Good Suburbs???? (Pittsburgh, Indiana, Franklin: crime, houses, find a job)

[newstarthopeful09]

Hi all, we are planning to move to the Pittsburgh area in about 6 months and we have a few questions about the eastern suburbs. I will be a graduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania next year and I know that is about 1.5 hours from Pittsburgh. But my husband and I will be looking for work inside the city, so we would like to live within a half an hour or so near the city, and I will have to rough it and drive an hour to school two nights a week.

Also, a place where there is a decent commute from as I have read on here that some of the eastern suburbs have a horrible work commute into the city.

We want a suburb which is safe and a good place, with good schools to raise children as we plan to statr a family soon. Also, a place that is decently affordable.

Also, inside the city, what areas should we avoid, particularly working in? Are any areas considered more safe than others?

Any suggestions for us would be greatly appreciated!

[Kate88]

I'd recommend Murraysville, PA. It's a little under an hour from Indiana, PA, and about half an hour to downtown Pittsburgh. It's a nice area with good schools.

As far as safe parts of the city to look for a job - I'd say most jobs would be located Downtown, on the North Shore (just across the river from downtown), or in Oakland, about 3 miles east of downtown. All of these areas are perfectly safe. If you find a job in another neighborhood, I'd recommend just searching this forum for threads about the neighborhood.

[onwardandupward]

You might want to look at Oakmont as well; about an hour from IUP and 1/2 hour from Oakland or town. Oakmont's a nice little town with decent schools, a walkable community, and is safe and affordable.

[Johnny C]

North Huntingdon township has lower taxes than Pittsburgh Proper because it is in Westmoreland county. There are plenty of nice houses there and Norwin School district is pretty solid.

You would be around 30-45 min from downtown Pittsburgh, a reasonable drive to IUP, and would be close to shopping, food, parks, ect.

North Huntingdon Township

Norwin.biz :: North Huntingdon, Irwin and North Irwin - Pa

Norwin School District

[sportsfreak]

Originally Posted by onwardandupward

You might want to look at Oakmont as well; about an hour from IUP and 1/2 hour from Oakland or town. Oakmont's a nice little town with decent schools, a walkable community, and is safe and affordable.

definitely agree you should take a serious look at oakmont which just so happens to be where i live. crime is almost non existent here we have great shopping and dining and i dont know how slow or which way you drive that takes you a half hour to get oakland i work in bloomfield and get there in 15 minutes another 15 to downtown but yes i highly recommend oakmont

[smiles57]

YIKES! I did the commute from Indiana to Downtown Pittsburgh for 6 months in my early 20's and it wore me out!

I second the Murrysville area. I student taught in the Franklin Regional School district, and it's top notch.

There is also a nice park-and-ride into the city at the juncture of 286 and 22. No sweating the tunnels!