Possibly moving the Pittsburgh area (Lebanon, McKeesport: rentals, home, buy)

[sebladj09]

My husband is looking to maybe take a job in the Pittsburgh area, Glassport to be in exact. We'd be moving from a little town in Western Kentucky. We'd be looking to rent and would prefer a house. Our max rent would be about $1400/month. We prefer to be in the suburban/semi-rural setting. We definitely need a safe environment for our 2 year old and prefer a yard for him to be able to run around in and prefer somewhere quiet but easily accessible to the city. We would ideally send our son to a private school so any info on those would be great. I've never been to the area so I have no idea on where to begin to look at housing and what is safe so I need your help please!

[Hopes]

You won't want to live in the immediate surrounding areas to Glassport. How long do you want your husband's commute?

[sebladj09]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You won't want to live in the immediate surrounding areas to Glassport. How long do you want your husband's commute?

Within an hour ideally.

[TRO Z]

Plenty of good options within a couple miles of Glassport.

Check out Jefferson Hills and Thomas Jefferson School Dist
Baldwin/Whitehall Area
Or even Elizabeth Forward school Dist and possibly West Mifflin----Just an FYI Glassport is South Allegheny SD which isn't too bad for a small school district

[Moby Hick]

If you want rural/suburban, start at North Huntington/Irwin and keep going East down 30. Lots in that range, at least for purchase. Rentals might be harder to find. However, I don't know about the private schools in that area.

[I_Like_Spam]

Since you'll be sending your child to private school, the only factor you need to consider about the school districts is whether or not they provide school transportation for their students.

Under Pennsylvania law, districts must provide transportation to private school students if they provide it to public school students.

I was told that neither Clairton nor McKeesport Area provide transportation for their students, you'll want to check on what district the properties you intend to rent are in and their policies before you sign your name to the lease.

The entire Mon Valley region is still in a bit of an economic funk since the steel crash of the 80's. There are a lot of small town, rural and suburban areas and still an excess of housing- you should be able to find a pretty good deal within not that far of Glassport.

[sebladj09]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Since you'll be sending your child to private school, the only factor you need to consider about the school districts is whether or not they provide school transportation for their students.

Under Pennsylvania law, districts must provide transportation to private school students if they provide it to public school students.

I was told that neither Clairton nor McKeesport Area provide transportation for their students, you'll want to check on what district the properties you intend to rent are in and their policies before you sign your name to the lease.

The entire Mon Valley region is still in a bit of an economic funk since the steel crash of the 80's. There are a lot of small town, rural and suburban areas and still an excess of housing- you should be able to find a pretty good deal within not that far of Glassport.

I didn't know districts had to provide transportation for private school students, we don't have that in Kentucky. Where would the best area to look for housing (provided that transportation won't be an issue)?

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by sebladj09

Where would the best area to look for housing (provided that transportation won't be an issue)?

It doesn't start until kindergarten, so maybe it isn't a big worry for your first place. (I'm assuming if you stayed for a couple of years, you'd buy after gaining knowledge of the area.) I think nearly every school district you'd want to live in has transportation.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by sebladj09

I didn't know districts had to provide transportation for private school students, we don't have that in Kentucky.

If a district provides transportation to the public school children, the district is required by law to provide transportation to private school children, whose schools are within 10 miles outside of the district borders.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

It doesn't start until kindergarten, so maybe it isn't a big worry for your first place. (I'm assuming if you stayed for a couple of years, you'd buy after gaining knowledge of the area.) I think nearly every school district you'd want to live in has transportation.

If it's half day kindergarten, transportation is only provided during the times the regular students attend school, even for public school students. For morning kindergarten, the district provides transportation to school but not home from school at lunch time. For afternoon kindergarten, the district provides transportation home from school but not to school.

I think we should mention that Mt. Lebanon doesn't provide transportation to any of its students.

I wish I knew the areas in Washington County better. The OP wants semi-rural. The districts already recommended are NOT semi-rural with the exception of North Huntingdon/Irwin. If she can find a rental in her price range over in Peter's Township, that would be another option.