Indian family moving to Pittsburgh - needs advice (Lebanon, Upper St. Clair: rent, day care)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Garvdog

Depending on exact neighborhood the commute to the city might be long- but some neighborhoods have quick easy access to I79 which helps both with commuting to the city and to the major interstates.

Presuming his wife's workplace is in Shadyside, the best case scenario - if they bought close to Bridgeville - would be a 35-minute commute with no traffic.

With rush hour, google says a 45-90 minute commute each way, depending upon traffic.

Aspinwall does not have an Indian community really, but she could be into work in 15-20 minutes, even in rush hour. And she'd have the option of taking the bus.

[SmithAru]

Thank you @eschaton @Tractor Face @Knepper3 @jay5835 @Paul2421 @Garvdog @guy2073
What an overwhelming response and such a great supporting community! Thank you and so glad to be checking here...

So most questions on my wife's location confusion and will clarify that Her PhD is in BioMed and with University of Pitt School of Medicine (and not UPMC.. my bad) and it is at Baum Blvd (again apologies for the misspelled street name in original post) in the Shadyside area. They said there is a monthly parking for $90 or so in a garage.

As mentioned earlier, Indian community in our town is not any criteria for us, since most of our community gatherings are related to religious and cultural celebrations and we can always travel to those places.

From the comments, a 30 mins commute is tough with our choice of areas, but looks like my wife's classes are usually between 10A and 4P and she can also work from home a couple days. So maybe not as bad I think.

Is taking public transport a good option and/or a widely considered option in these areas? (reliability, frequency, enough car parking near suburb train stations, etc)

Based on your feedback, I looked at the areas and following is how it is weighing out... You folks have been awesome... Any further inputs to help clarify or solve the issues/cons will help us make an informed decision

Mount Lebanon
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Perfect match of our image of a place we want to call home.. Suburb to urban setting.. Homes are within our 350-400K range. Very safe, great schools. Possibility of taking a public transport if needed (1 Hr to her school)

Issue is that there is no YMCA and I couldn't find clarity on after school care for our two kids. And as @eschaton mentioned, if there is no bussing, so that adds a complexity to find a home walkable to school (especially once my daughter next year gets to middle school, I am assuming even available after cares don't apply)

Franklin Park, North Allegheny area
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Looks a good area and matching our needs. Great school, Home within 350-400K range, Good YMCA facility closeby, great aftercare (looks like ymca itself provides at school). Also commute with my wife's new timings looks ok from here.

Only issue... from google maps and pictures, it looks a more urban and crowded area. Maybe we are completely off with this, are we? We prefer a more semi-urban town feel

Fox Chapel
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Good school, and good commute...

But the pictures, feedback and maps shows it too urban and too close to hustle and bustle of Pittsburgh. It also shows homes at 350-400K range, but they are all in corners of Fox Chapel. Also how safe is this area being so close to downtown?

[gg]

Originally Posted by SmithAru

Fox Chapel
-------------
Good school, and good commute...

But the pictures, feedback and maps shows it too urban and too close to hustle and bustle of Pittsburgh. It also shows homes at 350-400K range, but they are all in corners of Fox Chapel. Also how safe is this area being so close to downtown?

I'll help with this one.

1. When searching "Fox Chapel", you are better off searching O'Hara, Indiana Twp., and Aspinwall. Fox Chapel itself is pretty expensive with the average home being over $600,000 and up to well above $2 million. O'Hara is in the school district and that is what matters most.

2. Crime? Not much in the way of crime in this area. Police are bored.

3. Urban? It isn't very urban at all. Quite spread out.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by SmithAru

Is taking public transport a good option and/or a widely considered option in these areas? (reliability, frequency, enough car parking near suburb train stations, etc)

Pittsburgh is a city where everyone takes public transit if they work in a transit convenient area, not just poor people. Park and rides do fill up however for the T, so if you live in Mt. Lebanon and the home you pick isn't within walking distance of one of the T stations, it may be hard to find a space - particularly with your wife's classes beginning at 10.

Originally Posted by SmithAru

Franklin Park, North Allegheny area
----------------------------------------
Looks a good area and matching our needs. Great school, Home within 350-400K range, Good YMCA facility closeby, great aftercare (looks like ymca itself provides at school). Also commute with my wife's new timings looks ok from here.

Only issue... from google maps and pictures, it looks a more urban and crowded area. Maybe we are completely off with this, are we? We prefer a more semi-urban town feel.

