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I will be transferring to Pittsburgh from NYC. Thanks to my Wife’s company. We just need a change of scenery.
Her main office is in Harmar Township, but with what she does, she will be sent all over Allegheny County.
She wants to be within a 35 minute or less drive from the township. In case she has to pop into the office.
WHEN: We will start house hunting in several months. We want to be out before Autumn next year.
DRIVING: My Wife drives. I don’t drive. I never learned. I don’t plan to.
DISTANCE TO DOWNTOWN: I’d like our future home to be within an hour or less of a bus ride away from Downtown. For access to greyhound or Amtrak, to visit family every so often.
BUDGET: 200K or less.
WALK TO BUS: I would like for my suburb to have a bus line or two. If I have to walk (in under 20 minutes) to a bus stop, I am okay with that. No more than that.
WALKING AROUND: I don’t want to have to walk over 20 minutes to get to places in the town.
I kind of like the idea of Crafton. The size and the bus options. BUT ….. I like the look of places like Castle Shannon, Bethel Park, Whitehall, Pleasant Hills, … ETC.
Houses are more spread apart, driveways, open space. That is what I like. ***
I would have just gone with Castle Shannon … but the top part of the town seems like you can’t get anywhere (to the T) unless you have a car … I could not see a road good enough for pedestrian access. And the highway that runs through isn’t the best for walking.
CHILDREN: We have two young toddlers. We don’t care for the school district too much, we will cyber school. But if we change our mind, we want it to be at least decent.
AMENITIES: It would be nice to get around to places like the mall, a cinema, groceries, etc. Everyone wants that. For me, under an hour bus ride.
But we would also like to be near a jiu jitsu school with a kids program (under an hour bus ride to it as well). We will sign the kids up to that eventually.
We want the buses to come somewhat frequently. Every 45 minutes or less. ***
With Castle Shannon, the area between Sleepy Hollow Road and Kerry Hill Drive are a no. Every other part of the town seems fine. You can easily walk to a T station in under 20 minutes.
The part of Castle Shannon that is closer to Whitehall (the right of Library Road):
I can see myself being able to access the Overbrook Junction, Willow, Memorial Hall, and Killarney T stations. Without going under those tiny tunnels (like on McCully Road).
The part of Castle Shannon that is closer to Mt. Lebanon (the left of Library Road):
I can access any T station, safely (just not Killarney, as that is in the "no" area for me).
I don't want to have to walk more than 20 minutes to another part of town, however, I do like that I have the option to walk to a T station, and take it to another part of town. FOR EXAMPLE: Walk 16 minutes to Killarney (from the right side of Library Road), get off at Willow, and walk less than 10 minutes to the library. Being from New York, you get used to doing that.
Annoying thing is ... there is a jiu jitsu school in town ... but I would probably have to get my Wife to drive me and the kids. Library Road is a tricky one in that area.
Last edited by LatersNYC; 12-21-2020 at 10:52 AM..
I would recommend both Aspinwall and Oakmont due to their proximity to Harmar. However, your price point makes it real tough. Maybe impossible for Aspinwall. Oakmont does have some homes that hit your price point at times. Blawnox is also a great choice but it is so small it will likely be hard to find a house. Staying on the north side of Allegheny makes it easy on your wife to get to her office. Shaler and Etna are good options. Shaler will be a little harder finding decent public transit. Further up the river are Cheswick and Springdale. Both are nice towns but the bus to downtown Pittsburgh may be too long for you. Maybe try Emsworth? I realize you want a driveway but for better transit that may not be possible.
Bethel Park to Harmar is brutal. You have to pick something closer.
I would recommend both Aspinwall and Oakmont due to their proximity to Harmar. However, your price point makes it real tough. Maybe impossible for Aspinwall. Oakmont does have some homes that hit your price point at times. Blawnox is also a great choice but it is so small it will likely be hard to find a house. Staying on the north side of Allegheny makes it easy on your wife to get to her office. Shaler and Etna are good options. Shaler will be a little harder finding decent public transit. Further up the river are Cheswick and Springdale. Both are nice towns but the bus to downtown Pittsburgh may be too long for you. Maybe try Emsworth? I realize you want a driveway but for better transit that may not be possible.
Bethel Park to Harmar is brutal. You have to pick something closer.
