Why is Pittsburgh so cheap? (Penn Hills, Plum: crime, homes, safe neighborhood)

[pittsteelerfan]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mon

Depends upon your definition of "nice." Anything under $100,000 in those neighborhoods will likely need extensive renovations and updates.

Exactly! Then trying getting the money back outta of it when selling. Cause none of the neighbors did any updating and your home is now the most expensive.

[pittsteelerfan]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

If you choose to live in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, or the Oakland area, yes the homes are quite expensive. But you can still purchase a nice home in areas like Greentree City, Morningside, Greenfield, and Swisshelm Park for under 100K. The taxes will be in the 2900 range which is affordable. I will agree that the 3% wage tax is a killer. That's what Pgh needs to get under control before I'd consider moving there.

Morningside? Greentree City? Morningside has small homes with zero lots, and where's the convience at? Over at the Waterworks or in Bloomfield? No privacy along with no convience? No thank you.

Greentree City, there again? And that's if you even like the south hills (not mention the traffic getting back over to the north hills).

I'm not familiar enough with the other two nighborhoods enough to comment on them.

[Copanut]

Not sure what you mean by convenience? to Downtown? to the Suburbs?

Some people like a small lot, trust me, after living on 2 acres and spending way too much time on yard work, I'm ready for a 50 x 120 lot or a row house.

As to Greentree City, you can be downtown in about 3 minutes, probably the quickest commute in the South.

Not sure what you would consider a good deal. Sounds like you want a new house on a big lot, for not a lot of money.

Are you related to my wife?

[Drover]

After my parents pressed me into service mowing our one-acre lawn and helping out with the ungodly amounts of yardwork, I can think of nothing more convenient than a small lot.

[mybeautifulpittsburgh]

Pittsburgh is not CHEAP!! It is INEXPENSIVE. I recently moved here from Northern California, where many of the neighborhood homes are built in the 1940's-70's. Many built with shoddy construction. As Pittsburgh has so many brick, and Victorian Wood frame homes, this area has much to offer architecturally. Sad that so many once proud neighborhoods are in decline. Many more are very lovely. The geography has many hills, and scenic views of trees, homes, rivers. The people are very nice here. It has lush green colors in 3 seasons, and a spectacular fall. It's got a growing community of artists and green types, of all ages and income levels. Many are from the west, and also, New Yorkers. They are tired of the hustle, and want to breathe. Rents are affordable, as are the houses. The houses, are very solidly built, so to come back to the original point, they are inexpensive, but NOT cheap! Come visit.

[mybeautifulpittsburgh]

This city is so old, beautiful geographically, architecturally. Lots of history, great libraries, especially the ones in Braddock and Homestead / Munhall. Plenty of arts and culture, music and theatre. Becoming more progressive, green, recycling, restoration. Great parks, rivers, bridges. The most rabid sports FANS I've ever seen. The Ordinary Joe's are the base. The artsy Jane's and Jacks, are increasing..it's very nice here all around. If you are a native, or a recent emigre, give a shout out on what you like about Pittsburgh. I like the Regent Theatre and Homestead Library, Frick Park,... and Construction Junction!

[pittsteelerfan]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

Not sure what you mean by convenience? to Downtown? to the Suburbs?

Some people like a small lot, trust me, after living on 2 acres and spending way too much time on yard work, I'm ready for a 50 x 120 lot or a row house.

As to Greentree City, you can be downtown in about 3 minutes, probably the quickest commute in the South.

Not sure what you would consider a good deal. Sounds like you want a new house on a big lot, for not a lot of money.

Are you related to my wife?

When people say the houses are cheap, they have to realize what they're getting for the money. I personally could care less about a yard, but others do like them. 2 acres is country living, not city.

Convenience? I mean being able to walk places. What's the point of city living if you ALWAYS have to jump in a car for everything. Might as well live in the burbs if that's the case.

Good deals? Really ain't no such thing in life. For the most part, you get what you pay for. Especially in terms of realestate.

[robrobrob]

I agree with pittsteelerfan. To make city living worthwhile you need to be able to walk to stuff, which pretty much means the East End, which isn't as cheap as the city's southern neighborhoods. For example, the affordable parts of Squirrell Hill are so far from the intersection of Forbes and Murray that few people would walk there.

[Bong477]

Any that thinks any part of Pittsburgh is expensive hasn't lived in an area of the country that actually is expensive (California, NY metro, DC metro, etc). Comparable housing in nice neighborhoods easily goes for 1.5x to 3-4x the cost. Pittsburgh is a great value housing wise.

I agree that the average price is a little misleading... you are looking at more like 200k'ish ballpark to buy a nice single family home in a good community that doesn't need work (whereas this same home might be 400-500k+ elsewhere). You can spend more or less with some tradeoffs.

When we recently moved to Baltimore (which isn't a ridiculously expensive area) we got a slightly smaller house with poorer construction quality and basically no yard for just under twice as much money.

[pittsteelerfan]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I agree with pittsteelerfan. To make city living worthwhile you need to be able to walk to stuff, which pretty much means the East End, which isn't as cheap as the city's southern neighborhoods. For example, the affordable parts of Squirrell Hill are so far from the intersection of Forbes and Murray that few people would walk there.

That's all I'm trying to say. I ain't saying Pittsburgh is EXPENSIVE, but it ain't as CHEAP as it appears on paper either. What is the point of 'city living', if you ain't living in a vibrant nabe with the convenience of being able to walk to bars, restaurants, grocery stores, etc?

And someone who has a good job or are educated, probably wouldn't want to live in Pittsburgh's 'cheaper' nabes anyway. Cause they probably wouldn't have much in common with any of their neighbors.

It's a city, that ANYBODY with a half decent job, can be a home owner. Not saying that the home will have any 'curb appeal', or it'll be in a great nabe, but ATLEAST you can have a small piece of the so-called American dream.

That's what seperates Pittsburgh from cities like Seattle, DC, NYC, Chicago, etc. But at the same time, those cities offer more in terms of career advancement too, along with a higher earning potential. Depending on your line of work of course. Those cities that I just listed, ain't great for 'working stiffs', but if you're a professional, advancing in your career, you'd probably do better in those places than Pittsburgh.

On the downside, you'd be living in a city that doesn't have 6 Super Bowl rings!