Visited Cranberry/Pines Township this weekend--Relocating in June (Pittsburgh, Butler: houses, neighborhood)

[mommyof2monkeys]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the information you gave me on my 'moving to pitts' post a few weeks ago.

We (the kids and I) met my husband up there this weekend to tour the area. After overcoming the motion sickness of all the hills (Yikes!) I'm still torn on the area in which to live. (Cranberry Twp, Pine Township, Franklin Park/North Alleghany...I am not sure where else we looked in that cty)

I apologize in advance for messing up the areas. I'm still so confused as to why you have one 'mailing address' but live in a totally different 'town'. I can only really tell you the housing developments we looked at and maybe someone can tell me what 'town' that was in. It all started to blend together and I got the sense that these 3 above are pretty close to each other.

We are really basing our move on school districts. I know North Alleghany is great but big. I've heard from many people up there that Pine/Richland is the place to be and that is where we are leaning.

One other concern was that the housing developments seemed to be sort of far from shopping centers and schools--maybe with the exception of some in cranberry and the Tanglewood development in Pine). I really liked Treesdale but if my life depended on getting to a grocery store I wouldn't be able to tell you how long it would take or which LONG road to go on. : ) In Treesdale we are looking at homes ONLY in the Pine/Richland School district as I've learned that half go to mars and half go to PR.

I am a SAHM with 2 small children so making mom friends is cruitial for me. Seems like Treesdale is the place to be? Am I wrong? Were there others? It was very big though but the realtor told me that they often have community events in treesdale and also events based on the subdivison you live in. Anyone know if this is the case?

Tanglewood in Pine was nice also, close to shopping but small and you can often hear traffic from that main road. Any input on that would be appreciated.

We are looking for a housing development/town that has a educated population, lots of kids, sense of community, safe, etc. Budget is up to 600K (as we are seeing the housing prices are a little higher than south florida). Also, inventory is LOW in that area. Not alot on the market. Hopefully it will pick up when the school year comes closer to an end.

Anyway, would love some additional feedback on Pine Township (other places to look besides Tanglewood/Treesdale), NA housing developments (we looked in Sewickly Farms, Spring Ridge and a few others but the names escape me), and Cranberry (looked in Pinehurst and Oakview)

Are there developments I'm missing? Is Treesdale all it's cracked up to be? Seems far from the shopping--would I go to Cranberry to shop or south?) If so where?

Also, is that considered Gibsonia? Ahhh...so confusing....

Thank you again for all your input!! Much appreciated.

-mommy of two monkeys (who love the HILLS of PA!!)

[robrobrob]

I have a couple of friends who live in Treesdale and they like it.

[Copanut]

All homes in Treesdale have the zip of 15044, Gibsonia. I'm not a big fan of the plan, too, too many homes. Try selling one with all the competition.

In your price range, did you look at MacLeod Lake? Right around the corner from Treesdale, much nicer IMHO.

[greg42]

Some of the addresses up there using Gibsonia and Wexford it's best to think about this way: the "town" in the mailing address name doesn't exist. There's no municipality called that. It's strictly what you put on the address. You need to know the more important municipal boundaries like Pine Township, Richland Township, Adams Township, etc. These are what determine the school district. The postal addresses like Gibsonia and Wexford do not have any bearing at all except the zip code for your house. The school districts cover rather small physical areas, and the post office boundaries do not follow the real municipal boundaries at all.

Shopping from Treesdale you'll go both ways depending upon for what; certainly if you want mall stores you'll go south to Ross Park Mall because they mostly don't exist in Cranberry. Closest grocery might depend upon just where in the massive Treesdale development. Most likely it's going to be the places in Seven Fields on Rt 228, but it's possible that getting to, say, the Giant Eagle in Pine on Rt 19 will be easier from some parts of Treesdale.

It's worth noting that Mars is a good school district and your property taxes will be significantly lower if your Treesdale house is on the Butler County side in the Mars Area school district. Those should be in Adams Township I think (maybe Middlesex, but I think they're in Adams; doesn't matter as both townships are in the Mars Area school district).

Lake MacLeod is pretty nice for a newer housing development; I didn't think you could get in there for that low. As Copanut says, Treesdale is just so so many houses....

[DurangoJoe]

mommy you can get to any shopping you need within 10-20 minutes easily depending upon which direction you head. You'll have multiple grocery stores, Target, Walmart, Kohl's, warehouse stores (Costco & Sam's Club) within 10-20 minutes again, depending upon the direction you head. Bigger stores like Nordstrom's, Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, etc are about 30 minutes away to south in the Ross Park Mall. You certainly won't be isolated anywhere in Treesdale.

