Might Be Moving to P'Burgh (Pittsburgh, Mount Lebanon: cul-de-sac, for sale, salons)

[HerbertWest]

Sorry for this being the millionth time someone has posted this, but I thought I'd toss my hat in the ring to get some recommendations specific to my needs.

Just interviewed for a Grad program at PITT. I believe the interview went well, but have no idea how things will shake out, as it's very competitive. The optimist in me thinks it might be smart to start looking into areas for relocation now as I might find out about acceptance as late as March '16 with an expected start date in August '16, and would like to be settled well before classes begin.

I'm married in my 30s, with a stay at home wife and two kids (boys, 10 & 7). We're out in the Northern 'burbs of Chicago currently. We're big into biking and walkability. We dig the lifestyle we have here, but definitely aren't averse to a more urban standard of living. My wife is pretty crunchy and likes the organic mommy thing. I'm pretty mellow and dig live music and craft beer bars when I get the chance (which I recognize won't be frequent once school starts). My kids are bright, enjoy school, and would like to find a curriculum that challenges them with strong parental involvement like we have here at home.

Ideally we'd be able to find a nice area that has a cool downtown and good schools, in or out the city proper. I have a buddy who just moved to P'burgh (Lawrenceville) from SF, and loves it. He's eager to give me rental tips, but he's still very much into the urban hipster lifestyle and I'm not sure I trust his perspective with regard to familial living, nor do I think he's been there long enough to have a truly accurate take on neighborhoods.

It seems most of the students are in or recommend Shadyside - Squirrel Hill. The local mommy blogs list Highland Park as the best for families. I looked into Sewickley and it seems to have a similar community vibe to what we have up North here, but seems very expensive (which isn't gonna' work on a student budget).

Honestly, I'd like some clean houses, a good community feel, with a nice downtown and some tree-lined streets, that's walkable, and has great schools (which are probably the priority). I know I might as well ask for the moon while I'm at it, but hey....

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[jay5835]

Sewickley would be the least convenient of the neighborhoods you've listed. Are you going to be busing it to Pitt? If so, the 71A runs up Negley Avenue, which makes it convenient to Highland Park, Shadyside, and North Oakland. The latter two are more apartments than houses, unless you spend big bucks for a house in Shadyside. The 61A, B, C, and D buses will take you to Squirrel Hill and Greenfield.

Oh, and do you want to buy or rent? Knowing that, and your budget, will help narrow your options.

[HerbertWest]

I'm looking to rent initially, as I already have a mortgage here in Chicago - which I'll most likely be keeping and working to cover with tenants. I've got two automobiles so driving isn't an issue although it seems like public trans is covered with a PITT ID card. My current commute to work is 31mi, 45 minutes via the tollway here in Chicagoland, so I'm used to that.

I'd like to keep housing costs low, ideally <$1800/mo. Single family homes are preferred over apartments, although I'm not big into the townhouse cul-de-sac sprawl that seems prevalent. I have two medium sized dogs that I'd hate to part with due to housing constraints. But honestly, if a spacious apartment is the alternative to a run down house in the sticks, I have family the dogs can chill with for a bit.

Feel free to ask for more specifics if that will help.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by HerbertWest

I'm looking to rent initially, as I already have a mortgage here in Chicago - which I'll most likely be keeping and working to cover with tenants. I've got two automobiles so driving isn't an issue although it seems like public trans is covered with a PITT ID card. My current commute to work is 31mi, 45 minutes via the tollway here in Chicagoland, so I'm used to that.

I'd like to keep housing costs low, ideally <$1800/mo. Single family homes are preferred over apartments, although I'm not big into the townhouse cul-de-sac sprawl that seems prevalent. I have two medium sized dogs that I'd hate to part with due to housing constraints. But honestly, if a spacious apartment is the alternative to a run down house in the sticks, I have family the dogs can chill with for a bit.

Feel free to ask for more specifics if that will help.

Walnut Capital has nice, renovated apartments in which dogs are allowed to live. I don't know much more than that, other than to say it's harder to find a rental with a dog in Pgh than anywhere I have ever lived. The only person I know who rents and has a dog lives in a suburban-sprawly apartment complex in Monroeville, an eastern suburb. I recommend NOT living in that section of town for the next few years, as they're doing major roadwork on the Parkway East.

How many BR do you need?

Walnut Capital - Pittsburgh Apartments and Town Homes

[I_Like_Spam]

Morningside seems to be a pretty good area for family men to move to. Mostly SFH's- could be tough to find one to rent- but the area isn't that terribly expensive opposed to Shadyside or Squirrel.

They have little league baseball for the boys, the city's only public Bocce court for the men, the elementary school over there, St. Raphael's is pretty highly rate.


Not a lot to do in downtown Morningside, but there is a bank or two, a Rite Aid, a few beauty salons for the lady of the house to get her hair done. M'side is close to East Liberty and the Waterworks shopping, neither of which are very far away

[HerbertWest]

Originally Posted by jay5835

How many BR do you need?

