Tell me about living in Castle Shannon...

[PenguinsFan14]

Castle Shannon is a nice little area. Most people seem to not ever heard of it before, so get used to just telling people that you live in Mt. Lebanon. The big benefit of living in Castle Shannon is how accessible it is to downtown via the T. That is going to be way better than taking the bus everyday. Most of the shopping is done at the Mt. Lebanon shops on Mt. Lebo Blvd. It has some restaurants there, a decent little Mexican place, a good chinese places across the street on Cooke, a dry cleaners, PNC, drug store, a subway, a couple other little shops, and a Bottom Dollar. Across the street is Verizon, McDonalds, and a couple pizza places, chinese place, and a bar/beer distributor. There is also a shop and save as well as a Rite Aid. Not much in Castle Shannon. However, it's very quick to get to south hills village or the galleria. Most of your major shopping and entertainment will probably not be in Castle Shannon, but they do have some nice restaurants and grocery stores to pick some stuff up after work when you get off the T. The parking at Castle Shannon station sucks. It fills up extremely fast, so hopefully you can walk to Willow Station. Castle Shannon's population is much more similar to Mt. Lebanon than to Dormont. There are going to be a lot of families and middle age folks compared to Dormont, which has a lot of young professionals that have moved there. You won't see that type of young crowd in Castle Shannon. When you ride the T you will notice that even the crowd at Mt. Lebo station is younger than the Castle Shannon folks. It's very much a commuter town with a lot of folks living in apts and townhomes. Other than the T and Mt. Lebabnon shops, not much to talk about with Castle Shannon. Location is everything there. It's all about getting downtown quick and having a few amenities within walking distance to the T. Dormont and Mt. Lebanon has a lot more going on, but it's only a 5 min drive to those places.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by PenguinsFan14

Castle Shannon is a nice little area. Most people seem to not ever heard of it before, so get used to just telling people that you live in Mt. Lebanon. The big benefit of living in Castle Shannon is how accessible it is to downtown via the T. That is going to be way better than taking the bus everyday. Most of the shopping is done at the Mt. Lebanon shops on Mt. Lebo Blvd. It has some restaurants there, a decent little Mexican place, a good chinese places across the street on Cooke, a dry cleaners, PNC, drug store, a subway, a couple other little shops, and a Bottom Dollar. Across the street is Verizon, McDonalds, and a couple pizza places, chinese place, and a bar/beer distributor. There is also a shop and save as well as a Rite Aid. Not much in Castle Shannon. However, it's very quick to get to south hills village or the galleria. Most of your major shopping and entertainment will probably not be in Castle Shannon, but they do have some nice restaurants and grocery stores to pick some stuff up after work when you get off the T. The parking at Castle Shannon station sucks. It fills up extremely fast, so hopefully you can walk to Willow Station. Castle Shannon's population is much more similar to Mt. Lebanon than to Dormont. There are going to be a lot of families and middle age folks compared to Dormont, which has a lot of young professionals that have moved there. You won't see that type of young crowd in Castle Shannon. When you ride the T you will notice that even the crowd at Mt. Lebo station is younger than the Castle Shannon folks. It's very much a commuter town with a lot of folks living in apts and townhomes. Other than the T and Mt. Lebabnon shops, not much to talk about with Castle Shannon. Location is everything there. It's all about getting downtown quick and having a few amenities within walking distance to the T. Dormont and Mt. Lebanon has a lot more going on, but it's only a 5 min drive to those places.

This guy nailed it.

[Strelok]

Awesome info, I can't say thank you enough to the people that have contributed. I appreciate it greatly.

To give you a rough idea where I live, it is seriously on the crossstreet of Ulrich St and Willow Ave.

I really haven't explored Mt. Lebo at all since I've been here, seems like a great area for a foodie. I'll have to explore a bit. Any recommendation on food in Lebo?

But yeah I think I might be able just to manage going to Shop N Save for groceries and if I really have to go to GE in the south hills.

If it's that much faster to take the T then that's what I'll do.

I am trying to reduce my commute time as much as I can so I can increase my quality of life.

[Strelok]

And just to clarify, it seems like the Blue Line to downtown is the best way since it has the fewest stops correct?

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Strelok

And just to clarify, it seems like the Blue Line to downtown is the best way since it has the fewest stops correct?

More due to the fact it has fewer *active* stops, spends more time on its own right-of-way and has less of a grade going through the Saw Mill Run valley.

[Buckeye Burgher]

Originally Posted by grapeh8

Amel's on McNeilly while not strictly Lebanese is very good. It seems like they made an effort to really improve the food and beer selection over the past couple of years. Although I am never quite sure if that area is Castle Shannon, Brentwood or even Brookline.

It is Baldwin Township. Brookline, Baldwin Township and Mt. Lebanon all converge within a
few hundred yards of the intersection of McNeilly and Sussex. Dormont and Castle Shannon
are around half a mile.

[BobMcKelvin]

Originally Posted by Strelok

And just to clarify, it seems like the Blue Line to downtown is the best way since it has the fewest stops correct?

The stops are more spaced out as well, and unlike the red line which has countless at-grade crossings and even runs concurrently with Broadway for a while in Beechview, it's on it's own right of way and the train will likely pass through a few stops because no one is using them at that time. Also the stops are all high level which speeds things up a bit with getting on and off. Once you get through the light at Castle Shannon Blvd it's smooth sailing to South Hills Junction. At most times of the day, you can pretty much guarantee the red line will stop at every stop between CS and downtown.

[Rodeno]

Someone Else's Bar... Great burgers.