Please take a few minutes to help me - need advice with apt asap!! THANK YOU!! (Pittsburgh: apartments, crime)

[emvdiaz]

I really need some advice. a FEW minutes of your time will really help me out.

I will be relocating to Pittsburgh for work. I will me moving by myself (30yr F) and will know absolutely noone. I have found two apartments and must make my decision by tomorrow. Since I do not know Pittsburgh, I am leaving it up to you find people to help me figure out which place to take. Here are the two options:

1) A studio apt on Grand view ave in Mt. washington
2) 1 BR apt located on the 200 block of braddock ave

I like the second apt better (bigger) but the first apt offers quick and fast commute to work without a drive. I am looking overall for SAFETY and second of all, I would like a place where I can take my dog out - green space would be nice., I understand that the 2nd apt is near a big park but I have also been told that the area can be questionable. I do not know if mt washington offers a green area and cant seem to find any info on it. My third concern is meeting people. I would like to find an area where I may be able to meet young people or at least not feel completely out of place.

I appreciate any input. THANK YOU!!!!

[chloride1]

Originally Posted by emvdiaz

I really need some advice. a FEW minutes of your time will really help me out.

I will be relocating to Pittsburgh for work. I will me moving by myself (30yr F) and will know absolutely noone. I have found two apartments and must make my decision by tomorrow. Since I do not know Pittsburgh, I am leaving it up to you find people to help me figure out which place to take. Here are the two options:

1) A studio apt on Grand view ave in Mt. washington
2) 1 BR apt located on the 200 block of braddock ave

I like the second apt better (bigger) but the first apt offers quick and fast commute to work without a drive. I am looking overall for SAFETY and second of all, I would like a place where I can take my dog out - green space would be nice., I understand that the 2nd apt is near a big park but I have also been told that the area can be questionable. I do not know if mt washington offers a green area and cant seem to find any info on it. My third concern is meeting people. I would like to find an area where I may be able to meet young people or at least not feel completely out of place.

I appreciate any input. THANK YOU!!!!

Unfortunately, I don't know the Braddock area. Other people can tell you about there.

I live on Mt Washington. Grandview Ave is safe (and it's fun living near the view!) As far as green space, there are parks, but I don't know if they are close to the apt you are considering. Olympia Park is probably the nearest one (you can see it on Google Maps). The walk along Grandview is fantastic. Maybe you and your dog would enjoy that.

Check out 15211.org It's a community blog. There are many young people here and people are making an effort to get to know each other. Also, it's great being so close to downtown, the north shore, station square, and the south side.

[BrianTH]

The second place is located in a neighborhood known as Park Place, where I lived for several years as a graduate student (on the 400 block of East End Avenue). It is in between some very nice neighborhoods and some somewhat questionable neighborhoods, but I believe that Park Place itself is pretty safe (Pittsburgh is like that--decent neighborhoods can be right next to questionable neighborhoods). As noted, Park Place has easy access to Frick Park, a very nice urban wilderness park popular with people with dogs. You can also easily get from there to a variety of neighborhoods where younger people hang out (Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and so forth).

That said, the Grandview studio sounds nice too. But I thought I would share with you what I know about the other neighborhood (and feel free to ask followup questions, although I gather timing is an issue).

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by emvdiaz

I really need some advice. a FEW minutes of your time will really help me out.

I will be relocating to Pittsburgh for work. I will me moving by myself (30yr F) and will know absolutely noone. I have found two apartments and must make my decision by tomorrow. Since I do not know Pittsburgh, I am leaving it up to you find people to help me figure out which place to take. Here are the two options:

1) A studio apt on Grand view ave in Mt. washington
2) 1 BR apt located on the 200 block of braddock ave

I like the second apt better (bigger) but the first apt offers quick and fast commute to work without a drive. I am looking overall for SAFETY and second of all, I would like a place where I can take my dog out - green space would be nice., I understand that the 2nd apt is near a big park but I have also been told that the area can be questionable. I do not know if mt washington offers a green area and cant seem to find any info on it. My third concern is meeting people. I would like to find an area where I may be able to meet young people or at least not feel completely out of place.

I appreciate any input. THANK YOU!!!!

What is your zip code for the Braddock Avenue apartment? If it's 15221, you are going to be my neighbor. Seriously, like three homes down from me.

[Geeo]

The Braddock Ave. place is near Frick Park, so you'll meet a lot of other people out with their dogs. It's also a walking neighborhood with stores, restaurants, a movie theater, etc. Grandview Ave. is nice for the killer view, though.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by emvdiaz

I really need some advice. a FEW minutes of your time will really help me out.

