Nice Neighborhoods to live in Pittsburgh? (Scott Township, Green Tree: real estate, apartment complex, rentals)

[ahamdani]

Hi there, I'm planning to move to Pittsburgh by the end of this month and I was wondering if you guys could suggest some good neighborhoods to look for rent.

It'll be great if you could mention Zipcodes so I can look them up on some rental websites.

I'm a medical doctor from Iraq looking to get the US medical license next year..I came to the United States two years ago straight away to Raleigh in North Carolina and this is my first time to move outside this city so I really have no idea what so ever about Pittsburgh or virtually any other places in this country

In general I am looking for 2 bedrooms apt. or townhome that is $1000 or below....Do you think I can find something nice for this price?

Neighborhoods with good schools is a plus as my sister and her family is also moving into the place.

Your suggestions are highly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ali

[Hopes]

Will you be using public transporation? Or do you have a car?

Do you want to live in the suburbs? Or a city neighborhood?

Which hospital will you be commuting?

Do you want to live in a diverse area? Is a predominantly white area okay?

Or would you prefer to live in an apartment complex where there are many Pakistanis and Indians?

[BrianTH]

Affordable rentals in good school districts have become pretty scarce these days, but there are many neighborhoods that would potentially work. My advice would be to develop a long list of possible neighborhoods to maximize your chances, and you might work with a real estate agent who could help you find suitable options.

[XRiteMA98]

Actually the apartment complex Hopes is referring to(on her last line) is Carriage Appartments in Green Tree.

I also wanted to mention to you that the neighborhood of Scott Township has many residents from muslim countries. SOme are doctors, some are professional, some have their own businesses. I mention this to you in case you will feel more confortable living with people that are close to your culture. Actually a couple of weeks ago there was the Lebanese Food Festival at this church http://www.pghlebanesefestival.com/sponsor_form.pdf
If it's of interest to you you can call that number and ask them to put you in touch with members of the community. I'm sure you can find doctors among them.
The zip code is 15106. The school district is Chartiers Valley. The commute is very easy pretty much everywhere you go.

There are many other good school districts, but it depends where you are going to work.

I also recommend to you contacting these people Pittburg Council for International Visitors Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors they are very helpful and very serious. They helped me when I came to the US some many many many years ago.

[ahamdani]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Will you be using public transporation? Or do you have a car?

Do you want to live in the suburbs? Or a city neighborhood?

Which hospital will you be commuting?

Do you want to live in a diverse area? Is a predominantly white area okay?

Or would you prefer to live in an apartment complex where there are many Pakistanis and Indians?

Thanks for all your replies...

Now to answer Hopes' questions (in more details):


1. I do have my own car so does my sister so we are not planning to use public transportation.


2. I prefer to live in a city neighborhood rather than suburbs.


3. I won't be commuting to any hospital any soon for the moment. Because I'm still waiting for my medical license to be finished as a foreign medical doctor. The main reason we are relocating is because my sister was adviced by health and behavioral providers here to move to Pittsburgh for better therapy opportunities for her 8yrs old child who has some speech difficulties and requires some sort of speech and behavioral therapy. Other options on the list were LA and NYC but both are way more expensive so I thought Pittsburgh was the best option in the list plus it's the city where I'm supposed to take the clinical skills test for the Medical license eventually sometime around the middle of next year so I thought we might as well move now since I currently work as a medical interpreter over the phone from home, and it doesn't really matter where I'm living. As long as I have a landline phone then I'm good to go job wise.


4. as for predominantly white area, yes it's absolutely ok to live in such areas given the fact that we are a white family ourselves, also I'm not Pakistani nor Indian and I don't belong to the cultures of those two beautiful countries nor speak their language so to me it won't be an advantage to live specifically in areas where there are many indians or pakistanis (of course it's not a an issue to live in such areas but not a plus for me if you understand what I mean, because I don't want someone to think that I have problems living with people from India or Pakistan or anywhere)


Again, if you could kindly suggest neighborhood names or preferrably zipcodes then that would be great.

Cheers

[BrianTH]

Zipcodes are not very useful in the City because they can overlap both better and worse neighborhoods. You will mostly want to use neighborhood names.

Unfortunately, what you are looking for (an affordable, decent-sized place in one of the City neighborhoods with better schools) is in very high demand--but that doesn't mean it is impossible. Squirrel Hill might be ideal for you, so you should definitely look, but you could also look at Greenfield, which is adjacent to Squirrel Hill and a bit more affordable.

[Stijl Council]

A city neighborhood with good schools is going to be tough for $1000 or below. I'm going to guess that your niece's therapy options will be at or near either the Children's Institute in Squirrel Hill or Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville. Possibly near the hospital complex in Oakland. And since it's the middle of the school year you need somewhere with a good neighborhood school district -- you probably won't be able to get into a magnet this late in the year.

I think you could find something in one of the often-recommended East End school districts (Greenfield, Minadeo, or Colfax), but finding something livable in your budget is going to be trickier. The better school districts that aren't in the East End (Phillips, the South Hills part of the city, etc.) probably wouldn't be convenient and wouldn't save you much money. There's also going to be a lot less selection; some of the Mozart properties have 2 BRs that rent for at or below $1000, but they're all rented out.

A few places for under $1000 that appear to be in the East End:

An Unaddressed Squirrel Hill, PA 15217 Home for Rent - MLS #933624 - Realtor.com® (This is an alarmingly low price for the neighborhood. I'm guessing it's on that strip of Beechwood that runs right next to the highway or that there's something obviously wrong with the house, or both.)
An Unaddressed Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Home for Rent - MLS #896465 - Realtor.com®
2 BR apt w/ HW floors for Oct 1st! (Not a great location in terms of convenience, which is why it's so cheap, but should be safe enough and meets all your criteria.)

If you were willing to go up to around $1100/$1200 you'd have many more options in those neighborhoods. If you were willing to live somewhere just outside the city limits that would open up some options too, I think.

[eschaton]

What about Brookline? It's known for good schools, fairly affordable, and IIRC, was historically the center of the (Christian) Arab community in Pittsburgh.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Stijl Council

An Unaddressed Squirrel Hill, PA 15217 Home for Rent - MLS #933624 - Realtor.com® (This is an alarmingly low price for the neighborhood. I'm guessing it's on that strip of Beechwood that runs right next to the highway or that there's something obviously wrong with the house, or both.)

There is an address in a URL at the bottom. It's where you think it is.

[ahamdani]

Thank you all for your replies it certainly gave me something to start with in my search for homes.

Originally Posted by Stijl Council

If you were willing to go up to around $1100/$1200 you'd have many more options in those neighborhoods. If you were willing to live somewhere just outside the city limits that would open up some options too, I think.

Thanks Stijl Council for suggesting few names it helps me getting an idea of where to look. Yes I think I can push it up to $1100/1200 if that means more options in good neighborhoods. It's just that here in Raleigh, NC you'd live like a king if you pay $1200 for rent but obviously not all cities are born alike