College Student moving to Downtown,Looking for info/opinions. (Pittsburgh: apartments, for rent)

[SteelersFan09]

Hey everybody, I know these questions get asked a lot on here, so I apologize for the redundancy. I've been browsing these forums and figured that there seems to be a lot of friendly,helpful people here that could help me out.

I'm a 22 year old male, college student, looking to move to Pittsburgh. I grew up in Wheeling,WV about 45-60 minutes away, and have spent plenty of times going to the burgh going to Pitt,Steelers,Pens,and Buccos games and have loved the city to death...recently I've considering going back to school to finish my English degree. Point Park seems to be the best option ,financially, so for walking distance convenience,ect. I've been considering moving into downtown and going to school from there.

What do you guys think of the move? Anything I should be wary of moving into downtown?

Thanks a bunch!

[Hopes]

boylocke attends duquesne or point park and lives downtown. I'm sure he can give you all the information you need. If he doesn't see this thread, send him a PM. He seems to enjoy living in the city.

[guylocke]

Hey SteelersFan09 I do go to Duquesne and live downtown, but I am in a condo complex which probably isn't what you're looking for as I imagine you want to rent and not buy your own place. You do know that Point Park has their own on-campus living facilities? Also, do you have access to a vehicle or will you be walking to school everyday? Off the top of my head, you could check out Washington Plaza. It's a large apartment building not far from the Mellon Arena and it's fairly nice with a lot of college kids. It would be about a 15 to 20 minute walk to Point Park. You could also check out several areas of the South Side would which also be an easy walk if you were able to live close to the Smithfield or 10th St Bridge. The South Side will have your heaviest population of college kids. Finally, you could look into one of several different places to rent on the North Shore and use one of many bridges that connect to downtown from the North Shore, all leading to an easy walk. The Art Institute kids live on the North Shore and their institute is not far from Point Park at all. All of those walks would be about 20 to 25 minutes.

orrrrrrr, you could live downtown with me and be about a as my current roommate is moving out next month. It would be less than a 10 minute walk. I have had several roommates, 1 has gone to Point Park, 1 has gone to the Art Institute, and 1 has gone to Duquesne and all of them have loved it here. Unfortunately it truly has only 1 bedroom, which is mine But there is a really nice pull-down bed my dad installed in the living room which is essentially my roommate’s room as I'm never in there and the place is plenty big with two bathrooms.

[guylocke]

orrrrrrr, you could live downtown with me and be about a as my current roommate is moving out next month. It would be less than a 10 minute walk

um, not sure what happened there. That sentence should be "orrrrrrr, you could live downtown with me as my current roommate is moving out next month. It would be less than a 10 minute walk"

[Hopes]

boylocke,

Answer his question about if there is anything he should be wary about moving into downtown. I love downtown, but I've never lived RIGHT in town so I can't answer the question for him. As far as I know, you're the only member of this site who can because you actually live inside the downtown part of the city.

[guylocke]

Answer his question about if there is anything he should be wary about moving into downtown.

Oh! I guess I haven't answered that! I will clarify my living arrangements as well. I lived on Duquesne Campus (that is downtown) for 2 years, then I lived in Southside for 2 years, and now I live in a condo on 5th ave downtown for almost 2 years.

As for being wary? Well to be honest, there is very very little downtown living for renters. There are several new places but they aren't for college kids, they are pretty high-scale and would be a hefty rent $$$ each month. In terms of crime, I have never felt unsafe downtown ever. Aside from the Hill District which is nearly out of the city limits, I have never felt unsafe on any side of the city. There are a few things to be wary of but it depends on if you will have a vehicle. One thing to note is that there is no grocery store downtown. There are several gyms, plenty of places to eat, and lots of entertainment. I'm probably not answering this well, what specific "wary" things are you concerned about?

[SteelersFan09]

Well my biggest problem so far has been finding affordable parking (which Is why I brought up not having a car). Another as you mentioned, is the grocery issue. The crime thing was an issue, but you addressed that. I'll look into the places you mentioned though. So far, the only place I've checked into was the May Building apartments and I liked it a lot. Anything else, I'm not really sure of...like I said, I've visited Pittsburgh a bunch,but I've never actually lived there,so I don't know if there's anything to worry about that I don't already know. Thanks a bunch for the feedback though so far guys. I appreciate it.

[guylocke]

In the city, parking is a real *****, SteelersFan09. In the Southside, if you rented a place you would have street parking which some people find ok but I loathe with every ounce of my body and especially since there is NO parking whatsoever to be found in the Southside during the weekends.

My condo actually has a garage that I use. It costs 160 bucks per month which sounds fairly steep but isn't for downtown parking, believe it or not. It's a pretty good deal and the residentual parking is completely caged off to the public so your car is completely safe. 2 out of my 3 roommates I've had have also paid to use that garage.

You don't really need a car if you don't want one. There is excellent bus service that will take you to plenty of places you could buy whatever you need. It's about a 30 minute ride on the bus to the Water Front and there is a huge Giant Eagle there that is really nice (grocery store), a Target, Best Buy, Dicks, Macys, AMC Theaters, and tons of other places to shop and eat. There are also two Giant Eagles you could walk to if you really wanted to, one in the South Side and one on the North Shore. Both have less than stellar customers, though.

Your bus pass might be included in your Point Park tuition, ask about it. It is included in most of the major universities around the city.

[Hopes]

SteelersFan09, I can attest that downtown Pittsburgh is safe.

There is a grocery store within walking distance of downtown in Northside. It's not fancy like the suburban stores, but it's a large grocery store. And there is also the strip district as an alternate for some speciality items not available in Northside.

Here is a map showing the location of the Northside Giant Eagle:

http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&saf...local&ct=image

[SteelersFan09]

Okay,that's great news. Thanks again guys. You've been a big help.