I am a about to buy in Penn Hills and getting nervous (Pittsburgh: for sale, crime)

[artchick]

I need some help. I have been very confused about the whole Bad part of Penn Hills and the good part. When I visited the part I wanted to buy in it seemed clean, quiet, and nice to me. The street is Conestoga and its a couple blocks past the intersection of Coal hollow rd. Frankstown rd. and Beulah rd. I read on one or two posts that this was considered a bad area. Is that true? anyone live around that area who could verify. Also I read about the taxes being outrageous and the sewage bill. Can you go into more detail about these costs. I would greatly appreciate you help. I dont want to move into a beautiful home if its in the middle of a s**t storm.
thanks!

[slamont61]

No, that part isn't bad. I have friends out there and they love the area. It's a very Pittsburgh like area. Who is telling you it's a bad area?

Where are you moving there from?

[artchick]

i read that on a few different posts on this site about Penn Hills. I am moving from Providence Rhode Island. A much smaller city in comparison, and not as confusing as Pittsburgh and all of its neighborhoods.

[aveojohn]

I wood stay away from any area farther down frankstown toward verona road,near homewood.

[xyzpdq]

As a longtime former resident of Penn Hills, I would not buy in Penn Hills at all, under any circumstances.

[xyzpdq]

Originally Posted by artchick

The street is Conestoga and its a couple blocks past the intersection of Coal hollow rd. Frankstown rd. and Beulah rd.

You would be very close to where, this past June, a man was shot as he drove his SUV down Frankstown Road. As he lost consciousness, his vehicle careened into the hillside on Frankstown, where he died.

If you do a search on the Post-Gazette site, the article is headlined, "Man Fatally Shot in Penn Hills".

Don't know if the city-data poo-bahs will let me share the link to the story with you....

Man fatally shot in Penn Hills

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by xyzpdq

As a longtime former resident of Penn Hills, I would not buy in Penn Hills at all, under any circumstances.

I agree. Check out Plum--a neighboring community but much safer as far as crime goes. Plum also has a great school district. I would NEVER live in Penn Hills again! I lived there from 1989-2000. Glad I got out when I did.

[aveojohn]

Originally Posted by xyzpdq

You would be very close to where, this past June, a man was shot as he drove his SUV down Frankstown Road. As he lost consciousness, his vehicle careened into the hillside on Frankstown, where he died.

If you do a search on the Post-Gazette site, the article is headlined, "Man Fatally Shot in Penn Hills".

Don't know if the city-data poo-bahs will let me share the link to the story with you....

Man fatally shot in Penn Hills

The man was shot in homewood and drove to penn hills where he died.I was born and raised in Penn Hills and believe me, most of Penn Hills is ok . The area that borders Homewood/Wilkinsburg is where you want to stay away from.My son bought a home in PH,on Outlook dr,next door to the home I grew up in.This is a very nice area and there has been 1 break in, in 30 yrs.There are some very nice homes for sale in this area and I would not hesitate to buy one if I was in the market.Check out Riverside drive(same area).There are 2 very nice homes there for sale.Hope this helps a little.

[Bong477]

While there are good parts of Penn Hills, the Penn Hills address alone will make it very hard to sell your house if you ever want to move. If you are planning to live there for a very long time, that probably doesn't matter and you can pick up a nice house inexpensively.

[Chihlidog]

I would have to agree with the advice not to buy in Penn Hills. I lived there untill 1996 and even parts that used to be quite nice are unfortunately in decline. I used to live on Blackridge Avenue.

Unfortunately, bad areas seem to be creeping up at random in Penn Hills as property values go down, new owners neglect their properties and the overall situation declines. Also, if you have kids, the schools have a, shall we say questionable population. Granted, you have problems in every school, but I would not send my kids there. (And keep in mind I went to Penn Hills schools from 1990-1996).

I mean, look, it isnt like youre going to get shot there. I wouldnt be terribly concerned about personal safety. Its just that I would not invest in property there at this point in time as values will likely continue to go down and neighborhoods continue to decline.