Honestly, school district aside, Bellevue might just fit the bill for the O.P. since he/she is insistent about never learning to drive. Many of the residents here don't drive for one reason or another and do just fine going about their daily lives.
Bellevue and Avalon have easy access to both downtown and Harmar (less than a half-hour drive), pretty much everything a person needs can be found within walking distance (including doctors, dentists, dry cleaners, a grocery store, a bakery, a hardware store, banks, restaurants, churches, and at least one martial arts studio), public transit to the city via bus is excellent, and a decent family house with a driveway can be found at or near the O.P.'s price point, although he/she is going to to need to pay attention to property taxes as Bellevue/Avalon's taxes are a bit high for the area.
Honestly, the only two things that I see as a negative about the O.P. choosing to live in Bellevue or neighboring Avalon is that the school district is rather meh (not an issue if the O.P. is choosing cyber school) and the houses at that price point might be closer together than he/she would like. For the walkability that the O.P. desires, it's likely that having wide open space in terms of a yard might have to be sacrificed. There *are* houses in this area that fit that criteria (particularly over on Euclid and a few in Avalon and Bellevue well beyond the business district(s) and easy access to all of the available bus lines), but they are going to go beyond the stated price point.
Brookline was also a very good suggestion as it's walkable with affordable houses, a nice business district, and decent public transportation options.
Last edited by Formerly Known As Twenty; 12-21-2020 at 10:34 AM..
With Castle Shannon, the area between Sleepy Hollow Road and Kerry Hill Drive are a no. Every other part of the town seems fine. You can easily walk to a T station in under 20 minutes.
The part of Castle Shannon that is closer to Whitehall (the right of Library Road):
I can see myself being able to access the Overbrook Junction, Willow, Memorial Hall, and Killarney T stations. Without going under those tiny tunnels (like on McCully Road).
The part of Castle Shannon that is closer to Mt. Lebanon (the left of Library Road):
I can access any T station, safely (just not Killarney, as that is in the "no" area for me).
I don't want to have to walk more than 20 minutes to another part of town, however, I do like that I have the option to walk to a T station, and take it to another part of town. FOR EXAMPLE: Walk 16 minutes to Killarney (from the right side of Library Road), get off at Willow, and walk less than 10 minutes to the library. Being from New York, you get used to doing that.
Annoying thing is ... there is a jiu jitsu school in town ... but I would probably have to get my Wife to drive me and the kids. Library Road is a tricky one in that area.
Does this sound doable? I will give Brookline a look as well. And the other areas you all mentioned. I was giving you all more of an idea of what sounds comfortable to me. Also, I am male I appreciate the he/she thing. Very considerate.
Her main office is in Harmar Township, but with what she does, she will be sent all over Allegheny County.
She wants to be within a 35 minute or less drive from the township. In case she has to pop into the office.
DISTANCE TO DOWNTOWN: I’d like our future home to be within an hour or less of a bus ride away from Downtown. For access to greyhound or Amtrak, to visit family every so often.
WALK TO BUS: I would like for my suburb to have a bus line or two. If I have to walk (in under 20 minutes) to a bus stop, I am okay with that. No more than that.
WALKING AROUND: I don’t want to have to walk over 20 minutes to get to places in the town.
I kind of like the idea of Crafton. The size and the bus options. BUT ….. I like the look of places like Castle Shannon, Bethel Park, Whitehall, Pleasant Hills, … ETC.
AMENITIES: It would be nice to get around to places like the mall, a cinema, groceries, etc. Everyone wants that. For me, under an hour bus ride.
But we would also like to be near a jiu jitsu school with a kids program (under an hour bus ride to it as well). We will sign the kids up to that eventually.
I think that you're going to have to compromise on some of what you're looking for.
First things first - don't look at houses in the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh. Travelling from the South Hills to Harmar is going to be a recipe for suicide or breakdown - that commute will be absolutely brutal. Particularly in winter.
