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Old 03-12-2014, 10:07 AM
 
Location: roaming about Allegheny City
654 posts, read 940,291 times
Reputation: 655

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sluni View Post
Hello,

our family of 5 (3 kids elementary school age) are considering Pittsburgh for a potential move. We live in DC metro and are looking for a smaller, safer town to settle down and put down roots. My husband is from the Southern US, I am European, we have no family in the area. I am still hoping one day we may move back to Europe but without going to detail, I think right now we may need to settle in the US.

We both went to Pitt for grad school, lived in Oakland and have somewhat of an idea of what Pittsburgh has to offer. However this was YEARS ago :-), we were single, no kids, no car, we were also very poor which tinted our experience at the time somewhat :-) - it was different lifestyle. Pittsburgh keeps coming up as a great place to live though and that is why we want to come back and visit, and consider potential relo. My jobs is flexible when it comes to location and husband could arrange for transfer within his current employer so it is pretty do-able.

Here is what I would like in ideal world - and we plan to visit soon so as much specifics about neighborhoods and places to visit within each (like park, school, where exactly are the business nodes) would be appreciated!

1/ good public schools. Our kids now go to parochial school b/c our local public is not good. As a result they do not have friends in our neighborhood and that is very important to me. So the good school is needed for both, academics, safety and also link to the neighborhood community

2/ urban-ish. Let me explain. As an European, car-based lifestyle drains me. I like that PIttsburgh has some history and sidewalks and I would want to be able to walk to coffee shop, a pub (sans kids ha ha) , corner grocery story, for the kids to bike to their friends house, and ideally also have a gym close by. I love to walk where there are OTHER people outside, ie not just walk outside around the hood for exercise and then head back home and drive everywhere. Not sure if I explained it right :-)

3/ walkable/bikable/safe - I currently can walk to places but it is not safe. I need for my kids to grow independent and not be having to wait for mommy and her car to take them places, like swimming pool, park, icecream store. I want a place where kids hop on their bike and get to school, friends, baseball field, pool, practice (rec center?) on their own!

4/ anemities - rec center with outdoor swimming pool. Place where kids can spend their summer days with their neighborhood buddies. Tennis courts/baseball field (here most rec centers have this, not sure if it is specific to our state?) Park/playground. Ideally exercise classes offered in a rec center or somewhere close by. Some bike paths? Library?

5/ public transit - I read through many treads and hear people say public transit is not safe???? I remember taking the bus all the time as grad student, never feeling threatened? Would you send your 10yo kid on the bus a few stops to get to say swim practice? If you have kids, how do they get around?

6/ our kids are very athletic - does the city/county/ other have good sport options? We have a gymnast, soccer, hockey, competitive swimmer, all and more in the family :-)

last but not least - neighborhood where we can settle and find friends. People open to new friendships. People hanging out at block parties, bbqs, casually stopping by at night for a quick beer on the porch. We have some of this in our current small neighborhood and is so so so important. Especially since we do not have a family or anyone is Pittsburgh! Of course, we are happy to pitch in to help make things happen but just want people be open to "trasnplants".

Thank you. Our budget for SFH would be rent up to 2300/month initially, and I think we can stretch to 400k/450k for a house. I dont care about style of the house as long as the above criteria are met. Commute is not an issue right now since I think we both would either work from home or travel.

Thank you!!!
The best place for you would be Sewickley village, as it's in an excellent school district (Quaker Valley), offers walkability, public transport, and plenty of anemities in a very safe community. Sewickley has two coffee shops (Starbucks and Crazy Mocha), a YMCA, several very nice parks, a library, quite a few restaurants, a neighborhood grocery store that puts Giant Eagle to Shame (Safran's), and an ice cream store where you can take your kids (Sewickley Confectionary). The Sewickley area is unquestionably Pittsburgh's nicest suburb. You should also consider Glen Osborne and Edgeworth, boroughs bordering on either side of Sewickley.

Last edited by The King of Um; 03-12-2014 at 10:21 AM..
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:09 AM
 
Location: Washington County, PA
4,240 posts, read 4,885,061 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The King of Um View Post
The best place for you would be Sewickley village, as it's in an excellent school district (Quaker Valley), offers walkability, public transport, and plenty of anemities in a very safe community. The Sewickley area is unquestionably Pittsburgh's nicest suburb.
What about Fox Chapel, Peter's Township, or Upper St. Clair?
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
697 posts, read 773,574 times
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http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2013/04/05/statedistrictrank2013.html
You can type in "Allegheny" in the box to get the list of best schools in the county.

