Edgewood? Swissvale? (Pittsburgh, Lebanon, Wilkinsburg: for sale, affordable apartments, low crime)

[Scientist Mom]

My husband and I moved here in Mid-Jan from Texas. We have been house hunting with different degrees of intensity since then and are starting to get really frustrated. Our search has focused Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Regent Square (but not the Wilkinsburg part) and Greenfield. We are having trouble finding homes large enough, that we like and in our price range and when we have found them (2-3 times now), other offers have been accepted before we have submitted ours.

I am wondering how seriously we should consider Edgewood and Swissvale in our search. Our children are in a daycare in Edgewood that we are happy with and it would be nice not to have to force our 4-year-old to change daycares again. We will likely send both children to Catholic school when the time comes. Edgewood looks very nice driving through. Additionally, we saw a big old house in Swissvale in our price range that I kind of liked but I have so many concerns

1) Ability to resell. - The market seems much slower in these communities than in the other neighborhoods we are looking in.
2) Taxes in Edgewood
3) Are they family-friendly? Will there be neighborhood kids for my kids to play with once they get older?
4) Are there playgrounds in these communities? I know both are close to Frick Park but it would be nice to have a playground within walking distance.
5) What is the closest catholic primary school? St Bede’s? St. Maurice? I’ve heard good things about St. Bede’s. Does anyone know anything about St. Maurice?

Any thoughts or input on these communities would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[BrianTH]

A few general comments first:

Personally, I wouldn't rule out the Wilkinsburg part of Regent Square, particularly if you are already planning to use private schools. In fact, I can say that quite literally: we are selling our house in the Edgewood part of Regent Square and buying one in the Wilkinsburg part.

Also, probably a new set of homes is about to go on the market, because around this time in April is when the main selling season begins. Again we know this because we talked to people about listing our house, and they said to try to get it out around now--which we will be doing in a couple days in fact (I'm actually going to PM you about our house, just in case you might be interested).

On to your questions:

(1) That is certainly true. There is basically a lot of pent-up demand for larger homes in the neighborhoods where you are looking, thanks in part to local residents like us contemplating an upgrade. So, fairly-priced homes tend to move really, really fast. But Swissvale and Edgewood are perfectly fine by ordinary standards, and if you price a home fairly there at the start of the high season, it should only take 2-3 months to sell.

(2) We actually like the Edgewood tax situation: the property tax rate is only a bit higher than in Pittsburgh, and the wage tax is much lower, so we have come out well ahead. And that is not even factoring in the higher property values in those prime East End neighborhoods (once you do that, you come out WAY ahead in terms of actual taxes paid).

(3) I would answer this sort of like I answered #1. By ordinary standards, Edgewood and Swissvale are family-friendly communities. But places like Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, and Regent Square are almost ridiculously family-friendly, thanks in large part to being right next to Frick Park.

(4) In addition to Frick Park, there is also Koenig Field, which is a really cool little park with a renovated play area nestled in the valley at the bottom of Race Street. I'd also mention the Edgewood Club, at the start of Pennwood. It has a swimming pool and tennis courts, and you can find people with kids from all over the East End who join the Club (something we will probably do when our kids are old enough).

(5) I've heard lots of good things about St Bedes, which is over in Point Breeze. I looked up St Maurice (I haven't heard anything about them before, but that doesn't mean anything in particular), and I gather it is over in Forest Hills, so that is pretty much a wash. By the way, you should check into whether you can use the local school bus for any given private school: the rules are complicated, but state law does require school districts that provide bus service to also provide that service to local residents using private schools.

So there you go. Like I said, I will also send you a PM about our house.

[Wendelyn Piquette]

Hi, Scientist Mom, I love the neighborhoods you're looking in, but I have a completely different neighborhood to suggest to you.
First of all, Edgewood is very pricey. Swissvale is okay, but you're comparing apples & oranges.
I'm a native Pittsburgher who lived away for over a decade. When I returned, it was between Mt. Lebanon & Squirrel Hill for me. Both have similar style homes, but I chose Mt. Lebanon because
1) Top schools--no need to pay for private school
2) Great walking neighborhood with a lot of playgrounds & things to do.
3) Home styles
A lot of my neighbors commute to Squirrel Hill. It takes about 30 min. in traffic to get to CMU and only 10-15 min to reach Oakland at lunch time.
Good luck with your search!
Wendy
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[BrianTH]

Mt Lebanon is indeed quite nice and justifiably popular with families, and I think Wendy is not at all alone in cross-shopping the East End neighborhoods and Mt Lebabon. As I said in a PM, I think another neighborhood to check out is Highland Park (I'm mentioning it again here just in case someone else stumbles onto this conversation).

[Scientist Mom]

Highland park is a possibility. It would mean a longer drive to the daycare we are using or another change for my 4-year old but it is a possibility. Mt Lebanon is not something we are seriously considering. I commuted for 10 years in Houston. I don't want to commute here. I'd rather pay for private school and actually get to see my kids more.

