newbie greeting (Pittsburgh, Troy, Highland Park: rent, house, neighborhood)

[Synclaire S.]

Greetings All

I am moving tho Pittsburgh this month and will use your forum as one of my guide books.
this is just an intro to send out some peace and good will to all my future neighbors !!

Synclaire Sibella

[jea6321]

welcome to the city. what neighborhood will you be calling home?

[Synclaire S.]

Not sure yet, the search is still on but so fall it's Troy Hill that's really got my interest. Close to everything and a funky old neighborhood lol. Love lots of them, love downtown. The buildings in Pittsburgh are cooler than NYC.
Synclaire
Hey, is Southside Slopes good, transitional or nightmarish?

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Synclaire S.

Hey, is Southside Slopes good, transitional or nightmarish?

It goes from good to transitional to borderline nightmarish when you finally hit Arlington the higher up the slopes you get

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by UKyank

It goes from good to transitional to borderline nightmarish when you finally hit Arlington the higher up the slopes you get

Many of my children's friends live past Arlington. They have been there for a few years and haven't had any problems. I think we'd be surprised how many young professionals are living there to be near South Side without paying high rent when they're just starting out in their careers.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by UKyank

It goes from good to transitional to borderline nightmarish when you finally hit Arlington the higher up the slopes you get

I'm not sure I'd call anywhere nightmarish in Pittsburgh except Homewood. Plenty of the Southern Hilltop is pretty sketch these days, but IMHO Arlington's bark is far worse than its bite. Since 2008 there's only been two murders in the neighborhood, and one in a nearby part of the Slopes. Not great, but no worse than South Side Flats.

The bigger issue I'd have with living in that area though is it's a long walk to anything, except for maybe living in the streets of the Slopes closest to the Flats. No way would I want to be mostly car dependent in winter in an area like that. Not to mention every single house in that area looks like total butt.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Synclaire Sibella, that's a cool name. Now I'm jealous, haha.

Welcome to Pittsburgh. I have some friends who moved up to Troy Hill a few years back, and they like it there.

The slopes aren't really dangerous, but they get a little grittier around the Arlington area. I know someone who lived up there for a few years and just moved to Highland Park this year. He never had any real problems, and he's the type to be walking around late at night.

[steindle]

Depending on what exactly you're looking for in a neighborhood, Troy Hill might be perfect. It's cheap for generally decent housing stock (and maybe even a beautiful view, depending on where you are), it's relatively safe, it's got a pervasive and very manageable sense of community (e.g., I spend each evening hanging out in my front yard w/ my four-month-old for about an hour and inevitably run into / wave to / converse with 5-10 of my neighbors in that time), it's got the basic amenities (e.g., a 24-hr convenience store, decent restaurants, and at least TEN bars that I can think of within walking distance!), and yes: it's super convenient to Downtown, the Strip, Lawrenceville, 28, 279, and so on.

... And it's only getting better, in my opinion. A number of places are being bought and revamped right now, a lot of young homeowners are snapping up places... altogether I think it's going to just get more vibrant in the next few years. Welcome!

[steindle]

There's interesting stuff going on in the South Hilltop too (where I grew up / my parents live), but it's got a steeper climb back to functionality and is frankly not generally as convenient to Downtown, etc. (My bus commute from Troy Hill is literally 20 min from the door of my house to the door of my office. On nice days, I walk it in 50 min.)

[UKyank]

Ok, nightmarish was a bit harsh, but basically desirability decreases the further up the slopes hilltop you go.