Anyone here from Upper Saint Clair? (Pittsburgh, York: sale, new house, neighborhoods)

[tluvpitt]

usc is definately a "snooty" area....but i suppose with good reason. i am a college professor and we send our students out there for student teaching and practicum - and the school system and special education programming is fantastic. where usc may fail is that it isn't a very diverse area, so if that is important to you, it isn't the place to live. i chose to live in bethel park b/c of the "t," i wanted to walk to public transpo to work instead of having to drive into the city.

[jasmine46]

To address a few points from earlier posts in the thread:

I've lived in Upper St. Clair for two decades. Its main draw is the excellent school system, but there are other positives, for instance a low crime rate. Many of the houses go for way more than the $200,000 mentioned previously in this thread, although many sell in that price range also. There was never a real estate bubble here, nothing to collapse, just slow and steady.

I haven't found the people snooty. On the contrary, they bond, help out neighbors in emergencies, etc. People here also support charities financially and volunteer in them, in a big way. I do notice a preponderance of republicans and a certain general reserve. But the township is large enough that you'll find all sorts of people with all sorts of backgrounds and interests if you look.

You can use either Pittsburgh or Upper St. Clair as a return mailing address, last I knew the post office doesn't seem to care. (They do care that you not use the abbreviation P'gh for Pittsburgh as it's something only locals usually recognize.)

Is the school system empowering or too high-pressure? Are the people ladder-climbing, conspicuous consumers or concerned, intelligent citizens? It's often the case that we see what we expect to see. I'd say, keep an open mind.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by tluvpitt

usc is definately a "snooty" area....but i suppose with good reason.

There's never good reason for snootiness.

[wordzgirl]

I lived in USC from '75 to '88 and graduated from high school there. I find it to be very superficial, and many of the kids I went to school with had a serious sense of entitlement. Also, while you may find houses below $200,000, these tend to be in the "less desirable" areas of the township, which was an endless source of ridicule for some kids. And yes, your children could possibly be teased for not having designer clothes. Taxes are horrendously high as well.

The schools have a good reuptation; however, with the abundance of money floating around, the drug problem is pretty serious. Also, there is almost a complete utter lack of diversity. There was one black student in the entire high school while I was there.

Personally, while I was still living in Pittsburgh, I chose Scott Township to raise my children. Still great schools, but more affordable housing, less attitude, and more racial diversity.

[raynist]

Originally Posted by wordzgirl

I lived in USC from '75 to '88 and graduated from high school there. I find it to be very superficial, and many of the kids I went to school with had a serious sense of entitlement. Also, while you may find houses below $200,000, these tend to be in the "less desirable" areas of the township, which was an endless source of ridicule for some kids. And yes, your children could possibly be teased for not having designer clothes. Taxes are horrendously high as well.

The schools have a good reuptation; however, with the abundance of money floating around, the drug problem is pretty serious. Also, there is almost a complete utter lack of diversity. There was one black student in the entire high school while I was there.

Personally, while I was still living in Pittsburgh, I chose Scott Township to raise my children. Still great schools, but more affordable housing, less attitude, and more racial diversity.

LOL, well I guess I live in one of the not so desireable area's of USC. Most of the homes on my street sell for 150k to about 190k. At least on my street there is a lot of diversity. We have 4 or 5 asian families, a couple of Indian families, a Native American family, a black family, a russian family a jewish family and some germans. I haven't came across any snooty people, but I also haven't had any contact with the kids in high school.

Really, you can drive around my neighborhood and it is no different than being in Bethel Park, which it borders.

My wife doesn't like to say where we are from because of the stigmatism that comes with saying USC. She usually just tells people we are from the South Hills. One of my old school friends asked if I was brining my helicopter to our high school reunion when he found out I lived in USC

[raynist]

Originally Posted by wordzgirl

I lived in USC from '75 to '88 and graduated from high school there. I find it to be very superficial, and many of the kids I went to school with had a serious sense of entitlement. Also, while you may find houses below $200,000, these tend to be in the "less desirable" areas of the township, which was an endless source of ridicule for some kids. And yes, your children could possibly be teased for not having designer clothes. Taxes are horrendously high as well.

The schools have a good reuptation; however, with the abundance of money floating around, the drug problem is pretty serious. Also, there is almost a complete utter lack of diversity. There was one black student in the entire high school while I was there.

Personally, while I was still living in Pittsburgh, I chose Scott Township to raise my children. Still great schools, but more affordable housing, less attitude, and more racial diversity.

Taxes in USC are no worse than any other suburbs in Allegheny county. In fact, I was paying less in taxes than a friend of mine who lived in Whitehall with a similar valued house.

[wordzgirl]

I guess I mean to say the taxes in Allegheny County are horrendously high all around. Down here our taxes are around $1,100 a year on a $190,000 house. Glad to see there's some diversity happening now.

[Steelatto]

There are also decent/moral citizens in Upper St. Clair. See, e.g. The Almanac.net Letter to the editor/South Moral judgments - Open Letters - post-gazette.com (but each village has to have its own idiots and morons, of course)

[bethany wright]

I have to say, I moved to USC when I was six, and while there are the 'entitled' families there, where aren't there? Peters Township, Canon Mac, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny. All have their share. It all depends on who you chose as your friends. When I went away to college, there were kids on my floor from other south hills communities and I didn't really want to tell them where I graduated from, because of the 'snotty' people they thought came from USC. I'm no different than anyone else, not a privledge snot and my parents aren't gazillionaires. I actually am hoping to someday move back to USC so my kids can get the education I recieved while there. I was miles ahead of my college classmates when I started when it came to writing papers and time management.

It's a great community to grow up in, close to Pittsburgh and friendly people.

[USCCL]

What's funny is that the only reason why the $190,000 houses in USC are here is because back in the 70's when all the houses were being built, people complained that the township was "zoning out the poor" which only attracted wealthy people.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search

No, not all the people are snobs. But it's true that over half the population of USC lives in a $300,000 or above. (Which is much higher in cities with a higher cost of living) There is a house for sale for $3,000,000 dollars right now, the USC street signs are even ornate looking (unlike surrounding communities) and every new house being built in USC is selling for $400,000 at least. Don't believe me? Type in "Cook School Road, 15241" on google earth. All new houses being built. I also think that USC gets it's reputation from the school district kids too. Naturally, the older neighborhoods in USC have more senior citizens along with a few kids. But most of these kids come from the 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath crowd.

Upper St. Clair is upper middle class. There is no diversity in the school district, which means there is a highly insulated bubble that surrounds the district. But a lot of the kids are responsible and well educated. It's true, there is a much higher amount of snobbery in USC. I don't know how anyone could deny that fact.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...#ixzz0TapJgoGl