Wilkinsburg with a family? (Pittsburgh, Baldwin: section 8, apartments, houses)

[shanbyers]

I just found an amazing house that I think is absolutely beautiful. I'm searching from afar right now, so I haven't been able to take a look at the neighborhood in person. It's on Singer Place. We have a 2 year old and on the map it looks like it's close to a couple parks, but I'm wondering if these are parks to play in or parks to make drug deals in? Mainly I'm concerned about the safely of the area, but also if there are other young families there? And how bad is the school district? Thanks!

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by shanbyers

I just found an amazing house that I think is absolutely beautiful. I'm searching from afar right now, so I haven't been able to take a look at the neighborhood in person. It's on Singer Place. We have a 2 year old and on the map it looks like it's close to a couple parks, but I'm wondering if these are parks to play in or parks to make drug deals in? Mainly I'm concerned about the safely of the area, but also if there are other young families there? And how bad is the school district? Thanks!

Hahaha Ummm... That's pretty much the 'hood. Who knows...it could gentrify sometime in the next few years, but I doubt it. I would not take a two year old into there. If you want to live in Wilkinsburg pick as close to Regent Square as you possibly can.

P.S. The school district is not the best from what I hear.

Wilkinsburg School District was ranked 104th out of 105 western Pennsylvania school districts in 2010 and 2009 by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on three years of student academic performance on the PSSAs for: math, reading, writing and two years of science.[2] In 2008 the school ranked 104th.

[Copanut]

Talk to BrianTH, that's his 'hood.

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by shanbyers

I just found an amazing house that I think is absolutely beautiful. I'm searching from afar right now, so I haven't been able to take a look at the neighborhood in person. It's on Singer Place. We have a 2 year old and on the map it looks like it's close to a couple parks, but I'm wondering if these are parks to play in or parks to make drug deals in? Mainly I'm concerned about the safely of the area, but also if there are other young families there? And how bad is the school district? Thanks!

It's definitely an urban pioneer type of place. That street is more or less famous because of the Singer Mansion (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10077757@N00/3445697122/ - broken link) but it's right between Wilkinsburg and Homewood. Likely safe if you mind your own business but you may be surrounded by people that don't. You may want to go the private/magnet school route. IMO there are many many Pittsburgh neighborhoods and inner suburbs with the same type of housing but a much higher quality of life.

[BrianTH]

We are raising a young child in Wilkinsburg, but I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending that area specifically--barneyg's description is fair, and I think an urban pioneer environment is not what most parents are looking for. I also wouldn't feel comfortable recommending the schools, and would instead recommend going the charter or private route (note charters are free).

[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by shanbyers

I just found an amazing house that I think is absolutely beautiful. I'm searching from afar right now, so I haven't been able to take a look at the neighborhood in person. It's on Singer Place. We have a 2 year old and on the map it looks like it's close to a couple parks, but I'm wondering if these are parks to play in or parks to make drug deals in? Mainly I'm concerned about the safely of the area, but also if there are other young families there? And how bad is the school district? Thanks!

Singer Place? OH HELL NAW... That street has always been eerie and scary as heck with that big black mansion, that you never see no one coming and going out of, but its obvious someone lives in it, and those ole raggedy row houses near Singer and Oakwood. DON'T do it. I wouldn't want to take my 2 year old to ANY of those playgrounds in that vicinity unless you want to drive up to Frick Park near Regent Square. The school district is HORRIBLE. The VAST majority of those students come to school late, or not at all and they are always fighting up there. You want to look at Wilkinsburg, look up towards the area where it borders Churchill or where it borders Regent Square. The "core" is still ghetto and over-run with Section 8 housing. And, plan to send your child to a charter or a private school. This was MY hood, growing up, its sad to ride through my old stomping grounds and see how it has changed.

[PennHillsNative80]

Originally Posted by shanbyers

I just found an amazing house that I think is absolutely beautiful. I'm searching from afar right now, so I haven't been able to take a look at the neighborhood in person. It's on Singer Place. We have a 2 year old and on the map it looks like it's close to a couple parks, but I'm wondering if these are parks to play in or parks to make drug deals in? Mainly I'm concerned about the safely of the area, but also if there are other young families there? And how bad is the school district? Thanks!

