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Sure is amazing the 180 you have done on Pittsburgh. You loved it here and your kids were thriving and you couldn't say a bad word and BOOM, now it is horrible. A very extreme turnaround in viewpoint that is for sure.
To the OP:
I would focus quite a bit on school systems and see if you can find one closer to the city proper and not too far out. Hampton, Fox Chapel and Mt. Lebanon would be pretty high on my list, but there are others. North Allegheny is huge and wouldn't be my top pick, but with that size they win a lot of sports and get a lot of press, but your kids would need to be very good at something to get any recognition because of the amount of kids they have competing at everything. The schools I listed are well funded and nice size. Suburbs are the place to be if you want low crime with your budget. The better parts of the city have become very expensive now and the school system is a crapshoot.
I never said it was horrible. I never said anything like that. Actually I did say that I am sure it is great for some people, but just not for us anymore.Initially I did love it here. My kids still love it here. I am not slamming Pittsburgh at all, just saying how it has been for us.
I did get a job within two weeks of starting my work search. My husband was not as lucky and it took him 10 months to get a job with a branch of his old employer. He had to drive to Youngstown every day. He did try a branch closer, but those jobs were taken by friends of employees. Then the branch in Youngstown closed down and he was out of work for another 6 months.He took that 6 months to go back to school and he got a job as a truck driver ; on call hours and that slowed up for the winter. He tried again to get local work, and ended up going back to NY to his old branch and old employer. His landlord in NY sold the house and he didn't want to sign a lease. Then for a year now, he has been working in the Poconos and living in our cabin there. I was working for almost 3 years and was let go on Jan 3 just like that. No notice, no nothing. So I went back to school and will finish this week I hope. I do have work lined up.
So tis not that we are lazy, not that we do not want to work. We just do not have the network of family or friends here to aid in getting a foot in the door. If both of us were working full time, it would not be a question, we would stay here.
I never said it was horrible. I never said anything like that. Actually I did say that I am sure it is great for some people, but just not for us anymore.Initially I did love it here. My kids still love it here. I am not slamming Pittsburgh at all, just saying how it has been for us.
I did get a job within two weeks of starting my work search. My husband was not as lucky and it took him 10 months to get a job with a branch of his old employer. He had to drive to Youngstown every day. He did try a branch closer, but those jobs were taken by friends of employees. Then the branch in Youngstown closed down and he was out of work for another 6 months.He took that 6 months to go back to school and he got a job as a truck driver ; on call hours and that slowed up for the winter. He tried again to get local work, and ended up going back to NY to his old branch and old employer. His landlord in NY sold the house and he didn't want to sign a lease. Then for a year now, he has been working in the Poconos and living in our cabin there. I was working for almost 3 years and was let go on Jan 3 just like that. No notice, no nothing. So I went back to school and will finish this week I hope. I do have work lined up.
So tis not that we are lazy, not that we do not want to work. We just do not have the network of family or friends here to aid in getting a foot in the door. If both of us were working full time, it would not be a question, we would stay here.
You have always spoke highly of south fayette even when you were having trouble finding work. It is definitely an area the op should investigate. Even though i went to usc for 11.75 years, i graduated from south fayette in 1992. It was a different time in that comunity. I think the entire high school could have fit onto 3 school busses.
OP, I think it would help if you could name some specific cities or even neighborhoods where you have spent time and felt happy. (Several people on here know the East Coast fairly well, if that helps.) The regular posters on here have very different ideas of what is a "low" crime rate or a "decent" school district, so that's not very helpful, but maybe if you gave us specific examples it would help us know what you mean, and then we could describe the areas around here in relation to places that you know too.
It would also help to know if you really want to be near Pittsburgh, or if being in a suburb of a smaller city also appeals to you. $200k for the suburbs and $100k for the rental is not impossible in Pittsburgh by any means, but it does mean thinking really carefully about what you mean by homes that "need some TLC" -- to some people that means painting the walls and to other people it means remodeling bathrooms and kitchens. Same with "low crime rate" -- there are a lot of places in this area where (to be very honest) violent crime is low but drug abuse is a sad reality. I think that's probably true in my neighborhood, for example, but we also have some really terrific neighbors too, so we certainly don't feel unsafe here -- but we can see where it might be a deal-breaker for others. If you're willing to do a fair bit of repair work and/or don't mind a somewhat scruffy neighborhood, you will have a lot more options in and near Pittsburgh than you would if you want a house with pretty recent updates and a neighborhood with a sterling reputation.
I don't mean to discourage you from Pittsburgh by any means; I'm just not clear from the thread if living near Pgh is important to you, or if being in the suburbs of a smaller city like Erie or Youngstown could also be an option. $200k/$100k would probably get you more house out there, and it's still close enough for day trips to Pittsburgh fairly regularly, though not close enough for a daily commute. And as many people on here will tell you, these small cities can be really nice places to live.
