May Relocate from FL to Pitt (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: insurance, mortgage, houses)

[fdemaria80]

Hi everyone,

There may be a potential job opportunity brewing in Pitt and I would like some true and honest opinions about not only the city but residential areas. One place I happen to be looking at is Mt. Lebanon. Yes I know Florida is the place for beach and sun, but this is a great opportunity and with having a young child, it seems like a better place for her. Here is the following I would like to know about the city and the suburbs around there.

1. School systems (outside Pitt i.e Mt Lebanon)

2. Safety

3. Family Oriented?

4. Things to do with children

5. The truth about the winter (details please as I would be coming from FL)

6. Typical Mortgage for a house say 220,000

7, Nightlife

8. Coming from FL, there are lots of different types of restaurants like Italian and Greek. are there any and are there neighborhoods or pockets with concentrations of Italians and/or Greeks?

Thank you everyone.

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

1. School systems (outside Pitt i.e Mt Lebanon)

Mt. Lebanon is a nice town and the school district is very good. I take it you are either working downtown or to the south of the city? Any further suggestions from me on neighborhoods would be dependent upon your place of work. Coming from the South Hills (which Mt. Lebanon is a part of) into the city during rush hour can be a pain, but you can also take the T to avoid it.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

2. Safety


3. Family Oriented?



4. Things to do with children

Mt. Lebanon fits all of those. In the south there is also Upper St. Clair if you have a bit more money. Dormont is more working-class, but it is nice. The school district is so-so and the millage rates are through the roof though. It all depends on what socio-economic and town vibe you are looking for. All three of those suggestions I gave are very safe and family-oriented.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

5. The truth about the winter (details please as I would be coming from FL)

From November to March/April you will hardly see the sun and it is gray, cold and slushy. It can get very depressing. We actually don't get that much snow though (at least not in my opinion).

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

6. Typical Mortgage for a house say 220,000

I don't understand what you are asking here. Are you wondering what your monthly payment on a 30 year mortgage would be for that amount? Or are you wondering what you can get for $220,000 in the Pittsburgh area? You can totally get a nice house and in a nice neighborhood for that. Check out craigslist to get an idea on prices in particular neighborhoods.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

7, Nightlife

Depends on what you are looking for. Mt Lebanon has a few nicer bars. The most night-lifey place in Pittsburgh is the South Side. But, it's more for boozy frat boy types on Friday and Saturday. Are you looking for swanky clubs or dive bars? I need more info to give a better appraisal. Night life is definately different here than in Florida I might add though. Not worse....just different. It's not as flashy.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

8. Coming from FL, there are lots of different types of restaurants like Italian and Greek. are there any and are there neighborhoods or pockets with concentrations of Italians and/or Greeks?

Mt. Lebanon is mainly upper-middle class homogenous American with a decent amount of Jewish people. The only areas with distinct ethnic identities are in the city and even then said identities are no longer very strong because of the steel bust and dramatic drop in Pittsburgh's population (with the exception of Squirrel Hill being very Jewish as well).

[fdemaria80]

Thanks for the responses. They are very helpful!

Originally Posted by iwonderwhy2124

Mt. Lebanon is a nice town and the school district is very good. I take it you are either working downtown or to the south of the city? Any further suggestions from me on neighborhoods would be dependent upon your place of work. Coming from the South Hills (which Mt. Lebanon is a part of) into the city during rush hour can be a pain, but you can also take the T to avoid it.

The job may be either in Pitt or Eastern PA (which I know is a different forum...lol) So yes I would be going into Pitt. I would like to look at somewhere around 20-30 mins from the city. I'm used to rush hour here in FL...lol



Mt. Lebanon fits all of those. In the south there is also Upper St. Clair if you have a bit more money. Dormont is more working-class, but it is nice. The school district is so-so and the millage rates are through the roof though. It all depends on what socio-economic and town vibe you are looking for. All three of those suggestions I gave are very safe and family-oriented.

Sounds good. Do you have any other suggestions for nice family oriented areas?


From November to March/April you will hardly see the sun and it is gray, cold and slushy. It can get very depressing. We actually don't get that much snow though (at least not in my opinion).

So it's more gray and cold then snow is that correct?

I don't understand what you are asking here. Are you wondering what your monthly payment on a 30 year mortgage would be for that amount? Or are you wondering what you can get for $220,000 in the Pittsburgh area? You can totally get a nice house and in a nice neighborhood for that. Check out craigslist to get an idea on prices in particular neighborhoods.

