Moving to McKeesport! (Penn Hills, New Castle, North Versailles: sale, lease, houses)

[WILWRadio]

dsc6. Allegheny Angel's post is accurate and one that should receive the most merit. He has made a move into an area that is similar to McKeesport but in a different part of the city.

I would like to provide some additional information to help you make your decision. These are first hand experiences as well. I come from an affluent background in Connecticut. Over the years though instead of either staying in or moving to similar suburban communities I've instead opted to live in some rural towns or areas of cities that are definitely considered lower middle class to middle class in different parts of the country. Each community has posed a different set of challenges to date yet all but perhaps a couple have had at least a couple of redeeming qualities that made living there OK.

Presently I live in a rural town of 6,000 people about 40 miles outside of Kansas City in MO. In a little over a year here I've had to endure the following: My house was broken into the first weekend after closing and my TV and some furniture was stolen. Next, people were screwing around with the PVC pipe in my yard which drains the sump pump in the cellar. My neighbors tires which were stacked in his yard would get moved and stacked in my yard. I would put them back and then they would end up back in my yard. Then unbeknownst to me I had a Meth Lab next door that finally got busted last Fall. A month ago a neighbor got stabbed by his son in a drunken fit of rage. I hear more sirens in this neighborhood than in most bad urban areas where I've lived in the past. I think only North Minneapolis was noisier in that regard but I never experienced crime first hand there like I have witnessed here or experienced. I could go on and on with more stories about the sociopathic creeps in the KC area and unfortunately how they like to screw around with people. Most of these jerks would be arrested and locked up or institutionalized in a psychiatric ward in the northeastern states because their behavior would not be tolerated. But I think my point has been made.

Just make sure your neighborhood is right for you and that you are certain that you don't put yourself into the position of becoming the victim of a crime. I've had LESS trouble living in the worst urban areas in some cities than in my current rural community near KC. But I've also lived in rural communities in other states like Kansas, NY, Minnesota and Maine where I didn't have any of these problems taking place either. So, really you just need to make certain that no matter where you move, whether it be a city, suburb or rural area, it will not be comprised of people predisposed to sociopathic behavior.

[hornet67]

Well, as a registered Republican ( oh, the humanity!), from an "affluent " suburb, I wish you well and much good luck. That said, I wouldn't be optimistic, given the continuing decline of Mckeesport, with little hope for the near future.
I'm old enough to remember when Mckeesport was a vibrant, safe community, but that's , of course , more than 30 years ago. My mother was a RN at Mckeesport Hospital,and I bought my first car there, at Eger Ford's used car lot, on Lyle Blvd, across from National Tube. Those days are gone forever, as is the likelihood of prosperity , and safety returning to McKeesport.
When, and if it comes time to sell your house, what will the market bear, especially if the decline continues?

[PreservationPioneer]

You are on the right track with moving into an area and fixing it up. That's what I'm doing and I think what you're doing is great. But you asked for reasons why moving to a declining area might be a bad idea, and I provided them. lol

[Bong477]

Good luck and hope it works out. The thought of working my whole life to retire in McKeesport... not a pleasant one. McKeesport certainly has some good people living there, but I think things will continue to get worse as the members of the community that was die off and you are increasingly left with people that are more involved with its modern issues of crime drugs and gangs. Pittsburgh has too much urban blight, too many other affordable places, and too little growth to have much hope McKeesport turns things around anytime soon. I think your general concept of moving smaller and cheaper is a good one but would be careful with the specifics.

[10-23]

Too bad. My mother and her family lived in McKeesport. I have fond childhood memories of the town - even watching the steel mills out in the distance spew out the black smoke (back then it was simply a sign of posperity).

[TRO Z]

Risky Investment to say the least, the blight in McKeesport is horrendous----Looks like a mini version of Beirut....

McKeesport has it's very own Section 8 Office----Need I say more

[CarrieHa]

Question what is the neighborhood like in ward 6 of Mckeesport around the areas Enterprise, Versallis and Shaw avenue?

[happywithbraddock]

Personally, I think the original poster is a genius! With access to two rivers and both the Great Allegheny Passage Trail and the Montour Trail a (ridiculously) short bike ride away from your front door, you're going to see the future of this region first hand. The people that Pittsburgh is dying to recruit - active young people with disposable incomes they spend on healthy lifestyles - are going to be riding their expensive bikes and jogging past Mckeesport constantly as they bike/run to and from Ohiopyle/Cumberland/DC. I think we'll see a youth hostel and at least one vegetarian-friendly cafe start up in McKeesport in the next ten years. Local government is going to need some guidance and oversight so they don't fight the transition into one of the healthiest communities around Pittsburgh, so I'd recommend getting involved. Good luck and enjoy the future.

[Uptown kid]

[quote]Question what is the neighborhood like in ward 6 of Mckeesport around the areas Enterprise, Versallis and Shaw avenue?[quote]

That area from DownTown McKeesport-McKeesport/Versailles Cemetery, north of Versailles Avenue is one of the worst parts... The Hi View Gardens complexes especially plague the area with riff-raff, druggies, and gang members... This area is one of the areas that's definitely affiliated with the Bloods, yet Idk the set I think it's either Goon Squad or G*LoCK...
South of Versailles Avenue from Harrison Village (by the river) all the way to Patterson Street is BAD too...
Then north of Versailles Avenue, east of the McKeesport/Versailles Cemetery to Granview Avenue (including Crawford Village) is also BAD!

[CarrieHa]

Thank you for the answer, no one from the city or the real estate world would answer it. I know the area is in trouble, but I also know there hidden ones one does not see. Unfortunatly, for me there was something there I was interested in.