Need advice on where to live (Pittsburgh, Washington: apartment, rent, high crime)

[Kestrelwhite]

Hello all,
I will be moving from Washington DC to Pittsburgh next year, and need some advice on where to live.

Here's what I'm looking for, order of importance:

1. Quiet neighborhood/neighbors. I can’t tolerate street noise/house parties coming through my wall, etc.

2. Progressive, upcoming, artsy, friendly. I like to get to know my neighbors. Bonus if it's gay friendly.

3. Close (3mi or less) to foodie restaurants, gyms, bars, shops, grocery stores.

4. Biking/hiking trails

5. Obviously I would like a safe neighborhood, but I can actually deal with a little bit of sketchiness. I don’t want to live anywhere perilous or with seriously high crime/property damage rate, but if I can live in a place where as long as I have good community relationships and don’t leave anything really enticing visible in my car and have good street sense/presence, I’m ok with that.

6. Assume my work will be in the Downtown area or just outside. I’m ok living in the heart of the city or the suburbs, ok in apartment or house, ok with a 30ish minute commute though would prefer shorter or ability to bike to work. Looking to spend about 1100 in rent or mortgage payment. I am a childless female in my 30's, so school districts a non-issue.

Unsure what public transportation is like in Pittsburgh.

Can you help a girl out?

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Kestrelwhite

Quiet neighborhood/neighbors. I can’t tolerate street noise/house parties coming through my wall, etc.

Don't live in the row house neighborhoods, e.g. Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Oakland.

Originally Posted by Kestrelwhite

Progressive, upcoming, artsy, friendly. I like to get to know my neighbors. Bonus if it's gay friendly.

Probably anywhere in the East End (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, Lawrenceville). Other neighborhoods may turn out to be gay friendly, but there's never been a Dupont Circle here (Shadyside would be closest).

[BrianTH]

As long as you are not looking for a really big or brand-new place, that is a pretty good budget for Pittsburgh. I'd highly recommend renting first and taking some time to look around before buying (even though buying here can be a good deal, I think it is more than worth the investment of a year or so of renting to get to know your options better).

Some obvious possibilities given what you described are the East End neighborhoods that are near some of the top commercial districts but with slightly more spread out housing, fewer undergrads, and generally a bit quieter. Those options include:

Highland Park and Morningside
Regent Square, Whitney Park, and Park Place
Friendship
Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze
Polish Hill

Another general location that might work is the nicer neighborhoods in the North Side, including:

Allegheny West
Mexican War Streets
Deutschtown

Finally, the South Side Flats may not be quite what you are looking for, but you could look at the South Side Slopes, and also Mt. Washington.

You can search around for more information on all those places, but they are all convenient for working Downtown (usually including the possibility of a direct transit commute and maybe biking), and all close to lots of the sorts of things to do you were describing.

[Hopes]

Larwrenceville was my first thought.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Other neighborhoods may turn out to be gay friendly, but there's never been a Dupont Circle here (Shadyside would be closest).

Although we don't have a "gayborhood" per se, Pittsburgh (at least in the central area) is generally pretty gay friendly in a live and let live sort of way, and so I think all the neighborhoods we are mentioning would likely be fine. But if you are looking for neighborhoods with the highest possible concentration of gay people, in addition to Shadyside it is probably worth looking at the North Side neighborhoods I mentioned and Regent Square (oh, and parts of Lawrenceville and Bloomfield).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Larwrenceville was my first thought.

My only reservations would be it may not be as quiet as the OP wants, and it also isn't the best place for hiking/biking. Otherwise, though, it would score very high by the OP's criteria, so I would agree she should at least check it out.

[PittsburghLlama]

I feel like you might enjoy Friendship. It's near enough to Shadyside (which houses lots of restaurants and bars), but feels removed and is nice and quiet. You are also close enough to the more bustling parts of the East End (Lawrenceville, Bloomfield), without having to concern yourself with the noise level of your neighbors/bar patrons.

Lawrenceville is also home to 2 very fantastic gay bars that I used to frequent quite often. Blue Moon seems more geared toward men (the TVs often show ripped hotties flexing their muscles), but they have excellent drag shows on Saturdays, and there never really seemed to be an anti-lady vibe (I'm a lady). Everyone was always really nice; I met some cool people there.

Cattivo is the other bar in question, and it is more of a lesbian bar. There is an upstairs and a downstairs; the upstairs has pool tables, a dance floor, a large bar and is often filled with a regular lesbian crowd; the downstairs is a bit swankier (also with a dance floor and bar), and it seems to have more of a variety of sexes due to the events held there.

Anyway, Lawrenceville is close enough to Friendship that you could visit the bars and make it back to your home without issue in regards distance traveled, while also being able to get to sleep without worrying about the noise level.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get tons of great recommendations.

[PittsburghLlama]

Oh yes, and many of the parks in the city are homes to great biking/hiking trails (paved or off-road). In the East End, both Frick Park and Schenley (preferred over Frick for me) have great trails throughout the forested areas.

In the North Side, I'm a huge fan of Riverview Park. It has mountain biking trails that go throughout the park in every direction (around, through, over), as well as a paved road that goes around the park that has a bike/walking section marked off. I hike in there frequently with my pup, and since it's slightly removed from high activity areas, it's never over crowded with tons of people.

There is a lot of nature in Pittsburgh, considering it's a city.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

My only reservations would be it may not be as quiet as the OP wants, and it also isn't the best place for hiking/biking. Otherwise, though, it would score very high by the OP's criteria, so I would agree she should at least check it out.

It's unlikely the OP will live right on Butler Street. The side streets are not noisy. Some time there, you'll be amazed how quiet it is.

With the exception of North Side, it's the most convenient neighborhood to the Allegheny River bike trail.

Lawrenceville is a perfect match for everything the OP listed.

[groar]

lawrenceville is actually pretty good for hiking and biking - you can get on the three rivers bike trail there and go all over the place on connecting trails. allegheny cemetery is very nice to walk around in and has beautiful wild parts, and frick and schenley parks are not too far away.

noisiness kind of depends on who your neighbors are since most of the houses are row houses there. but i agree that as long as you're not right on butler it's not too bad.