buses can get ya' there quickly, as well...

My gal & I have been over there 5 times in the last 6 weeks (going over again today, too....) looking for housing, and aside from the difficulties we've had, the area is exactly what WE'VE ben looking for.... stunning views, a rich diversity (by PGH standards) of people, great dining & pubs, good public transportation, cheap housing, and the folks on the Southside are sooooo freindly!- - - 2 weeks ago, I pulled over on Carson St (far west) to take a pic of the skyline & take a cell call, and a local walking HER dog (small gal; small dog) stopped and asked i we neded directions or anything!!!!! In NYC, that would NEVER happen!!!!! Probably not in Cali, either....

Don't listen to what anyone says about "grittiness" of the South Side... you'll find it's no worse than any middle-class areas of L.A. or S.F. or even S.D. The "dirt" people complain about is so negligible by my jaded NYC standards, as to almost be laughable. . . but the locals have a very high standard of cleanliness for their city, and that is a point of pride, that is sorely missing in other cities....

Well - - okay - - 7:25am... time to start the 7 hour drive, yet again.......

[amanda6312]

well im still very interested in southside & the strip and i guess that crime there cant be much worse than out here in cali! i was reading online that SAN DIEGO was a worse crime rate then pittsburgh and there are more people in S.D.....and i ALWAYS felt very safe there....so im not to worried anymore about "horrible" areas there. lol. i survived the ghetto of the bay area in cali so i think anything will be better hahah. we will actually be in pittsburgh on the 7th to check out apartments so well be around southside checking out the 2 apartment places there! seems like you all say everyone in pittsburgh in very nice which is a complete change from where we are from in ohio....everyone has the "new jersey wanna be" attitudes lol. i have now began my job search for when we get out there...and boy...lol....jobs are tough and pay....nothing. haha

[amanda6312]

ohhh, and i have learned all the good areas recently...but can anyone break them down into zipcodes? like what are the top 5 zip code areas to live in? only because while searching for apartments online everything is broken down by zip....and i never know where it is located exactly! thanks

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by amanda6312

ohhh, and i have learned all the good areas recently...but can anyone break them down into zipcodes? like what are the top 5 zip code areas to live in? only because while searching for apartments online everything is broken down by zip....and i never know where it is located exactly! thanks

Unfortunately the local zipcodes tend not to map particularly well onto Pittsburgh neighborhoods. But here is a really good resource: a map of city neighborhoods and zipcodes combined:

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/...codesneigh.pdf

To demonstrate my point, consider Shadyside. The central part is in 15232, along with Friendship and parts of Squirrel Hill. So, that is a pretty posh zipcode. But the western part of Shadyside is in 15213 with most of Oakland and bits of few other neighborhoods, and the eastern part is in 15206 with bits of a bunch of East End neighborhoods. So both of those two zipcodes would be more mixed than 15232, but they will contain some great areas so shouldn't be ruled out.

[amanda6312]

thank you! im checking out the website now! just trying to get ideas cause apartments range so much in rent! just trying to figure out why lol