Best Neighborhood for Commuting to/from Morgantown? (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: renting, house)

[tabinekotaro]

I live and work in Morgantown, WV, and may be moving to Pittsburgh in the next few months. I know it sounds crazy, but let me explain:

My partner has very few job prospects in Morgantown, but is currently interviewing for positions in Pittsburgh, where there are a lot more opportinities. I'm WVU faculty, so my schedule is flexible and some of my work can be done from home, so it makes more sense for me to do the commuting. I own and live in a multi-family house in Morgantown, so I already have a relatively inexpensive crash pad here, which would allow me to spend 3-4 days a week in Morgantown and the rest in Pittsburgh, and only commute twice a week. I've also had about all I can take of living in Morgantown, and at this point would rather do the commute 2 or even 3 times a week for the 32 weeks of the school year, rather than live someplace that I can't stand. (And I've always loved Pittsburgh.)

My question is, what are the easiest neighborhoods for accessing 376 and/or 79? I've been cautioned to avoid the tunnels at all costs, but how bad are they? (I would be leaving most mornings around 6:30, and getting into Pittsburgh around 5 or 6, which I imagine would be a bad time, traffic wise.) I've sat in traffic for the Ft. Pitt Tunnel, and it hasn't seemed too awful, but I don't think I've really experienced weekday rush hour.

We're in our 30s, no kids, and like walkable urban environments. A little grit is ok, as long as safety isn't a big issue. I will sometimes be arriving home quite late. We'll be renting at first, if we can find a pet friendly place.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[SteelCityRising]

Welcome in advance to Pittsburgh! If you want a safe walkable neighborhood on the south/west side of the city for ease of access to Morgantown, then I'd recommend, in no particular order other than alphabetical:

Beechview (city proper): Easy "T" access to take the light rail into Downtown Pittsburgh. Few businesses in its anemic business district, but there are some essentials. Safe. Quiet.

Brookline (city proper): Larger business district than Beechview. Further from the "T".

Crafton (inner suburb): Not on the "T" but still an easy commute to Downtown Pittsburgh. Not much of a business district, but a shopping center is within walking distance to a good chunk of the community. Some nice older homes. Members trlstreet and juliegt could advise you better about walkability here.

Dormont (one of PA's densest suburban communities): Great small walkable Downtown area. Relatively high property taxes. Ease of access to the "T".

Mt. Lebanon (family-oriented suburb with a great walkable business district): Live near Uptown Mt. Lebanon for ease of access to the "T" and a great business district.

You may also want to consider Bridgeville or Canonsburg. Both are safe small towns with small business districts right along I-79 for ease of commuting to Morgantown (while being far enough "removed" from the reverse-commute traffic with people driving from the city to business parks in Moon and Robinson). The commute to Morgantown will be a long one for you, so I'd advise potentially considering compromising on living in a place like Bridgeville and making it a point to regularly "play" in the city.

P.S. Just out of curiosity when you say "partner" are you a same-sex or opposite-sex couple? The only reason why I ask is because the East End of the city offers the densest concentration of LGBT-friendly establishments, nightlife, resources, etc. None of the area is particularly LGBT-UNfriendly, but if you are indeed a same-sex couple you may garner some glares walking hand-in-hand the further away you stray from the city.

[Evergrey]

The North Side is very LBGTQ-friendly and is deceptively convenient to points south.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

The North Side is very LBGTQ-friendly and is deceptively convenient to points south.

True. With that being said I'd personally go insane even commuting just from Washington, PA to Morgantown, WV on a daily basis, let alone from Manchester or Deutschtown to Morgantown! I realize he said "twice per week", but still...

There are so many people commuting from the city now westward to Robinson, Moon, Findlay, and other suburban areas that there are even traffic issues heading outbound through the Fort Pitt Tunnel during the morning rush and inbound during the evening rush. Due to that alone I'd want to live somewhere along the I-79 Corridor to the south of the split with I-376. If I was going to commute a long distance mileage-wise, I'd want to ensure I'd avoid as much gridlock as possible in the process. I recommended places with good "T" access in case his (or her) partner lands a job Downtown. It would be unfair for his/her partner to be able to walk to work from the North Side while he/she had to commute first in heavy traffic OUT of the city via the Fort Pitt Tunnel and then a long open road all the way to Morgantown.

Once you hit Greene County, PA you just want to put your pedal to the floor and hit the WV line ASAP. In my experience it seems like it takes forever to get through Greene County on I-79. It's just "in the way".

