Moving to Pittsburgh area and terrified! (Ross Township, McKeesport: violent crime, townhouses, safe area)

[rapchef2]

My husband just got a job offer from a company in Leetsdale, and we have 2 or 3 days to think it over. We've been wanting to move for a few years, but now that we have an offer, I'm terrified of making a mistake! I've been reading the Pittsburgh forums and feel very overwhelmed with all the information, both positive and negative. Can some of you help me out here?

We are in Binghamton, NY right now, which is a cloudy city that's been on the decline for decades, so it sounds like Pittsburgh is similar but larger. I'm hoping at least the weather is no worse! I just read a post about the pollution and checked out the link, so I'm a little concerned about that because I have a son with mild asthma. So my first question would be, what areas would keep us in the best air quality without sacrificing the other things we are looking for?

So here's what I'm looking for...can I find it and if so, where?

1. Good schools, and not just academically. My kids are on the shy side, and my son has significant anxiety. It would be great to live in an area with friendly families that accept newcomers (our area isn't accepting of newcomers, so I'm hoping we are lucky enough to find a place that is) The kids are age 11, 7 and 2.

2. Small town or suburb feel (I've read about Sewickly, but don't know if it will be too pricey). I've never been a city person, and would like a decent yard for the kids (we don't need a whole acre, but enough space to play).

3. Big old homes with character (love all old styles) that are in our price range. Can we get a big old home in a great school district for $120,000 with $3,500 in taxes? That works out to a monthly payment we could do. If the taxes are higher, we'd have to drop our price range more.

4. Within a 20-25 minutes drive from Leetsdale.

5. Safe...I've been reading the forum on places to avoid and it's a little frightening. We don't have lots of crime here. I'm actually starting to worry about my husband doing his deliveries at 5am. Who knows where he would be going? But we at least want to live in the safest place we can find.

Does any such place exist? Thanks so much for your help!!!

[ctoocheck]

Don't be terrified! The Pittsburgh area is fairly safe and filled with nice people! :-) I don't know anything about that part of town so I can't tell you specifics, just know you don't have to be frightened!

[steindle]

Pittsburgh is honestly one of the least frightening cities in the country. My father was a delivery guy who consistently delivered to bars in the (infamous) Hill District, Homewood, Beltzhoover, etc at every hour of the day and night for years. He never had any trouble. Obviously petty, random crime exists, but the overwhelming bulk of it is targeted at people who are in some way involved in drugs, prostitution, or some neighborhood war. I have no idea what your husband is going to be delivering and it's incredibly unlikely that he'll be delivering it to one of these "rough" neighborhoods, but why would someone target some random guy from Binghamton, NY? People who are genuinely looking for trouble have much bigger fish to fry.

I'm not sure why I chose this particular thread to elaborate on this. If this advice was heeded, 75% of the threads on this board would be eliminated.

In any case, in terms of safe areas with good schools, Sewickley is an obviousy choice and I believe that there is affordable housing on the margins of it. Moon Township might be another choice...I honestly don't know much about the suburbs but it seems like a good number of successful people come out of there in my experience. Good luck and have fun!

[sr1234]

A big old home with a large yard for $120,000 or less in a good school district? That is going to be the difficult part. If you don't mind major fixer uppers you may find something close to that price range.

[BrianTH]

People divide Pittsburgh into better and worse areas, but as a whole Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of violent crime for a city its size, and its worse areas aren't as bad as the worse areas in some cities. In any event, violent crime against strangers is generally an overrated danger--it really isn't that common.

As for air quality, the big problem area is down in Liberty-Clairton, and there is basically no reason for you to be looking over there if you want to be near Leetsdale. If you wanted to be extra cautious, in general you could make a point of staying out of the river valleys (which may be more relevant if you are looking around Leetsdale, since it is in the Ohio River valley), but I think that is overkill unless your son is really sensitive.

[lcatchpo]

Consider Beaver. Great town, has everything you would want. No crime, very friendly people, old homes with character but you better want BIG! Most homes there are three story. Sewickley is very nice as well but I am not sure about the welcoming of new neighbor part. Shouldn't really be a problem anywhere in Pittsburgh. Nothing at all to be afraid of. You will be more than welcome here.

[CaptainObvious]

I return from a lengthy hiatus to offer the following...

Originally Posted by rapchef2

1. Good schools, and not just academically. My kids are on the shy side, and my son has significant anxiety. It would be great to live in an area with friendly families that accept newcomers (our area isn't accepting of newcomers, so I'm hoping we are lucky enough to find a place that is) The kids are age 11, 7 and 2.

You'll be perfectly fine in this department with a number of public schools in the Leetsdale area, namely the Moon Township school district or the Quaker Valley school district (Sewickley). Both are top-notch academically and generally attended by family-value-oriented kids from the "right side of the tracks", which all leads me to believe you would be welcomed there if you share those same values.

Originally Posted by rapchef2

2. Small town or suburb feel (I've read about Sewickly, but don't know if it will be too pricey). I've never been a city person, and would like a decent yard for the kids (we don't need a whole acre, but enough space to play).