Thank you so much for the well thought out response! I know I must seem vague with my requirements, but I suppose that's just because things are so awful where we live right now...
To give you some perspective, we currently live in a city just outside of Las Vegas... There isn't a week that goes by that someone in my (what is considered) "good" area isn't robbed via their car, home or person. Our school district is rated 49th in the country. That being said, we don't mind some drug related crimes and such happening around us... it would just be better if, say, a body wasn't found behind the elementary school my children attend (actually happened a few months ago).
We want to feel safe, much like you explained in your neighborhood. While the houses in mine are built practically on top of one another, most of the neighbors don't speak the same language as we do and "stick together", preferring their children play among themselves rather than play with ours. The older kids in the area are bored and destructive too... and while its not a HUGE deal, it definitely doesn't make for a great relationship with those around us.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have those children who go to the same school and live up the road some in VERY large expensive houses, who decide that because we live in a smaller house in a neighborhood as I described, our children are again, considered not worth pursuing friendships with. So having a neighborhood where people are good to you and keep an eye out for trouble would be very refreshing to say the least!
As far as the fixer-upper concept, we definitely don't mind putting work in. We would prefer not to have to replace full walls or huge holes in the ceilings... Water and fire damage is also something we are looking to avoid... but beyond that we have no issue updating things, fixing etc.
I will definitely take a look at the places you mentioned and thank you so much for your suggestions.
Ok I will give you just my opinion. We moved here 5 years ago with two middle school age children. We came without jobs as we had sold a business and some property on Long Island (New York). Before we moved, we did tour four schools and looked for homes in those areas. I researched the schools and also looked at great schools.org for ratings etc. We left the kids pick the school as we felt they were the ones attending there and they had to be happy.
They picked a fantastic school and we have been very happy with it. One graduated two weeks ago and the other is a senior now.It is a challenging school with lots of sports(very important in Pittsburgh), AP courses, Honors courses and great teachers. I think I have only come across one bad teacher in the 5 years. There was less than 200 in my sons graduating class which was super. They have been exposed to two state championships, and exposed to a very neighborly school where the swimming pools is used by the community and the parents are very involved. I am not as there are reasons for that.
Now, the adult side. It was very difficult for us to get permanent jobs here. One of us has been out of work for half of our time here ; not at the same time, but still financially it has been difficult. Work here is successful based on who you know. The first question many people will ask you when they meet you first is where did you go to school. We are from another country, so that is an awkward answer. Many people here have huge extended families that they like to spend a lot of time with so outside socializing is very difficult to do. As a result, it is very difficult for us to make friends here. Tradition is very important here and as an immigrant family, we really do not have many traditions yet. We are definitely not the type to go to the same beach for the same week every single year. Nothing wrong with that, but its not our bag. Our idea of a vacation is traveling overseas or cruising. I haven't volunteered much at the school as after going to a few board meetings for different sports, I felt out of place. Most people know each other from grade school, and so can be very cliquey.
I don't want to paint a bad view of Pittsburgh. I am sure given the right background, it is a great place to live and raise children. But I just wanted to give you my opinion.
That sounds EXACTLY like what we are looking for! What school/district is that, may I ask?! It sounds awesome!
I have been fairly concerned about making friends... mostly for my children but it would be nice to have a friend or two around. I'm so sorry you've had such a difficult time! We have lived in this area for several years and I have only made one friend, and as I mentioned in a previous post, my children have had a helluva time making any... I am concerned about my kids "fitting in" with those who have known eachother since kindergarten, but hope that their personalities will be enough to win at least some of them over
I thank you for your opinion; its exactly why I posted here! I love hearing great news but also need to see the downside so I can try and prepare (I'm a planner after all)! I don't think any of that is bad per se, just challenging. It has definitely been challenging living here and I cannot express how GLAD I am to have the opportunity to leave... Mostly for my children.
So far it sounds like a really nice place that my family could easily thrive in.
Sure is amazing the 180 you have done on Pittsburgh. You loved it here and your kids were thriving and you couldn't say a bad word and BOOM, now it is horrible. A very extreme turnaround in viewpoint that is for sure.
To the OP:
I would focus quite a bit on school systems and see if you can find one closer to the city proper and not too far out. Hampton, Fox Chapel and Mt. Lebanon would be pretty high on my list, but there are others. North Allegheny is huge and wouldn't be my top pick, but with that size they win a lot of sports and get a lot of press, but your kids would need to be very good at something to get any recognition because of the amount of kids they have competing at everything. The schools I listed are well funded and nice size. Suburbs are the place to be if you want low crime with your budget. The better parts of the city have become very expensive now and the school system is a crapshoot.
