looking to move to Pittsburgh within next few months. Could use some help! (Wilkinsburg: sublet, affordable apartments)

[sweed0927]

Hi,

i've been reading through a lot of diff posts about ppl moving to pittsburgh and so far it seems tho the squirrel hills, shadyside and around that area seems to be the place to live if your a college student, as im looking to move there for college and really just to see if pittsburgh could be a place for me. i'd most likely be moving by myself, so where could be a good place to look for roommates if i decide i might need to have one?? I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE pens, and steelers fan and i wanna be around for all the games and meet ppl who enjoy it as much as i do, which im sure will not be a problem. im a girl in my early 20's and wld like to be in a neighborhood where i can meet ppl easily, but is also safe. Not knowing what my job will be when i get there im not really sure what my budget will be, but i wld assume somewhere around $500-700..i'm not sure i'll have a car in the beginning so good commute system is a must!

Any help getting me answers to these questions would be great! if you know anyone who will be looking for a roommate, or know someone who will be renting out would be awesome!

i've been looking on craigslist and other sites, but it's so hard now a days to know what is legit. i dont need much room, something a lil updated or with character would be a nice, i'd love to have a back yard/deck or patio.

Also i'm hoping to make this move within the next couple months!

thanks again!!

[Citypoot]

Hey Sweed,

I'm 30 and from Pittsburgh so I pretty much just went through that age here and can give you a pretty good idea.

Squirrel Hill- SOME college kids, but a lot of older well off couples. Beautiful archetecture, but a good hike from downtown.

Shadyside- Parts of Shadyside are off-the-charts loaded, and parts are almost seedy. It's right by an area called Wilkinsburg which can be the city's most dangerous section.

Three areas where you can't go wrong in terms of getting around without a car, close to downtown, and affordable are...

The Southside- Carson Street in The Southside is Pittsburgh's party district, with about a zillion bars, cafe's, art stores, concert venues, etc. The Southside Flats is a really nice apartment complex right by the river in the Southside, and for cheaper rent, there's a hill behind Carson street called the Southside Slopes that aren't quite as glamourous, but still pretty safe and good location.

Mt.Washington- This is that huge mountain overlooking Pittsburgh where all the postcards are taken from. The rentals right on the edge of the cliff on Grandview Avenue are of course super expensive for their view, but just a few blocks back from the edge are streets with really affordable rent, and lots of Art Institute kids, some Duquesne kids, etc. And keep in mind, the mountain has two inclines that go down to the river where there's busstops, and there's also busstops ON Mt.Washington, so it's a good option.

Oakland- I'd say more college kids live here than anywhere else...Oakland is the part of Pittsburgh that both Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are in. It has it's own bars, it's own clubs, it's own parks, and it's obviously the most convenient if you're going to school at either of those schools. But one drawback is unlike the Southside or Mt.Washington, it's a good hike from downtown. You can literally ride a bike on established bike trails from Southside to downtown. No prayer of that from Oakland.

One last darkhorse, is an area in the North Shore area called Manchester. It's over by Heinz Field and PNC Park, as well as the new casino, and within a year or so, they'll have a branch of the Subway that goes under the Ohio River and connects it to downtown Pittsburgh, but even now it's only a 10 minute walk. And a 5th neighborhood with some fun stuff to do for young people is Bloomfield, which is sorta of right in the heart of the city, but a little further from the tip of the city where downtown is. If I HAD to rank em with what you told me, my top-5 would go...

#1- Southside
#2- Oakland
#3- Mt.Washington
#4- Bloomfield
#5- Manchester

ALL above Squirrel Hill or Shadyside. And Southside Flats are hard to beat for coolness. Also if you're the type of girl that wants to be around other college students, but might prefer a slightly tamer roomate in the 25-30 crowd that won't destroy the apartment every 3 days from a kegger, a LOT of adults in the 24-32 age range live in those complexes too, and a perk there is if you think you might seek work in Pittsburgh, the place is teeming with people you can get to know as friends that can soon become references and help market you into Pittsburgh's job scene. I mention this because Pittsburgh was voted #1 city by Money Magazine a few years back for "direct referral" being employees' source of getting a job interview. In other words, it's a very "who you know" city in the job market, and if I was 22 or 23, I'd want to be someplace where I make the type of friends that are young enough I might strike up a conversation at a party, but old enough that they make good money and have some pull at their companies. So your resume a year down the road becomes a highly marketed document.

As George W Bush once said...."strateegery" lol.

[ex-burgher]

Quote::"Shadyside- Parts of Shadyside are off-the-charts loaded, and parts are almost seedy. It's right by an area called Wilkinsburg which can be the city's most dangerous section."

