Why is Pittsburgh so cheap? (Denver, Homewood: high crime, houses, unemployment rate)

[Greg Xix]

I live in the Seattle area and of all the major metropolitan areas that I have seen around the country, the Pittsburgh area is BY FAR AND AWAY the cheapest. Why? High Crime? 40% unemployment? Taxes unrealistic? Houses I see for 80k go for 500k here. I am serious!!

Also, from what I see in pics, many areas look fairly desirable. My questions are basically, what suburbs and Counties tend to be hilly and/or have trees in the Greater Pittsburgh area? I like suburbs; ya know, quiet neighborhoods but still stuff going on(shopping centers, libraries etc.) with people around.

Even after all of the layoffs at Boeing, Amazon and Microsoft come in to play here and the housing market "bottoms"(although it really hasnt come down that much here), I will still NEVER be able to afford a even shack here.

Thanks,
Noobie Poster

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Greg Xix

<snip>
Also, from what I see in pics, many areas look fairly desirable. My questions are basically, what suburbs and Counties tend to be hilly and/or have trees in the Greater Pittsburgh area? I like suburbs; ya know, quiet neighborhoods but still stuff going on(shopping centers, libraries etc.) with people around.

<snip>
Thanks,
Noobie Poster

All of them!

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by Katiana

All of them!

True, even the river towns have neighborhoods that cascade quickly up the hillsides, Pittsburgh does not have sprawling, vast valleys, since the Appalachians, where Pittsburgh lies, are folded mountains, as opposed to the Rockies, which are faulted mountains and have vast valleys and plateaus. Denver probably is less hilly than Pittsburgh in city proper despite much higher peaks outside of the city. I have never been to Denver, but I heard it is pretty flat. In Pittsburgh, climbing a hill is almost inevitable on a daily basis.

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by Greg Xix

Pittsburgh area is BY FAR AND AWAY the cheapest. Why?

We already went through a devastating recession here during the 70's and 80's, and to some extent part of the early 90's. We've had no "bubbles" here like the rest of the country. And with the mass exodus of people from that recession we have an abundance of good, well built, affordable housing stock.

Originally Posted by Greg Xix

High Crime?

No, Pittsburgh is a relatively safe city. The murder rate was up in 08, but most of those were drug related and people who new one another.

Originally Posted by Greg Xix

40% unemployment?

No, Pittsburgh's unemployment rate is around 5.5%-5.7%, well below the national average.

Originally Posted by Greg Xix

Taxes unrealistic?

They are considered high by some, but not unrealistic, and they are no where near the highest on the east coast.

[AVYinzer]

Crime is not bad at all. The cost of living is so low because your income will be extremely low compared to the rest of the country.

[RW333]

Originally Posted by AVYinzer

The cost of living is so low because your income will be extremely low compared to the rest of the country.

Seems so, as a quick look at a couple of salary comparison tools (incl. Salary.com's Cost of Living Wizard Tool ) comparing Seattle to Pittsburgh confirms:

Cost of living is 14.4% less in Pittsburgh

Salary is likely to be 11.2% less in Pittsburgh

The annual net gain in income, factoring in differences in cost of living and salary would be: at $50,000 = $1609; at $75,000 = $2414, at $100,000 = $3218.

City-Data.com has crime stats, etc.

[highway29south]

Pittsburgh is cheaper, I think, because you don't have the influx of people some other cities do, which increases the demand and therefore cost of the homes. Also, generations of families live here and don't leave. They often buy homes for each other or off each other, keeping the prices low. The taxes here are high compared to the low costs of a home. There is an issue with state government overspending (Governor Rendell is known as "Spendell" by some here) but some of the services are the best around. For example, my son has autism and all of our services were covered, one of the few places that is true in the country. The other social services are just as good. It's a balance. You have to find what you are comfortable with.

[robrobrob]

As you know location is everything. That 80,000 house is probably in a pretty lousy area. Put it in a nice area of the city and it is 400,000. Put it in an average area and it is probably 180,000. Pittsburgh isn't as cheap as people think if you want to live in a nice area of the city. Since our population has dropped and moved toward the burbs we still have a lot of older homes in the city which look pretty good from the street but which are in or are a couple of blocks form a lousy neighborhood. Basically places that I don't want to live. There are only a handful of neighborhoods which you would call nice. Certainly, thare are city neighborhoods that are okay and you would be safe in but you wouldn't call nice. There are also a lot of neighborhoods that aren't all that nice. So yes you can buy a house for 80,000 but you probably woudn't want to live there.

[fleetiebelle]

So yes you can buy a house for 80,000 but you probably woudn't want to live there.

I don't know, I like my $80K house in the city. Yeah, the city's got problems, but none of them will be solved if every educated professional flees to the suburbs.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I don't know, I like my $80K house in the city. Yeah, the city's got problems, but none of them will be solved if every educated professional flees to the suburbs.

Yes, some neighborhoods do have problems like Hazzlewood, Homewood, Garfield (which will be the next to be regentified with the hospital), and a few more. However, how Robrobrob described it is just plain wrong. It sounds like a description from somebody from the suburbs who knows nothing of the city. For instance, the "you can walk blocks and it is dangerous" thing.

I am kind of annoyed right now, because I just sat at a table (superbowl party) with a bunch of suburbinites I work with talking about housing. They were putting down the city and people who live there. "Oh, how could anybody live down there? I don't get it? Do they have to like, like Street park? God forbid if I don't have a garage for my SUV? Oh dear!" Was what one person was saying. I just shook my head, and had to leave. These idiots think if you live in the city you don't have a driveway. Most of them go the Pittsburgh only for Baseball games or Steeler games, and don't know the difference between Shadyside or the Southside slopes at all.