I'm wondering what the monthly payment on a 30 yr mortgage would be for that amount.


Depends on what you are looking for. Mt Lebanon has a few nicer bars. The most night-lifey place in Pittsburgh is the South Side. But, it's more for boozy frat boy types on Friday and Saturday. Are you looking for swanky clubs or dive bars? I need more info to give a better appraisal. Night life is definately different here than in Florida I might add though. Not worse....just different. It's not as flashy.

Flashy is what FL is all about. I'm mainly talking about places that have original music. How's the music scene?

Mt. Lebanon is mainly upper-middle class homogenous American with a decent amount of Jewish people. The only areas with distinct ethnic identities are in the city and even then said identities are no longer very strong because of the steel bust and dramatic drop in Pittsburgh's population (with the exception of Squirrel Hill being very Jewish as well).

So are ppl moving out of Pitt cause they don't like it and if so, where are they going to? Are there other hot spots in PA right now?

[Geeo]

The mass exodus from Pittsburgh happened in the 1980s after the steel industry declined. The population has stabilized now and the economy and the city have changed for the better. It's more diversified economically, better educated, and attracting higher-paying professionals. The unemployment rate is below the national and state average, housing prices have held up, and the region is doing a bit better than the rest of the country right now. Make no mistake, the recession has affected Pittsburgh, just not as bad as in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, California, Nevada and Arizona. The city is big on health care, education, banking, and tech spinoffs from the universities. Google is greatly expanding their presence here and moving to larger quarters in the East End of the city. If you've never been here, you'll be surprised at how strikingly beautiful the city is, with green hillsides, three rivers meandering everywhere, lots of bridges, great architecture, and lots of views.

There are plenty of Greeks and Italians and the restaurants that go with that. The Greeks used to be concentrated in certain neighborhoods, but they are pretty dispersed all over the city and suburbs now, as are the Italians. We do have a "Little Italy," which is the Bloomfield neighborhood in the East End, with a high concentration of Italians.

[ML North]

You can use the tables below to estimate the mortgage payment on a $220k house. Note that these numbers do not include insurance or taxes. Obviously these numbers are not geographically sensitive.


==================================================
Sale Price $220,000.00
Closing Costs $6,000
Term 30 years

Down Payment -> 1% --------5%-------10%--------15%------20%

APR%
4.00% ----- ($1,068.46) ($1,026.44) ($973.93) ($921.41) ($868.90)
4.10% ----- ($1,081.40) ($1,038.88) ($985.72) ($932.57) ($879.42)
4.20% ----- ($1,094.42) ($1,051.39) ($997.60) ($943.80) ($890.01)
4.30% ----- ($1,107.52) ($1,063.97) ($1,009.54) ($955.10) ($900.67)
4.40% ----- ($1,120.70) ($1,076.64) ($1,021.55) ($966.47) ($911.38)
4.50% ----- ($1,133.96) ($1,089.37) ($1,033.64) ($977.90) ($922.17)
4.60% ----- ($1,147.30) ($1,102.19) ($1,045.79) ($989.40) ($933.01)
4.70% ----- ($1,160.71) ($1,115.07) ($1,058.02) ($1,000.97) ($943.92)
4.80% ----- ($1,174.20) ($1,128.03) ($1,070.32) ($1,012.60) ($954.89)
4.90% ----- ($1,187.77) ($1,141.06) ($1,082.68) ($1,024.30) ($965.92)
5.00% ----- ($1,201.41) ($1,154.17) ($1,095.12) ($1,036.07) ($977.02)
5.10% ----- ($1,215.12) ($1,167.34) ($1,107.62) ($1,047.89) ($988.17)
5.20% ----- ($1,228.91) ($1,180.59) ($1,120.19) ($1,059.78) ($999.38)
5.30% ----- ($1,242.77) ($1,193.91) ($1,132.82) ($1,071.74) ($1,010.65)
5.40% ----- ($1,256.71) ($1,207.29) ($1,145.52) ($1,083.75) ($1,021.99)
5.50% ----- ($1,270.71) ($1,220.75) ($1,158.29) ($1,095.83) ($1,033.38)
5.60% ----- ($1,284.79) ($1,234.27) ($1,171.12) ($1,107.97) ($1,044.82)
5.70% ----- ($1,298.94) ($1,247.86) ($1,184.02) ($1,120.17) ($1,056.33)
5.80% ----- ($1,313.15) ($1,261.52) ($1,196.98) ($1,132.43) ($1,067.89)
5.90% ----- ($1,327.44) ($1,275.24) ($1,210.00) ($1,144.75) ($1,079.51)
6.00% ----- ($1,341.79) ($1,289.03) ($1,223.08) ($1,157.13) ($1,091.18)
6.10% ----- ($1,356.22) ($1,302.89) ($1,236.23) ($1,169.57) ($1,102.91)
6.20% ----- ($1,370.71) ($1,316.81) ($1,249.44) ($1,182.07) ($1,114.69)
6.30% ----- ($1,385.26) ($1,330.79) ($1,262.70) ($1,194.62) ($1,126.53)
6.40% ----- ($1,399.88) ($1,344.84) ($1,276.03) ($1,207.23) ($1,138.42)
6.50% ----- ($1,414.57) ($1,358.95) ($1,289.42) ($1,219.89) ($1,150.36)