Don't get how Wilkinsburg is by Shadyside - you must have meant East Liberty

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by Citypoot

#1- Southside
#2- Oakland
#3- Mt.Washington
#4- Bloomfield
#5- Manchester

ALL above Squirrel Hill or Shadyside.

Could you explain in more detail why these 5 are above them? I am just asking because this is the first time I have not seen either of these neighborhoods in someones top 5.

[epiphyte123]

Yes, I'm interested in hearing your reasoning too.. I thought Shadyside and Squirrel Hill were almost always recommended for late college/young professional types, and for those without cars.

[ferraris]

Places with business districts (for meeting people and catching games) and large populations of young adults/college students with easy access to public transit are Oakland, Shadyside, Bloomfield, South Side, and Squirrel Hill (in no particular order).

Would you mind telling us your age? If you are straight out of high school you might prefer Oakland, so you'll be surrounded by other people your age. But if you're 25, you might feel out of place in Oakland.

What kind of areas do you like? Nice neighborhood? Party Central? Artistic flare?

[Citypoot]

To answer the questions asked,

The problem with Shadyside and Squirrell Hill is two-fold for this girl. Firstly, she wants "safe". The responder who said "he must have meant East Liberty" is right...East Liberty (rather than Wilkinsburg) is the seedy part of town right next to Shadyside, and the problem is most of the rental homes are on the side near East Liberty, while the million dollar homes in Shadyside are on the nice side. If I was a 20 year old girl walking alone at night, I wouldn't want to be walking in Shadyside where it butts up against East Liberty.

As far as Squirell Hill, note she said she may not have a car. Southside/Mt.Washington/Manchester are all cakewalks to downtown. But Squirrell Hill is a pretty solid busride. And Squirrell Hill too has a side of it that butts up against a rough part of town.

I'm just saying if I was 20 years old, no car, and wanted easy access to downtown, the 5 I named would come before Squirrell Hill or Shadyside.

[ferraris]

What area of Squirrel Hill butts up against a rough part of town? The extreme southern end by Hazelwood?

As for Shadyside, I have seen studios and 1BRs with rents in her price range within a block of the shopping area on Walnut. She could definitely find something, especially considering she is all right with the idea of having roommates.

Anyway, to the OP: I missed that you said you are in your early 20s, I really think that once you are past 22/23 (typical college graduation age) Oakland is not the best option. If you look in the surrounding neighborhoods (especially Shadyside and Bloomfield, in my opinion) you will find people closer to your age and probably closer to your maturity level, too.

While it's true that Shadyside butts up against areas that are a bit rougher, so do Oakland and Bloomfield. I really don't think it is anything to worry about, the areas these neighborhoods butt up against (E. Liberty, Garfield, The Hill District, Uptown) don't live up to the unsafe reputation that many give them. And on top of that it's not difficult to find a place that is quite a distance from those neighborhoods.

[Faerunner]

About finding roomies: Facebook's Marketplace had some postings last I checked. Although it's not the most widely used site it might have different results than craigslist. You might also try getting in touch with someone here who can check college bulletin boards for postings, or make a trip down over the weekend and crash at a hotel near your preferred neighborhoods. Walk the city and see if the location works for you, and take the time to check out rentals in the area and check campuses for roommate postings while you're here. Do you already have contacts in the area, or is this a fresh start?

If you're worried about liking it, stop. I love Pittsburgh, and that's saying something because I am a country girl at heart and feel very uncomfortable in most cities. The traffic during rush hour still drives me nuts but I love the green spaces and the culture. It's unlike any other city I've seen!

I agree that Squirrel Hill, while nice, is a bit far out of the way unless you love city buses. If you don't mind a studio/efficiency you can get them for $300-500 (or could last summer when we were looking), but bedrooms are expensive in the nice parts of town. Roommates are tricky - good roommates are the best way to lower your rent. Bad ones will ruin your life. You could always sublet a room with someone for a few months while you get to know the city and make friends, and then try to find a place on your own or with a friend you know you'll be able to live with!

Either way, good luck on your move - I hope you like the city as much as I do!

(Edit: messing with paragraph spacing)

[ex-burgher]

There are a lot of wealthy people living in Shadyside too - they would not choose to live in extreme danger. I don't think proximity to East Liberty makes it dangerous. Also East Liberty is changing a lot - see article:
Square Feet - Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Waking Up From Urban Renewal Coma - NYTimes.com

One of the great things about Pittsburgh is the mix of incomes and housing stock in even the nicest city neighborhoods. Squirrel Hill and Shadyside range from mansions to duplexes to affordable apartments and houses for rent. Just like Shadyside, Squirrel Hill is an easy bus ride to Oakland and downtown as numerous routes pass through. It's also a nice bike ride to Oakland through Schenley Park if you can make it up the hill!