Suburbanites: What Would it Take to Entice You to Consider Urban Living? (maintenance, prices)

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by NooYinzer

I don't think Pittsburgh's population will dip below 300,000.

Apparently the population has started to increase since the last census:

http://www.census.gov/popest/data/ci...2011-03-42.csv (CTRL+F/COMMAND+F Pittsburgh)
Pittsburgh (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

I'm moving to Pittsburgh this summer. I can't wait!

Those Census estimates are problematic for a number of reasons, but I wouldn't be surprised if Pittsburgh shows an increase from 2010 to 2020.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Are they still bussing students out of their neighborhoods here?

No. However, there are school feeder areas which are racially mixed, and nearly the entire white population opts out of the neighborhood school system.

To generalize:

1. The lower East End (Colfax/Minadeo/Sterrett/Allderdice) is the only part of the city where upper-middle class whites still enroll in the neighborhood schools.
2. Lower-middle-class and working-class whites still enroll in neighborhood schools in essentially every neighborhood south of the Mon, from the West End all the way to Lincoln Place. This is also true in the Eastern parts of the North Side (East Allegheny, Spring Garden, Troy Hill, & Spring Hill/City View).
3. Virtually no white parents send their kids to neighborhood schools in the remainder of the North Side and the Upper East End. So you end up with neighborhoods like Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Highland Park, Morningside, or Brighton Heights which are clearly majority white in terms of population, equally divided or with a slight white majority in terms of the under-18 population - and with essentially no white enrollment in neighborhood schools.

AFAIK there's essentially nothing that PPS could do to ameliorate this issue. According to federal law, all attempts must be made within a school district to desegregate schools, which PPS interprets to mean you have to ensure that schools, whenever feasible, contain both black and white neighborhoods. Thus while I have no doubt if they ensured that Highland Park didn't share local schools with Homewood, or Lawrenceville didn't with the Hill District, you'd see more middle-class white enrollment, you'd also risk a lawsuit as violating the Civil Rights Act - which I think Pittsburgh doesn't want for obvious reasons.

[MissShona]

Low rent, quality schools...and maybe lower taxes. I dunno. Right now it is frustrating to spend $50/week in gas just to get to work. However I don't work in the city anyway. My rent is low and I escape those horrid Pittsburgh city taxes. I doubt that the savings incurred by giving up daily use of my car would compensate for that (I assume I would still spend $30/week in gas).

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by MissShona

Low rent, quality schools...and maybe lower taxes. I dunno. Right now it is frustrating to spend $50/week in gas just to get to work. However I don't work in the city anyway. My rent is low and I escape those horrid Pittsburgh city taxes. I doubt that the savings incurred by giving up daily use of my car would compensate for that (I assume I would still spend $30/week in gas).

I'd wager you are underestimating the commute savings and over estimating the taxes. But I guess it's a moot point if you don't work in the city anyway.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by MissShona

Low rent, quality schools...and maybe lower taxes. I dunno. Right now it is frustrating to spend $50/week in gas just to get to work. However I don't work in the city anyway. My rent is low and I escape those horrid Pittsburgh city taxes. I doubt that the savings incurred by giving up daily use of my car would compensate for that (I assume I would still spend $30/week in gas).

Be sure to factor in wear & tear on your vehicle when doing the math on the commute costs.

[gg]

People keep mentioning "commute costs". If you are in the inner circle of suburbs the commute costs might not even be an extra expense. I know I am a rare cycling commuter, but there are many that take buses, and have commutes that are really short. Heck even by car, I could get downtown faster in my suburb than many in the city proper. If I was in Millvale my commute time might be faster than most city folks and I would have a bicycle/walk option on a trail the whole way. Now if you live way out in the North Hills, that is different, but everyone has to consider all costs. I wouldn't send my child through ANY Pittsburgh School, including the magnets, but that is just me. Therefore, private school would be part of my cost. That would be higher than any commute cost from most anywhere. With a child, I wouldn't consider the city. The question was directed at each person and my response is my own circumstance and weighing each option. Now if I had no children, I would look at this puzzle very differently.

[MissShona]

Originally Posted by juliegt

Be sure to factor in wear & tear on your vehicle when doing the math on the commute costs.

My vehicle is almost 30 years old (it's a 1984). I'm definitely not concerned with "wear & tear" at this point!

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by MissShona

My vehicle is almost 30 years old (it's a 1984). I'm definitely not concerned with "wear & tear" at this point!

Why do I picture Fred Flintstone driving that thing.?

[steindle]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I wouldn't send my child through ANY Pittsburgh School, including the magnets, but that is just me.

Not even CAPA or the Montessori K-8? Why not, if you don't mind me asking?

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by MissShona

My vehicle is almost 30 years old (it's a 1984). I'm definitely not concerned with "wear & tear" at this point!

As someone who drove an '85 until a few years ago, I can relate! But even though depreciation in value isn't a concern, the wear and tear still adds up in regular maintenance. Tires, oil changes, suspension, brakes, etc.; and of course each drive is that many more miles closer to finally having to get a different car.