Yet another "moving to Pittsburgh" thread (Washington, Robinson Township: apartments, house)

[Elle Driver]

Hello everyone, and sorry if these threads annoy you, but I figured you can be able to help me out. I'm a young professional, female, single and moving to Pittsburgh next month after accepting an employment offer. I don't know much about the area. The office is located in the suburbs and (from what they told me) the areas closest to it are Green Tree, Moon Township, Robinson Township and Coraopolis. So here goes my question: which neighborhood would you recommend? I'm having a hard time looking for a place to live because I don't know where to focus. From what I've read Green Tree is closest to Downtown, which is a plus but the other neighborhoods aren't too far either. Something very important is the commuting time and having access to grocery stores, restaurants, nice places to visit, etc.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Goodjules]

I just bought a house in Crafton, very near Green Tree. I'm from SF, CA. Feel free to PM me with questions.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Elle Driver

Hello everyone, and sorry if these threads annoy you, but I figured you can be able to help me out. I'm a young professional, female, single and moving to Pittsburgh next month after accepting an employment offer. I don't know much about the area. The office is located in the suburbs and (from what they told me) the areas closest to it are Green Tree, Moon Township, Robinson Township and Coraopolis. So here goes my question: which neighborhood would you recommend? I'm having a hard time looking for a place to live because I don't know where to focus. From what I've read Green Tree is closest to Downtown, which is a plus but the other neighborhoods aren't too far either. Something very important is the commuting time and having access to grocery stores, restaurants, nice places to visit, etc.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

All of the areas you listed are suburbs, not in Pittsburgh itself. Moon and Robinson are very suburban in nature, although they do have Robinson Town Center, which is a monstrous jumble of strip malls and chain restaurants. Green Tree is more of an old-style, first-ring suburb, although it's still a place you'll need to drive. Coraopolis is a run-down mill town - it's not unsafe, and it is pretty walkable, but it's also kinda dead as far as nightlife and the like is concerned.

I would presume, being young and single, you want to live in the city proper. South Side may be an option which you would find attractive, as it's by far the nightlife center of Pittsburgh. However, it might be a bit too wild for you. Mount Washington may also be an option, depending on if your office is more towards Green Tree than the Moon/Robinson area.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I would presume, being young and single, you want to live in the city proper.

Why would you presume that? She wants an easy commute and to be near shopping. The "monstrous jumble" of malls might be her nirvana.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I would presume, being young and single, you want to live in the city proper. .

Why, when I was young and single all the really hot chicks lived in the 'burbs.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Why would you presume that? She wants an easy commute and to be near shopping. The "monstrous jumble" of malls might be her nirvana.

1. She talks about the suburbs listed as "neighborhoods"

2. She mentions proximity to downtown.

Also, I think it's a fair assumption by being close to dining, she doesn't mean Applebees and TGIFridays. M

Maybe I did jump to a conclusion, but young, single, and professional usually means wants to live in at least a semi-urban area these days.

[Hopes]

Close to downtown is a plus. Commuting time is more important. Our suburbs are close enough to the city, that it's not like someone is in a rural area. She can live in these areas, have a quick commute to work, and still be downtown within 15 minutes for any events and dining she wishes to have on the evenings and weekends. And our suburbs are so darn close to downtown that they might as well be neighborhoods. It's semantics sometimes. Aspinwall is a suburb, but it's literally across the river. All of the northern suburbs are literally across the river. Greentree is just through the tunnels. Have you ever driven from downtown to Greentree in the evenings or weekends? It literally takes 5 minutes.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Why, when I was young and single all the really hot chicks lived in the 'burbs.

I hate to break this to you but it's not 1978 anymore.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I hate to break this to you but it's not 1978 anymore.

Ah, 1978, a great year for bell bottom pants.

To the OP, nothing wrong with the Robinson-Moon area. I'm always amazed at the number of people at the restaurants at the Pointe. SRO on weekends.

[sealie]

Two things that may be overlooked here because they're second nature to us, but the OP won't know, in addition to the fact that all three of those are suburbs and not city neighborhoods.

1. Any tunnel will screw up traffic far worse than you would think. Nobody really knows why. If the job is in that area, then you want to be on the same side of the Pitt Tunnel (which is the tunnel immediately west of downtown) if you want a good commute time.
2. People ask about new construction in the city a lot, where "new" = "built in the last 25 years". There isn't that much. What there is a lot of in the city are what people call "places with character" - old Victorians that have been split out into eight apartments, possibly with limited soundproofing, but in great walkable neighborhoods. If you want a place that's newish, with a usable kitchen and possibly a washer/dryer in the unit, but part of a big complex and things are all kind of beige, it's easier to find that in a suburb like Robinson.