Help: Commute traffic Cranberry Twship <--> West Mifflin (Pittsburgh: buying a home, neighborhoods)

[dkcd]

We may be relocating to Pittsburgh area from out of PA later this year. My new office will be in West Mifflin (south of Pittsburgh).

We were quite attracted by the area near Cranberry/Wexford north of the city, and are thinking about buying a home there.

However we have serious doubt about the commute.

If you would be able to share any information/advice in terms how such a commute would be like: what would be a good route, and how long the drive would be, etc., we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[ditchdigger]

Just a wild guess, but I'd say an hour, in the dead of night. Rush hour? Could take two hours...

[Copanut]

Forget Cranberry, move to Peters.

[greg42]

That would be a seriously bad commute. You will have to cross through the city (not on surface streets, but still) from a suburb well north and west of the city to one well south and east.

The route? 79 south to 279 south just like you're going downtown. Except you're going to keep going, east on 376 and I guess exit for Homestead and cross at the hi-level bridge. Where you go from there may depend upon where in West Mifflin.

If it's NOT rush hour, you might make this in just under an hour. If it is rush hour, it takes 40 minutes just to get downtown, so it's going to easily go over to at least 75 minutes and maybe 90. These times should be good approximations from a variety of Wexford/Cranberry area spots. In a couple places you might shave a few minutes if you're really close to the 79 on ramp.

There's no way to go that's useful and not through downtown. You could take the Turnpike, but since there's no exit between Rt 28 and 376 in Monroeville, you'd be going significantly farther east than you need to, then backtracking. Cranberry to Monroeville is about half an hour that way, so I don't think it would really cut your time.

If there's not another commute to think about, you might be a good candidate for living in the eastern suburbs instead. I'm starting to get fairly isolated from those (becoming a native, hehe) but I think there are some areas that are similar in usefulness to Wexford/Cranberry. Cranberry is in Butler County with lower taxes, and there are places in the East in Westmoreland County with lower taxes. If school districts matter, the Murrysville area is probably a good spot to look. This is in the Franklin Regional school district, which is a good one out that way. Now, you're definitely trading one commute for another there, and it won't cut it dramatically at rush hour I don't think. Somewhere you need to get over the Mon River, and there are only so many bridges, that's one factor at play.

You may also want to consider south areas like Mt Lebanon, Upper St Clair, or maybe Peters Township in Washington County. Not sure the housing will be in line, though. It really depends more upon that, I guess, your price range and what you expect to get for it. But seriously, I wouldn't consider Cranberry or the Wexford area for buying if you're going to be commuting to West Mifflin long term. You'll eat up of so much of your valuable time commuting when there are other great neighborhoods you could live in much closer.

[Hopes]

Is this a joke? I don't care how attracted you are to Cranberry. You'll hate it rather quickly with that commute. It's like you picked the two most impossible locations for one another. Ditchdigger isn't exaggerating. That's probably the most hellish commute anyone could possibly have, and you want to do it to yourself on purpose yet! If ever there was a commute that would qualify for "you can't get there from here" it's that one!

Take Copanut's advice. Peter's Township is the best Cranberry alternative near West Mifflin.

Greg loves Cranberry and even he is telling you it's a bad idea!

Trust us on this!

[Mugatu]

I agree with the previous posts, forget Cranberry. The commute would be hell to West Mifflin. 90 minutes to 2 hours could be common in rush hour. And if it snows? Forget it, just turn around, it could take all day. Try Bethel Park, Mt Lebanon, Upper St Clair or Peters. All nice areas with a much better commute. And if you buy a home near the "T" (light rail) line you have the added convenience of taking that into the city when you feel like going to a game, museum, etc.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

And if you buy a home near the "T" (light rail) line you have the added convenience of taking that into the city when you feel going to a game, museum, etc.

Well, you can always drive to the T when you live in the South Hills so it's not necessary to buy a house near it for casual use.

[Faer]

I live in Swisshelm Park and am commuting to Butler right now, and this sounds horrible even to me. From the 376 down to West Mifflin there are just no good direct roads at all (and I wouldn't hold my breath about the mon-fayette xpwy existing anytime soon either).

[bmantz65]

I agree with others. That is an awful commute and it would be about 70-80 miles roundtrip plus wear and tear on your car. Not worth it for a job, especially because of no direct roads/exits and the trip would get dicey in the winter. The big problem is you have to cross a river at some point.

[hempfield mania]

Several of my co-workers make that commute daily (we work on Lebanon Church Road near the county airport) and it takes them anywhere from 45 min. to an hour depending on the time of day and weather. The commute isn't too bad if you take Rte. 51 to the Liberty tunnel, then 579 to 279 to 79 on the way out and reverse it on the way in. This is how they all go. My co-worker that sits next to me starts at 7:30am and leaves here at 4pm (our normal work hrs are 8am to 4:30 pm). If he leaves any later than that, it adds and extra 15 to 20 min. to his commute. He does live fairly close to I-79 so depending on how close you live to their will add onto your commute time. If you decide to move there in the future and work in WM, post up again and I'll post up or PM some of the tricks to get through the Liberty Tunnel in the afternoon.