Pittsburgh Atlanta, what's it like living there?

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by cqholt

There would be little to no catalyst for redevelopment of the underused parcels without the BeltLine. The whole point of the project was using a transportation corridor as investment to focus development and absorb the upcoming population gains to areas with transit and alternative transportation options.

Which is ridiculous because Pittsburgh is very well logistically located. Outside of the prejudices and pretentiousness of individuals, neighborhoods like Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville, Capital View, Cap. View Manor, Sylvan Hills, are prime locations just due to location. Basically downtown. It makes nothing but sense to buy and revitalize such neighborhoods. Shouldnt take walking trails and such to spur that kind of common sense revitalization in my honest opinion...

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY

Which is ridiculous because Pittsburgh is very well logistically located. Outside of the prejudices and pretentiousness of individuals, neighborhoods like Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville, Capital View, Cap. View Manor, Sylvan Hills, are prime locations just due to location. Basically downtown. It makes nothing but sense to buy and revitalize such neighborhoods. Shouldnt take walking trails and such to spur that kind of common sense revitalization in my honest opinion...

Absolutely correct, but a large gov't investment (like the BeltLine) is a catalyst to investors who will renovate homes and begin the gentrification process.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Absolutely correct, but a large gov't investment (like the BeltLine) is a catalyst to investors who will renovate homes and begin the gentrification process.

I bought 4 houses in 2013 at prices ranging from 10k - 25k, while living in NYC. Didn't know anything about that Beltline. It wasn't the driver for me to renovate the homes...rather the basic economics and logistics as I worked downtown and didn't want to commute from the house I had in Dunwoody. I chose to renovate one home in Pittsburgh by Pittman Park and live in it whilst renovating the others. The economics were always favorable. Then you had the AEC foundation who have been active in the community for a while, whilst also assisting the neighborhood by revitalization with 352 University (Pittsburgh Yards). My opinion is that there were forces outside of the Beltline at work (though slowly working) and common sense economical and logistical facts that made the neighborhood and area prime for revitalization. But the discussion as to why it wasn't happening is a voluminous dialogue, and maybe a bit off topic here. The neighborhood and bordering neighborhoods sans Adair Park maybe, have their social and socio-economic ills. But Im a firm believer that the area was always prime for redevelopment and that there are certain factors that people attribute to areas such as these that would deem them as non candidates for attention based.

But thats the paradigm I view things thru...

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY

I bought 4 houses in 2013 at prices ranging from 10k - 25k, while living in NYC. Didn't know anything about that Beltline. It wasn't the driver for me to renovate the homes...rather the basic economics and logistics as I worked downtown and didn't want to commute from the house I had in Dunwoody. I chose to renovate one home in Pittsburgh by Pittman Park and live in it whilst renovating the others. The economics were always favorable. Then you had the AEC foundation who have been active in the community for a while, whilst also assisting the neighborhood by revitalization with 352 University (Pittsburgh Yards). My opinion is that there were forces outside of the Beltline at work (though slowly working) and common sense economical and logistical facts that made the neighborhood and area prime for revitalization. But the discussion as to why it wasn't happening is a voluminous dialogue, and maybe a bit off topic here. The neighborhood and bordering neighborhoods sans Adair Park maybe, have their social and socio-economic ills. But Im a firm believer that the area was always prime for redevelopment and that there are certain factors that people attribute to areas such as these that would deem them as non candidates for attention based.

But thats the paradigm I view things thru...

Neighborhood has great location, walkable blocks, on the BeltLine, commercial core, and frequent bus service.

[seussie]

Originally Posted by ATLUTD

Any updates on life in Pittsburgh? There are some houses I absolutely adore and check every box for me here and could see Pittsburgh becoming the type of community neighborhood that Cabbagetown is today. I'm just being really gunshy about committing.

How long do you want to wait on the market? The westside is looking more like Cabbagetown. I know information on the internet is useful, but maybe chats with residents could give a more realistic sense of development, especially since George State's developments around the stadium are in process though nowhere near finished. A lot of the eastern neighborhoods had and still have some notorious property loss stories related to their gentrification, so if you want what Cabbagetown is now in Pittsburgh you might end up paying nearly twice than what you could were you to buy now. That's the market gamble. Maybe there'll be a bust!

Originally Posted by SLIMMACKEY

I bought 4 houses in 2013 at prices ranging from 10k - 25k, while living in NYC. Didn't know anything about that Beltline. It wasn't the driver for me to renovate the homes...rather the basic economics and logistics as I worked downtown and didn't want to commute from the house I had in Dunwoody. I chose to renovate one home in Pittsburgh by Pittman Park and live in it whilst renovating the others. The economics were always favorable. Then you had the AEC foundation who have been active in the community for a while, whilst also assisting the neighborhood by revitalization with 352 University (Pittsburgh Yards). My opinion is that there were forces outside of the Beltline at work (though slowly working) and common sense economical and logistical facts that made the neighborhood and area prime for revitalization. But the discussion as to why it wasn't happening is a voluminous dialogue, and maybe a bit off topic here. The neighborhood and bordering neighborhoods sans Adair Park maybe, have their social and socio-economic ills. But Im a firm believer that the area was always prime for redevelopment and that there are certain factors that people attribute to areas such as these that would deem them as non candidates for attention based.

But thats the paradigm I view things thru...

Yeah, I like this view. Development was always going to happen. The Beltline simply injected steroids into the situation. Renovation quality is a toss-up too in such a rush.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by seussie

How long do you want to wait on the market? The westside is looking more like Cabbagetown. I know information on the internet is useful, but maybe chats with residents could give a more realistic sense of development, especially since George State's developments around the stadium are in process though nowhere near finished. A lot of the eastern neighborhoods had and still have some notorious property loss stories related to their gentrification, so if you want what Cabbagetown is now in Pittsburgh you might end up paying nearly twice than what you could were you to buy now. That's the market gamble. Maybe there'll be a bust!



Yeah, I like this view. Development was always going to happen. The Beltline simply injected steroids into the situation. Renovation quality is a toss-up too in such a rush.

Yeah. I have a guy across the street who tried to purge some of my contractors...my HVAC guy actually decided to help him out. Said the guy basically tried to band-aide the electrical wiring instead of re-wiring the house, etc. taking short cuts in order to get the house to market. I hear a lot about these types of "flippers". I get why people may be giddy with anticipation but being that I am feet on the ground in the neighborhood, as you stated it was gonna happen regardless and without all the speculation and prospecting running prices crazy high.

[Mac89]

Thank you very much for your comments, they've been very helpful. My wife and I are looking to live in Pittsburgh since the location looks ideal for our jobs and the school of our son. We went to see a couple houses (which were great) and the area seems pretty quiet.
But after reading your comments I'm having second thoughts on moving there. Would you recommend me to move there? Has anything change with all those projects like Pittsburgh Yards? Has safety improved in the last years?