Walkable, Diverse, and under $275K? (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: sales, homes, neighborhood)

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Not sure I would call that Regent Square. Isn't that called Park Place? There used to be a sign there that said it was Park Place.



This is one of those houses that are "walkable" but isn't exactly close to the business district.

yes, that part of regent square is known as park place.

thats the one big downside of the Pittsburgh proper portion of the neighborhood. It has the favorable tax rate, but is less ideally located to the main section of shops on s Braddock. It does still have pretty easy access to Frick park though, and is almost completely flat, so walking or biking from the areas is quite easy.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by jea6321

yes, that part of regent square is known as park place.

thats the one big downside of the Pittsburgh proper portion of the neighborhood. It has the favorable tax rate, but is less ideally located to the main section of shops on s Braddock. It does still have pretty easy access to Frick park though, and is almost completely flat, so walking or biking from the areas is quite easy.

It's not like Park Place is totally unwalkable though. That spot has a walkscore of about 70, which is actually similar to most of Highland Park.

In that immediate area there's that little node at the corner of Forbes and Braddock with the bar, Turkish restaurant, and pizza/ice cream place. Heading into Wilkinsburg, there's a coffee shop (Biddle's Escape) and a bakery a five-minute walk from there. There's a dive bar literally just up on the corner of Peebles and Cromwell. About a 10-minute walk away there's a little business district on Trenton Ave in Wilkinsburg. I think it's lost the bodega, but there's some interesting businesses there, including a bike shop and an art gallery. And Regent Square's only around a 15-minute walk, which isn't bad in good weather.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

As I said above some of the neighborhoods are huge. Squirrel Hill is definitely huge but the business district is also huge. The reason I feel that it has tons of amenities, stores, coffee, restaurants, library, community center, post office, drug stores, grocery store, movie theater, etc. You just have to live in the right spot. If you do then it is the best walkable neighborhood in Pittsburgh.

I dunno. I feel like if you're just judging in terms of the variety of amenities, Bloomfield/Friendship, Shadyside, East Liberty, Lawenceville, and South Side all either hit all of those requirements or are only missing one.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I dunno. I feel like if you're just judging in terms of the variety of amenities, Bloomfield/Friendship, Shadyside, East Liberty, Lawenceville, and South Side all either hit all of those requirements or are only missing one.

Isn't that person a suburban real estate agent? Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like the wrong voice to listen to on this topic.

Like eschaton, I don't consider much of Sq Hill to be any more walkable than the rest of the greater East End.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by xdv8

Isn't that person a suburban real estate agent? Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like the wrong voice to listen to on this topic.

Like eschaton, I don't consider much of Sq Hill to be any more walkable than the rest of the greater East End.

I am not saying to move to outer edges of Squirrel Hill but to move as close to the intersection of Forbes and Murray.



I always thought that an acceptable walking distance is 1/4 mile.

[Knepper3]

And honestly what is a suburban real estate agent? I can see that in other parts of the country or maybe out of the county but most agents in Pgh area dont specialize in non city areas. They travel all around. My wife and I are based out of North Hills area which maybe you consider suburban but honestly a large chunk of clients are over in areas well out of North Hills. I suspect most agents are the same. I take no offense but I would take an agents opinion over someone who doesnt actually live in an area.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by Knepper3

And honestly what is a suburban real estate agent? I can see that in other parts of the country or maybe out of the county but most agents in Pgh area dont specialize in non city areas. They travel all around. My wife and I are based out of North Hills area which maybe you consider suburban but honestly a large chunk of clients are over in areas well out of North Hills. I suspect most agents are the same. I take no offense but I would take an agents opinion over someone who doesnt actually live in an area.

When I was looking for an agent I choose someone who knew and lived in the immediate area I was interested in. That just makes sense. Agents can't be experts on every street across a metro. If I picked a North Hills agent and gave them my specs they would likely try to get me into a place in the North Hills. You can't tell me your own bias never comes into play. But really it comes down to having a hyper-local expert helping you.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I am not saying to move to outer edges of Squirrel Hill but to move as close to the intersection of Forbes and Murray.

I agree that this is an great place to be in terms of walkability. I don't know how feasible it is however. Most of the land area bounded by Forbes, Wightman, Forward and Shady is taken up by apartment buildings, or houses for rent. If you further restrict things by looking within the OP's price range, there's two houses on the market which would satisfy, and they're two bedrooms, which is hard for a family of five.

But let's look at the amenities you mentioned:

Stores/coffee/restaurants: Available in every walkable neighborhood I mentioned, along with many others.

Library: East Liberty, Lawrenceville, and South Side all have branches.

Community Center: Kinda vague, but I know Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, and South Side all have them at least.

Post Office: Lawrenceville, South Side, Bloomfield, and East Liberty all have them (though East Liberty's isn't in the best place to get to by foot).

Drug Stores: Between CVS, Rite Aid, the independent pharmacies, and the ones located in grocery stores all of them have options.

Grocery Stores: South Side has a Giant Eagle and an Aldi. Lawrenceville has the Shop n' Save (though in an inconvenient location). Bloomfield/Garfield have the Shursave and two different Aldis. Shadyside has the Market District, the "Shakespeare Street" Giant Eagle, and Whole Foods. East Liberty has Target and the Trader Joes (with none of the Shadyside grocery stores far away).

Movie Theater: South Side Works has the largest theater within city limits, discounting the Waterworks location which isn't walkable at all. Lawrenceville has a single-screen theater. This is an area where Squirrel Hill is more distinctive.

Regardless, I'm not denying that Squirrel Hill is very walkable in its core, and if you can find a house there that the neighborhood business district can essentially meet all of your needs. But there are other neighborhoods in the city which have access to an equal array of amenities (South Side) or at most are missing one or two. Where Squirrel Hill comes out ahead is if you also want to have good neighborhood schools (though Shadyside also has Colfax) or really want to live in a detached single-family house.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by xdv8

When I was looking for an agent I choose someone who knew and lived in the immediate area I was interested in. That just makes sense. Agents can't be experts on every street across a metro. If I picked a North Hills agent and gave them my specs they would likely try to get me into a place in the North Hills. You can't tell me your own bias never comes into play. But really it comes down to having a hyper-local expert helping you.

When my wife and I were first dating, she was looking for a house because she was getting gentrified out of her apartment in South Side. The real estate agent she was referred to kept on showing her houses in the Swissvale/Swisshelm Park area, even though she made it very clear that area wasn't urban enough for her in several discussions.

Guess where the realtor was located.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by eschaton

When my wife and I were first dating, she was looking for a house because she was getting gentrified out of her apartment in South Side. The real estate agent she was referred to kept on showing her houses in the Swissvale/Swisshelm Park area, even though she made it very clear that area wasn't urban enough for her in several discussions.

Guess where the realtor was located.

It's a pretty big problem that the industry doesn't want to address. Someone new to the area doesn't stand a chance unless they have already picked their neighborhood or municipality.

It's just like this forum, someone comes for advice on moving and like clockwork you have people just suggesting their hood. The idea that some agent from the burbs would give me an honest answer about school districts or commute times is so phony.