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Old 03-11-2007, 03:37 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,448 times
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First of all, the actual city part of Pittsburgh can be quite grim, except for the part around the universities, shadyside, and a few other areas. Lots of the city is run down, boarded up buildings, bankrupt transit system, dead downtown, especially at night. However, there is a great music scene (especially jazz), museums, galleries, theatre, symphony orchestra, major league sports. Very good universities with Pitt and Carnegie Mellon. Parking in the city really sucks and can be expensive. Some of the surrounding suburbs are quite nice, and you can buy a pretty nice large home for a reasonable amount of money. The flip side of a low cost of living is that the wages are also low, quite low. Here, unless you are a nurse or engineer, forget about making decent money. The natives think 8-10 dollars an hour is a lot of dough. The people here are pretty friendly and down to earth, but there is a certain lack of bold visionary or creative thinking here, sort of stuck in the past, old fashioned. This can be nice and also annoying at the same time. Not much of a dining scene. Property taxes are high, and there is federal, state, pittsburgh city wage tax, and also some townships in Allegheny County also impose an additional wage tax. So it is a real mixed bag here, grim city area, some pretty green suburbs, good cultural amenities, crappy restaurants, time warp old thinking, friendly folks, WAY too much emphasis on football, good shopping, but too many taxes, political party registration 5-1 Democrat vs Republican, pretty provincial overall (and they are proud of that here) There is a VERY large senior population here. Very hard to get around without a car, and the geography is all up and down and round and round. Winter is bleak, grey and barren, but spring is pretty. People born and raised love it, if you come from someplace else, you have a different perspective.
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Old 03-12-2007, 07:13 AM
 
9,855 posts, read 15,204,453 times
Reputation: 5481
Speaking as someone who is just moving to Pittsburgh, I want to say I am amazed at how nice it is. I have lived in Philadelphia and Seattle, and compared to them at least, Pittsburgh has a lot to offer. It is such a friendly city you would think you are out west. I think if people in Pittsburgh would realize how great their city is compared to others, the city could become something amazing.
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Old 03-12-2007, 09:24 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,747,599 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by madera View Post
First of all, the actual city part of Pittsburgh can be quite grim, except for the part around the universities, shadyside, and a few other areas. Lots of the city is run down, boarded up buildings, bankrupt transit system, dead downtown, especially at night. However, there is a great music scene (especially jazz), museums, galleries, theatre, symphony orchestra, major league sports. Very good universities with Pitt and Carnegie Mellon. Parking in the city really sucks and can be expensive. Some of the surrounding suburbs are quite nice, and you can buy a pretty nice large home for a reasonable amount of money. The flip side of a low cost of living is that the wages are also low, quite low. Here, unless you are a nurse or engineer, forget about making decent money. The natives think 8-10 dollars an hour is a lot of dough. The people here are pretty friendly and down to earth, but there is a certain lack of bold visionary or creative thinking here, sort of stuck in the past, old fashioned. This can be nice and also annoying at the same time. Not much of a dining scene. Property taxes are high, and there is federal, state, pittsburgh city wage tax, and also some townships in Allegheny County also impose an additional wage tax. So it is a real mixed bag here, grim city area, some pretty green suburbs, good cultural amenities, crappy restaurants, time warp old thinking, friendly folks, WAY too much emphasis on football, good shopping, but too many taxes, political party registration 5-1 Democrat vs Republican, pretty provincial overall (and they are proud of that here) There is a VERY large senior population here. Very hard to get around without a car, and the geography is all up and down and round and round. Winter is bleak, grey and barren, but spring is pretty. People born and raised love it, if you come from someplace else, you have a different perspective.
I certainly agree with all the above and have said so on this forum. In saying so, I have been severly castigated by some of the Pittsburgh cheerleaders, who get extremely defensive about their city.

An interersting anecdote: Shortly after my mother moved from Wisconsin to Pgh in 1948, upon her marriage, she made a comment about it being dirty there. At the time, most people heated with coal, the steel mills were going full blast, etc. The person she said that to jumped her case, told her never to complain about that again, that the dirt was the symbol of their prosperity. Eventually, in the 1960s, the City administration finally decided the problem my mom noticed in 1948 was bad for their image and started to clean things up. For What It's Worth
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Old 03-12-2007, 09:30 AM
 
Location: WPB, FL. Dreaming of Oil city, PA
2,909 posts, read 14,085,150 times
Reputation: 1033
I would be interested in living in some safe, cheap, low crime Pittsburgh suburbs. Any suggested names?
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Old 03-12-2007, 10:41 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,040,030 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home View Post
I would be interested in living in some safe, cheap, low crime Pittsburgh suburbs. Any suggested names?
Almost all Pittsburgh suburbs are safe and low crime, how cheap do you want to go?

Are you interested in old river neighborhoods, old mill towns, or more rural areas?

What's your price range?
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Old 03-12-2007, 12:25 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 103,176,801 times
Reputation: 29983
Pittsburgh's dual personality has been worked to death in thread after thread here...
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Old 03-12-2007, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,747,599 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
Pittsburgh's dual personality has been worked to death in thread after thread here...
Agree, but most of it is hidden in old stuff. This is new to madera. And I find it refreshing to hear other people's opinions, esp when they agree with mine. LOL!
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Old 03-12-2007, 03:06 PM
 
Location: WPB, FL. Dreaming of Oil city, PA
2,909 posts, read 14,085,150 times
Reputation: 1033
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
Almost all Pittsburgh suburbs are safe and low crime, how cheap do you want to go?

Are you interested in old river neighborhoods, old mill towns, or more rural areas?

What's your price range?

Well I prefer around $50k but if I become half rich I may be able to afford $100k or even more. I want a quiet, safe neighboorhood close to shopping. Hope theres some good Pittsburgh suburbs that can compete with my love for Oil city.
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Old 03-12-2007, 05:15 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,040,030 times
Reputation: 30721
I just did a property search on Caldwall Banker's site for all townships in Allegheny County with a limit of 75k. There are many houses available in the under 75k range in safe neighborhoods. I even saw a few in very sought after townships like Bethel Park, South Park, Hampton, etc. You'd just have to look through the listings and pick the houses you like to get a specific opinion on the area. There are just too many safe areas where there are houses available for under 75k for me to list. The reason is because all townships in Allegheny County have older homes sprinkled throughout. You truly can find lower priced housing almost anywhere in Allegheny County.
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Old 03-13-2007, 07:47 AM
 
Location: WPB, FL. Dreaming of Oil city, PA
2,909 posts, read 14,085,150 times
Reputation: 1033
Thanks for that search. I too found lots of affordable houses. I want a house like shown in the picture

http://homepics.realtor.com/image8/http/pittsburghpa/listings/large/096/653340_101.jpg (broken link)

Huge 3 story house, basement, 5 bed, 2 bath for $51k. Good price!

http://homepics.realtor.com/image8/http/pittsburghpa/listings/large/080/652410_101.jpg (broken link)

big 6 bed, 3.5 bath house. Bigger than it looks in the pic. At $50k the price is right
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