Moving to Pitts soon and have some questions (Liberty, Bloomfield: neighborhood, to live in)

[AustinExPat]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

If you want to live in the city and work downtown, having a car might be more of a hassle than it's worth.

This is true especially as regards using a car to commute downtown to work. Unless your downtown employer gives you free parking, you'll need to lease parking downtown, which will be $230-350 per month. A bus pass is much cheaper at $97.50 per month. (Monthly bus passes in Pittsburgh are more a convenience than a discount, and paying for each trip using a Connect Card is almost as convenient.) This is not to say that you shouldn't keep a car in Pittsburgh; just don't use it to commute to work. Then you can choose to drive when traffic is light. Another thing about having a car in Pittsburgh is that you should be sure to get a residence that has off-street parking. Cars parked on the street have to be moved regularly for street cleaning in many areas, which makes it impossible to leave your car parked in one spot on the street for an extended period if you're out of town or just not using it.

I'd say get the PA driver's license as soon as possible and postpone buying a car. As someone suggested, you can rent a car in Pittsburgh in the meantime. If you prefer to rent on a carsharing model, Zipcar is in Pittsburgh and has a decent number of locations.

As you may have heard, Pennsylvania driver's licenses are not yet federally compliant. Unless you're happy to fly using your passport you'll want to switch from your initial PA driver's license to a PA RealID when they become available. You can look into that here: REAL ID

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Living along the East Busway is a great suggestion. The Strip District would be an easy option, also the North Side, and maybe Mt. Washington. And if you wanted something a bit more suburban, the city's light rail goes from the South Hills to downtown, so you could look into Dormont, Mt. Lebanon, or Bethel Park.

Being on the light rail or the East Busway would definitely give you a speedier public transit commute to downtown.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by safak

Whoever you talked to is probably using knowledge from the early 90's. While they are great areas, a lot of younger people tend toward Lville, Bloofield, Friendship, East LIberty area.
I hope you enjoy your move from BOSTS...

For someone not fmailiar with the city, you might want to spell out Lawrenceville, lol.

[safak]

Originally Posted by _Buster

For someone not fmailiar with the city, you might want to spell out Lawrenceville, lol.

come on, he is hip on pitts enough to know what i mean

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by safak

come on, he is hip on pitts enough to know what i mean

I didn't get that sense at all. He said he was only in the city for four hours and hasn't explored it.

[psp-fifa-fan]

Thanks guys! Are those areas really suburb-like meaning that I would need a car to get grocery/food/coffee etc?

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by psp-fifa-fan

Thanks guys! Are those areas really suburb-like meaning that I would need a car to get grocery/food/coffee etc?

You can accomplish everything on foot. I live near the Busway, and my walkscore is 94. To compare it to Boston, when I lived three blocks from Back Bay station, my walk score was 99. When I lived in Jamaica Plain, it was 84.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by psp-fifa-fan

Thanks guys! Are those areas really suburb-like meaning that I would need a car to get grocery/food/coffee etc?

The suburban neighborhoods are kind of tricky because Dormont and Mt. Lebanon do have walkable business districts with cafes and shops and restaurants near the light rail lines, but you might need to take a train or bus to Castle Shannon or Bethel Park to get to a major grocery store, depending on how far you want to walk.

You could get by without a car in these areas, but it might be more likely that if you had a car, you'd need to use it only on weekends. Driving to work downtown would be a hassle.

[psp-fifa-fan]

Originally Posted by gladhands

You can accomplish everything on foot. I live near the Busway, and my walkscore is 94. To compare it to Boston, when I lived three blocks from Back Bay station, my walk score was 99. When I lived in Jamaica Plain, it was 84.

Thanks! How are you liking Pitts compared to Boston?

[psp-fifa-fan]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

The suburban neighborhoods are kind of tricky because Dormont and Mt. Lebanon do have walkable business districts with cafes and shops and restaurants near the light rail lines, but you might need to take a train or bus to Castle Shannon or Bethel Park to get to a major grocery store, depending on how far you want to walk.

You could get by without a car in these areas, but it might be more likely that if you had a car, you'd need to use it only on weekends. Driving to work downtown would be a hassle.

Thanks! I definitely will buy a car but just want to know if I can live without one for the first few weeks after I arrive.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by psp-fifa-fan

I haven't really explored Pitts before other than my 4-hour on-site interview in downtown Pitts so not really sure if I could live without a car.

I heard Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are good areas to live in for young professionals right? If so, are the public transportations between these areas and downtown convenient?

Thanks!

As others said, if you work downtown, you do not need a car for a job. in fact, I would never, ever suggest anyone who lives in the city and works downtown drive to work, unless they are getting a free parking space through their job. Downtown parking is scarce and expensive. In the 13 years I have lived here, I have driven to work maybe 5 times - all of them when I was catching a flight later in the day. I always bus it or ride my bike in.

If you work downtown you can easily get a bus from literally anywhere in the city. The bigger issue really with going carfree is things like shopping and weekend socialization.

Although it does not have rapid transit, IMHO the best part of the city to live in if you don't have a car is Bloomfield. You can not only get to downtown via multiple bus routes, but to basically any other part of the East End, along with the lower Northside and South Side Flats. Between Liberty Avenue, Penn Avenue, and Main Street there's plenty to walk to - including a grocery store, a greengrocer, and two Italian markets. The neighborhood itself - along with the East End in general - is pretty flat, although it's a bit of a climb back home again if you're returning via bike from Downtown. It's a bit of a hike if you want to catch the P1 at Negley Station though, which is the only drawback.