Want to move to Pittsburgh or suburbs; please help (Carnegie: apartments, to rent)

[ValeriePF]

Hello all,

I'm a recent college graduate who absolutely fell in love with Pittsburgh and want to move there. I haven't really had a taste of the city other than driving through it to visit my boyfriend who lives in Stage College. I graduated with an art degree. I would like the locals or anyone else familiar with the area to give me some advice. For example, what is a good neighborhood/suburb for a recent graduate? I plan on living by myself for the time being, and a studio apartment would be totally fine by me. Are there safe neighborhoods where I can rent for a reasonable price? Also, I know what the weather is like in the area, but I would also like to know if air conditioning is ever a must in the summer. I currently live in Texas so heat isn't generally anything new to me, but I do find comfort in cold weather, so I suppose I could invest in a window unit or floor unit if needed. Finally, I know the job situation isn't that great in Pittsburgh (except for the biomedical fields, but please correct me if I'm wrong!), but are there any art galleries around? Photography studios of any kind? Oh, I forgot to add: I do have a car, but I am also willing to walk or take public transportation, if that helps any.

Thanks for any help.

~ Valerie

[guylocke]

Hm. I would say air conditioning is a must in the summer. I do know plenty of Pittsburgher's that live without it, but I'm not one of them. Then again, if I did have to live without it, I'm sure my body would adjust.

Can you be more specific in terms of what kind of neighborhood you are looking for precisely? Do you want something downtown? Something trendy? Something in an urban neighborhood? In a suburb?

I know there are art galleries and photography studios and it's a growing interest in Pittsburgh, but I can't tell you how the actual job market is for your degree here. Of course, the job market everywhere is horrible right now and Pittsburgh is creating more jobs than the national average at the moment, but I'm simply not knowledgeable in your field to give solid advice.

I would think the most sound advice would be to have a job lined up before you move unless you have a safety net like your boyfriend who can support you.

I think you have some sincere questions but you may need to be a little more specific before the regulars jump in.

[ValeriePF]

@guylocke:

Thank you for your reply! Let me add some more details.

In regards to air conditioning, I would definitely prefer a cold apartment to a hot one. I was just asking because I am not sure about how hot the summers actually get. I guess I'll go ahead and go for it; I wouldn't use it all that much anyway, considering that I know Pgh doesn't have 9-month summers like we do over here.

I'm looking for something preferably closer to downtown because I've heard bad things about traffic in the area going out to the suburbs, and because I don't want to spend more money than I have to on gas. I'd like something that doesn't have to be trendy; just relatively safe and not too expensive. But, if safe means more expensive, I'm okay with that, too. I've heard Pittsburgh is a walkable city, so I want to take advantage of that.

My boyfriend would be a safety net, but I don't want to completely rely on another person. I would like to at least start out my career on my own and have enough experience to get some sort of solid standing. I definitely agree that lining up a job is the first thing to do; I'd just like to know about certain neighborhoods that may be good for recent graduates, etc.

Once again, thank you for your reply.

[guylocke]

You're welcome!

Summer's in Pittsburgh usually don't get extremely hot in terms of temperature (rarely above 90 degrees) but the humidity can be wicked and I would classify many Pittsburgh summer days as uncomfortably hot. Then again, coming from Texas, you might find nothing out of the ordinary and no, we certainly do not have 9-month summers.

I think any apartment you go with in Pittsburgh will have air conditioning standard, to be honest.

Do you have a price-range you would like to stay in? There are some beautiful and excellent apartments throughout downtown and the southside, but some can get pricey because, of course, they are the most fashionable to live in.

As for traffic, that depends on where you live. Some Pittsburgher's complain about traffic to the city and it can certainly be a pain, but I don't think those people have been to other major cities. LOL. Pittsburgh's traffic is a breeze compared to most (if not all) other major cities I visit frequently and I imagine the large Texas cities are no different. It all depends on the direction you will be, too.

I may first start your search in the renown Pittsburgh Southside. It is full of young professionals and students. It is where the bulk of Pittsburgh's young bar-crowd is and some may thwart you saying it's just a drunken mess of people on the weekends. Other people may encourage you because of the same reason!

It is definitely an eclectic part of town and there are places to rent galore from little row-houses, to lofts above businesses, to chic developments. Prices range anywhere from a couple hundred dollars a month to well over $1500 a month.

In terms of safety, I suppose that is completely relevant. The southside LOOKS a bit seedy, that's part of the charm and allure to the young folks, and natives certainly know what areas to avoid and what areas are perfectly safe.

I think overall, the southside is fairly safe and some of the new developments like the Southside Works (where I personally lived for 2 years) is incredibly safe. The southside, in general, is just a bridge away from downtown.

If that doesn't sound like a good place to start a search, let me know, there are plenty of others.

[ValeriePF]

@guylocke:

All right, I guess I will definitely go for the air conditioning, just in case. I hate the humidity aspect of heat the most...

As for price range, I guess I am looking for something $500 or below, but if that's unreasonable to expect, I can do up to $600.

Houston's traffic isn't actually all that bad because of our multitudes of roads; I know there isn't the same number of major interstates over there in Pgh, and so I heard that this can lead to hour-long or so traffic wait times (I think the most I did in Houston was 45 minutes over 15 miles or so). Either way, I never had a problem when I drove through Pgh, so maybe it won't be as bad as I expect. Like I said, I might not even do much driving in the first place.

The Southside definitely looks like a place I'll look into. I appreciate the help very much.

[MakeItBrown]

Pittsburgh is extremely easy to commute through. Check out the south side if you like to party!

[BrianTH]

Pittsburgh has a very large number of neighborhoods that might suit your needs. So, personally I would look for a job first and find out where that will be located, then look for a convenient apartment.

[Bong477]

There's plenty of places that will meet your needs. Where you will be working may influence your choice. You could get by with window unit A/C rather than central air if you need to, but you want to have something.

There's a very big art community in Pittsburgh, but I don't know enough to give you specific comments or to have any idea how hard finding a job might be. The pittsburgh economy isn't terrible, but it isn't booming either. As you pointed out, the exception is really medical fields (physicians, nursing, medical research, etc) where jobs are plentiful.

You sound like you're probably better off in a city neighborhood. Safe ones to think about are South Side, Lawrenceville, Shadyside, Bloomfield, Friendship, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, and Regent Square. Shadyside is the nicest in my opinion followed by Squirrel Hill, but those are also the most expensive and I think it would tough (although not impossible) to find your own apartment in your price range. If you were splitting rent in a 2-3 bedroom with an apartment-mate mate or two, it would be no problem at all.

There's lots of places to live in the suburbs too if you prefer.

[stasia]

Pittsburgh has a healthy, growing cultural sector!

Carnegie Museum of Art
The Andy Warhol Museum
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Wood Street Galleries
Mattress Factory Art Museum
Photo Antiquities Museum of Photographic History
Brew House Association
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

etc etc ...

[KellBell]

Hey Stasia - I am also a recent graduate from the Pittsburgh area. Being young, I recommend trying to stay in the city. Some of the youthful areas mentioned before are South Side, Shadyside, and I would also like to mention Oakland. Five hundred dollars will not get you very far in some of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods unless if you are considering a studio or perhaps finding people to room with. One more thing: South Side is a fun place to be but I definitely do not recommend living there. It can be congested, as can a lot of places though, but also the bus routes there are not as convenient as other neighborhoods.