Relocating from NYC to Wilkinsburg, PA (Pittsburgh, Churchill: 2014, renting, violent crime)

[jillbville]

Originally Posted by chispa

Dear Jill....We're thinking of moving to the Wilkinsburg area from NM.
We began reading the blog and now are wondering if your daughter
got into a school she liked.

Hope she did and that you are both happy. Chispa

Chispa, She's going to Manchester Academy Charter School on the Northside! I truly love the school and so does she! As you can see, I'm looking to move again! LOL! So did you move to Wilkinsburg or something else? Sorry for the delay!

Jill

[blackwhite]

Hey guys,
We are planning to move from NC to Pitt. We saw a nice condo in Wilkinsburg area with a really good price on West St. What do you think about that street? Is it safe to live in there? We don't have kids. We will stay maybe max 5 years in that condo. After that we will move out..

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by blackwhite

Hey guys,
We are planning to move from NC to Pitt. We saw a nice condo in Wilkinsburg area with a really good price on West St. What do you think about that street? Is it safe to live in there? We don't have kids. We will stay maybe max 5 years in that condo. After that we will move out..

People here are most likely going to tell you "it's not so bad". However, I encourage you to draw your own conclusions:

//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...nsylvania.html

Personally, there's no way I'd live in Wilkinsburg.

[BrianTH]

Is this a place you would buy? And which block on West?

[gg]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

People here are most likely going to tell you "it's not so bad". However, I encourage you to draw your own conclusions:

//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...nsylvania.html

Personally, there's no way I'd live in Wilkinsburg.

Cool map. Didn't know some of Pittsburgh actually is that bad.

I wanted to mention Manchester Academy ranks 484 out of 543 schools in PA, by school digger. I am not sure if School Digger is a good sight or not, but I was just looking around at it. Sort of interesting looking at schools around the Pittsburgh area. PPS is hurting if you look at the rankings. WOW!

[blackwhite]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Is this a place you would buy? And which block on West?

yes. it is 521 west st

[BrianTH]

Maps that color in an entire municipality on the basis of the average crime rate can be highly misleading, because in many cases most of the crime is concentrated in some subset of the municipality. That is certainly true in Pittsburgh, and it is actually true of Wilkinsburg as well.

Here is a competing map that somewhat makes this point. This is of just homicides and not crime in general, but I think those are a reasonable proxy for this purpose:

Interactive map: Allegheny County homicides in 2010

If you know Pittsburgh, those patterns are (regrettably) predictable. And again, the same is true of Wilkinsburg (e.g., it wouldn't come as a shock to anyone familiar with Wilkinsburg that almost all the homicides in this period occurred east of the Busway, with the exception of the shooting at the Autozone on the Wilkinsburg/Pittsburgh border).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by blackwhite

yes. it is 521 west st

OK, I know where that is.

I'd describe that as being on the border of more transitional (in a good way) areas to the west and south, and a more distressed neighborhood to the east. It isn't a super-high crime area, but you would need to assess your personal comfort level with buying and living in such an area.

I might note that I believe property prices in that area haven't seen much if any appreciation in recent years. That may change if the transitional areas to the west and south expand in that direction, but that is speculative and may not happen in your time frame to a significant degree.

[gg]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Maps that color in an entire municipality on the basis of the average crime rate can be highly misleading, because in many cases most of the crime is concentrated in some subset of the municipality. That is certainly true in Pittsburgh, and it is actually true of Wilkinsburg as well.

Here is a competing map that somewhat makes this point. This is of just homicides and not crime in general, but I think those are a reasonable proxy for this purpose:

Interactive map: Allegheny County homicides in 2010

If you know Pittsburgh, those patterns are (regrettably) predictable. And again, the same is true of Wilkinsburg (e.g., it wouldn't come as a shock to anyone familiar with Wilkinsburg that almost all the homicides in this period occurred east of the Busway, with the exception of the shooting at the Autozone on the Wilkinsburg/Pittsburgh border).

I would rather the map show more crime and not just murders. Armed robbery, rape and attempted murder are pretty important. The neighborhood map is quite good because you need to know what the region is like. I agree that there are good parts to areas and bad sometimes, but neighboring communities are effected by the mass crime the areas have. I do with the map broke up the Pittsburgh region a bit better though. That is too big to get a feel for.

[blackwhite]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

OK, I know where that is.

I'd describe that as being on the border of more transitional (in a good way) areas to the west and south, and a more distressed neighborhood to the east. It isn't a super-high crime area, but you would need to assess your personal comfort level with buying and living in such an area.

I might note that I believe property prices in that area haven't seen much if any appreciation in recent years. That may change if the transitional areas to the west and south expand in that direction, but that is speculative and may not happen in your time frame to a significant degree.

thank you so much BrianTH. I will be there this weekend so I will see the area. hopefully, i will like it.