family potentially moving to Pittsburgh - neighborhoods to visit during trip (York: top schools, income)

[SteelCityRising]

Just as an aside, why does nobody ever recommend Oakmont when someone is asking about safe, family-friendly, cozy, walkable communities with good schools? We love Oakmont for the quaint brick main street, the mystery book store, the bakery, the theater, the library, the tree-lined residential side streets with kids playing, etc. I understand Riverview School District is not quite as "prestigious" as Fox Chapel Area (Aspinwall), Mt. Lebanon, Quaker Valley (Sewickley), etc., but it's still a good school district, correct? The borough is quite self-contained, for the most part, although there is a full-service grocery store just over the town line in Verona and a Target across the Hulton Bridge in Harmar.

Overall I'd consider, in no particular order, Mt. Lebanon, Sewickley, Oakmont, Aspinwall, and select parts of the East End of the city proper (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill) that feed into Allderdice High School (although, as was noted, the neighborhood kids might go to religious schools, magnet schools, charter schools, private schools, etc.)

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Just as an aside, why does nobody ever recommend Oakmont when someone is asking about safe, family-friendly, cozy, walkable communities with good schools? We love Oakmont for the quaint brick main street, the mystery book store, the bakery, the theater, the library, the tree-lined residential side streets with kids playing, etc.

Overall I'd consider, in no particular order, Mt. Lebanon, Sewickley, Oakmont, Aspinwall, and select parts of the East End of the city proper (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill) that feed into Allderdice High School (although, as was noted, the neighborhood kids might go to religious schools, magnet schools, charter schools, private schools, etc.)

I thought about Oakmont too but figured the list of requirements pretty much screamed Mt. Lebo or maybe Aspinwall, mostly because the OP listed schools as the #1 consideration. It's a really great commercial district, though! (I am biased, though, because I have an irrational love for anywhere with a good yarn store.) It wouldn't be too hard to pop over there from Aspinwall on a scouting visit.

I mentioned Squirrel Hill mostly because I wasn't sure what exactly she was looking for in schools, but I have a feeling she'll end up in one of the suburbs mentioned -- probably Mt. Lebo -- given that she wants somewhere where the bulk of neighborhood kids go to the same school.

Shadyside makes sense for the OP's requirements (given the same caveats about schools as Squirrel Hill) but I think finding a residence for a family of five on their budget would be a tall order, especially if the desire is for all the kids to have their own rooms.

[Buckeye Burgher]

I have friends in Oakmont, and it is a very nice community. Good schools as well.
It is not particularly convenient to Downtown, but that may or may not be important to you.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Burgher

Obama is a college prep academy. I believe it is in the former Peabody High School building.

What happened to Peabody? It used to look like the building in the first picture. Now it looks like the building in the second picture. You don't have to be AA/PP to find this egregious.

[okaydorothy]

I will through my european opinion here (you all knew that was coming). We are from ireland and while we lived in NY for 25 years, we relocated to Pittsburgh almost 2 years ago. We have two boys who were 12 & 13 at the time of our move. We came with no jobs.

When we were looking, we LOVED Sewickley, Mt. Lebanon and Aspinwall. My favorite houses were in Sewickley and Aspinwall as there was a village that we could walk in and it was really gorgeous. We visited the Quaker Valley schools and Fox Chapel. Mount Lebo does not have busing so that was out even though we loved the village. As property values dropped in NY, we had to scale back our budget and our top price was $350K.


We ended up in Bridgeville as the school (south Fayette) is very good. I was not going to settle on a school that had bad ratings and the ones we looked at all rated very high. There is a little village in Bridgeville, but not very big. Yes, we do drive everywhere ; kids get the bus to school and home. We like our house, it was very very affordable for us and so far so good. I got a job within 2 weeks after looking, my dh stayed at home for a while, went back to school and eventually ended up working for his old employer and so far so good. We still drive to Mt. Lebanon for dinner as it is only 5 miles away and go to Sewlickey for dinner also.

We all love it here. We love the amount of neighborhoods, the closeness to the city (about a 20min drive), the people, and the fact that even though it is an american city, it is very european with the bridges and rivers.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Burgher

Allderdice is a city high school in Squirrel Hill. It was long considered academically the best of the city high schools. Not sure how it is today. Due to falling enrollment and budget constraints, the city schools have closed a number of buildings and adjusted feeder patterns. So a lot of their student body now may be coming from areas less supportive than Squirrel Hill.

