back again.. this time - Lawrenceville? (Pittsburgh, Plum: condos, big house, neighborhood)

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I also think Upper Lawrenceville is already too expensive given its relatively inconvenient location. Even if there are homes in my budget there I'm better served buying a comparable home in the North Side, Wilkinsburg, or even Millvale and being nearer to amenities.

No argument here. That's part of why I ended up in Brighton Heights instead of Upper Lawrenceville

Upper Lawrencville is pretty isolated for an East End neighborhood. To the west you have the rest of Lawrenceville, which is a big perk. But to the north you have an inaccessible river, the east you have the "No man's land" section of Butler, and to the south you have Stanton Heights which doesn't offer much. You can kind of get to Garfield, but it involves a long walk up a big hill and going through the rougher section of the Garfield.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I also think Upper Lawrenceville is already too expensive given its relatively inconvenient location. Even if there are homes in my budget there I'm better served buying a comparable home in the North Side, Wilkinsburg, or even Millvale and being nearer to amenities.

Personally, I think the weird no-man's land between Bloomfield and Lawrenceville (bounded by Penn, Liberty, Main, and Doughboy Square, more or less) is superior to Upper Lawrenceville. In terms of price and residual sketchiness, it's pretty much equal. In terms of housing quality, it's nominally superior - some blocks are Bloomfield-style siding warrens, while others are all brick.

In terms of access though, it's great. Close to both Butler Street and the Bloomfield business district. Multiple bus lines converge around there, and it's not a terribly far walk to the Herron Avenue station. I'm always surprised that area (minus the newish development directly on Penn) is totally forgotten.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by eschaton

My big issue with Upper Lawrenceville has always been the houses, physically speaking, are mainly characterless siding boxes similar to what you'd find in the southern parts of Bloomfield. Much of Carnegie Street is quite nice, and there are other brick houses scattered throughout, but the frame construction just didn't hold up very well, and all the charm has been taken out. I just don't see those sort of houses ever having massive appeal to homeowners, though for young renters they can be great (I didn't give a crap about the outside of my house when I rented in Bloomfield).

On the other hand, if people get ambitious, I guess it's far easier to restore the original window sizes/shapes on a frame house than all the houses in Central Lawrenceville where they decided to patch in (or worse, cut a new hole, and then patch in) a brick house. Thankfully, they only did that on the back side of our house with the kitchen/bathroom windows.

Yeah, I don't know. I'm the last person to consider these types of attributes, frankly, haha. I think my friends' houses are quite lovely inside, but they are siding boxes.

For what it's worth, I don't really care about the outside of my house now, and I own it, haha. I mean, I take care of it and everything. I don't want it to look broken or dirty, but beyond that...it's just a house. They all look pretty much the same to me, truthfully. Clearly, I am not representative of the general market, however, so this information is not particularly useful, hahahaha.

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I also think Upper Lawrenceville is already too expensive given its relatively inconvenient location. Even if there are homes in my budget there I'm better served buying a comparable home in the North Side, Wilkinsburg, or even Millvale and being nearer to amenities.

Yes, also a big difference for me was row house versus freestanding house. I was able to get a nice freestanding house in the Northside for a bit cheaper than I would have been able to get a row house in Upper Lawrenceville. I like row houses now, but I'm not sure how I will feel in ten years, and I plan on staying in my home for a good while, so it just seemed like the safer bet.

Somewhat related: I remember feeling slight trepidation about moving to Upper Lawrenceville because some people claimed it was a rough part of town. Within a week of living there I thought, "Man, people are completely crazy. This place is great." I felt that way for the entire two years I lived there. Then I had the exact same feeling when moving to the Northside, and 1.5 years after moving here, I have that same, "Man, people are crazy. This place is great" feeling.

Edit: Oh yeah, and off street parking. I wasn't even considering that at all, but it has been a nice bonus.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Personally, I think the weird no-man's land between Bloomfield and Lawrenceville (bounded by Penn, Liberty, Main, and Doughboy Square, more or less) is superior to Upper Lawrenceville. In terms of price and residual sketchiness, it's pretty much equal. In terms of housing quality, it's nominally superior - some blocks are Bloomfield-style siding warrens, while others are all brick.

In terms of access though, it's great. Close to both Butler Street and the Bloomfield business district. Multiple bus lines converge around there, and it's not a terribly far walk to the Herron Avenue station. I'm always surprised that area (minus the newish development directly on Penn) is totally forgotten.

That "no man's land" is very much a part of Lawrenceville. It's Lower Lawrenceville, and is considered a part of the same area as the section of Butler St, west of 40th.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

That "no man's land" is very much a part of Lawrenceville. It's Lower Lawrenceville, and is considered a part of the same area as the section of Butler St, west of 40th.

It's officially part of Lower Lawrenceville, given the city defines neighborhoods (in almost all cases) on the basis of census tracts.

But in practice the local border with Bloomfield there has been blurry. Certainly the built structure of the area is more similar to the portions of Bloomfield on the opposite side of 40th than it is to the opposite side of Butler.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It's officially part of Lower Lawrenceville, given the city defines neighborhoods (in almost all cases) on the basis of census tracts.

But in practice the local border with Bloomfield there has been blurry. Certainly the built structure of the area is more similar to the portions of Bloomfield on the opposite side of 40th than it is to the opposite side of Butler.

My grandfather, now deceased, used to live in the 3900 block of Howley and 3800 block of Woolslair- always stated he lived in Bloomfield- although it is the 6th ward and officially "Lawrenceville".

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

The bathroom was on the 1st floor behind the kitchen, which is why it took a little while to sell. The house next door to it sold in 4 days - bathroom basement only. Listed at 65k.

You missed my point. The house on 44th Street was worth the price because it's a bigger house and has more positives than the house the OP is considering.

[selltheburgh]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You missed my point. The house on 44th Street was worth the price because it's a bigger house and has more positives than the house the OP is considering.

No, I get your point. My point is that 44th St would have been more expensive had the bathroom been on the 2nd floor. Sort of like how the house the OP is into would be more expensive if it were on a real street rather than an alleyway.

[selltheburgh]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

My grandfather, now deceased, used to live in the 3900 block of Howley and 3800 block of Woolslair- always stated he lived in Bloomfield- although it is the 6th ward and officially "Lawrenceville".

That area is 15224 zip, but Lawrenceville voting and 6th ward.

8-10 years ago, it was the cheaper part of bloomfield. Now it is as expensive as or sometimes even more expensive than bloomfield.

This house: Lawrenceville Real Estate - 3812 Howley Street, Lawrenceville, PA, 15201 had 2 offers on it. Over 200k on Howley St. The renovation was pretty great, but there were some things I didn't like about it.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

8-10 years ago, it was the cheaper part of bloomfield. Now it is as expensive as or sometimes even more expensive than bloomfield.

Is that including "Friendship in Bloomfield" (e.g, past Gross?)

This house: Lawrenceville Real Estate - 3812 Howley Street, Lawrenceville, PA, 15201 had 2 offers on it. Over 200k on Howley St. The renovation was pretty great, but there were some things I didn't like about it.[/quote]

That is on the high end for that area though. Most houses seem to go for around $100,000 there, albeit there aren't too many grand in any way besides a few directly on Penn or Liberty. Leaving those aside, I think the Mintwood mega-block has a lot of possibilities. The houses are small, but they all have yards and face a small park (well, ballfield) in the back. I also really like the 4000 block of Mintwood/Cabinet Way. There's a block plus of slightly later (maybe 1920s) rowhouses, but they're nicely done and very intact. Cute brick street on that segment of Mintwood as well. Houses seldom go on the market in either of those areas though.