Progressive couple with small children, middle income, moving to Pittsburgh. Best place to rent? Preschools? (Lebanon: homes, buy)

[mettabelle]

We are moving from Nashville TN to Pittsburgh with 2 children ages 3.5 and 12 months--soon! My husband will be commuting to the south side and I am starting my own business that will include some schlepping to my customers. Looking for likemindedness, parks and arts --yet something doable for the 65-70k income bracket. We make sacrifices to give our kids the best in terms of home enviroment and preschool quality. I love details! Thanks!

[Hopes]

What's a progressive couple?

[SuburbanPioneer]

Originally Posted by Hopes

What's a progressive couple?

Two people of the same gender living together as a family?

[SteelCityRising]

I think by "progressive" she means that they are into organic foods, are tolerant of diversity, enjoy being "green", are fashionable, and are otherwise being current (or even ahead of) trends.

[Hopes]

Since she's seeking "likemindedness," it's important we know for certain what "progressive couple" means. For all we know, they could be swingers!

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Hippies >:|

[BrianTH]

I agree clarification would be helpful, but usually today "progressive" means the current version of what would previously have been called "liberal".

Anyway, I don't know much about preschools on that side of town, but I'd bet there are some decent ones. So I would be thinking about actually living in or close to the South Side (e.g., including the South Side Slopes and Mt Washington in addition to the South Side Flats). Your projected income isn't that bad to begin with, and in any event once you get out of the heart of the Flats the housing gets more affordable. People will talk about the crazy party atmosphere in the Flats at night, which is true, but I think you will find many of the full-time residents in that general area are along the lines of what you are looking for.

If you want more options you could also look in the Greenfield/Squirrel Hill area. That's an easy commute over to the South Side, again has the sort of community I think you are looking for, and there I can vouch for the preschool options being good.

[Love2Golf09]

Originally Posted by mettabelle

We are moving from Nashville TN to Pittsburgh with 2 children ages 3.5 and 12 months--soon! My husband will be commuting to the south side and I am starting my own business that will include some schlepping to my customers. Looking for likemindedness, parks and arts --yet something doable for the 65-70k income bracket. We make sacrifices to give our kids the best in terms of home enviroment and preschool quality. I love details! Thanks!

Schlepping? Interesting word choice. Are you Jewish? If so, you might want to check out Squirrel Hill. It has a fairly sizeable Jewish and progressive community, close to Schenley and Frick parks and not a terrible commute to the South Side. Your income is a little low for that area, but you might be able to find something cheap near there. There are a lot of diverse homes in Squirrel Hill, so there are certainly some lower value properties that you could check out. I'm not going to touch the "progressive" comment. Ugh.

[DomerJen]

We're looking to move into Mt. Lebanon. You can definitely rent there in your price range, from what I've seen (or buy a smaller 3br/1ba in Sunset Hills). Over in Sunset Hills I did see a Montessori preschool - it was not very expensive (<$3k/yr I think?) BUT it only had 2 hour program for 3yo. I did see signs when we were there on lots of churches advertising preschools, as well. I know here in Atlanta most people go that route - they aren't typically religious in their curriculum, so that's usually not a deterrent.

I'm not sure if it's really a liberal town... I sort of doubt it, but I'm betting it has a good mix based on the reasons people live there (wanting a walkable place, public transportation to downtown, etc...) Maybe someone who's been there a while can comment on that.

I think Dormont would be more "progressive", but it's school district isn't as good. Likewise Squirrel Hill would be awesome - but you'd have to decide for yourself about the schools there.

[mettabelle]

Yes, this is what I meant. Thank you. My fault for assuming that people knew the term.