I will be relocating to Pittsburgh for work. I will me moving by myself (30yr F) and will know absolutely noone. I have found two apartments and must make my decision by tomorrow. Since I do not know Pittsburgh, I am leaving it up to you find people to help me figure out which place to take. Here are the two options:

1) A studio apt on Grand view ave in Mt. washington
2) 1 BR apt located on the 200 block of braddock ave

I like the second apt better (bigger) but the first apt offers quick and fast commute to work without a drive. I am looking overall for SAFETY and second of all, I would like a place where I can take my dog out - green space would be nice., I understand that the 2nd apt is near a big park but I have also been told that the area can be questionable. I do not know if mt washington offers a green area and cant seem to find any info on it. My third concern is meeting people. I would like to find an area where I may be able to meet young people or at least not feel completely out of place.

I appreciate any input. THANK YOU!!!!

Well since it does sound like my end of Braddock, I'll let you know about our experience....

The second apartment you speak of is three homes down the street from my home, you'll be more close to the intersection of Penn and Braddock.

The highlight of living in this neighborhood to me is living near Frick Park. I am an avid mountain biker and trail runner, so having a park of this magnitude this close to me is like being in heaven. Many dog owners use the park; if you do, please follow the leash law and the multiple signs up in the park requiring you to use it. Recently, the Allegheny County Sherrifs, and just this weekend, the PPD have been monitoring the park for dog users not following the law.

Geeo was correct, there are a lot of things to walk to. Walgreens would be very close, and there are lots of great eateries in the Regent Square area, along with the small but fun Point Breeze shopping and dinning area on Reynolds Street.

Now for the negatives. I hate Penn Avenue. I go out of my way to avoid driving that street. It's packed in the morning and evening commute. When it's not packed, it's, in my opinion, home to some of the worst drivers in the city, as far as excessive speeding on a city street and poor driving mannerisms.

If you move in, your zipcode is 15221, which people will first recognize as being Wilkinsburg. This is where you may have heard some negativity. It is also very close to Homewood, a historically notorious neighborhood in the city. It's funny trying to order pizza, because the drivers recognize the zipcode and won't deliver, because over the past three years, 4 pizza delivery folks were murdered in Wilkinsburg.

To address your concerns........first of all, although the two communites I mentioned are notorious for crime, there really is no reason for you to ever have to enter them. And the crime that occurs seems to stay well within those community limits and so far has been criminal on criminal type crime. Anything you want, from dinning to shopping to groceries can be found up and down South Braddock Ave, or a quick trip up to Squirrel Hill. If you have your windows open at night, you will hear gunfire from time to time, but it is typically off in the distance. The resonance created from gunfire against a hillside makes it sound louder and seem closer than it really is.

Just to compare, I follow the news quite avidly in this city, and there have been more incidents that have made news for crime in the Mount Washington area than in our neighborhood in the past three years.

Please feel free to PM me for more info.

[Hopes]

You'll enjoy living in the Braddock Avenue apartment more. There's plenty of things to do, everything is in walking distance, and the park is amazing.

Mt. Washington has a nice view, but that's about all it has.

[slamont61]

Where will work be? If it's down town then Mt Washington is a no-brainer. You'll really enjoy walking your dog on Grandview Ave and there is Olympia Park right there. I disagree that there isn't anything there to offer.

One drawback is that on Warm Summer Evenings the street becomes a "cruise" spot and does get congested.

The location of the studio on Grandview could determine if I'd live there again.

[emvdiaz]

Thank you all!!

I still haven't made a decision.... I am concerned about safety more than anything else. I would like to not have to drive to work and live in a place that is convenient to shops etc, where I can meet people and sleep well at night,without worrying about my safety.

I just dont know.... the studio would be very small but- I guess - doable for the dog and I. I have been told that the area is pretty secure but maybe a bit far from everything?

The secong apt is def. bigger and near a dog park but close to wilkinsburgh....

I just don't know..........

[fleetiebelle]

I lived on Grandview Ave for a few years, and it's definitely doable, but it might not be exactly what you're looking for. There is a small grocery store on Virginia Ave, and I still get my hair cut at Louis A's, there's a drug store nearby and a post office and dry cleaner and some bars on Shiloh. If you do have access to car, you can drive to more convenient shopping. It's definitely a safe neighborhood, but there can be a lot of traffic from people looking at the view.