Living in Mt. Lebanon vs. Dormont (Pittsburgh, Washington: fit in, rental, low crime)

[RoughCollie]

We have 4 kids in high school who will be going to college.

Do you think it is worth double the rent to live in Mt. Lebanon rather than Dormont, and why?

Other than it being more expensive to rent a house there, Mt. Lebanon seems to be a much better place to live. The high school looks fantastic. The house is in a very walkable area within a few blocks from the library. This is important because the kids and I want to be able to walk around and actually end up somewhere that we want to go. (We live in a bedroom community now and the only place to walk is in circles.)

The Dormont house is on the corner of a very busy street and is not very walkable because that street has no sidewalks.

We are going to visit Pittsburgh in early May. We know we are moving there from Massachusetts within a couple of months, but we haven't ever been there. We will be looking for a house to rent, and the two houses we have in mind are from our internet research only -- for all we know, we will find a house we like better than either of these two.

I am also concerned about the crime rates. Right now, with 100 being the U.S. average crime rate, the town we live in has a crime rate of 0.3 -- basically, no crime but very boring. I do not expect to find that low crime rate in an urban area, but I'd like to live in the lowest crime rate, walkable (near shops and library), urban area I can find.

Thanks for your help!
RC

[robrobrob]

Mt. Lebanon schools are much better than Keystone Oaks which is the Dormont district. Then again, I don't know about your budget and whether or not you can afford double the rent.

[RoughCollie]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Mt. Lebanon schools are much better than Keystone Oaks which is the Dormont district. Then again, I don't know about your budget and whether or not you can afford double the rent.

We can afford the rent. We could save $9,600 a year by renting the house in Dormont, less the difference in the cost of utilities (the Dormont house is 1.5x larger than the other one). We cannot afford to send our kids to private schools, though.

Basically, we can afford to live in Mt. Lebanon, but probably won't have a lot of money left over to buy many things that are unnecessary. That is the boat we are in here in Mass. The difference will be in quality of life. We live in a town that has a great high school, but other than that it is boring -- there is nothing here for anyone to do, all life revolves around the schools.

Before we had kids, we lived in Brookline, Mass, which borders Boston. We could walk everywhere (tons of shops, restaurants, libraries) and the T (subway) was only two blocks away. It was vibrant, exciting, full of interesting and intellectual people. I think Mt. Lebanon sounds like the closest place to that we could find in Pittsburgh that we could afford.

I prefer to live in Mt. Lebanon, but am I being too self-indulgent, given the difference in cost of rent? I can make a good argument for living in either place, but it comes down to whether it is worth paying more for the much better high school. Wherever we live, we want to stay put until all of our kids have graduated, which will take 4 years.

[slamont61]

The community of Mt Lebanon is definately worth the difference. Maybe if you had no childeren you may consider Dormont. The Schools can't compare and if College is in thier future, they will be much better off in Lebo. Plus side also is the fact that there is no Bussing in Mt Lebanon for school but there will be in Dormont.

Always remember you get what you pay for. The savings in this case may not be worth it while the extra expense of better schools and better neighborhood is well worth it.

[Hopes]

Why only limit yourselves to Mt. Lebanon & Dormont?

I wouldn't stretch myself too thin financially.

The economy isn't stable enough to over-extend yourselves with four children who will soon be college bound.

[mhen]

I don't have kids, so I cannot comment from that persepctive. However, I went to a "bad" high school (or so is the consensus on this board). I am an intelligent person who went on to college (and graduated). I can't find school rankings (and I'm not looking very hard), but I think I remember seeing Keystone Oaks ranked higher than Woodland Hills.

IMO an intelligent, college bound pupil will be okay at an average school... but some people like to ride their kids really hard and 'average' just won't cut it.

[robrobrob]

My sister lived in Brookline and really liked it. However, she ended up moving because it was too expensive. It is probably worth it to live in Mt. Lebanon. The nice thing about Mt. Lebanon in comparison to some other more affluent areas is that the township offers many activities and you don't have to join a club. I would guess that Squirrell Hill is closer to Brookline than Mt. Lebanon. Welcome to the Burgh.

[steindle]

When you say that you don't expect to find as low a crime rate in an urban area...neither of these are urban areas.

That said, Mt. Lebanon has a substantially more active and nicer "main street" than Dormont, in my opinion. I like Dormont fine, but Washington Blvd or whatever it is in Mt. Lebanon is a pretty self-sufficient, walkable area with lots to do. It's kind of like Squirrel Hill, 8 miles into the suburbs.

[Copanut]

I've lived in both Mt. Lebo and Dormont. Both are good areas, Mt. Lebo gets the nod as to which one is better, services wise, education wise, and safety wise. Hands down the school district is far superior to Keystone Oaks.

You might want to contact a good rental agent to see what is available in Mt. Lebo, with so many vacant homes on the market, someone might be willing to cut a deal on a 2-3 year lease. And nothing says you have to live in the same house for the next four years.

One thing to consider, if as your saying money is tight, consider the peer pressure your kids will face as to clothes and all the other teenage accesories needed. A large portion of Mt.Lebo kids are well to very well off.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

One thing to consider, if as your saying money is tight, consider the peer pressure your kids will face as to clothes and all the other teenage accesories needed. A large portion of Mt.Lebo kids are well to very well off.

Excellent consideration. I have warned people about this in the past. There is no sense in moving into an area where one can't afford to keep up with the Jone's---especially with teenagers who need to fit in with the crowd. There are other places to live besides Mt. Lebanon and Dormont. I don't know why the OP is only focused on those two areas/school districts.