==================================================


Sale Price $220,000.00
Closing Costs $6,000
Term 15 years

Down Payment -> 1% --------5%--------10%---------15%------20%

APR%
4.00% ----- ($1,655.42) ($1,590.33) ($1,508.96) ($1,427.60) ($1,346.23)
4.10% ----- ($1,666.66) ($1,601.12) ($1,519.21) ($1,437.29) ($1,355.37)
4.20% ----- ($1,677.94) ($1,611.96) ($1,529.49) ($1,447.02) ($1,364.55)
4.30% ----- ($1,689.27) ($1,622.84) ($1,539.82) ($1,456.79) ($1,373.76)
4.40% ----- ($1,700.64) ($1,633.77) ($1,550.18) ($1,466.59) ($1,383.00)
4.50% ----- ($1,712.05) ($1,644.74) ($1,560.59) ($1,476.44) ($1,392.29)
4.60% ----- ($1,723.51) ($1,655.74) ($1,571.03) ($1,486.32) ($1,401.61)
4.70% ----- ($1,735.02) ($1,666.80) ($1,581.52) ($1,496.24) ($1,410.96)
4.80% ----- ($1,746.57) ($1,677.89) ($1,592.05) ($1,506.20) ($1,420.35)
4.90% ----- ($1,758.16) ($1,689.03) ($1,602.61) ($1,516.20) ($1,429.78)
5.00% ----- ($1,769.80) ($1,700.21) ($1,613.22) ($1,526.23) ($1,439.24)
5.10% ----- ($1,781.48) ($1,711.43) ($1,623.87) ($1,536.30) ($1,448.74)
5.20% ----- ($1,793.20) ($1,722.69) ($1,634.55) ($1,546.41) ($1,458.28)
5.30% ----- ($1,804.97) ($1,733.99) ($1,645.28) ($1,556.56) ($1,467.85)
5.40% ----- ($1,816.78) ($1,745.34) ($1,656.04) ($1,566.75) ($1,477.45)
5.50% ----- ($1,828.63) ($1,756.73) ($1,666.85) ($1,576.97) ($1,487.09)
5.60% ----- ($1,840.53) ($1,768.16) ($1,677.70) ($1,587.23) ($1,496.77)
5.70% ----- ($1,852.47) ($1,779.63) ($1,688.58) ($1,597.53) ($1,506.48)
5.80% ----- ($1,864.46) ($1,791.14) ($1,699.50) ($1,607.86) ($1,516.22)
5.90% ----- ($1,876.48) ($1,802.70) ($1,710.47) ($1,618.24) ($1,526.00)
6.00% ----- ($1,888.55) ($1,814.29) ($1,721.47) ($1,628.64) ($1,535.82)
6.10% ----- ($1,900.66) ($1,825.93) ($1,732.51) ($1,639.09) ($1,545.67)
6.20% ----- ($1,912.82) ($1,837.61) ($1,743.59) ($1,649.57) ($1,555.55)
6.30% ----- ($1,925.02) ($1,849.32) ($1,754.71) ($1,660.09) ($1,565.47)
6.40% ----- ($1,937.26) ($1,861.08) ($1,765.86) ($1,670.65) ($1,575.43)
6.50% ----- ($1,949.54) ($1,872.88) ($1,777.06) ($1,681.24) ($1,585.42)

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

So are ppl moving out of Pitt cause they don't like it and if so, where are they going to? Are there other hot spots in PA right now?