I know exactly what house you are referring to, and it is a beautiful house, but Singer Place is not a good street in Wilkinsburg to raise a family on. Singer Place is right on the Homewood Border - which is a very dangerous area of Pittsburgh. The area is fine in the daytime, but I would be very hesitant to be walking/driving around that area in the nighttime. There are also no garages to those homes on Singer Place, so you would have to park your car out in the street and hope no one messes with it!

Wilkinsburg is slowly starting to make a comeback, and I think people will see major changes for the better in the next ten years, but the northern end of Wilkinsburg (where Singer Place is) will probably be the last area to see those changes as it is right on the Homewood border.

The Wilkinsburg schools are terrible......just terrible. I would NOT send my child to those schools.

I don't think you will find many families living on Singer Place. Most of the homes are either vacant, or are divided up into multiple apartments housing a lot of single people. If all of those homes on Singer Place were fixed up, Singer Place would be one of the finest streets in Wilkinsburg - like it used to be back in the day. All of those homes are huge brick mansions with loads of character.

Bottom line: If you didn't have any children, and if you were of the urban pioneering spirit, I'd say go for it. However since you have children, I don't recommend moving there.

Hope this helps!

[shanbyers]

Well that's very sad. Oh well. Thanks for all the information! Guess we'll carry on looking at other neighborhoods! I just love the idea of being able to get a real house in the city for 60-70 K.... I guess there's always a reason that prices are low...

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by shanbyers

Well that's very sad. Oh well. Thanks for all the information! Guess we'll carry on looking at other neighborhoods! I just love the idea of being able to get a real house in the city for 60-70 K.... I guess there's always a reason that prices are low...

You can totally find a 60-70k house in a decent neighborhood. Wilkinsburg near Homewood isn't it though.

[grotonpatrick]

I felt that need to respond as the house in question is my family’s house. Four years ago we moved to Singer Place from rural Vermont with children and had read everything on City Data that was said about the area - but we moved there anyway. After looking at houses in other neighborhoods, we couldn’t find anything that could touch our house in the way of historic detail and quality in its price range. Our daughter attended St James School and my wife walked her every day without incident; she did get into the Environmental Charter School, so she no longer attends St. James but we go to church there. We are selling our house only because it is on the high side of the street and stairs have become an issue for one of our family members. We plan on staying in Wilkinsburg for the long run and are working to improve the community.

We shop regularly in downtown Wilkinsburg, our oldest son has worked at the downtown Wilkinsburg CVS and Kentucky Fried Chicken and we have never had any problems. A lot of people are working to improve the area and there is a very active Community Development Corporation focusing primarily on the downtown area. Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation is working on multiple initiatives in the area and is offering a Wilkinsburg tour in October – information can be found on their website.

The park on Wood and Holmes is a decent neighborhood park where the Borough has invested quite a bit of money in the last five years and where I have regularly taken our ten year old daughter. It is watched over by an older woman who lives across the street and who locks it up every night and does a regular clean up. The neighbors are working with the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association to plant trees in the park and on surrounding streets. There are four large dilapidated buildings near the bottom of Singer Place and close to the park that are being demolished by the Borough and the local Girl Scout Troop is planning on adopting them and increasing the green space. I know, because my daughter is in the Troop and we have multiple troop members who live on surrounding streets.

One interesting thing about communities is that they are always changing. In the early 1990s I lived in a neighborhood (Baldwin Park) in Savannah, Georgia. The response that I got when I told people where I lived was similar to what I get when I tell them where I live in Wilkinsburg, yet I never had any issues there, either. When we moved to Vermont in 1997, there was a definite buzz about Baldwin Park and for the last decade it has been Savannah's hottest neighborhood - feel free to check City Data on Baldwin Park. While I am a professional, I could never afford to live in Baldwin Park today.

Other people have confirmed that there is change happening in Wilkinsburg and I would be pleased to show anyone around Wilkinsburg and our neighborhood. There are a lot of positive things happening that I would love to share.