Question - East Liberty (St. Clair, Oliver: crime, home, buy)

[NowACityGirl]

My roommate works in Shadyside and sometimes I can't give him a ride at night home and we live off of Stanton/Negley and I'm afraid of him walking home at 10pm at night. Is it really that dangerous in East Liberty that he should consider always taking the bus at night? If he stays on Negley do you think he'll be alright? Sometimes I really worry about this and he says it's fine but sometimes I'm concerned for his safety. Any replies welcomed. Thanks.

[LovetheEastEnd]

You just have to be aware of whats going on.

I lived on Ellsworth and Negley and some guy was stabbed on my street corner.

I would worry more about something happening to him walking around Oakland at that hour more than the area you speak of, no matter what kind of reputation East Liberty has.

[smokecitytdi]

On a warm night stand near the Fire/Police station on Penn Circle and listen to the gunfire. Or buy a scanner and listen to the calls in that area. Tell him to take the bus. The area between Penn & Stanton is not a walking area.

[Chautauquast]

What lovetheeastend said.

"You just have to be aware of whats going on."

And be careful.
Bus travel could be sketchy that time of night, but would be better than walking that long a distance after dark. Even though it's not really far. How about a bicycle? He'd be traveling faster than menacing goofs on foot.

[Mr. Mon]

It's not likely anything will happen, but I wouldn't all the stretch between Penn and Stanton the safest around. The 71A or any of the 77's could get him there from Shadyside/Friendship without any problems.

[Windwalker]

Down which part of Negley? Negley toward Highland Park isn't as bad as Negley toward Garfield.

With the Union Project there at Stanton and Negley, things are safer now than they have been, and there are things going on there until almost 10:00 many nights.

[Smily Gladshanks]

I have two friends who were separately car-jacked (well, attempted, but they got away) in East Liberty at night. There is crime. It can be dangerous. As a large man with friends when I'm walking back from bars, I don't worry. But I should. And so should your friend. It doesn't take much, and it does happen.

I have a friend who was accosted twice in the general area. She beat the crap out of both of the guys (yes!!!) but there you go. ...female?, don't try it.

Bottom line: bad stuff happens, and with some frequency. It does, it does, it does.

[NowACityGirl]

Thanks for all of your replies. He still won't ride the bus (he thinks it's safe to walk) and he has to work at 4AM one day next week and he'll be walking down Negley (from Stanton to Centre) at 3:30AM. I told him that he should ride the bus because a friend of mine said Negley is WAY worse at 3:00AM than at 10PM. So I don't know what to tell him. I guess it is his own stupidity if something happens, but I told him to at least leave his wallet at home those days.

[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

For the record, the 77's don't run after 6:30/7:00 p.m., so his only other choice would be to catch the 71A Negley or call a 'jitney'.....lol...

[steindle]

I'm going to assume that haihaihai's bizarre comment was intended solely to get a rise out of us, since it was so idiotic. Also the fact that for some reason he/she topped this thread after it had been dormant for half a year.

That said, yeah...I grew up and frequently walked around after midnight in an area that most people avoid (Mt. Oliver), and I lived at the corner of Negley and Penn for a year...and I still wouldn't really want to walk down that stretch of Negley at night.

In terms of bus travel being "sketchy," I'm not even sure what that means. I've taken the 51G toward infamous St. Clair Village and the 71A from Highland Park to Downtown after midnight and have never even felt slightly unsafe. Stay away from obvious troublemakers and you're fine. It's easy at that time of night because the buses are basically vacant.

That said, 10PM is almost doubtlessly more dangerous than 3:30AM. A look at any city crime report will support this. You also wouldn't be able to get a bus at 3AM.