Excellent info! THANK YOU! We are actually going to let the school/district dictate where we choose our home, which is why I have been scouring greatschools, the PA school performance website etc. in addition to trulia/zillow... and bugging you nice people for your opinions and experiences! I'll get right on looking into the places you mentioned!
That sounds EXACTLY like what we are looking for! What school/district is that, may I ask?! It sounds awesome!
I have been fairly concerned about making friends... mostly for my children but it would be nice to have a friend or two around. I'm so sorry you've had such a difficult time! We have lived in this area for several years and I have only made one friend, and as I mentioned in a previous post, my children have had a helluva time making any... I am concerned about my kids "fitting in" with those who have known eachother since kindergarten, but hope that their personalities will be enough to win at least some of them over
I thank you for your opinion; its exactly why I posted here! I love hearing great news but also need to see the downside so I can try and prepare (I'm a planner after all)! I don't think any of that is bad per se, just challenging. It has definitely been challenging living here and I cannot express how GLAD I am to have the opportunity to leave... Mostly for my children.
So far it sounds like a really nice place that my family could easily thrive in.
We live in South Fayette school district. It is rated number 1 in the area for the past 3 years. We did look at Fox Chapel, Hampton and Quaker Valley districts when we were moving. We let the kids give us their choice for number 1, 2 and 3. Then we looked at houses in that district. The South Fayette campus is beautiful. All the schools are on the one campus. I believe it is number 20 in Pennsylvania. 97% of the kids go to college and sports are huge. Our boys do have friends and have fit in very nice.We moved when the boys were in 7th and 8th grade. There was a reason ; I wanted them to be settled in a district before moving into high school.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I will answer them as honestly as I can.
Sure is amazing the 180 you have done on Pittsburgh. You loved it here and your kids were thriving and you couldn't say a bad word and BOOM, now it is horrible. A very extreme turnaround in viewpoint that is for sure.
Looks like OkayDorothy committed the great sin of saying something negative about Pittsburgh. Now she must pay the price.
Let that be a lesson to the OP. You say something even remotely negative about Pittsburgh and people will come out of the woodwork to bring you down.
Yep. some people do not like my honest opinion. Oh well.
Don't feel discouraged, OkayDorothy. While I wish your tenure in Greater Pittsburgh wasn't approaching its end I'm sure we all wish you nothing but the best of luck in your next endeavor!
At least your boys received excellent high school educations and probably made some great memories that will last their lifetimes. You and your husband weren't blessed with the local job market. Neither my partner nor I have been able to "crack" the local job market, either, and both of us earn far less than what we should be earning, which has been squeezing us financially now that the city is becoming much more expensive. Nevertheless we're going to "tough it out" here and scrape to buy our first home in a couple of years once some of our crushing long-term debts are paid off.
Pittsburgh is like a "Tale of Two Cities". I moved to the East End (considering my neighborhood that is 'Tween the Rivers as being "East End" for the sake of this thread) and have had no issues making friends. It's a very transient part of town where the ratio of transplants and natives in my neighborhood is split nearly evenly. Meanwhile most of the outer areas of Pittsburgh, including where you reside, are replete with the types who were born, raised, and will eventually die within five miles of the same location. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does make you less likely to want to expand your social circles and welcome newcomers because you're already so well-established from childhood.
Don't feel discouraged, OkayDorothy. While I wish your tenure in Greater Pittsburgh wasn't approaching its end I'm sure we all wish you nothing but the best of luck in your next endeavor!
At least your boys received excellent high school educations and probably made some great memories that will last their lifetimes. You and your husband weren't blessed with the local job market. Neither my partner nor I have been able to "crack" the local job market, either, and both of us earn far less than what we should be earning, which has been squeezing us financially now that the city is becoming much more expensive. Nevertheless we're going to "tough it out" here and scrape to buy our first home in a couple of years once some of our crushing long-term debts are paid off.
Pittsburgh is like a "Tale of Two Cities". I moved to the East End (considering my neighborhood that is 'Tween the Rivers as being "East End" for the sake of this thread) and have had no issues making friends. It's a very transient part of town where the ratio of transplants and natives in my neighborhood is split nearly evenly. Meanwhile most of the outer areas of Pittsburgh, including where you reside, are replete with the types who were born, raised, and will eventually die within five miles of the same location. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does make you less likely to want to expand your social circles and welcome newcomers because you're already so well-established from childhood.
I hope you and your partner can recover financially soon. Now that our kids are almost in college, its time for us to begin phase 2!!. I agree with your final statement. Different strokes for different folks. Many people here will never experience the wonderful things we have done, changes we have been thru and challenges we faced.And thats ok too.
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I'll get right on looking into the places you mentioned!