Indeed Sewickley has about as much small town charm as one could ever hope to find. Unfortunately for you, your concern about price is for good reason. If you want a "decent yard" in Sewickley you'd better be prepared to spend well over the $120k you mentioned above. More like $350k. Forget Sewickley proper...you can't afford it if you have to ask. Moon Township seems to fit the bill for you: it is just across the river (10 minutes from Leetsdale), has the schools, and is much lower priced but still very nice and very suburban...not city-like at all. You'll still be hard-pressed to find anything for $120k, but if you're willing to bump that up to $160k or so you could get a nice townhouse or very very small 50's ranch. Parks abound in that area, so maybe that's where the kids play since you're on a limited budget?

Originally Posted by rapchef2

3. Big old homes with character (love all old styles) that are in our price range. Can we get a big old home in a great school district for $120,000 with $3,500 in taxes? That works out to a monthly payment we could do. If the taxes are higher, we'd have to drop our price range more.

Big, old homes with character also abound in the Sewickley and Leetsdale area...there's no shortage of turn-of-the-century victorians in that area. But $120k? You're going to need to give up something. You want A)Big B)Old with Charm C)Land and D)Great school district. You've just described Sewickley perfectly. Unfortunately, others who were also looking for those same four things do things like own the Pittsburgh Penguins or used to play professional football, and hence have priced you out of the area. You're going to have to get pretty far from Sewickley/Leetsdale to find what you want in a price-range you can afford.

Originally Posted by rapchef2

4. Within a 20-25 minutes drive from Leetsdale.

Alright, here's the towns within 20-25 minutes drive (at rush hour) from Leetsdale and what you'll find:

-Leetsdale: old victorians and row homes, slightly run-down, moderately priced, less of a yard than you want

-Sewickley: large old victorians and otherwise huge mansions, incredibly quaint and posh, wildly expensive, yards range from small to acres and acres of gated woodland.

-Moon Township: a newER 'burb with a bunch of split-levels, ranches, colonials, and townhouses. Quite a mix of new and old, but very little with the "charm" you're looking for. Moderately priced, you can find plenty of homes with the yard you need.

-Coraopolis: not new- not particularly well-kept (except on the border of Moon Twp), schools aren't particularly great, safety is not what it would be in say, Moon. For my money, if I'm looking at Coraopolis, I just go Moon.

-Bellevue/Westview: there are definitely some older homes with the charm you seek and the yard you want. There are probably even some in the price-range you're looking for. The schools are average at best, academically, and the whole area pulls from a pretty diverse crowd both culturally and income-wise. This area however, is quite a bit more busy and dense, and although not quite "city", it certainly isn't "small towny" either.

-Ambridge/Aliquippa: older "charmers" indeed. a lot of ghetto mixed in there too. not good schools at all. not particularly safe either. I'd shy away.

-Kennedy Township/Robinson Township: starting to get close to your 20 minute commute limit at rush hour (about 15 minutes off-peak), but this area has pretty good schools, is a tad more affluent and therefore better-kept in general, but you won't find the "old charmers" here- this is a through and through post-modern suburb with a mix of colonials, split-levels, ranches, and the occassional new townhouse or hummer home. Prices are moderate here too.

There's more, but my fingers are cramping.

Originally Posted by rapchef2

5. Safe...I've been reading the forum on places to avoid and it's a little frightening. We don't have lots of crime here. I'm actually starting to worry about my husband doing his deliveries at 5am. Who knows where he would be going? But we at least want to live in the safest place we can find.

Everyone always worries about "crime". I wouldn't advise you check into Homewood right away, but aside from that the entire areas described above, with the possible exception of Aliquippa, are safe enough. I'd have no problem walking around any street in any of the towns mentioned above at 5:00am. In fact, 5:00am is about 2 hours after any thug would have gotten back from his long night of drug dealing and pillaging and would be passed out long before 5:00am, and thus this is the best time to be out. I always schedule appointments I have in actual dangerous places (read: St. Clair Village, Braddock, McKeesport, and the likes) at 7:00am: thugs don't get up at 7:00am.

Originally Posted by rapchef2

Does any such place exist? Thanks so much for your help!!!

Again, you've got to give up something. For my money (or actually your $120k), I'd look into Kennedy Township or Moon Township while keeping an eye on Westview.

Peace,
Cap

[robrobrob]

You can't have it all with your budget. For the most part, 120,000 wont' get you what you want in the better school districts. Some affordable areas near Leetsdale with big old houses are in Beaver, Ambridge and Bellvue. However, those aren't the greatest school districts. I think you are going to have to compromise on the size of house and settle for something with less character, maybe something from the 1950's if you want to get into a decent district. Emsworth has some reasonably priced homes and it feeds into Avonworth School District which isn't an awful district.

Since you are from Binghampton, I assume you realize that you gas bill in a big old house is going to huge, maybe north of $300 even with the budget plan. I have a friend who has a big big old house and his is $600 a month on the budget plan.

[Geeo]

Don't worry. You'll be fine in Pittsburgh. It's one of the safest large cities and metro areas in the country. The local TV news sensationalizes crime stuff because that's what people like to watch and it gets ratings.

A few areas to consider that are probably in your price range are Ross Township, West View and Bellevue. All in the Horth Hills and accessible to Leetsdale.

The economy in Pittsburgh right now is holding up better than most parts of the country during this recession.

Welcome!

[JoeLeaphorn]

Don't forget that there are many less expensive commuities in the Quaker Valley School District (QVDSD) than Sewickley and certainly there are homes in that price range in the QVSD. The Avonworth School District which encompasses the communities adjacent to the QVSD is a very good school district and homes, there, are very affordable.