Penn Hills/Verona (Wilkinsburg, Churchill, Riverside: section 8, real estate, rentals)

[AmyJ81]

My mother and I have looked at houses in both areas. I really seem to like the area as far as not being in the city, but still not in the middle of nowhere (I currently reside in WV). Does anyone have any advice on places to stay away from, or good places to look?

Any good websites to check out for community information and/or real estate?

[aveojohn]

If you travel up wildwood ave it turns into Verona rd( this is where Penn Hills starts). When you come to riverview dr make a right. Any where on Riverview, Riverside or Outlook dr, is a great area to live. I grew up on Outlook dr and my bro and son both live there. As far as Verona, I will leave that to someone else because it has changed a lot and I'm not sure whats good and bad. I understand Verona has a lot of section 8 homes.In PH, would stay away from anything on Rodi rd, Universal rd or west of Rodi rd toward Homewood.

[chielgirl]

If you're livingin either area, consider traffic.
Verona has a traffic jam every day.

Penn Hills is a sneaky community; the school district is known for screwing new homeowners by getting their taxes increased. They mess around with the appraisals.

It's happened to three of my friends in the past 5 years.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

the school district is known for screwing new homeowners by getting their taxes increased. They mess around with the appraisals.

It's happened to three of my friends in the past 5 years.

What the school district does is simple, you buy a house for 75K, it's assessed at 50 K, they want it raised to market value, no matter what the county says.

[PennHillsNative80]

Originally Posted by AmyJ81

My mother and I have looked at houses in both areas. I really seem to like the area as far as not being in the city, but still not in the middle of nowhere (I currently reside in WV). Does anyone have any advice on places to stay away from, or good places to look?

Any good websites to check out for community information and/or real estate?

If you look at a map of Penn Hills, I would not buy a house west of Route 130. Route 130 is Beulah Road & Coal Hollow Road. The neighborhoods west of Route 130 are starting to turn into "transitional" buffer zones between the good parts of Penn Hills and Wilkinsburg & Homewood - which are dangerous neighborhoods. Like I said in a previous post - those neighborhoods aren't bad. They seem to have a higher concentration of crime and blight compared to the rest of Penn Hills. There has been a lot of code enforcement issues with junk cars, vacant houses, litter, etc. in this areas. The value of the homes in those areas is significantly less than the values of homes in other areas of Penn Hills. Many of those homes are rentals.

Neighborhoods to consider are:
Rosedale
Frankstown Estates
Crescent Hills
Jefferson Heights area
Penn Hills Park

I honestly don't know much about Verona at all. It was a fine neighborhood when I lived in Penn Hills, but I've read that the downtown Verona area is starting to get shady, but who knows. Verona is in the Penn Hills School District.

[onwardandupward]

Originally Posted by PennHillsNative80

Verona is in the Penn Hills School District.

Actually, Verona Borough is in the Riverview School District. There are a number of homes in the Penn Hills School District that have Verona mailing addresses, but they are not in Verona proper.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by AmyJ81

My mother and I have looked at houses in both areas. I really seem to like the area as far as not being in the city, but still not in the middle of nowhere (I currently reside in WV). Does anyone have any advice on places to stay away from, or good places to look?

If you like being close to the city but not being in the middle of nowhere, check out Shaler. It's a safe middle class suburban township near the city.

[sabdjb123]

We have done numberous real estate closings in this area in the past few months. I would be more than happy to send you more information on the properties that are available there. I do agree with the "tax increase game" in the Penn Hills school district, but you are able to know ahead of time whether this will happen or not on each particular home......

[TechieTransplant]

Verona is home to the coolest bike shop in the area.....Dirty Harry's.

[mxw190]

I currently reside in Churchill, and I purchased a home at 1516 Riverside Drive in Verona (off Verona Road) several months ago. I am renovating the home and plan on selling it next year (after getting out of short term capital gains treatment). That is an outstanding area. The neighbors are all very welcoming. They always stop over to talk to me when I'm working, and the homes are generally well maintained. I also would recommend the frankstown estates, blackridge and crescent hills areas of penn hills. Clearly stay west of state route 130.