Suburb of the week: McCandless (Pittsburgh, Sewickley: low income, new house, school district)

[sandritz6]

Originally Posted by eschaton

McCandless is a home rule municipality located in the North Hills region of Allegheny County. First incorporated as a township in 1857, its early history was as a sparsely populated agricultural hinterland for the City of Pittsburgh. During this farming period its population was relatively stagnant, generally hovering at around 1,000 residents. Although there were efforts to develop the Highland/Ingomar areas as railroad suburbs when the interurban commuter rail Harmony Line was active, the real growth period of the township did not begin until automotive popularity rose. From 1920 to 1950 the population of the township jumped from under 1,500 to nearly 6,500, but this was nothing compared to the postwar boom (the 1950s alone saw the population of the township increase by a staggering 125%). Growth began tailing off as the 20th century wore on, however, and by 2000 the municipality was essentially built out, and has been stagnant with a population of about 29,000 ever since.

McCandless has a very typical typology for a North Hills suburb, with residential subdivisions built on hilltops, with the major commercial corridors built in the low-lying valleys that cut between these hills. There is comparably less development along McKnight Road through McCandless than either Ross to the south or Pine Township to the north, but there is still a fair amount of development, including a Giant Eagle, LA Fitness, TGI Friday's, Lowes, movie theater, Target, and Whole Foods. The municipality also has many schools (including North Allegheny's senior high school), a hospital (UPMC Passavant), La Roche College, and the bulk of North Park, including the a golf course, pool, and the boathouse. The municipality has a small office park in its southern portion, and a small industrial park in the middle. The housing stock of McCandless is mostly classic Pittsburgh suburbia (ranging from prewar to the 1990s) but there is also a substantial amount of townhouse-style complexes (some very recently built) in areas just off of McKight road. Altogether McCandless does relatively well in having a diversified property base for a suburban municipality in the Pittsburgh area, although of course none of it is walkable.

It actually has had a slight population increase since 2010 due only to the McCandless Crossing townhomes most likely.

[gg]

What is a "generic neighborhood"? What does that even mean? McCandless is a nice place with great shopping, restaurants and more, not to mention hardly any crime to speak of. Easy access to the city if you ever need to deal with all that crap. It is a nice place and away from all the riffraff. I think I am too close to the riffraff having the Waterworks so close. I think moving further north would be great and it would put me closer to North Country, one of my favorite brewpubs.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by gg

What is a "generic neighborhood"?

Well, for starters, it's really not an insult. I can't speak for the OP, but when I read the first post I really just thought he meant that this area blends into the surroundings and is a typical representative of the North Hills. (If anyone called my home town "generic" I would have to agree -- it's a nice place, but it's pretty much the same as a hundred other small cities along the coast in southern CA.) Some of the people freaking out on this thread are being incredibly defensive, and yet they don't hesitate to dismiss other areas with much uglier words, or even old-fashioned words ("riffraff") that sound folksy but are not ambiguous in their intentions.

The OP primarily comes around here to share information, and mostly stays above the petty bickering, and I think he deserves enormous credit for that.

[Copanut]

Sort of a generic comment, don't ya think?

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Sort of a generic comment, don't ya think?

I like living in what some consider a “generic” town.

I remember 30+ years ago Giant Eagle had a real “generic” line of products. The potato chips were extremely popular.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Sort of a generic comment, don't ya think?

Sure, why not. I just hate seeing e get attacked when these threads have been the best part of city-data for a long time now.

[Copanut]

I've lived all over the Pgh area, Pitcairn, Monroeville(talk about generic), Forest Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh Greentree, Scott Twp, Dormont, Ross and now the Great White North. Best bang for my tax dollar is definitely McCandless, great schools, well maintained infrastructure, and I can bike/walk to North Park. There are some non-chain bars/restaurants out this way: Chubs, Over the Bar, 5 Fools, Totins, enough for me anyway. Still close to get to a play or Bucco game. Don't think I could afford my house and acreage in the City. There are still some good deals out here. Probably the biggest problem in McCandless is the aging population. I believe they are closing one elementary school due to lack of students. Who knows, in 10 years the millennials may tire of the urban scene and head this way.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Don't think I could afford my house and acreage in the City.

I really have nothing against this area at all, so please take this at face value -- but, really? I would love to see people throw around some numbers...we have a 5br/2ba house, and our lot is about a quarter acre with plenty of trees, and we paid around $250k. I suppose finding a larger lot than that is hard in the city (and our neighborhood has gotten more expensive since 2013, but other parts of the Northside haven't really), but I'd be surprised if McCandless was truly cheaper...would love to see some listings to prove I'm wrong; I'm just generally curious to learn more about real estate.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by erieguy

I like living in what some consider a “generic” town.

I remember 30+ years ago Giant Eagle had a real “generic” line of products. The potato chips were extremely popular.

Bingo!


Some people don't realize how snowflake-y they actually are. Easily triggered, unfortunately, by real talk. Generic doesn't have to mean "bad". It also connotes popularity. It's ironic that people can take that word personally.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I've lived all over the Pgh area, Pitcairn, Monroeville(talk about generic), Forest Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh Greentree, Scott Twp, Dormont, Ross and now the Great White North. Best bang for my tax dollar is definitely McCandless, great schools, well maintained infrastructure, and I can bike/walk to North Park. There are some non-chain bars/restaurants out this way: Chubs, Over the Bar, 5 Fools, Totins, enough for me anyway. Still close to get to a play or Bucco game. Don't think I could afford my house and acreage in the City. There are still some good deals out here. Probably the biggest problem in McCandless is the aging population. I believe they are closing one elementary school due to lack of students. Who knows, in 10 years the millennials may tire of the urban scene and head this way.

So the word I should have used is "geriatric"?
So noted.