Three would be ideal. One for the Mrs and I, one for the boys to share, and one for a study.

I'd also like to point out, the previous post was an attempt to transition with as much continuity to the situation I have now as possible. I'm totally willing to ditch one of the cars, take the bus, and jump into the new urbanist living mode with no problems. At that point, it's just the quality of schools. Moving from out of state, are we going to be relegated to feeder schools? Or are specialized magnet schools an option?

[RogersParkTransplant]

In general, you'll get a lot more for your money if you can figure out a way to buy something...Pittsburgh's real estate is very strongly skewed in favor of purchases, as far as I have seen in the three years we've been here.

The near suburb that reminds me the most of Evanston, etc. is Mt Lebanon -- it's expensive by Pittsburgh standards, but not so much compared to the areas north of Chicago!

The fastest way to pick a fight on these boards is to start talking about school districts...long story short, the Pittsburgh public schools are hit or miss; some individual schools (including magnets and charters) are very good; others are not. Lots and lots of families are perfectly willing to raise their kids in the city, but of course that's a very personal topic.

If you do decide to live in the city, keep in mind that we have an excellent bus system that all of the students, faculty and staff from Pitt can ride for FREE with their Pitt ID cards. It's a wonderful perk, and good incentive to live in the city. We are personally very happy on the North side, but it's definitely one of those neighborhood where buying is easier than renting. You'd find some nice options in the ca. $175-225,000 range around here, and your money will stretch much further here than it would in Shadyside or Squirrel Hill. The North side is a large and complicated area by the way, divided into nearly 20 sub-neighborhoods depending on how you count, but for a number of reasons the areas around Deutschtown, Troy Hill, Spring Hill, and the Central North Side turned out to be the closest thing we could find to Rogers Park when we moved here from Chicago a few years ago.

Good luck, and congrats on the grad interview! Pitt is a super place and tries hard to take good care of its grad students, so fingers crossed that it works out for you.

[aw_now_what]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Morningside seems to be a pretty good area for family men to move to. Mostly SFH's- could be tough to find one to rent- but the area isn't that terribly expensive opposed to Shadyside or Squirrel.

They have little league baseball for the boys, the city's only public Bocce court for the men, the elementary school over there, St. Raphael's is pretty highly rate.

C'mon Bobby Riggs cut it out. Last I heard girls are allowed to play baseball and some women I know can roll a mean bocce ball.

[eschaton]

As others have intimated, what you want is mostly found in the City, not in the suburbs.

There are three walkable suburbs with top-ranked schools in Allegheny County - Sewickley, Mount Lebanon, and Aspinwall. Aspinwall is the only one which would work with being a student at Pitt, given it has bus service which heads directly into Oakland. Unless Pitt is offering you a parking space on campus (which, AFAIK, they never offer to graduate employees - it takes years to get the seniority to have a space in a lot) you will be taking the bus into campus. You won't have a choice.

Aspinwall has tree-lined streets, a community feel, and a nice but small business district. Unless you're independently wealthy, I'd guess it's beyond the price range of a family relying upon a single graduate assistantship however. Most houses for sale are at least $200,000-$300,000. There are apartments, which are actually a bit cheaper than in the city, but not many, and you're going to have a hard time finding anything you could fit a family of four in.

In general, the family-based "university" community is located in the City proper or just outside of it, the non-city portions of Regent Square. The neighborhood out there is cool and family-friendly, but the non-City portions (which are split between the boroughs of Edgewood, Swissvale, and Wilkinsburg) are generally considered to have worse public schools than the City these days.

Local neighborhood schools in the Squirrel Hill/Shadyside area are just fine, although this is also the most expensive part of the city to live in (though finding an apartment should be easy, since units abound). Pittsburgh's magnet options are robust, but it is true that coming in from out of the city you'll miss the regular lottery process, meaning you'll either have to bid on the remaining slots or try and beg your way into a school.

Even if you wanted to go the more traditional suburban route to ensure "good schools" I'm not sure what you could get. The suburbs with good transit access to Oakland are to the east of the city, and generally have middling to terribly-ranked public schools. The North and South Hills suburbs, which tend to have good public schools, are fine for getting into Downtown, mostly a pain for anyone trying to get into Oakland. Plus trying to find a rental house in a top-ranked suburban school district at that price range would be difficult.

[Retiredcoach]

With two school-aged children, look to the suburbs if schools are of a high priority. You might find a good decent school setting, here and there in the city, but you would need to research and hope that luck comes your way, in terms of, availability and accessibility. There are always exceptions to the rule, but generally, the Pittsburgh City School students perform at significantly lower levels than many of their suburban counterparts. As for commuting, when I lived in Ross Township (North Hills School District) while doing my graduate work at Pitt, my commute was generally less than 30 minutes. You should be able to find a rental home in North Hills within the price range you are seeking easily.