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My family of 4---2 adults, 2 kids (3 and 8)--- are in the early stages of planning to leave Chicago to move to Pittsburgh in the next year for work and with hopes of finding a blend of urban amenities with less stress, a lower cost of living and closer proximity to green space.
A few questions remain:
--How hard is it to find decent schools-- and I do not mean affluent private schools. We are hoping to find a fine arts or science focused magnet school that is culturally diverse. How hard is it to find a good public school or get into a good magnet school in Pittsburgh?
--How easy/hard is it to get around the city? I enjoy walking and often take public transportation in the city. I hate driving in traffic and would like to say good bye forever to 5 mile drives taking 30-45 minutes!
--Rent or own? My job will be in downtown Pittsburgh and I want to live within 20 minutes or so. We're looking to stay in or near the city for 3-5 years. How is the housing market?
--Neighborhoods! So many! Can you tell me your favorite that might fulfill these high hopes: access to green space (parks, hiking trail, space for a garden/back yard), city amenities!-- grocery stores, variety of restaurants, things to do, diversity, family and dog friendly, unique.
I have been reading posts on city-data as I prepare for this move and have been impressed by the wide array of honest and personal responses to threads-- thank you in advance for your input!
--How easy/hard is it to get around the city? I enjoy walking and often take public transportation in the city. I hate driving in traffic and would like to say good bye forever to 5 mile drives taking 30-45 minutes.
You'll have no issues using public transit to get downtown for work, but the public transit is really lacking overall. It's nowhere near as developed as the CTA. There are two light rail lines, but they only service a few suburbs south of the city, southern neighborhoods, downtown and a tiny portion of the north side. Buses serve the rest of the metro. Most bus routes start and end downtown, so it can be difficult to travel from one neighborhood to another if they aren't on the same route. Most trips like that would require riding one bus downtown and transferring to other there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrisBD
--Rent or own? My job will be in downtown Pittsburgh and I want to live within 20 minutes or so. We're looking to stay in or near the city for 3-5 years. How is the housing market?
--Neighborhoods! So many! Can you tell me your favorite that might fulfill these high hopes: access to green space (parks, hiking trail, space for a garden/back yard), city amenities!-- grocery stores, variety of restaurants, things to do, diversity, family and dog friendly, unique.
What's your budget? Squirrel Hill is usually the default neighborhood suggestion for families who want to move into the city. It feeds into the best public schools (I know there are magnet schools here but I don't have any info on them). Squirrel Hill has a great, diverse business district with grocery stores, tons of different ethnic restaurants and other shops. It is bordered by two of the largest parks in the city: Schenley Park to the west and Frick park to the east.
It's a pricey neighborhood, but I'd look there first if you can afford it.
Do you want a more urban or suburban experience? (I don't mean far-flung exurbs, but close-ring suburbs outside the city limits with their own shopping districts and such.)
The most dog-friendly city neighborhoods are probably Squirrel Hill or Regent Square, as they are both adjacent to Frick Park which has multiple off-leash dog runs and is just a huge forest park in the middle of the city that's great for walking. Both neighborhoods have shopping districts, but Regent Square's is much smaller (couple of restuarants, coffee shop, corner store, repetory theater) than Squirrel Hill's. From Squirrel Hill there are many buses that go Downtown, but there is no light rail extending to that part of Pittsburgh (the only light rail goes South from Downtown). Squirrel Hill is also in the zone for some of the best public schools in the city district. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get into CAPA (the arts magnet--there's an audition process involved) but even if you don't get into the magnet, the schools in that part of town are still quite good. Careful with the Regent Square area, though. It's at the conjunction of three different school districts because it's right on the border of the city limits--Pittsburgh Public (fine-ish), Wilkinsburg (one of the worst in the state) and Woodland Hills (pretty bad)
With Squirrel Hill, you pay for all that good stuff. It's not a bargain basement area because all those ammenities are in demand. It depends what your expectations and your budgets are.
Observatory Hill could be a good choice, a lot of green park land in Riverview Park, lot size is big enough for a lawn, within the city limits if you want to get your kids into the capa magnet school.
Frequent bus service into the city and out to West View from there as well.