I've never ridden Greyhound. As for Amtrak - look at the price for tickets. And how long its going to take to travel places. Its very expensive and comparatively slow. You'd be better off flying out of Pittsburgh airport on a budget airline like Southwest or Jet Blue. How often will you be travelling out of town that being so close to the Amtrak or Greyhound station needs to be a priority? There's not much else downtown - its a ghost town during the pandemic. I work there, I see it on the daily.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robrobrob
I would recommend both Aspinwall and Oakmont due to their proximity to Harmar. However, your price point makes it real tough. Maybe impossible for Aspinwall. Oakmont does have some homes that hit your price point at times. Blawnox is also a great choice but it is so small it will likely be hard to find a house. Staying on the north side of Allegheny makes it easy on your wife to get to her office. Shaler and Etna are good options. Shaler will be a little harder finding decent public transit. Further up the river are Cheswick and Springdale. Both are nice towns but the bus to downtown Pittsburgh may be too long for you. Maybe try Emsworth? I realize you want a driveway but for better transit that may not be possible.
Bethel Park to Harmar is brutal. You have to pick something closer.
OP - keep in mind that Route 28 has a traffic chokepoint around the Highland Park Bridge and the inbound choke point is I think near the Blawnox exit.
Personally, I'd recommend looking around the areas around Harmar: Verona, Oakmont, Cheswick, Springdale. And dont get excited if anything is close to the Pittsburgh Mills Mall - its dead. Waterworks is a big strip mall near Aspinwall - that has shopping, a movie theater, Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and a few restaurants. Ross Park Mall is the big, happening mall and McKnight Road is the big shopping road. Some hate the traffic and refer to it as McKnightmare.
Etna and Millvale are very dense. I live in Etna. No off-street parking. And I can touch my house and my neighbor's house at the same time. Millvale is basically the same. Do keep in mind flood risks in both of these towns. Millvale has a connection to the bicycle trail that runs along the river to downtown and then down passed the casino.. it is paved from Millvale.
Etna doesnt have a jiu jitsu place, but does have an Aikido studio. Millvale and Etna are not walkable - there is a HUGE hill between them and youd be out of your mind to walk it due to the traffic. You could theoretically walk along the railroad tracks, but that would be unpleasant. They're both walkable to Lawrenceville, but it would be a hike. I can walk from my house in Etna down Butler St to 40th St in about an hour.
Others have covered things fairly well so far. As I see it your dilemma is basically that you want to have access to urban amenities (good transit, something to walk to within 20 minutes) but you also have mentioned a preference towards a more large lot suburban built form. Those do not go together, and when they do, they're way more expensive than the $200,000 price point you're looking at (particularly the nicer towns that have things to do in them). Add to that that in a lot of the immediately postwar suburban neighborhoods in Pittsburgh there aren't even any sidewalks and...well, you have an issue.
Somewhere in Penn Hills might work. There are lots of nice postwar neighborhoods there, there is some bus access through some of the main thoroughfares. It is quite affordable because of white flight out of the school district. Depending upon where you pick, you could get a place closer to Verona, which would give your wife a quick commute across the Holton Bridge to Harmar.
Brookline is a good suggestion though if you don't care about living in the South Hills area (which will be an award commute to Harmar). Lots of homes in your price range, although it's more of a "streetcar suburb" kinda neighborhood, and I'm concerned because it seems more like you're interested in "classic suburbia" (which is a bit odd for an I'm presuming lifelong New Yorker, but maybe it's just desiring a change of pace).
Eschaton summarized your situation perfectly. Trying to find a suburban-sized lot, with good public transit and a walkable business district, under $200K, all within a reasonable commute to Harmar is very difficult.
Penn Hills is a good suggestion for you, except it doesn't have a walkable business district (at least that I would consider "walker friendly". It does have sidewalks but is definitely still built for car-transit first and sprawls a bit). If you can forego the business district requirement, I would specifically recommend the Blackridge and Churchhill Valley communities. Both areas, especially if you aren't concerned with the school districts, are safe with solid housing stock within your price range - and would tick off many of the other criteria you are looking for.
The only other area that I can think of that might meet most of your criteria would be Oakmont. It has a nice business district, walkable, decent public transit, and a very easy commute to Harmar. The only rub will be price point in Oakmont, but you can find houses there under your budget, it just won't be turnkey. If you're willing to do a bit of home updating over time, yourself, I think Oakmont would be your best bet.
Ross Park Mall is the big, happening mall and McKnight Road is the big shopping road. Some hate the traffic and refer to it as McKnightmare.
I've never heard this before and actually LOL'd. I'm definitely using this from now on - McKnightmare Rd. So true!
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I appreciate the he/she thing. Very considerate.
