Where should I move to in the Pittsburgh Area? (Bethel Park: townhouses, neighborhood)

[palmpixis]

Where are the good areas for an African-American family to move to in the Pittsburgh area?
We are a family of four. I work from home and my wife will need to land a job in the healthcare field. We would like some diversity, good school district and have a budget of about $425K for a newly built house of 4 beds, 2 baths and > 2000 sqft. I have looked at Upper Saint Clair and Bethel Park, but they are really expensive. Help please!!!

[svband76]

Originally Posted by palmpixis

Where are the good areas for an African-American family to move to in the Pittsburgh area?
We are a family of four. I work from home and my wife will need to land a job in the healthcare field. We would like some diversity, good school district and have a budget of about $425K for a newly built house of 4 beds, 2 baths and > 2000 sqft. I have looked at Upper Saint Clair and Bethel Park, but they are really expensive. Help please!!!

If you want new builds look at Peters Township. Lower Washington County taxes. Good school district. You'll be far from the city but depends on where your job is.

[USC1986]

Originally Posted by palmpixis

Where are the good areas for an African-American family to move to in the Pittsburgh area?
We are a family of four. I work from home and my wife will need to land a job in the healthcare field. We would like some diversity, good school district and have a budget of about $425K for a newly built house of 4 beds, 2 baths and > 2000 sqft. I have looked at Upper Saint Clair and Bethel Park, but they are really expensive. Help please!!!

You can find a nice older home in USC for $400K or so, but not likely in new construction.
If taxes are a concern, Washington County is a good choice, depending upon commute, but Peters Twp. is quite expensive as far as newer homes, and taxes have gone up with the building of a new high school.
USC 's school system is better than Bethel Park's.

[palmpixis]

Originally Posted by USC1986

You can find a nice older home in USC for $400K or so, but not likely in new construction.
If taxes are a concern, Washington County is a good choice, depending upon commute, but Peters Twp. is quite expensive as far as newer homes, and taxes have gone up with the building of a new high school.
USC 's school system is better than Bethel Park's.

How bad are the taxes in USC? Are we talking 5K? 8K? or 12K? for a 400K house?
I will start browsing for the older homes. Have not done that at this point. I was aiming for a newer build as I don't want to deal with repair and older home issues. Open to other areas...

[eschaton]

Hopefully one of our black forum members like wpipkins2 will chime in, but my two cents.

One of the biggest issues TBH is your desire for a new-build home, as others have noted. Pittsburgh is a fairly slow-growth metro, and where we do have new-builds they tend to be aimed at a wealthier tranche of homeowners. You can find a handful of relatively recent homes in your price range, but they'll tend to be townhouses, which I don't think is what you're looking for.

Regarding diversity, I don't think you're looking in the right area. The South Hills tends to be the whitest of the Pittsburgh suburban regions. The working-class white culture in that part of the county was historically pretty notoriously racist in pockets. You're not going to get that in the more upscale areas, but you're also going to be in areas where the black population 5% or less. South Park is the most diverse of the municipalities out that way in general.

Pittsburgh's black middle class is strongly concentrated in the suburbs to the east of the city, though unfortunately there's not really a top-ranked school district in the area. Your best bet would probably be Gateway SD, which covers the Monroeville area. It's not top, but above average (in top 30% of districts in state). Enrollment in the public schools is about half white, a quarter black, and the remainder mostly Asian (Monroeville has had a pretty substantial South Asian community for decades). The black middle class presence there goes back at least to the 1980s and 1990s, but it's become the number one destination for black families leaving the city.

[burghophilia-03]

Yes, Eschaton, who was snooping through the bowels of Carnegie Mellon University several years ago, was hit by a unique type of gamma radiation that permits him to see deep into the souls of the white working class and see their racist beliefs. I suspect the upcoming series detailing his exploits is going to be preachy and boring.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Hopefully one of our black forum members like wpipkins2 will chime in, but my two cents.

One of the biggest issues TBH is your desire for a new-build home, as others have noted. Pittsburgh is a fairly slow-growth metro, and where we do have new-builds they tend to be aimed at a wealthier tranche of homeowners. You can find a handful of relatively recent homes in your price range, but they'll tend to be townhouses, which I don't think is what you're looking for.

Regarding diversity, I don't think you're looking in the right area. The South Hills tends to be the whitest of the Pittsburgh suburban regions. The working-class white culture in that part of the county was historically pretty notoriously racist in pockets. You're not going to get that in the more upscale areas, but you're also going to be in areas where the black population 5% or less. South Park is the most diverse of the municipalities out that way in general.

Pittsburgh's black middle class is strongly concentrated in the suburbs to the east of the city, though unfortunately there's not really a top-ranked school district in the area. Your best bet would probably be Gateway SD, which covers the Monroeville area. It's not top, but above average (in top 30% of districts in state). Enrollment in the public schools is about half white, a quarter black, and the remainder mostly Asian (Monroeville has had a pretty substantial South Asian community for decades). The black middle class presence there goes back at least to the 1980s and 1990s, but it's become the number one destination for black families leaving the city.

Just perpetuating division here. I take offense at your response. Quite typical of a non-native transplant. Just my two cents. How will things ever become "diverse" if you're suggesting the OP avoid the South Hills because it's too White? Head scratching. Beechview is South Hills in my opinion and is incredibly diverse. The "White" population may be Hispanic but it's diverse. Mt. Lebanon is diverse. The South Hills, Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park are safe places to live where people love each other and are friendly, despite skin color. Just tired of this bashing the South Hills for no reason at all.

[palmpixis]

Is there a racism problem in Pittsburgh suburbs? I have not heard anything on the new or social media. I don't have any problem with any race. We are very open minded. I did undergraduate studies in Morgantown, WV and graduate school in Buffalo, NY. I lived most of the time in mostly white areas. I mentioned some diversity because I don't want my son or daughter to be the only black kid in school.

[GoodSummerDay]

Originally Posted by palmpixis

Is there a racism problem in Pittsburgh suburbs? I have not heard anything on the new or social media. I don't have any problem with any race. We are very open minded. I did undergraduate studies in Morgantown, WV and graduate school in Buffalo, NY. I lived most of the time in mostly white areas. I mentioned some diversity because I don't want my son or daughter to be the only black kid in school.

There is a hot thread talking about not fitting in at Mt Lebanon. You get the idea.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by svband76

Just perpetuating division here. I take offense at your response. Quite typical of a non-native transplant. Just my two cents. How will things ever become "diverse" if you're suggesting the OP avoid the South Hills because it's too White? Head scratching. Beechview is South Hills in my opinion and is incredibly diverse. The "White" population may be Hispanic but it's diverse. Mt. Lebanon is diverse. The South Hills, Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park are safe places to live where people love each other and are friendly, despite skin color. Just tired of this bashing the South Hills for no reason at all.

I will defer to black people here. Wpipkins2 has himself said that when he's shopping with his family at South Hills Village, for example, he gets weird looks like he has nine heads, but when he's shopping at the Ross Park Mall no one bats an eye.

Beechview isn't really South Hills, it's in the city. It is of course a pretty diverse neighborhood. I don't think that the OP would have any issue at all in Mt. Lebanon, other than being in a tiny minority as a black person, but the OP asked for areas with 'some diversity" and public school enrollment is 85% white and only 1.6% black. Given his preferences, that really means he should steer towards areas a bit more diverse (say in the 5%-10% black range).