In need of commute tips! (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: houses, neighborhood, theatre)

[BfloGal]

I have to admit the taxes have me mystified. I found a resource for the property and school millage rates - is there one for the wage tax? I've poked around and googled but to no avail for a complete list. PA'ers pay Federal, State and wage tax? Do employers deduct the wage tax too? (poor payroll programmers if they do!)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by pghcleak

If you're heading from Downtown to the East...it can take 45 minutes alone just to get from Oakland to the Squirrel Hill exit (2 MILES)...it sucks.

There are several ways around this problem if you are driving, but I do think it makes sense to look into express bus routes that use the East Busway to get Downtown. Indeed, I think more people should think about making use of a park and ride lot along the Busway (or served by a bus that uses the Busway).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by BfloGal

Thanks Cap! That's great info. My two visits to Pittsburgh disabused me of the notion of a 10 minute commute.

A ten minute commute is indeed a bit of a trick unless you live right around Downtown, but something in the 20-25 minute range is doable.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by BfloGal

I have to admit the taxes have me mystified. I found a resource for the property and school millage rates - is there one for the wage tax? I've poked around and googled but to no avail for a complete list.

If you find it let me know! I have never found this resource either.

PA'ers pay Federal, State and wage tax? Do employers deduct the wage tax too? (poor payroll programmers if they do!)

Employers in the city will deduct the City of Pittsburgh tax, but often will not deduct for other municipalities. That usually means filing a short form to get out of having deductions for the City tax, and then filing quarterly tax returns with your municipality.

Which would kinda stink, except that with every quarterly form I am reminded of how much we are saving in wage taxes by living outside the City (we are currently in the Edgewood part of Regent Square).

[BrianTH]

OK, it looks like this works:

Municipal Statistics Tax Reports

Enter the relevant municipality and it gives you the wage tax rate.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by BfloGal

I haven't looked at Southside housing yet but I've just added it to the list.

Southside will give you the commute and the walk to shops you want. By "shops" I mean mostly bars The main street in Southside is Carson St.- the area from about 21st or so down to Hot Metal St. has some newer construction and townhomes. All you will find west of 21st is row homes- some of which have been beautifully renovated inside, but leave much to be desired from the outside. Parking is going to be your biggest turn off in Southside. In the evening unless you lease a parking space in a private lot you could end up parking 5 or 6 city blocks away from your home. Southside has some of the most high-priced real-estate in the city (I've never quite figured out why), and you've got city taxes there too, so that all comes out to a very high $ per square foot as well. Southside isn't nearly as "upscale" as the places you mentioned in your original post- in fact, the neighborhoods you said you were looking into are considered the cream of the crop of Allegheny County (by many anyway), so you've got nowhere else to go but down by looking elsewhere (except for maybe Fox Chapel). Also, Southside is straight-up city, and the other places you mentioned were quite a bit more suburb.

So far, with your requirements, my money is on Regent Square. If you don't mind driving 30-45 minutes, and not walking to shops, but rather driving 5 minutes to shops, there are several more places I could recommend.

I would add Oakmont to your list as well. You could walk to shops there. The commute isn't bad (use side streets east of the Allegheny River and avoid the Hulton Bridge and US 28), and you will find the eastern side of Oakmont to be quite upscale- similar homes to that which you saw in Ben Avon and Sewickley.

Cap

[BrianTH]

I agree the South Side Flats is pretty urban and not necessarily what I had in mind from your original description, but I would recommend at least taking a look at the South Side Slopes. As the name implies, that is the area up the hill from the Flats, and indeed you can walk to the Flats if you don't mind hills. But there is enough separation that it feels a lot less urban than the Flats, and the location as far as Downtown is concerned is pretty convenient.

Incidentally, the Slopes until recently were somewhat rundown, but that is yet another rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Pittsburgh. So, some of the new or renovated places with views are now quite pricey. But you may be able to hunt for a bargain, particularly if you are potentially interested in doing some renovation yourself.

[BfloGal]

Thanks for the local tax update. Hehe. Pittsburgh is making NY taxes look pretty good! How I miss NH. Still looking forward to the move. You have a lovely city.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by BfloGal

Thanks for the local tax update. Hehe. Pittsburgh is making NY taxes look pretty good! How I miss NH. Still looking forward to the move. You have a lovely city.

The tax situation is unnecessarily confusing, which is unfortunate because it ends up obscuring the fact that the total state and local taxes we actually pay end up not being that bad as a percentage of income.

That said, as others have pointed out, the tax scheme also ends up being pretty regressive, meaning the chief beneficiaries of the relatively moderate taxes as a percentage of income are people with higher incomes.

[zip95]

Originally Posted by BfloGal

great safe neighborhood of older homes.....close to two groceries....lots of shopping and restaurants.....10 minute commute to our downtown jobs.....We can walk to a trendy street of restaurants and shops.....3br/2bth home around 250K (with charm and character of course!).....live as close to the way we live now as possible.

Wow....would you also like the mayor to personally serve you breakfast every morning? Just kidding

Seriously though, you may have to give up a few of your criteria. I would go so far as to say no major city in the country has a neighborhood with ALL of those characteristics. If you can live with a longer commute, you will have plenty of options. If you absolutely must have a 10 min commute you may have to give up cost or safety or grocery stores.