Forest Hills vs. Blackridge? (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: real estate, house, neighborhoods)

[klynn626]

My husband and I are currently house hunting, and we are looking at Forest Hills and Blackridge. We are both originally from the east suburbs and have lived in Pittsburgh city proper for ~5 years, so we're generally familiar with the areas we're looking at. We currently live in the far northeast corner of Penn Hills.

We're looking for an older home with lots of character and curb appeal. We also want an active community with parks, community activities/events, a farmers market, garden club, etc. Forest Hills and Blackridge both seem to offer all of these things. (Not sure if Blackridge has a farmers market, but Forest Hills is so close that we could go to theirs.)

But what are the people like in these areas? We are in our mid-20s -- will we find people near our age range in these areas? Are they mostly retirees and families with high-school-age children (which seems to be the case here in Penn Hills), or are there younger families/couples/people to be found? We are thinking of adopting a dog once we get settled wherever we end up -- are these neighborhoods dog friendly? Do the parks allow dogs (on leash)?

And, is there anything about either of these areas that makes it stand out above the other one? Or anything about either area that's a big negative? (We are not having children, so the school districts aren't an issue for us.)

Basically, we're trying to figure out if either of these areas would be better for us than the other. So far from what we've seen and what our realtor has told us, they seem to be fundamentally similar. Just wondering if that's an accurate assessment or not

[sparrowmint]

Dogs aren't allowed at all in Forest Hills borough parks.

Sorry I can't answer much more than that, but I wanted to throw that out there if that's important to you.

I think much of Blackridge falls within Wilkinsburg's borders, which means the property taxes are outrageous (and yes, they're much higher than Penn Hills' taxes, despite some who want to compare the two). Depends on the house though, since some parts (I believe) fall within Churchill or Penn Hills.

[Copanut]

Blackridge is a community in eastern Allegheny County and is a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This community consists of about 650 private homes built in 1920-1949, Blackridge Estates was and remains one of the area's largest residential communities.
Blackridge lies in the municipalities of Wilkinsburg, Penn Hills and Churchill.


Go with Forest Hills.

[gg]

I would give the nod to Forest Hills for the most part. Blackridge has held its own for a very long time, but people think someday it will decline. I am not sure it will or won't. Forest Hills seems to be holding okay and it probably will be okay for a very long time.

I would like to hear other's opinions. I am not all that up to date on these areas, but they both seem to be pretty steady.

[PreservationPioneer]

They're both nice. I think just look for the right house and let the house sway you, rather than the neighborhood, because I don't think one is generally much better than the other.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

They're both nice. I think just look for the right house and let the house sway you, rather than the neighborhood, because I don't think one is generally much better than the other.

From personal experience and the experience of close friends, that's the best general advice about home buying one can receive.

[Uptown kid]

If you're looking short term I saw Blackridge... Churchill's part is even one of the better portion of the borough... Wilkinsburg's section is nice, as is the part in Penn Hills. If you need a public school system the Penn Hills portion of Blackridge would be the best of a bad situation. Penn Hills SD is better than Woodland Hills and Woodland Hills is better than Wilkinsburg.

Although long term I'd go with Forest Hills... Like other posters have suggested due to its location & age of suburban housing stock, Blackridge may not have the brightest future in 10+ years. So Forest Hills long term seems wiser.

Yet neither area is much better than the other like Preservation Pioneer said.

[robrobrob]

If considering Blackridge, make sure you actually look in Blackridge the development and not Blackridge as defined by real estate web sites. Basically look for the white signs alone Graham Blvd. and William Penn Highway. I would think Blackridge would be a little younger. Just a guess. I lived there when I was younger but that was a long long time ago.

Here is a link to the Blackridge Civic Association website.

Welcome to the Blackridge Civic Association

[ElijahAstin]

Forest Hills is a Borough with a variety of housing stock; Blackridge is an early-mid century housing development. None of them feed into good school districts, though I'd put Woodland Hills above Penn Hills (both of which are leaps and bounds ahead of Wilkinsburg).

[sparrowmint]

Penn Hills is ranked above Woodland Hills, though both are towards the bottom of the pack in the state. Woodland Hills has a quite higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students.