South Pittsburgh (Bethel Park, Lebanon, Upper St. Clair: new house, neighborhoods, buy) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

newbote · 09-06-2012, 08:24 PM

I am considering a job located in Canonsburg and need some advice on where to live. My parameters are within 30 minutes to the office, top notch school system, newer home (2000 or newer), budget up to 600k, and preferably close to shopping. Any ideas on towns/neighborhoods that I should target? I could push the budget a bit but would rather stay under 600k if possible.

Thanks

sskink · 09-06-2012, 08:41 PM

With that budget you can live anywhere and send your kids to private school. You'll have a hard time spending more than $400K on a house. Top public school systems within 20-30 mins are Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon although Peters Twp (lower taxes) isn't bad.

Garvdog · 09-07-2012, 06:41 AM

Upper St Clair has the #1 school district in Western PA, and $600K would buy you a castle there. Watch out for the high property taxes though. It might be hard to find post-2000 construction there.

Peters Township is a bit closer to Canonsburg and has more new construction and lower property taxes. Their school district is up-and-coming but is not in the top 10 like Upper St Clair.

XRiteMA98 · 09-07-2012, 10:07 AM

Peters, Venetia, Mt Lebanon. Excelent school districts. When i worked in Canonsburgh I had coworkers from even more south like 84, even Washington PA. But if I were you I'd stick with the first three.

Craziaskowboi · 09-07-2012, 10:27 AM

Give Collier Township a look. It's located south of I-376 and west of I-79 with quick access to both highways, and most of the houses there are pretty new. It's still a relatively undeveloped area, though, so there is no major commercial corridor, but it's adjacent to Robinson Township, which is the commercial nexus of Pittsburgh's western suburbs. The area with most of the commerce is where I-376 intersects with U.S. 22 and U.S. 30, and getting there from Collier Township, would take anywhere from five to 15 minutes, depending on which part of the township you're in.

Property taxes in Allegheny County are highly variable from one municipality to another, and I don't know what they are in Collier Township, but if they are on the higher end there, then I'd recommend looking for a house in the $300K to $400K range, especially since you'll still get a lot of house for that price. Most new houses in Collier Township are in that price range as it is. As for the Schools, the Collier Township School District hasn't (yet) won any national awards, but it's still a very high-quality school district.

Billy53 · 09-07-2012, 10:29 AM

Let me throw in one more choice and I do think Upper St Clair for your income is perfect, I would also consider Bethel Park.

Craziaskowboi · 09-07-2012, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy53

Let me throw in one more choice and I do think Upper St Clair for your income is perfect, I would also consider Bethel Park.

I wouldn't recommend Bethel Park. Its housing stock is older than he's looking for, and well below his price range to boot.

Garvdog · 09-07-2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gnutella

I wouldn't recommend Bethel Park. Its housing stock is older than he's looking for, and well below his price range to boot.

I'd also skip Mt Lebanon- its housing stock is pretty old (lots of character, but old) and it's a long (30 min or more) commute to Canonsburg from there. Granted, for $600K you could probably buy one of those big old stone palaces in Mt. Lebo- but its unlikely they would have the modern features you're looking for in a newer home.

robrobrob · 09-07-2012, 11:18 AM

Buy in either the Upper St. Clair or Peters School District. Peters probably has newer houses and the taxes are lower so I would look there first.

Garvdog · 09-07-2012, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Give Collier Township a look. It's located south of I-376 and west of I-79 with quick access to both highways, and most of the houses there are pretty new. It's still a relatively undeveloped area, though, so there is no major commercial corridor, but it's adjacent to Robinson Township, which is the commercial nexus of Pittsburgh's western suburbs. The area with most of the commerce is where I-376 intersects with U.S. 22 and U.S. 30, and getting there from Collier Township, would take anywhere from five to 15 minutes, depending on which part of the township you're in.

Property taxes in Allegheny County are highly variable from one municipality to another, and I don't know what they are in Collier Township, but if they are on the higher end there, then I'd recommend looking for a house in the $300K to $400K range, especially since you'll still get a lot of house for that price. Most new houses in Collier Township are in that price range as it is. As for the Schools, the Collier Township School District hasn't (yet) won any national awards, but it's still a very high-quality school district.

I have to say I don't understand the Collier recommendation- if the OP is willing to live somewhere that doesn't have a "top 5" school district then Peters would be a much better choice than Collier- very close to Canonsburg, new housing stock, and you avoid Allegheny County property taxes.