Oh no! Pittsburgh area ranks high for affordable housing! (Erie: home, neighborhoods)

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I think South Squirrel Hill by Minedeo isn't walkable. Sure it has sidewalks but is pretty far form the intersection of Murray and Forbes. Due to the number of neighborhoods in Pittsburgh combined with the topography really limits the number of walkable areas in my opinion.

That's where we live -- four or five blocks south of Forward -- and my spouse routinely walks home from work at CMU. We have neighbors who do the same.

There's not really a great comp for Squirrel Hill in Atlanta, but I think of it as sort of a mashup of Druid Hills (lots of eds and meds, university proximity, some commercial district), Toco Hills (somewhat suburban feeling, relatively high Jewish population), and Morningside (similar "feel," lots of parks, and relative level of desirability within the city limits, though it's a nicer neighborhood). We couldn't have afforded a SFH in any of those neighborhoods, let alone something in move-in condition like we were able to get here; two of them were hilariously above our budget.

[PreservationPioneer]

I must have missed the segue into walkability. It seemed to me a lot of you were just talking about real estate prices in Squirrel Hill and saying how high real estate was in Pittsburgh because of the prices in that specific neighborhood. As if that was the only neighborhood. Even if the criteria included walkability, you'd still have Brookline, and plenty of walkable suburbs, too.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

I must have missed the segue into walkability.

It's not really walking, just using a form of wheeled transport that can go on the sidewalk. And it's spelled "Segway."

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Stijl Council

That's where we live -- four or five blocks south of Forward -- and my spouse routinely walks home from work at CMU. We have neighbors who do the same.

There's not really a great comp for Squirrel Hill in Atlanta, but I think of it as sort of a mashup of Druid Hills (lots of eds and meds, university proximity, some commercial district), Toco Hills (somewhat suburban feeling, relatively high Jewish population), and Morningside (similar "feel," lots of parks, and relative level of desirability within the city limits, though it's a nicer neighborhood). We couldn't have afforded a SFH in any of those neighborhoods, let alone something in move-in condition like we were able to get here; two of them were hilariously above our budget.

I think people are more likely to walk a greater distance to and from work then they are to grocery or drug store.

When I lived in Squirrel Hill I lived on Hobart and I thought it was not an easy walk to the library. It was about .5 miles. For me about 3 blocks is about as far as I want to walk to run errands. Shadyside was much more walkable even though I lived on South Highland/Walnut. Point Breeze wasn't at all.

The thing that reallly sets Pittsburgh apart from other cities is that aside from Squirrel Hill (North and South) most of our neighborhoods are pretty small.

[safak]

a lot of good points here.
the bottom line is most cities are not build like pittsburgh. austin as a whole isn't nearly as walkable as pittsburgh. its overall walk score is probably about half of pittsburgh, and unless you are literally ON campus your not going to get those really high scores its just more spread out and less walkable.
apparently 2 miles form campus is crappy suburbia..2 miles from pitts campus is the eden of greenfield and south squirrel hill.

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by safak

a lot of good points here.
the bottom line is most cities are not build like pittsburgh. austin as a whole isn't nearly as walkable as pittsburgh. its overall walk score is probably about half of pittsburgh, and unless you are literally ON campus your not going to get those really high scores its just more spread out and less walkable.
apparently 2 miles form campus is crappy suburbia..2 miles from pitts campus is the eden of greenfield and south squirrel hill.

The house you linked to in Austin has a walkability score of 38. It is about 10 miles from UT. A house that is within 2 miles of UT, like in Hyde Park, would be at least $400,000. That neighborhood has walkability scores in the 70s.

[safak]

under 150k, 80+ walk score , within 2 miles of campus of one of americas largest and richest universites, in one of the hottest cities in america, with barely any neighborhoods with walk scores over 50...
starting to feel like the deck is stacked lol
woops, enjoy your new 2 bedroom home

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

. Even if the criteria included walkability, you'd still have Brookline, and plenty of walkable suburbs, too.

Some of Brookline is walkable, but much of it is pretty car dependent. There really isn't much to easily walk to if you have a home on Northcrest, Larose or London Towne.

[Devout Urbanist]

Originally Posted by safak

under 150k, 80+ walk score , within 2 miles of campus of one of americas largest and richest universites, in one of the hottest cities in america, with barely any neighborhoods with walk scores over 50...
starting to feel like the deck is stacked lol
woops, enjoy your new 2 bedroom home

A condo?

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by safak

under 150k, 80+ walk score , within 2 miles of campus of one of americas largest and richest universites, in one of the hottest cities in america, with barely any neighborhoods with walk scores over 50...
starting to feel like the deck is stacked lol
woops, enjoy your new 2 bedroom home

Oh my, the four of us definitely would not enjoy <800 square feet and one bathroom!