In terms of "bad neighborhoods," The Allderdice feeder now has all of Hazelwood/Glen Hazel, bits and bobs of Homewood, East Hills, and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, and East Liberty below Penn (which outside of Penn Plaza, probably has no kids to speak of).

I don't think that the Hazelwood shift is bad honestly. Before it was an enclave which went to Brashear, which is halfway across town. The rezoning of southern East Liberty might help with redevelopment of the area as well. But there's no reason for parts of Greater Homewood being in. These areas were basically the only exception to the "normalizing" of feeder zones last year which got rid of enclaves which went to different schools. They would have been better served expanding the feeder into North Oakland, Friendship, and Bloomfield.

Originally Posted by jay5835

What happened to Peabody? It used to look like the building in the first picture. Now it looks like the building in the second picture. You don't have to be AA/PP to find this egregious.

From what I have heard, they rebuilt it during the era of common school riots to make students easier to control. Hence limited windows to break.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Just as an aside, why does nobody ever recommend Oakmont when someone is asking about safe, family-friendly, cozy, walkable communities with good schools? We love Oakmont for the quaint brick main street, the mystery book store, the bakery, the theater, the library, the tree-lined residential side streets with kids playing, etc. I understand Riverview School District is not quite as "prestigious" as Fox Chapel Area (Aspinwall), Mt. Lebanon, Quaker Valley (Sewickley), etc., but it's still a good school district, correct? The borough is quite self-contained, for the most part, although there is a full-service grocery store just over the town line in Verona and a Target across the Hulton Bridge in Harmar.

Overall I'd consider, in no particular order, Mt. Lebanon, Sewickley, Oakmont, Aspinwall, and select parts of the East End of the city proper (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill) that feed into Allderdice High School (although, as was noted, the neighborhood kids might go to religious schools, magnet schools, charter schools, private schools, etc.)

A couple of thoughts. Crossing the Hulton Bridge to get to Target, the Mills, the Waterworks, etc. gets old quickly. Numerous people that have lived in Oakmont have told me this. It is also a tough commute to downtown. So its location is not the greatest.

Also, you are generous with your description on the Riverview School District. There is a bigger gap between Riverview and Fox Chapel, Mt. Lebanon, etc. than you think.

I agree that it is a nice town but it is still pricey with average schools and a tough commute to downtown. Due to the hill I am not sure I would even call it walkable. It has a nice and thriving business district but if you live up top it isn't an easy walk to the bottom.

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by Sluni

Thank you for for the super informative responses. So far it seems that Sq Hill, HIghland, Mt Lebanon and Sewickley and Aspinwall are the best choices for "our" preferences? The schools are important and honestly, if there are not too many helicopter and competitive parents that would be awesome. I am saying that b/c in DC metro, the richer suburbs like Potomac, Bethesda have very high pressure, competitive parents and schools. I know we all want our kids to do the best but I think we fit better with a more relaxed mindset parents :-) DaisyDaisy, and where do you live?

We live in Edgewood. Love the area, access to Frick Park, Regent Square, etc. but don't love the school district. We are looking to move over the summer. Some criteria are the same as yours but we also have to factor in a commute to downtown for work.

I like Hampton - great pool, great school district, some nice neighborhoods, close to parks, shopping, etc, but I don't believe it's very walkable or your kids could bike to many places, depending on where you'd live. Looks like it was rated a top 10 town for families in 2010.

[robrobrob]

I wouldn't rule out some of the more burby burbs. It gets tougher but in some traditional burbs you can walk to things. You just have to pick your house carefully. From my house I can walk to the community center, a park, a nature preserve, a neighborhood pool, a small convenience store, the elementary school, and the high school. These are all very easy walks. The library and two churches are each less than a mile although I am not sure I would ever walk there unless I was determined to get some exercise.

[DaisyDaisy]

I agree with robrobrob that you may be able to find more suburban areas that are accessible to many things. Ohara township, which is where I believe rob3 is describing, is another area we are considering. Some things are in walking distance and others, including the ice rink, Target, are a short drive. The SD is Fox Chapel (same as Aspinwall).