Relocating to Pittsburgh need info please! (Dormont, Bellevue: apartment, to rent, crime)

[readyforchange14]

Hello all! I plan to relocate from Toledo Ohio to Pittsburgh here in a few months and I need all the info I can get. I have visited there once but not long enough to see what the city is like. I plan to visit a few more times before I actually make the move but just visiting wont really give me the ins and outs of the place. So my biggest question is what areas should I avoid? what are some nice affordable areas with good schools? can I make a good living here? is this a good place to start a business and buy a home (despite the high taxes!)? I am a 28 year old single mother and I need to move somewhere safe and find a good school for my child. All opinions and advice welcome!

[I_Like_Spam]

You should definitely have a good income coming in before thinking about coming here.

Where you should live is dependent on what you have, if you give a clue as to what your child support and other income is and what line of work you're in?

[The King of Um]

Welcome!

First off, to answer your biggest question, there is a poster called Uptown Kid who will be able to tell you all of the areas to avoid, as he knows these things better than anyone else who posts here. All I can tell you is, avoid the Hill District, Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Mt. Oliver, and Beltzhoover. Parts of Marshall-Shadeland and California-Kirkbride seem pretty bad, too.

Nice, affordable areas with good schools? Check out Bellevue and Avalon. They're safe, fairly affordable and offer a very good quality of life. The school district is decent (Northgate). Also, consider Emsworth, which is in the Avonworth School District, a very good district. It's a charming little town with well-kept houses that are affordable. And it's very safe; I suspect you could walk around at 2:00 AM all alone and not have any issues.

Can you make a good living here? Well, I suppose you're just as likely to make a decent living here as you would be in most other cities in the Northeast.

Pittsburgh, I suppose, is a decent place to start a business, as the economy is fairly healthy here. In my opinion, Pittsburgh and the region is a very good place to buy a home, as homes are affordable here. Most of the homes in our region are vintage, and many offer quite a bit of character on the inside and out--that is, if they haven't been remodeled in that awful mid-century fashion.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by readyforchange14

Hello all! I plan to relocate from Toledo Ohio to Pittsburgh here in a few months and I need all the info I can get. I have visited there once but not long enough to see what the city is like. I plan to visit a few more times before I actually make the move but just visiting wont really give me the ins and outs of the place. So my biggest question is what areas should I avoid? what are some nice affordable areas with good schools? can I make a good living here? is this a good place to start a business and buy a home (despite the high taxes!)? I am a 28 year old single mother and I need to move somewhere safe and find a good school for my child. All opinions and advice welcome!

Just a general note--make sure you have a good map/gps/idea of where you're going when you visit. The roads aren't exactly set out in grids like flat Western Ohio.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by readyforchange14

Hello all! I plan to relocate from Toledo Ohio to Pittsburgh here in a few months and I need all the info I can get. I have visited there once but not long enough to see what the city is like. I plan to visit a few more times before I actually make the move but just visiting wont really give me the ins and outs of the place. So my biggest question is what areas should I avoid? what are some nice affordable areas with good schools? can I make a good living here? is this a good place to start a business and buy a home (despite the high taxes!)? I am a 28 year old single mother and I need to move somewhere safe and find a good school for my child. All opinions and advice welcome!

Let me extend a welcome to you in advance, RFC! I am also from Toledo but have been living in Pittsburgh for the better part of a decade now. I have a couple of questions that would help us help you.

Why are you moving? Work? Family? Just hoping for better luck here? If you have family members or a job lined up it would help if you told us where they are so we can suggest areas that are convenient to those locations.

Can you make a good living here? Maybe. That depends on so many factors. What sort of work are you looking to get into? Are you trying to get a job first, or jump straight into opening the business?

Also could you give an idea of the sort of area you'd like to live in? Do you prefer rural, suburban, or urban? Do you want to be able to walk to things or will you be driving everywhere? Will you need to rely on public transportation at all? Pittsburgh's public transportation system is a dream compared to TARTA.

As for safety and good schools, those are very subjective measures. Could you give an idea of your level of crime tolerance and what you mean by good schools? Does your child have any need for specific classes or sports teams or anything?

A general budget or idea of your expected income would help us narrow down your options too.

[readyforchange14]

I have never liked Toledo I lived here as a child and jumped ship as soon as I hit 18 and moved back here from Akron last year due to family issues. Lets see where do I begin...i wont i'll be here forever but to sum it up the economy s*cks and the people...excuse me while I barf...I do not have family there which is why I am considering Pa I have family in Akron (wont move back there that is going backwards plus no jobs) and Toledo, neither is a far drive to visit. I am considering other places that are longer distance but it will be a waste of time i am young and so is my child i don't want to get homesick and end up back here but to answer your ?'s just hoping for better luck and prosperity as far as crime i do not want to be in my living room and a bullet comes flying through the window like some of the places here, but i know people can be up to no good in the best places so out of sight out of mind for me i don't want to live anywhere where drug dealers are noticeably hanging out...im more of a suburbs kind of person but need to be able to easily commute to the city for partying/night life..so it does not have to be the most rich neighborhood I don't mind living somewhere that is considered decent same as for schools does not have to be top notch but not the lowest rated schools. Plan to work and start the business later the type of work i do i have to be open to different ethnic groups so it really does not matter where.

[readyforchange14]

will be driving besides occasional walks to the park around the community etc.(if the weather allows it) so need to live in a walkable neighborhood

[readyforchange14]

and thanks for welcoming me!

[ferraris]

Okay, it doesn't sound like you have a job lined up yet, right? That makes it pretty hard to narrow down suggestions since your criteria is pretty broad and you don't know what your budget is yet. Do you know if you want an apartment or a house to rent?

You've visited in the past; were there any areas that you especially liked or disliked?

Since you'll be visiting again, I'd suggest checking out suburbs like Bellevue, Avalon, Dormont, Regent Square, Greentree, Crafton, Ross, and Westview. Those are close in suburbs that might suit your tastes. In the city you might be interested in neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Brookline, and Banksville (all are Pittsburgh Public Schools, but considered to be the better ones in the district. Probably similar to a Start or Bowsher feeder pattern in Toledo).

Also, all of these places do have access to transit into the city. I know you said you will be driving, but parking costs and traffic may be an issue depending on where you end up working.

[readyforchange14]

Originally Posted by ferraris

Okay, it doesn't sound like you have a job lined up yet, right? That makes it pretty hard to narrow down suggestions since your criteria is pretty broad and you don't know what your budget is yet. Do you know if you want an apartment or a house to rent?

You've visited in the past; were there any areas that you especially liked or disliked?

Since you'll be visiting again, I'd suggest checking out suburbs like Bellevue, Avalon, Dormont, Regent Square, Greentree, Crafton, Ross, and Westview. Those are close in suburbs that might suit your tastes. In the city you might be interested in neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Brookline, and Banksville (all are Pittsburgh Public Schools, but considered to be the better ones in the district. Probably similar to a Start or Bowsher feeder pattern in Toledo).

Also, all of these places do have access to transit into the city. I know you said you will be driving, but parking costs and traffic may be an issue depending on where you end up working.

yea coming from a small city definitely not looking forward to the traffic! thinking i better rent a small apartment on the cheaper side to save starting out...last time i was there was for business purpose so i was in the downtown area and didn't get a chance to check out the neighborhoods afterall i never thought I'd be moving there lol..may i ask your age range and if you consider pa to be better than here? how are the two in comparison and have you ever considered moving back?