Mars (Pittsburgh, Lebanon, Indiana: chapel, daycare, how much)

[hinsey86]

Originally Posted by Copanut

My wife and I are thinking about moving to Zelie, both grew up in small towns and like the feel Very walkable and very few Democrats.

Well there will be two more if we head out that way so you may want to reconsider As soon as we find 3 plus acres (prefer 5) with a mid century modern house..some old brick ranches work too in our price range...we are gone.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Plus, it has a flying saucer.

And that is definitely a big plus.

[Copanut]

Great place to have a brew or two.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

Is there a place like Mars (or Cranberry) that has a better property tax rate that has the same general characteristics, good schools and commute time that I am missing?

Actually, since are & Cranberry are in Southern Butler County (notice my handle?), they are some of the lowest property tax rates around. Those low taxes are one of the primary reasons I moved there and left Allegheny County behind. My property taxes are less than 1/2 of what I was paying in Allegheny County for the same size house I had there. BTW, Pine Township as suggested before is in Allegheny County so your property taxes would be considerably higher, most likely double what they would be in Mars or Cranberry.

[bavariantransplant]

Thanks everyone for the insight and advice.

Post has been very helpfully. Thanks also for the great breakdown of hospitals and labor and delivery options as this is more of an unknown to us since I will just be transferring back from Germany to the States.

[bavariantransplant]

So, looking at UPMC Magee and my work on Liberty Ave "downtown/culteral area(?)", we both would be working in the downtown area since it looks like UPMC is 2 miles from my work via I-376.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

So, looking at UPMC Magee and my work on Liberty Ave "downtown/culteral area(?)", we both would be working in the downtown area since it looks like UPMC is 2 miles from my work via I-376.

Magee is in Oakland, a city neighborhood east of what we call downtown. (Downtown is a pretty small area.) But yes, it's close enough, compared to the area where you were looking at living. There's frequent bus service between those spots. But given hospital working hours, it seems questionable if you would be able to commute in together. Maybe.

If you worked in those two places, it might be worth considering living closer in. I can tell you as one who lives almost that distance away and works downtown: at this point I'm tired of it. We both work downtown, and while we are able to commute in together, and my work covers the parking cost, I'm still tired of the time spent driving, even though it's often only 30-35 min each way. And I'm tired of living where I can't walk to anything. But then sometimes I like looking out back and feeling like it's a rural area, and so forth. It has its moments, but overall I'm ready to try being closer or in the city again.

[bavariantransplant]

The added component to all of this is we have three children. Age 15, 13 and 3 so not only do we have schools to consider but some sort of day care situation for the 3 year old.

We currently live in Germany in a small village where I can ride my bike to work and the kids school is within walking distance from work.

My wife would probably be working 3 12hr shifts (I am guessing) as an RN where I would be more like 7am/8am to 4pm/5pm. So we would probably not commute together but I would need to drop off and pick up my 3 year old daughter. The idea of living in a metro area is appealing, I am orginally from Long Island, NY but havent lived in a US metro area in 20 years. The thing (this maybe more stereotypical) about living in the metro area is that the schools arent very good, ability for kids to go out and play is limited and the price of homes expensive.

[ex-burgher]

If you want a walkable "village" atmosphere, you would probably have to live in a city neighborhood. Outside the city of Pittsburgh, not much is pleasant for walking with a few exceptions like Sewickley and Aspinwall.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by bavariantransplant

The added component to all of this is we have three children. Age 15, 13 and 3 so not only do we have schools to consider but some sort of day care situation for the 3 year old.

We currently live in Germany in a small village where I can ride my bike to work and the kids school is within walking distance from work.

My wife would probably be working 3 12hr shifts (I am guessing) as an RN where I would be more like 7am/8am to 4pm/5pm. So we would probably not commute together but I would need to drop off and pick up my 3 year old daughter. The idea of living in a metro area is appealing, I am orginally from Long Island, NY but havent lived in a US metro area in 20 years. The thing (this maybe more stereotypical) about living in the metro area is that the schools arent very good, ability for kids to go out and play is limited and the price of homes expensive.

We have two kids in daycare. My wife usually can't pick up or drop off the kids. I work for myself so I can work a shorter day which allowed us to pick a daycare close to our house. If I had longer hours daycare would have to be by my work (downtown). Daycares downtown are more expensive. Most daycares are fairly strict about pick up times. Don't want to be a minute late or you suffer a huge financial penalty. My point is that leaving town at 5 may not get you to Mars by 6 when most daycares close so you should pick a daycare downtown.

Also, for some reason I think that there might be a rule about a kids being in daycare for longer than 10 hours. So, keep that in mind when considering a house as far away as Mars.

I really feel that a lot of people on this forum are optimistic on commute times. People forget that depending on where you work downtown and where you park can add a lot of time to your commute.