Where to Live/Where to Avoid?? (Pittsburgh, Ross Township: middle-class, transplants, apartment)

[A2toPitt]

We are a middle-class mixed-race (African-American/Caucasian) family living in Ann Arbor, Michigan looking to relocate to Pittsburgh. At this point we are starting our search online prior to coming to physically scope things out. We have twin boys in 6th grade and a daughter in Kindergarten. Outside of affordable housing (in a rental home, not apartment) we most value good public schools for our children to attend. We figured reaching out to locals would be our best resource to attain valid and reliable information at this early stage in our relocation process. Thank You in advance for your insight , knowledge, and willingness in helping our family!

[szug-bot]

Starters: basically, the North Hills neighborhoods (north of the City of Pgh. line) - Ross Township, West View (which is surrounded by Ross), Bellevue for a more walkable, small town feel.

Within the city of pittsburgh, try Greenfield - an amazingly pleasant place a several minutes drive or a nice walk to a great, expansive city park (Schenley). You can probably rent a surprisingly nice home for a reasonable price.

good luck with your decisions - hope you enjoy Pittsburgh if you come here (oh, and no one has a problem with you being mixed race, as long as you drive courteously and use your turn signals!!!!! )

[guy2073]

I always like to recommend Bridgeville, the school district is decent, the area is affordable and the town is walkable.

[jea6321]

what do you consider affordable for a rental house? Sometimes locals and transplants have a very different definition of that word.

[eschaton]

Where are you planning to work? You really don't want to be in the position of picking an area say to the west of Pittsburgh and then discovering your job is in the East End, forcing you to commute through Downtown.

[chao]

cant give much suggestion on where to live without knowing your budget or work location.
but area to avoid: Homewood

[gladhands]

In addition, it would be helpful to know if you prefer walkable, urban areas and how highly you value diversity. Some of the “good” suburban school districts are 95% white.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by guy2073

I always like to recommend Bridgeville, the school district is decent, the area is affordable and the town is walkable.

see, i disagree with this, for the same reason i do Dormont. it's walkable, sure, but its not a pleasant place to walk. along route 19 is dirty (the air), noisy, and cramped. B'ville - not as bad, but the walkability leads you to nowhere, doesnt it? Its not a long walk until you get to suburban highway type streetscape.

the OP should respond with particulars, though - job location, if known, etc.

[Doowlle34]

I'm not going to argue too strongly in favor of the walkability of Dormont -- however, I think it is unfair to judge this criteria based on West Liberty/Route 19. No doubt it is unpleasant to walk this corridor, and we avoid it whenever we can. However, the beauty of the old style grid system is that I can get anywhere in the borough or even hop into Lebo by (mostly) avoiding West Liberty/Washington Road, until I get to my desired location. Further, at least based on my location, our walkable amenities that don't require a detour on to West Liberty include school, park, movie theater, Beverly Road Shops, etc. etc. Dormont's walkability may be oversold/overrated, but the undesirability of West Liberty is a poor metric upon which to base your conclusion.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by gladhands

In addition, it would be helpful to know if you prefer walkable, urban areas and how highly you value diversity. Some of the “good” suburban school districts are 95% white.

which ones? NA is 82% white. USC is 84%.