I think you're confusing it with somewhere else, because I wouldn't call this anywhere near urban. The western half of Franklin Park still has a lot of farmland.

Originally Posted by SmithAru

Fox Chapel
-------------
Good school, and good commute...

But the pictures, feedback and maps shows it too urban and too close to hustle and bustle of Pittsburgh. It also shows homes at 350-400K range, but they are all in corners of Fox Chapel. Also how safe is this area being so close to downtown?

I would not call the Fox Chapel area very urban overall, and it's quite safe. There's several municipalities in the school district. Here's links to discussions about each of them. In general I think any but Sharpsburg would do you fine.

Fox Chapel proper:
Indiana Township:
O'Hara Township:
Blawnox:
Aspinwall:
Sharpsburg:

[Tractor Face]

Originally Posted by gg

I'll help with this one.

1. When searching "Fox Chapel", you are better off searching O'Hara, Indiana Twp., and Aspinwall. Fox Chapel itself is pretty expensive with the average home being over $600,000 and up to well above $2 million. O'Hara is in the school district and that is what matters most.

2. Crime? Not much in the way of crime in this area. Police are bored.

3. Urban? It isn't very urban at all. Quite spread out.

Yeah believe it when someone tells you the cops are bored in the Boro and in most of O'hara. The only thing O'hara cops seem to do is sit by the side of the road somewhere and prey upon teen drivers. Anywhere in Fox Chapel and anywhere in O'hara around the school is very safe. I would look at two neighborhoods in O'hara, Crofton and Falconhurst. Both are very safe, friendly, have some diversity and are in walking distance to schools.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Tractor Face

Yeah believe it when someone tells you the cops are bored in the Boro and in most of O'hara. The only thing O'hara cops seem to do is sit by the side of the road somewhere and prey upon teen drivers. Anywhere in Fox Chapel and anywhere in O'hara around the school is very safe. I would look at two neighborhoods in O'hara, Crofton and Falconhurst. Both are very safe, friendly, have some diversity and are in walking distance to schools.

Yep, even when I was a teen driver O'Hara pulled me over for some stupid rolling through a stop sign getting onto Rt. 28. Gave me some dumb ticket and treated me like some huge criminal. They still are doing that crap I guess.

[Rust Belt Kid]

My pick would be Franklin Park or McCandless in the NA School District. Excellent schools, although the district as a whole is huge. I always prefer a commute to Oakland/Shadyside from the north hills rather than the south hills because you avoid going through tunnels. You're close to Trader Joe's, and a quick 15 min trip to Cranberry for Costco. Close to 279/79 to get to the airport in less than 30 mins without traffic. The facilities at that YMCA are very nice. There should be plenty of houses in that area in your price range. As others have said, it is a very suburban area.

As a Pitt student, your wife will have the ability to ride the bus for free with a Pitt ID. There is a park and ride in McCandless; however, $90/month isn't bad for lot parking, so that probably makes more sense financially and practically.

[Knepper3]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Pittsburgh is a city where everyone takes public transit if they work in a transit convenient area, not just poor people. Park and rides do fill up however for the T, so if you live in Mt. Lebanon and the home you pick isn't within walking distance of one of the T stations, it may be hard to find a space - particularly with your wife's classes beginning at 10.



I think you're confusing it with somewhere else, because I wouldn't call this anywhere near urban. The western half of Franklin Park still has a lot of farmland.

Yeah we live over that side of the river and are up around there often, used to belong to the Y there (a little too far for me to go regular). I wouldnt consider it urban at all either. If you look at the entire North Allegheny SD I wouldnt call much urban, along the McKnight (rt 19) corridor it is pretty built up but as soon as you are off that its back to the suburbs. Part of McKnight runs through the edge of Pine SD in Wexford. I wouldnt consider much of the county north of Allegheny/Ohio river urban once you get a few miles north.

[guy2073]

There are other options instead of a ymca in mt lebo.

https://www.mtlebanon.org/25/Recreation-Department

https://jccpgh.org/fitness-wellness/

[Garvdog]

Originally Posted by guy2073

There are other options instead of a ymca in mt lebo.

https://www.mtlebanon.org/25/Recreation-Department

https://jccpgh.org/fitness-wellness/

-Spencer YMCA (new building and one of the nicest that I have seen anywhere) is in Bethel Park- not that far from MT. Lebo...probably a 20 minute drive if you can find a back road to take.