Apartments (near downtown) (Pittsburgh, Dormont, Bloomfield: apartment complexes, how much, house)

[alan83]

I am starting a new job in Pittsburgh on Monday in downtown, in the One Mellon Center building. I have never been there and only have 1 week to find an apartment.
The people that I talked to said to live in downtown or close to it to where I can take public transportation (they said the traffic is very bad). They mentioned that a lot of people live on Greentree Road.

Is that a good area to live in? What are some good apartment buildings where I should go look?

Thanks

[fleetiebelle]

What kind of neighborhood do you want to live in? Urban or Suburban? What other amenities are important besides public transportation? If you can narrow it down a little, we can be of more help.

[steindle]

Greentree Road is about 4 miles from Downtown and only one bus goes there that I know, which comes every 30 minutes. That may or may not be what you're looking for, but there are many, many more convenient options.

What are you looking for in a place to live? Would you prefer it to be purely residential or busier, with commerce, etc? What do you do on weekends? What is your price range?

[alan83]

It doesn't matter what kind of area to me really... just as long as it is close to One Mellon Center or close to the transportation to where I can get there pretty fast. They said that traffic is very bad there and parking is $24/day.. so definitely close enough so I would not have to park..

Other amenities -- close to shopping, grocery stores, etc.. I like to be close to a lot of things rather than far out if that makes sense..

[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

I can only speak for the East Side. If you look for an apartment in the neighborhood of Shadyside, you have the East Busway, where you can hop on the bus and it'll have you downtown in 5 minutes flat. (no cars allowed on the busway..only buses). Shadyside has clothing shops, grocery stores, food establishments, entertainment. Its a pretty nice neighborhood.

[alan83]

Originally Posted by steindle

Greentree Road is about 4 miles from Downtown and only one bus goes there that I know, which comes every 30 minutes. That may or may not be what you're looking for, but there are many, many more convenient options.

What are you looking for in a place to live? Would you prefer it to be purely residential or busier, with commerce, etc? What do you do on weekends? What is your price range?

Id live in both residential and also would live in an apartment mixed in with commerce. Price range would be about 900 maximum. Looking for a 1 bedroom apartment.

[alan83]

Originally Posted by Little Mizz Pittsburgh

I can only speak for the East Side. If you look for an apartment in the neighborhood of Shadyside, you have the East Busway, where you can hop on the bus and it'll have you downtown in 5 minutes flat. (no cars allowed on the busway..only buses). Shadyside has clothing shops, grocery stores, food establishments, entertainment. Its a pretty nice neighborhood.

Sounds nice... do you know how much 1 bedrooms go for around there? Any particular apartment complexes I should look at?

[fleetiebelle]

Dormont is about as far away from downtown as Greentree, is on the light rail line, and has a nice little business district. It might be worth looking into as well.

[sparkbark]

Originally Posted by Little Mizz Pittsburgh

I can only speak for the East Side. If you look for an apartment in the neighborhood of Shadyside, you have the East Busway, where you can hop on the bus and it'll have you downtown in 5 minutes flat. (no cars allowed on the busway..only buses). Shadyside has clothing shops, grocery stores, food establishments, entertainment. Its a pretty nice neighborhood.

Yes, if you live anywhere near Negley Station in Shadyside you will have a ridiculously fast commute to downtown. There are also surrounding areas such as Bloomfield, Friendship, Lawrenceville, Squirrel Hill, which while not as accessible to the busway will all have buses that go downtown. Really any city neighborhood is going to have a bus downtown, it just depends on how long of a ride you are willing to take. With $900 to spend on a 1-bedroom you should be able to have a pick of decent apartments. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are more expensive than other areas, but of course in Pittsburgh, "expensive" housing is relative. Both areas are a little out of my price range but from what I've seen on Craigslist you should be able to find something at or under $900.

In addition to any areas labeled as "bad" on various threads here, I wouldn't recommend living in Oakland unless you like the college student lifestyle.

[steindle]

Haha, welcome to Pittsburgh: For $900/mo you can live like a king. I live in a two-bedroom HOUSE for $700/mo.

For $900 you could probably find a very nice place in Shadyside where you would be close to the aforementioned East Busway, which would be literally a 10-15 minute bus ride from Downtown (5 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration).

Shadyside's not really my bag, but there's a whole lot to do there. You'll be very close to all manner of shopping -- restaurants, grocery stores, clothing, anything -- on Walnut Street, Ellesworth Street, and the increasingly packed "East Side" complex (soon with a Target). It's a good place to get your footing in Pittsburgh if you're from elsewhere.