[jinxd_13]

Hi Scientist Mom. Good luck in your search for a house. I am sure you will find something perfect. Pittsburgh has lovely old homes but on to my real question; how did moving up there in the middle of Jan from Texas work out for you? We are moving from New Orleans and were wondering how much the winter affected you. What part of Texas were you coming from? My husband and I met in Austin and my mother's family is from there, so I grew up between there and B'ham. I am not really afraid of winter, just scared of how much cabin fever we will be experiencing when March rolls around with no sign of Spring I would love to hear any impressions you have of PGH and, again., good luck with the house hunting. We will be doing it all too soon.

[tmorrisn]

We bought a home in Edgewood after looking in all of those neighborhoods. While Mt. Lebanon was beautiful, rush hour is an absolute disaster, and it could be over an hour to get to Oakland.

We chose Edgewood because the houses are much cheaper than in Regent Square and Squirrel Hill - and unlike Swissvale, you're still getting a high quality neighborhood. Swissvale definitely has shady parts. All of Edgewood is nice, but you'd probably want to be at least a block or two from Wilkinsburg.
There aren't any playgrounds, except for the one behind Edgewood Elementary - I don't have kids, so I'm not sure if there is public access or not. You might want to check that out. We (my husband and I) love the library - which is in the same building as the country club. We live a mile from Frick Park, which may be too far for walking with a child, but is a quick car ride.

There are tons of kids in the neighborhood, and everyone is very friendly. There are a bunch of houses for sale in the neighborhood too! Good luck with your search!

[Scientist Mom]

in response to jinxd_13 -

My mother is from Baton Rouge and lived in the northeast for 25 years. She never got use to the winters and always got cabin fever in Feb. Getting out and running, despite the cold, helped her some.

My husband and I are both from the northeast originally so it wasn’t too much of a shock. We had been in Houston for 11 and 14 years, respectively, and never really liked the 2 seasons (summer and not summer) there. It seemed like we would hide out in the AC from Mid-May to Mid-Sept./ early Oct. One day in Feb. Houston had a high of 70 and Pittsburgh had a low of 8 and that made us briefly kind-of miss the Texas weather, though.

My husband is pretty determined about getting out of the house and there were definitely times he pushed us out the door to run errands or go do indoor things with the kids when I would have stayed in. Because of this, a lot of our routine stayed the same despite the weather. I think people here do try to get out during winter. We were surprised at how many people we saw walking and running in Frick Park in the cold weather.

I think it was more of a shock for my 4-year-old. She was use to playing outside everyday, but she didn’t complain and she did enjoy the 2 times that she got to go sledding and the day that we went ice skating. Plus, she learned a bunch of new indoor games at her daycare.

Now that Pittsburgh is having many nice days, we are all enjoying it and are looking forward to being able to enjoy outside time through the summer.

[MAGGI]

Originally Posted by tmorrisn

We chose Edgewood because the houses are much cheaper than in Regent Square and Squirrel Hill - and unlike Swissvale, you're still getting a high quality neighborhood. Swissvale definitely has shady parts. All of Edgewood is nice, but you'd probably want to be at least a block or two from Wilkinsburg.

tmorrisn thanks for all that info.. we (my husband and I) too are moving to Pittsburgh and have been looking for housing. I found some good affordable apartments in Swissvale, which kind of lie at the border of edgewood borough... Milligan way and Smokey wood dr to be specific. These places are about 1-1.5 miles from the Edgewood Club. The apartments look nice, but I have been unsure of the neighbourhood. Do you have any idea about these areas... are they safe?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MAGGI

tmorrisn thanks for all that info.. we (my husband and I) too are moving to Pittsburgh and have been looking for housing. I found some good affordable apartments in Swissvale, which kind of lie at the border of edgewood borough... Milligan way and Smokey wood dr to be specific. These places are about 1-1.5 miles from the Edgewood Club. The apartments look nice, but I have been unsure of the neighbourhood. Do you have any idea about these areas... are they safe?

Like many of the other nearby neighborhoods, Swissvale has substantially lower crime rates than the overall City of Pittsburgh average--in fact I think Swissvale is right around the state average, which is pretty good when you consider Swissvale is part of the urbanized center of the Pittsburgh region, and the overall state averages include lots of very low crime rural areas. People just tend to like Edgewood better because it is more upscale, with significantly higher average incomes than Swissvale and some very nice houses. But obviously that is why Swissvale is more affordable than Edgewood.

By the way, I think I know where you are talking about (I think that area is up the hill from the Edgewood Town Center and Braddock Avenue), but I have actually never been back in that part of Swissvale. If I am right, that is probably a fine neighborhood, but I think you will find it feels very distinct from the residential section of Edgewood (which is basically down a hill and past the valley in which I-376 is running).