People moved out of Pittsburgh because of the steel and manufacturing collapse that started in the 1960's and hit full blast in the 1980's. The city's population loss has somewhat stabilized however. Other industries have moved in to help stem the tide (mainly universities and health care).

There are no hot spots in PA to be honest. Maybe near Philly there are.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

The job may be either in Pitt or Eastern PA (which I know is a different forum...lol) So yes I would be going into Pitt. I would like to look at somewhere around 20-30 mins from the city. I'm used to rush hour here in FL...lol

During non-rush hour times you can just zip into the city no problem. But, during rush hour it is a different story. Coming from the south hills (which Mt. Lebanon is a part of) during rush hour would make that 20-30 minute mark damn near impossible. The T would be your only hope in my opinion. The T is a subway that runs from the southern suburbs into downtown. There is a stop in Mt. Lebanon (and Dormont as well). I have never taken it so I can't comment on your total commute time with it. Somebody else will have to chime in.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

Sounds good. Do you have any other suggestions for nice family oriented areas?

Again, it matters what you are looking for. Are you looking for a town with a walkable downtown? Are you looking for a suburb with big box stores (Best Buy, etc..) where you have to drive everywhere? Are you looking for a rural-ish suburb? Are you looking for subdivisions filled with McMansions? The North Hills is a safe bet (Ross, etc..). The schools are good and safe.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

So it's more gray and cold then snow is that correct?

Yes. You'll see snow, but only an inch or two usually. This last winter we did have a blizzard, but that is a once every 25 year kind of thing.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

I'm wondering what the monthly payment on a 30 yr mortgage would be for that amount.

A good rule of thumb in Western Pennsylvania is that by the time you add up your three necessary expenses on the house (mortgage, insurance and taxes) you will pay approximately 1/100 of the total price of the house every month to said things. If you bought a house for $200,000 you will pay $2,000 a month. Your mortgage payment is probably about $1,400 of that or so.

Originally Posted by fdemaria80

Flashy is what FL is all about. I'm mainly talking about places that have original music. How's the music scene?

It mostly blows. People show up to the big outdoor arena classic rock kind of stuff like Tom Petty. Other than that the music scene here just doesn't seem to draw a lot of people. But, you can find stuff here...you just have to dig sometimes. Again, it matters what kind of scene and what kind of bands you were thinking about.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by iwonderwhy2124

It mostly blows. People show up to the big outdoor arena classic rock kind of stuff like Tom Petty. Other than that the music scene here just doesn't seem to draw a lot of people. But, you can find stuff here...you just have to dig sometimes. Again, it matters what kind of scene and what kind of bands you were thinking about.

I disagree that "it mostly blows". You don't see a lot of the big flashy popstars coming through here but otherwise between Mr Smalls, Club Cafe, Lawrenceville-Bloomfield and surrounding area bars (Gooskis, Brillobox, Thunderbird, BBT, etc), Rex Theatre, Carnegie Music Halls in Oakland and Homestead, Heinz hall, Byham Theatre and Benedum theatres downtown, Station Square Ampitheatre and now Stage AE, the arena, starlake, the whatever-its-called-this-week club in the Strip, (and Palace Theatre in Greensburg if you want to drive 45 mins) and probably a bunch of other places I forgot, you can get out and see a decent show every night if you want.

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by tranceFusion

I disagree that "it mostly blows". You don't see a lot of the big flashy popstars coming through here but otherwise between Mr Smalls, Club Cafe, Lawrenceville-Bloomfield and surrounding area bars (Gooskis, Brillobox, Thunderbird, BBT, etc)

Ok...my words were a little harsh. Pittsburgh actually does get some cool acts. I am well acquainted with all of those venues and it just sucks when some awesome band that I love comes through and my buddy's band is opening and only 15 people show up. There isn't as much support for "scenes" here as there is in other cities.

[BrianTH]

I can see that being a problem for your buddy, but I wouldn't typically view it as a problem seeing an act I liked with a smaller-than-usual crowd.

[MissShona]

Without knowing what part of Florida you are coming from...it's kind of hard to compare. (IMHO, saying "Florida" is like saying "Africa"...it's very broad...and there are major differences beween Tallahassee, Miami, and Melbourne, etc....but I digress).

