Relocating to area, not familiar with it, safety concerns (Pittsburgh: 2014, apartment complex)

[jennlen124]

My husband has accepted a position in Jeannette and we are looking to relocate very soon. We currently live in Seattle and while we are not familiar with the area we have pinpointed school districts we'd like to live in. Our intention is to rent for a year, as we aren't ready to buy a house yet. It seems the rental market in the area is rough, and after speaking to a few realtors we have given up any hope of being able to find a house for rent and have been focusing on townhouses/apartments.

The school districts we would like to be in are ranked as follows:
1. Penn-Trafford
2. Norwin
3. Franklin Regional

We have spoken to a few places and currently in the front running is Walnut Ridge Townhomes. Since we will be there a year at most, I can suck up living in something smaller and even a bit run down (we currently live in a 4 br house), but do not want to compromise on safety. I asked a realtor and she politely told me she is unable to give us information like that, which I understand. I searched Walnut Ridge and didn't see anything come up, but I was wondering if anyone who is local can shed some light and tell us what areas or apartment/townhouse complexes we should avoid, or if there are any that come highly recommended. We're pretty firm on sticking to those school districts. Moving would be me, my husband, and our ten year old, and we do have a dog (a pug who weighs 20 lbs. - seems much harder to rent with a pet out there!).

Thanks in advance!

[guy2073]

Norwin and franklin regional are good, maybe even great i think penn trafford is high On the list to. My son goes to upper st clair, i would send him ta any of those three, cant go wrong.
Honor Roll rank ? Pittsburgh-region school districts - Pittsburgh Business Times

[jennlen124]

Thank you for the link, I hadn't seen that one and the ranking of districts is much easier to follow here than anywhere else I have seen!

[Bong477]

You are right that renting is pretty tough particularly with a pet.

I'm not intimately familiar with that area or the specific apartment complex in question, but in general it is a solid suburban area that shouldn't have any major safety concerns.

[jennlen124]

Thank you! That was my gut feeling, but having never been out there I wanted to make sure.