give me neighborhood suggestions! please! (Pittsburgh, Ross Township: condos, crime, townhouse)

[elfgirl]

My family and I want to leave the city of pittsburgh and move to one of the surrounding boroughs or suburbs. I really like Brentwood because of its "streetcar suburb" feel - not a big sprawling suburb, walkable, safe, cute houses, library, park, etc.

However I am not stuck on Brentwood if there are comparable neighborhoods out there....I would love to be able to move as soon as possible! We've been looking around Brentwood for a while and haven't found "the one" yet...So do you know of any other safe, quiet boroughs or neighborhoods (that are not part of the city school district) that are very walkable, and have sidewalks, a library and park, and decent houses under 100k? Tell me about them please!!! I will be forever grateful!

[guylocke]

Well.. I would look in Westmorland County. I was born and raised in Lower Burrell, just up 28th and not far from Pittsburgh Mills. It's a very quiet and well kept town. In fact, someone on these very forums was transferred here and moved to Lower Burrell after looking at MANY other cities.

[Hopes]

What part of the city do you live in now?

[elfgirl]

we live in what some affectionately call the "upper south side".... near the south side/arlington/mount oliver borders....

[claremarie]

You could try Ross Township and the Borough of West View -- specifically, zip code 15229. There are a number of houses on the market now that are, surprisingly, under $100k. (Here in the DC area, you couldn't buy a studio apt for that price). West View is older, an actual streetcar suburb, and quite walkable, with a little commercial strip down on Perry Highway and a large shopping center where West View Park used to be. There are some small neighborhood parks, but the library (Northland) is shared with other townships and is several miles away in McCandless Twp. The houses in Ross are newer, with larger yards (man West View houses are more like unattached row houses with tiny yards), but you will get more house square footage for your money in West View. Both are part of the North Hills School District.
You could also try Bellevue, which has more of a small-town feel, with a larger commercial area. Not sure about safety -- some areas seem a little sketchy, but the houses are large and many are quite charming. All three areas are within very easy commuting distance of downtown Pgh and Oakland via I-279.

[guylocke]

I would head North or Northeast

[Smoker]

Possibly Upper Lower Burrell.

[guylocke]

Upper Burrell is extremely rural.
Lower Burrell is a very nice little town that has maintained a consistant reputation over several decades and is actually having another growth spurt right now. Indian Fields in Lower Burrell is a high-quality plan tucked away in a very quiet, beautiful, neighborhood. Houses can get expensive. They are adding more houses as we speak and are getting permission to buy a huge farm near Upper Burrell to build 16 new houses and a plenthora of townhouse and condos.

Both Lower Burrell and Upper Burrell students are part of the Burrell School District

[elfgirl]

What about Bellevue? Does anyone know much about it? Is it a kid friendly type of place? Where I currently live is not kid friendly - as in, people think nothing of using the F word loudly and repeatedly in front of my 9 and 2 year old children, they go outside and fight with each other on the street or in their yards, blast loud music with no regard to anyone else.... I really want to move my family to somewhere where people respect each other a little bit more and where there is less crime and litter and where there aren't constant loud stereos....is Bellevue a possibility in that respect??

[guylocke]

Don't move to Bellevue if you are most concerned with family and schooling. They go to North Gate.
It's not a BAD area and there are many nice houses and neighborhoods, but it's a bit rough.
My boyfriends aunt refused to substitute teach at North Gate. He says it's a "depressed and stagnant area."

I'm telling you, check out Lower Burrell or even New Kensington (near Lower Burrell NOT the river!!!!!)
What about Natrona Heights? That could really work for you too, but it's in Allegheny County, whereas New Ken and Lower Burrell are in westmoreland (much lower taxes). Instead of being about 20 - 25 minutes north of the city, the places I mentioned are about the same distance north-east of the city.