Are Swissvale or Highland Park safe areas? (Pittsburgh, Columbia: crime rate, house)

[Akasha412]

My husband and I are a 30-something white couple looking to buy a home in the East End of Pittsburgh. We currently live in Friendship. Some of the neighborhoods that we are considering are Swissvale and Highland Park. In Swissvale- is Braddock Ave. across from the Edgewood Towne Center a safe place? I have heard about all kinds of shootings and violence in Swissvale and have been somewhat intimidated by the crime data online, but can anyone who lives there tell me what it's really like? I like to go for walks and would like to be relatively safe in the area we live in.

Thanks!

[eschaton]

Swissvale is a big borough. Generally speaking, the most desirable area is the Regent Square enclave, which is not contiguous with the rest of Swissvale. The areas south of roughly the intersection of Church Street and South Braddock are pretty undesirable. The rest (portions near the Swisshelm Park city neighborhood, and areas near the part of Edgewood east of the busway) are not incredibly desirable, but pretty safe.

Highland Park is one of the safest city neighborhoods. That said, depending on the block it can vary from 100% safe to semi-sketchy. Without more detail I can't say anything more.

[stburr91]

As eschaton has mentioned, Swissvale's desirability varies quite a bit. The further south you go along Braddock, the less desirable it becomes. The crime rate in the area of Swissvale near Swisshelm Park, is about the same as Swisshelm Park (which consistently has the lowest crime rate in the city). So to answer your question, the area near Edgewood Town Center is quite safe.

I'll add this, despite all that Swissvale has going for it, people generally just don't consider it to be a very desirable place. It is highly unlikely to ever be a trendy neighborhood, so I wouldn't expect a house on Braddock Ave. in Swissvale to see a lot of appreciation.

[selltheburgh]

They are two different animals.

You live in friendship - the section of Friendship closer to Penn ave likely compares somewhat to the section of Highland Park closer to Stanton Ave / East Liberty. Safe for the most part, but there is crime. That comes with living in the city.

Highland Park closer to the park has less crime overall, but costs about 3 to 4x as much as swissvale.

Swissvale is large and parts can be quiet and boring like morningside, others can be rowdy and rough like parts of garfield and others are mixed like many other areas. The section of Swissvale across from Edgewood Town Center is pretty quiet.

Your money will go further in Swissvale if you like that part of town.

[Uptown kid]

Really good answers... Swissvale gets into decline past Church St/Columbia Ave. Swissvale gets really rough closer to the adjacent Rankin borough; for example, Woodstock is now known as "Hoodstock" and there are gang/drug shootings there and on other troubled streets.

Parts of Highland Park- south of Wellesley Ave can be shady but not much worse than blocks/streets of Friendship... Simple crime and small scale drug operations, nothing too ghetto/rather slightly above average for city standards.

[eschaton]

I found this map I made back in 2012. According to Uptown Kid the "bad" portion has migrated north from Millagan to Columbia, but it's otherwise pretty much accurate. Given you're just looking at stuff west of the Busway, Church Street is still a good divider.

[jea6321]

the sections of highland park that border e lib/ larimer are a bit gritty in appearance but are overall pretty safe.

why only these two choices? if you are interested in these areas, id assume you could add in at least 5 more neighborhoods that are similar to each.

e lib, north point breeze, wilkinsburg, garfield, bloomfield, northern lawrenceville etc. add in lots more if you are not strictly limited to the east side of town or are willing to cross a river