[CTMountaineer]

I'd suggest Uniontown. It's just a half hour from Morgantown and a straight shot to Pittsburgh but I see no way to avoid the dreaded tunnels. Or, you might just consider taking a job in Pittsburgh and opening up a slot for the many people who would love living here in Morgantgown. That would be a win-win for everyone. Smaller towns are not for everyone, but many of us believe that is the way to go.

[villageidiot1]

To find the best neighborhood you first have to know where your partner will be working. While I-79 is the quickest route to Morgantown, there are other options, e.g., PA-43, PA-51 and even the turnpike to New Stanton and PA-119 to PA-43. Assuming your partner is working downtown, the South Hills is going to be your best bet. It becomes a compromise between your partner's commute and yours but in your case you want the quickest access to I-79. Driving across the South Hills can be a pain at any time even when you are going against rush hour traffic. Bridgeville and Mt. Lebanon would top my list.

If your partner is not working downtown or in the city, the recommendation might be totally different.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

I'd suggest Uniontown. It's just a half hour from Morgantown and a straight shot to Pittsburgh but I see no way to avoid the dreaded tunnels. Or, you might just consider taking a job in Pittsburgh and opening up a slot for the many people who would love living here in Morgantgown. That would be a win-win for everyone. Smaller towns are not for everyone, but many of us believe that is the way to go.

I wouldn't suggest Uniontown. If they dislike Morgantown then why on Earth would they find Uniontown to be preferable? Morgantown is considered to be one of the most progressive cities in all of West Virginia. Uniontown is surrounded by Fayette County, where KDKA regularly reports on people shooting their spouse/cousin over eating the last chicken wing or spilling beer. If they are indeed a same-sex couple with an affinity for walkability then I can't envision them thriving in Fayette County.

I would second the recommendation, though, of job-hunting closer to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh-to-Morgantown commute would get old quickly, especially in the winter. We have a lot of institutions of higher education here.

[tabinekotaro]

Thanks for your responses. FWIW, I'm a she, and we're an opposite-sex, committed-but-unmarried-for-various-reasons couple. That said, I appreciate areas that are LGBTQ friendly because I like a tolerant, diverse vibe.

I should maybe clarify that while I don't love the idea of commuting, the 1.25-1.5 hour drive (I'm being traffic optimistic, I know) doesn't intimidate me too much as long as I don't have to do it every day. I'm a musician, and being a music professor pays my bills, but I'm used to driving ungodly distances to get to gigs. For example, tomorrow I'll teach from 8-3, then hop in my car and drive 6.5 hours to get to an orchestra gig I have in upstate NY on Saturday. Sucky, but it's the life! So the drive to Pittsburgh always feels short to me in comparison with my baseline. Plus I drive a diesel car, which is made for packing on the highway miles.

I'll check out Brookline. Crafton was also recommended to me by a work colleague who commutes from Moon. (I work with another person who drives down from Oakland, so they have put it in my head that it can be done!) I'm most familiar with the usual East End neighborhoods, and the Mt. Lebanon/South Hills areas, but most of the southern/western areas in the I-79 corridor are a blank for me. I've done a bit of exploring on the North Side (mostly Manchester & the MX War Streets), and find the area really interesting. I was just up in Ben Avon and Bellevue for a concert earlier this week, and was surprised at how easy it was to get back from there, even though it's way farther north that I thought would be practical. So maybe I should consider Brighton Heights as well.

Thanks again!

[MDYinzer]

Dormont is a good option. Things to walk to, and the T runs right through, so your partner could take that into town, assuming he/she will be working in town. And you would be on the other side of the tunnels, which would help you get southbound fairly easily. Mt. Lebanon also, although the taxes there are insane. And if you don't have any kids to take advantage of the nice schools you're paying an arm & a leg for, might as well live in Dormont or the city itself.

[tabinekotaro]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I would second the recommendation, though, of job-hunting closer to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh-to-Morgantown commute would get old quickly, especially in the winter. We have a lot of institutions of higher education here.

Uniontown would be really tough--getting out of Morgantown on the west side to go up that way would put me in some really terrible traffic, whereas I work fairly close to I-79. Your description of it also made me spit out my pistachios.

Wow, I wish I could find a job closer to Pittsburgh, but I'm in a really specialized field. To give some perspective, the year I was hired at WVU there were only 3 full time jobs in the whole country I could have applied for. This year, so far, there has been one. So I'm super duper lucky to have a job, and super duper grateful, too. In music and in academia, you gotta go where the jobs are.

@CT Mountaineer: I'm not trying to bash Morgantown. It's not a bad place, but it's not my dream long-term place. And my partner is driving himself crazy just doing odd consulting jobs because there's nothing here for him to do. That's all.