It's certainly a beautiful neighborhood but the property taxes are much too high for my comfort. That's why I live in Butler County (Cranberry) where shopping of virtually any kind is within 10 minutes (6 miles) of my home. My guess would be that even living in Treesdale, probably 90% of the shopping you need can be accomplished within 10 minutes of your home by going to Cranberry.

Here is a map from Treesdale to the center of Cranberry. It's 6.7 miles so you're very close.

Treesdale Golf and Country Club to US-19 S/Perry Hwy - Google Maps

[lifepgh2op]

With your price range - you could find a NICE home in any section of the Pittsburgh metro area you want. Is there a reason you're limited to the northern portions, or is that just where you chose?

My advice - find the amenities you're looking for and then find the house close by that you like. You can afford anywhere and there are plenty of other great school districts and family-friendly parts of the area to live in. Living 7 miles from a grocery store wouldn't work for me...but for some, it will.

[lifepgh2op]

Okay, I checked out your previous post and see that your husband will be working in the Robinson area.

I have a friend that grew up in Moon (before it even really boomed) and she always makes it sound like it was the poster town for the American way of life, if that makes sense. In other words, lots of community activities, a community feel (the school district encompasses JUST Moon and a little of Crescent).

Unfortunately, I don't see it possible to bike to school in this area but there are a decent amount of new housing plans that would fit the bill for what you're looking for. Their high school is only a year old and their middle school is being completely remodeled and updated.

Check out Cherrington (gated community), Sonoma Ridge, Broad Hill Farms, etc.

Moon has a Giant Eagle, Kuhn's, K-Mart, (soon to be) Wal Mart, Walgreens, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, other fast food places and some smaller restaurants. Moon borders the retail mecca of Robinson and North Fayette Townships, as well as the charming upscale TOWN of Sewickley. Also, while searching for things in Moon, you will encounter a Coraopolis 15108 address. They share a zip code, but Coraopolis is it's own entity and school district. Coraopolis has some good family owned restaurants and some nicer older homes, but is a more lower-middle class town. Nothing to worry about, though.

[OZ2012]

Mommyof2monkeys,

We are also relocating from south FL to Pittsburgh in June and have looked at both Treesdale and Tanglewood. Small world! My kids are 12 and 10 so we are looking at middle and high schools as a major deciding factor.

I am confused re: Butler county (lower taxes but lower rated schools) vs. Allegheny county (higher taxes, higher rated schools). Coming from SFL, we are ready for our tax dollars to provide a higher quality public school education. But I have been getting the feeling that there are more people interested in saving tax $$ and moving to Butler county (Mars, Cranberry, etc.). What is your take on this issue? My fear is we buy in Pine and then the assessment goes up and it will be harder to resell. Realtor even told me that builders are not building in Pine because of this issue.

Good luck with your search... hard to do from down here!!

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by OZ2012

Mommyof2monkeys,

We are also relocating from south FL to Pittsburgh in June and have looked at both Treesdale and Tanglewood. Small world! My kids are 12 and 10 so we are looking at middle and high schools as a major deciding factor.

I am confused re: Butler county (lower taxes but lower rated schools) vs. Allegheny county (higher taxes, higher rated schools). Coming from SFL, we are ready for our tax dollars to provide a higher quality public school education. But I have been getting the feeling that there are more people interested in saving tax $$ and moving to Butler county (Mars, Cranberry, etc.). What is your take on this issue? My fear is we buy in Pine and then the assessment goes up and it will be harder to resell. Realtor even told me that builders are not building in Pine because of this issue.

Good luck with your search... hard to do from down here!!

I think Mars Schools are pretty good. Certainly better than Senaca Valley (Cranberry).

In Allegheny County, your assessment will likely go up to your purchase price. You will be fairly assessed. No one can buy a house in a suburb and not have the school district appeal the assessment if the purchase price is much higher than the assessed value. In the city, that is an entirely different animal.

[greg42]

Depending upon how you rank, the different school districts in question here tend to rank pretty close to each other. Pine-Richland vs Mars Area, I'd generally think long and hard about why you really want to pay more to be in Pine-Richland. I'm sure there are some good reasons to choose P-R, but I think you'd have to be getting quite specific. I don't think there is in general a good reason to steer away from Mars Area.