Very short drive to the grocery,retail and restaurant district along McKnight Road- has everything from McDonald's to fine dining at Rico's, and shopping experiences ranging from Target to Nordstrom.
Observatory Hill is a lot less expensive that what you'd have to spend in Squirrel Hill in the east, and a shorter commute into town.
Welcome! I've been to Chicago a couple times and it's very nice. You will find a good quality of life here, a little slower pace, and lots of things to do.
You didn't mention a budget, but Pittsburgh housing prices are lower than Chicago's so you may be interested (as others have mentioned) Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze or Regent Square. They are all near each other and contain some great brick houses, tree-lined streets (some are brick or Belgian block), and near Frick Park. If you look into the Highland Park neighborhood, it abuts the actual Highland Park, which includes the zoo and aquarium.
All of these neighborhoods are in close proximity to each other and have good bus access to Oakland and downtown. They are also a short drive or bus ride away from the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs!), and the main Carnegie Library in Oakland, which is at the entrance to Schenley Park.
This part of the city is probably the most cosmopolitan, with people from all over the world living there. Your kids will be exposed to people from other countries and cultures.
Pittsburgh is not lacking for kids. There is a huge children's festival and library fest every summer, a regatta downtown, a great children's museum, a science center, libraries in a lot of neighborhoods, park activities, swimming pools and spray parks, a submarine anchored in the Allegheny River for tours, and organized activities through a lot of organizations that you can be a part of.
My family of 4---2 adults, 2 kids (3 and 8)--- are in the early stages of planning to leave Chicago to move to Pittsburgh in the next year for work and with hopes of finding a blend of urban amenities with less stress, a lower cost of living and closer proximity to green space.
A few questions remain:
--How hard is it to find decent schools-- and I do not mean affluent private schools. We are hoping to find a fine arts or science focused magnet school that is culturally diverse. How hard is it to find a good public school or get into a good magnet school in Pittsburgh?
--How easy/hard is it to get around the city? I enjoy walking and often take public transportation in the city. I hate driving in traffic and would like to say good bye forever to 5 mile drives taking 30-45 minutes!
--Rent or own? My job will be in downtown Pittsburgh and I want to live within 20 minutes or so. We're looking to stay in or near the city for 3-5 years. How is the housing market?
--Neighborhoods! So many! Can you tell me your favorite that might fulfill these high hopes: access to green space (parks, hiking trail, space for a garden/back yard), city amenities!-- grocery stores, variety of restaurants, things to do, diversity, family and dog friendly, unique.
I have been reading posts on city-data as I prepare for this move and have been impressed by the wide array of honest and personal responses to threads-- thank you in advance for your input!
Here's an approximate ranking of the best in each category you had:
Schools (All outside the city):
1. Upper Saint Clair
2. Mount Lebanon
3. Fox Chapel
4. South Fayette
5. North Allegheny (Marshall TWP, McCandless TWP, Franklin Park)
Public Transportation:
1. Oakland/Shadyside (Pittsburgh city neighborhood)
2. Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh city neighborhood)
3. East Liberty (Pittsburgh city neighborhood)
4. Dormont
5. Mount Lebanon
The housing market is cheap for the most part, but rising. Rental shortages are driving up the cost of renting, so buying is the better alternative.
Green Space:
1. Fox Chapel
2. Squirrel Hill (For a a city neighborhood, its quite green. It's sandwiched in between Pittsburgh's largest two parks)
3. Upper Saint Clair
4. South Fayette
5. North Allegheny
For the most part, the entire city is accessible for activities.
Diversity:
1. Oakland
2. Shadyside
3. East Liberty
4. Squirrel Hill
5. South Side
As I said on the other thread, I believe Mount Lebanon is the way to go.
--How hard is it to find decent schools-- and I do not mean affluent private schools. We are hoping to find a fine arts or science focused magnet school that is culturally diverse. How hard is it to find a good public school or get into a good magnet school in Pittsburgh?
My daughter is enrolled in kindergarten at a magnet right now. It's not incredibly hard to get into the system. I figured we had an 85% chance of getting into one of our three choices. I'm not sure what to say about your older child though. Normal admission is at kindergarten, and after that you can only enroll if slots become open due to students leaving the school/district.