I agree with much that has been suggested. Some of the communities that come to mind for me are Mount Lebanon, Aspinwall, and Sewickley. As speagles84 so well noted, many communities may have some of what you are looking for. I suggest you visit all of them to get a feel for what might be a good fit for you.

Good luck, you sound like my kind of neighbors!
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:27 AM
 
1,781 posts, read 2,073,529 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speagles84 View Post
What about Fox Chapel, Peter's Township, or Upper St. Clair?
Sewickley, Aspinwall, as well as Mt. Lebanon to some extent all have a pre-war, grid-like, semi-dense layout with an upscale laid-back vibe.

The 'burbs you mentioned are all post-war suburban, sleepy, extremely car-oriented, glorified bedroom communities with no walkable business districts.
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Washington County, PA
4,240 posts, read 4,885,061 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airwave09 View Post
Sewickley, Aspinwall, as well as Mt. Lebanon to some extent have a pre-war, grid-like, semi-dense layout with an upscale laid-back vibe. The 'burbs you mentioned are all post-war suburban, sleepy, extremely car-oriented and glorified bedroom communities.
He just said "nicest suburb". He didn't say nicest walkable/urban suburb.

FYI - I suggested all of those for the OP. She said she wanted urban so I didn't list Peter's or USC.
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:33 AM
 
1,781 posts, read 2,073,529 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speagles84 View Post
He just said "nicest suburb". He didn't say nicest walkable/urban suburb.

FYI - I suggested all of those for the OP. She said she wanted urban so I didn't list Peter's or USC.
Keep in mind that "nicest suburb" is 100% opinion and can be based in many factors, one could easily assume that he was weighing walkability/urbanity highly in his opinion.
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:35 AM
 
Location: roaming about Allegheny City
654 posts, read 940,291 times
Reputation: 655
Quote:
Originally Posted by speagles84 View Post
What about Fox Chapel, Peter's Township, or Upper St. Clair?
Those places don't have what the Sewickley area has: a plethora of old grand homes, in many architectural styles, ranging from Italianate to Queen Anne to Colonial Revival to Arts and Crafts to Tudor Revival--or some eclectic mix of styles--designed by noted architectural firms such as Rutan and Russell for the great industrialists of the Gilded Age. Fox Chapel has some, but not to the extent Sewickley does. Peter's Township and Upper St. Clair are all mainly McMansions and modern estates. The thread author, being European, would probably appreciate Sewickley for its interesting architecture.

Sewickley is "urban" in terms of its walkability and its number of anemities in the village, yet has a very friendly "small town" feel.
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:52 AM
 
40 posts, read 79,033 times
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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?

How are the outdoor pools? Thanks for the info on ice rinks!! Our oldest is more into swimming but I see youngest taking hockey soon, that is all he is playing with and is interested in.

IF you had to plan 3-4 days to visit the neighborhoods, see the downtowns, parks, playgrounds, hang out a bit, maybe at the school playground, go for a swim in (indoor cause this will be spring) center, how would you structure your "stops"?

Thanks again!
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Old 03-12-2014, 10:57 AM
 
606 posts, read 939,971 times
Reputation: 824
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sluni View Post
IF you had to plan 3-4 days to visit the neighborhoods, see the downtowns, parks, playgrounds, hang out a bit, maybe at the school playground, go for a swim in (indoor cause this will be spring) center, how would you structure your "stops"?

Thanks again!
For those five neighborhoods, I'd maybe spend half a day each on Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley on one day (in either order) and then do either Squirrel Hill-Highland Park-Aspinwall or Aspinwall-Highland Park-Squirrel Hill on the next to get a feel for the neighborhoods. Then I'd spend the next day or two touring schools and/or spending a little more time in the neighborhoods you liked the best of the five.
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Old 03-12-2014, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Squirrel Hill
1,349 posts, read 3,559,074 times
Reputation: 406
Unless something changed very recently, highland park does not have good feeder schools.

I agree with consensus that your main options for your criteria are Mt Lebo, Sewickley, Squirrel Hill, and Aspinwall. Shadyside (which borders Squirrel Hill on the North) would be good too if you can find the right house in your price range.

I would note that many of the suburbs in Pittsburgh are quite a bit better than the DC suburbs in terms of accessibility to the city amenities.
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