Single AA Mom Moving to Pittsburgh (Philadelphia, Kingston: apartments, daycare, safe neighborhood)

[KingstonsMommy]

I recently got a new position in Pittsburgh (that I'm still sort of pondering over accepting).
Its a great opportunity at a healthcare company that pays a little more than what I make now but its more visible with a lot more opportunity for growth. The problem is I don't know anyone in Pittsburgh so I need some advice.
I would be working in Coraopolis making 65k. Is that enough for a single mom to live ok in Pittsburgh?
My son is 18 months so I would need to find a good daycare for him.
I want to live someplace that has a least a little diversity and not TOO far from things to do. I don't want to spend more than $1100-1200. Suggestions? Is that even possible there?
Socially is it very difficult to make friends there?
I don't even know where to start on this move!

[gg]

I am not going to be much of a help, but it might be good if you mention where you are working as far as location. Oakland? Downtown? That will help people give you advice because commuting is a part of the puzzle. Good luck. I also suspect you want to live around AA's, which is the norm. Pittsburgh like all cities is very segregated. Sure blacks and whites shop together and pass each other on the streets, but they all go back to their black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. There are some neighborhoods that have both, but that is usually in transition and will become white or black at some point.

[KingstonsMommy]

Originally Posted by gg

I am not going to be much of a help, but it might be good if you mention where you are working as far as location. Oakland? Downtown? That will help people give you advice because commuting is a part of the puzzle. Good luck. I also suspect you want to live around AA's, which is the norm. Pittsburgh like all cities is very segregated. Sure blacks and whites shop together and pass each other on the streets, but they all go back to their black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. There are some neighborhoods that have both, but that is usually in transition and will become white or black at some point.

Ummm so as I mentioned in the original post I would working in CORAOPOLIS.
Also, NO I don't need to necessarily live around AA's in a "black" neighborhood. I was raised in suburban NJ in a 95% white neighborhood and never felt uncomfortable and have also lived in Austin, Dallas, DC, and Philadelphia in "black" and "white" area and never felt uncomfortable. SOME diversity would be nice but I'm not sure what you mean by transition to black or white. I don't want to go back to my "black neighborhood" or "white neighborhood"... I want to go back to my SAFE neighborhood where I can raise my child. There's a difference between a place being ALL black or ALL white and just having a very limited amount of diversity. In any case I'm raising a black son and would like to make sure I'm raising him in an area where he will be treated fairly. PERIOD.

[gg]

Sorry, I missed the location of work. Look at the North Side. Allegheny West and Manchester are pretty cool. You could also live downtown. You can easily live on that money in this town. Congrats on landing such a good job. You will probably love it.

[Pitt Chick]

Consider Moon Township!
Coraopolis itself is a liveable area, but the school is less than great.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by KingstonsMommy

Ummm so as I mentioned in the original post I would working in CORAOPOLIS.
Also, NO I don't need to necessarily live around AA's in a "black" neighborhood. I was raised in suburban NJ in a 95% white neighborhood and never felt uncomfortable and have also lived in Austin, Dallas, DC, and Philadelphia in "black" and "white" area and never felt uncomfortable. SOME diversity would be nice but I'm not sure what you mean by transition to black or white. I don't want to go back to my "black neighborhood" or "white neighborhood"... I want to go back to my SAFE neighborhood where I can raise my child. There's a difference between a place being ALL black or ALL white and just having a very limited amount of diversity. In any case I'm raising a black son and would like to make sure I'm raising him in an area where he will be treated fairly. PERIOD.

Please don't be put off by gg. He is (although he said it) an awful person to give advice to a middle income newcomer to Pittsburgh.

65k is plenty comfortable to live here, even on a single income with a child. What type of lifestyle are yoy looking for? Suburban or urban? Amenities that are most important to you besides a good place for your child? (Very few areas here are "bad" and nobody would suggest them for you to live there).

FYI... I know the area (Corry) very well. It's honestly unlikely that's where you will be working. Just like in philly, PA has addresses listed by zip code versus municipality. I would bet your job is actually in Moon Township. Not sure, bit Corry is an older, more run down town that had heavy industry that left in the 80s and not much is there now.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Consider Moon Township!
Coraopolis itself is a liveable area, but the school is less than great.

Cornell SD merged (or is about to) merge with the Moon township SD.

[gg]

Originally Posted by speagles84

Please don't be put off by gg..

Sorry, I just read about the black people in some college looking for black only roommates and then I rolled into this forum. Guess the Internet is getting to me as well. Probably a good time to take a break.

[eschaton]

You might want to consider living across the river in Sewickley. It's really walkable, has good public schools, and is a very close to Coreopolis. It's around 7% black - having a longstanding, but small, black community - so you won't be looked at as if you have nine heads as would be the case (quite sadly) in some Pittsburgh suburbs. While it's known as a pricey place to buy a house, you could find apartments in your price range there it seems, mostly south of 65.

[guy2073]

Moon, Kennedy,crafton,ingram,avalon can all be lived in comfortably with 65k a year. I think making friends is just being outgoing. People in Pittsburgh are generally very pleasant.