Brighton Heights,Millvale or Carnegie (Pittsburgh, Bellevue: middle-class, insurance, crime)

[steelerbuc]

I am looking at buying and renovating a house to live in in either Brighton Heights,Millvale or Carnegie.How do they compare as far as safety,schools,etc? Does Brighton Heights have a walkable shopping area?

[Copanut]

I'd go with Millvale, it seems to be more on an upswing than the others.

[shadysider]

brighton heights is the more dangerous of the three. Millvale is very safe, its just poor. personally i wouldnt live anywhere west of fort pitt it can be such a pain to get through the tunnels so scratch off carnegie, Millvale is close to downtown, right on rt 28, easy access to the north hills, easy drive to the waterworks mall, so id go with millvale

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by shadysider

brighton heights is the more dangerous of the three. Millvale is very safe, its just poor. personally i wouldnt live anywhere west of fort pitt it can be such a pain to get through the tunnels so scratch off carnegie, Millvale is close to downtown, right on rt 28, easy access to the north hills, easy drive to the waterworks mall, so id go with millvale

Are there parts of Brighton Heights that are safe? I've heard that it is an up and coming area. some streets seem very well-kept with owner occupied homes.

[trlstreet]

I'm not sure if I'd every consider Millvale a better place to live than Brighton Hts. Brighton Hights may have crime, but its nothing out of the ordinary for a city neighborhood. The housing stock in Brighton Hights is good and relatively inexpensive.

Millvale to me always felt crowded and dirty to me, kind of depressing.

[steelerbuc]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

I'm not sure if I'd every consider Millvale a better place to live than Brighton Hts. Brighton Hights may have crime, but its nothing out of the ordinary for a city neighborhood. The housing stock in Brighton Hights is good and relatively inexpensive.

Millvale to me always felt crowded and dirty to me, kind of depressing.

Crime and schools are the most important thing to us.I can take my little slice of the American dream and make it nice.I just don't want someone trying to steal it from me.

[robrobrob]

I don't think that you can say that Millvale is on the upswing. They have a problem with flooding that has plagued it recently and hasn't been addressed yet. Brighton Heights is a city nieghborhood which may make a comeback as some of the more desirable neighborhoods in the city become more and more expensive. However, this is probably a long way away. I really don't know much about Carnegie other than the fact that it is in the Carlynton School District, which isn't awful, just not great. I also think there are some "projects" there. Aren't there?

[mountainlove]

millvale's small town atmosphere, and large number of police keep most of the trouble away. it is definitely safer than brighton heights by a long shot. i had it narrowed down to brighton hts or millvale and went with millvale because the access to everything is just amazing. downtown, lawrenceville, the east end, ross park mall and waterworks...i have seen it on the upswing with more being done in the last year than the previous 4 combined, and expect that to continue.

flooding does suck. i get hit as bad as anyone in this town. flood insurance isn't really expensive to tell you the truth, and cleaning up from a flood sucks but is a great chance to meet your neighbors and drink beer together seriously though, buy outside of the flood zone and you'll be fine.

[creepsinc]

I don't get the whole "Brighton Heights is bad" thing on this forum. Is it Shadyside? No, of course not. It's just another middle-class (lower-middle in some parts) residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It has a small business strip on California, and some businesses on Brighton Rd. It's also right next to Bellevue, which I think is a place to watch with a bustling "downtown" area. It's also unfairly maligned around here by people who probably haven't been there in ten years or more. That being said, I'd go with Millvale, paying close attention to the areas that flood regularly and avoiding them. It has a perfect "small town" atmosphere and it is on the upswing, despite what people say here. I don't know much about Carnegie.

[otters21]

I believe if Bellevue should ever repeal the dry laws it will become another Sewickly which is a very desirable place to live. If that happens , Brighton Heights which is next to Bellevue will almost certainly be on the upswing. As far as Millvale is concerned it is one of the last few bastions for blue collar Joe to live affordably and safely and that IMHO is a trait of desirability. Carnagie on the other hand is not too bad but it is economically depressed in some spots and for those who like grit it certainly has it's share.