Pittsburgh has a science and technology magnet in the far southern part of the city (Carmelt) along with a brand new program at a neighborhood school (Woolslair). Most of the K-5 options though are language focus schools or traditional academies (along with one Montessori K-8. Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy has gotten a great reputation, but runs only from grades 6-12.
As for neighborhood schools, Colfax K-8 is generally considered the only really good one. There are several other schools which may be fine (Greenfield, Brookline, Minadaeo) as a fallback if your child doesn't get into a magnet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrisBD
--How easy/hard is it to get around the city? I enjoy walking and often take public transportation in the city. I hate driving in traffic and would like to say good bye forever to 5 mile drives taking 30-45 minutes!
Since you work Downtown, it should be easy to minimize your use of a car. That said, as a parent I wouldn't live without a car entirely in Pittsburgh. One-car family is totally fine though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrisBD
--Rent or own? My job will be in downtown Pittsburgh and I want to live within 20 minutes or so. We're looking to stay in or near the city for 3-5 years. How is the housing market?
Own, not rent. our rental prices have gone up much more than our general real estate prices in recent years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrisBD
--Neighborhoods! So many! Can you tell me your favorite that might fulfill these high hopes: access to green space (parks, hiking trail, space for a garden/back yard), city amenities!-- grocery stores, variety of restaurants, things to do, diversity, family and dog friendly, unique.
Presuming you can afford it, Squirrel Hill fits all of your needs. Walkable, green, near two of the major city parks, and has good public schools to boot. Shadyside is pretty similar, except a bit more urban and further away from parks (but more walkable). Point Breeze also has a good school feeder for the most part, but is mostly pretty suburban feeling, as in it's a long walk to anywhere. Highland Park is a very nice area for most of your qualifications, but isn't in the "good" feeder area. Friendship may also work - it's in the Woolslair feeder, which historically has been a meh school, but has now been upgraded to a STEAM magnet.
--How hard is it to find decent schools-- and I do not mean affluent private schools. We are hoping to find a fine arts or science focused magnet school that is culturally diverse. How hard is it to find a good public school or get into a good magnet school in Pittsburgh?
Brookline K-8 is not a bad school at all and you say you are only looking for 3-5 years, so your oldest would be 11-13, which would be the end of their run at Brookline K-8. Brookline feeds into a not so great high school though.
--How easy/hard is it to get around the city? I enjoy walking and often take public transportation in the city. I hate driving in traffic and would like to say good bye forever to 5 mile drives taking 30-45 minutes!
I work pretty typical bankers hours downtown, and my commute is 25 mins by bus. The 39 Brookline is a great bus for committing to work downtown, running every 10 mins during peak hours of the day, but is awful on weekends and later at night. Even by car, you can be downtown or the South Side in around 15 mins or so on most evenings/weekends, depending on tunnel traffic.
--Rent or own? My job will be in downtown Pittsburgh and I want to live within 20 minutes or so. We're looking to stay in or near the city for 3-5 years. How is the housing market?
Brookline is predominately an owner-occupied neighborhood, so owning is a much better option as rentals are far and few between in the area.
--Neighborhoods! So many! Can you tell me your favorite that might fulfill these high hopes: access to green space (parks, hiking trail, space for a garden/back yard), city amenities!-- grocery stores, variety of restaurants, things to do, diversity, family and dog friendly, unique.
Brookline has two smaller parks, which are much more geared to physical activity than hiking. Moore Park has the pool, soccer/baseball fields and tennis courts. Brookline Memorial has more baseball fields, football, DEK hockey, and the rec center. You can find some decent sized lots in Brookline, if you like to garden you should be able to do it. Brookline Blvd, although not trendy has basically everything you need. You name it, we have it (except high end restaurants and smoke free bars), including some great ethnic food that includes Mexican, Greek, Italian, African, and Lebanese. People may try to say it is not a very walkable neighborhood, but I walk and run all over Brookline, with little trouble. Brookline is also well known for it’s youth sports, and other activities. We are also around a 20 minute or so (although I am often told I used Pittsburgh time in judging travel times) away from the all the shopping you need including South Hills Village Mall, Giant Eagle Market District, Trader Joes, The Fresh Market, and opening in about a year, Whole Foods.
You might want to check out these two links, as they provide a wealth of information....
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