I-79: Pittsburgh's "wealth corridor"? (Bethel Park, Ross Township: middle-class, neighborhoods, school district)

[Gnutella]

Has anybody else noticed that most of Pittsburgh's most desirable suburbs are located not too far from I-79? Consider...

- Peters Township
- South Fayette Township
- Upper St. Clair
- Bethel Park
- Mt. Lebanon
- Robinson Township
- Sewickley
- Sewickley Heights
- Sewickley Hills
- Ohio Township
- Ross Township
- Franklin Park
- McCandless
- Pine Township
- Marshall Township
- Cranberry Township
- Seven Fields

The only highly-desirable suburbs I can think of that aren't very close to I-79 include:

- Hampton Township
- Richland Township
- Fox Chapel
- O'Hara Township
- Oakmont
- Murrysville
- Penn Township
- Hempfield Township
- Pleasant Hills
- Jefferson Hills

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like I-79 is emerging as sort of a wealth corridor in the Pittsburgh area.

[greg42]

Methinks it's pretty simple: if you're gonna drive in from the burbs anyway, being close to the highway makes that drive a little shorter. That in turn makes those places close to it more desirable, which makes them more expensive, etc. Although it doesn't make everything on I-79 desirable, though. Coraopolis, Glenfield, Kennedy, etc. don't quite fit.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by greg42

Methinks it's pretty simple: if you're gonna drive in from the burbs anyway, being close to the highway makes that drive a little shorter. That in turn makes those places close to it more desirable, which makes them more expensive, etc. Although it doesn't make everything on I-79 desirable, though. Coraopolis, Glenfield, Kennedy, etc. don't quite fit.

Of course not all of it fits, but a lot of it does. I think it's logical that the I-79 corridor developed this way for a few reasons:

1. Of all the long-haul Interstates, I-79 passes closest to the city of Pittsburgh.

2. The Pennsylvania Turnpike has extremely limited access, reducing its suburban convenience.

3. I-70 is a little bit too far away, being more of an exurban/satellite highway.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like I-79 is emerging as sort of a wealth corridor in the Pittsburgh area.

I think you have to much time idle time in your day to think of things like this.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

I think you have to much time idle time in your day to think of things like this.

That's why I put "wealth corridor" in quotation marks. Still, whether they're middle-class or affluent, most of the suburbs on and near I-79 seem to be pretty desirable places.

[lifepgh2op]

Originally Posted by greg42

Although it doesn't make everything on I-79 desirable, though. Coraopolis, Glenfield, Kennedy, etc. don't quite fit.

You can easily access Sewickley and Moon from the Coraopolis exit. Moon is debatable, I guess, but it has a lot of nice, wealthy neighborhoods, and a strong school district.

[BrianTH]

The older wealthier areas in the Pittsburgh suburbs were actually located along either rivers or rail/streetcar lines, and I-79 passes near some of them more just because it passes reasonably close to the City's western border and thus passes near the older suburbs on the western side.

But I think it is true some of the newer wealthier suburban areas have located near I-79, for the same reason the older areas were near rivers and eventually rail: wealthy people like transportation convenience as much as anyone, and in this car-dominated era that means trying to be near a highway (at least out in the suburbs).