I am only familiar with the public schools in Volusia, Broward, Dade and Lee counties (in that I know people in those places with kids in those schools; including my sister who is in elementary school in Broward); I will say that Pennsylvania schools are better; even our "bad" districts give a superior education than the average that is available in Florida's major cities. I have friends who are public and private school teachers and administrators in FL. And I work for a college that trains educational administrators in PA. While PA does have a lot of waste in regards to the sheer number of school districts and money wasted on administrative costs; at least education is seen as a priority around here. In FL...this is not the case. They have ongoing struggles, even in the "rich" areas with allocating enough resources for special programs. Also the pay for teachers in FL is like some sort of practical joke. Again, education just doesn't seem like a priority there.

Ironically however the tables seem to turn in regards to higher education. For those concerned with saving for college, PA is not the place for affordable higher education. FL has the statewide-bright futures program...while Pittsburgh has the "Pittsburgh Promise (http://pittsburghpromise.org/faq.html - broken link)"; but it only applies if you attend Pittsburgh Public Schools. In FL, you get more bang for your college tuition money anyway...even if you do have to pay. The tuition at Pitt and Penn State is like 3-4 times what you would pay at the University of Florida (an excellent school)...and there are major universities scattered throughout the state. Here you have this PASSHE system where none of the 'state schools' are major research universities. That and the schools are in the middle of nowhere. I work for PASSHE...and even when they pay me to travel to the other schools...it's like I would rather go get a root canal!

Pittsburgh has almost no Hispanic/Latin American influence. I think Pittsburgh is the only major city I've gone to where Spanish language channels weren't included in the basic cable package (if that is any indication).

Travel around the city can be tedious by car. I grew up here...so for better or worse, I've gotten used to it. But navigating in Florida is extremely easy by comparison; flat, definite sense of north-south-east-west, etc. Maybe with GPS, this is becoming a non-issue; but I've always felt bad for new residents of Pittsburgh. It seemed to take them a long (long, long) time to learn their way around the city! Oh and you can't always ask others for help in that many area natives are not super familiar with places out of their neck of the woods anyway.

Pittsburgh is much more safe than any major city in FL. Hands down...case closed!

I think that SW PA is a MUCH better place to raise children. Although some of this stems from being sheltered...but hey. I know too many families in FL that are having some major problems with their teens...being on drugs, paying bail, dealing with STDs in the family, etc.

I think the winters here are horrible....sorry. But hey, I can't stand it when the temperature dips below 50 degrees. If you add ice and snow to the mix...then I get incredibly miserable. But some people like it....yeah. But me, I just can't deal! Don't even get me started with needing to drive around in this mess. Scraping ice off your car (don't think you can avoid it if you have a garage...you'll have to drive to work, no?), sliding around on black ice (it's like bumper cars...except if you lose, then you have to pay an insurance deductible!), shoveling your car out just so that a plow can bury you again. Oh, and your car and your feet and everything looks dingy and nasty all winter long. It all just makes me crazy! So sorry....nothing good to say about that!

You could by 2 houses in Pittsburgh for $220,000. Of course this is highly dependent on the area. If you want Mt. Lebanon...then yeah you'll spend that....easily. But if you are open to other areas in Pittsburgh...then that can go down significantly.

As far as nightlife, I feel that Pittsburgh has WAY more to offer any given night of the week than both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale combined. People don't believe me when I say that. But also I'm not a "clubber". I like live music, or indie/avant garde DJs. I also like independent and local musicians. (South) Florida is not a great place for that type of thing; although much more in terms of major entertainment and stars pass through there. But that isn't my thing. Also blowing $100 just to have a good time isn't my thing either. So yeah, for me, Pittsburgh is much more preferable.

I don't go out to eat a lot. Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot to offer in terms of Mexican or Latin American cuisine. Very little African or Caribbean. A good amount of non-Chinese East Asian...but I think the quality is lacking a bit. Surprisingly there are some great Indian restaurants here. This area has a LOT of people of Italian and Greek heritages; so I assume the restaurants are top notch in those areas. In regards to Chinese; well, my Dad lives in Miramar, FL and when I lived down there, we were on a multi-year quest to find decent Chinese food in FL. We never succeeded. Here on the other hand, there are several excellent Chinese restaurants.