Single, young professional, chill gay female needs a home (Pittsburgh: apartment, co-op)

[epiphyte123]

Hi all,

I've been reading through the forums for a while now, trying to get a feel for where I need to live in Pittsburgh. I'm a young professional in my mid 20's and will be moving from Chicago sometime in the next few months to work at Pitt. I'm more into cooking at home with friends before hitting up a local bar than clubbing, would choose Whole Foods or a farmer's market over a traditional supermarket and would take a tiny charming vintage apartment over a huge unit in a monstrosity of a building any day.

Price range: I can pay up to $800, but would prefer to pay $500-700. I'm fine with a studio.

My main priorities in a neighborhood are:

1) Walkable. I don't have a car and won't be getting one anytime soon. I'd love to be in an area where this is a) doable and b) not uncommon. I want to be able to easily walk to coffee shops, restaurants, bars, shops, etc.

2) Diverse. I don't need or want to live in a total gayborhood, I'd rather be somewhere with all kinds of diversity- ethnic, economic, sexual orientation, age, etc. I'll be moving without knowing anyone in the area, so building a diverse group of both neighbors and peers is important to me. That said, in the context of the diversity I would like to be close to a largeish population of educated young professionals.

3) Proximity to work/transportation to work. I don't need to be able to walk there, but would like a relatively easy commute by bus.

From what I've seen so far, Shadyside looks like the obvious choice. I'm concerned about what I could get in my price range, though, and wonder if it might be a little too trendy and not very diverse. I've also wondered about Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, the South Side Flats and the Mexican War/Central Northside areas but have had trouble finding listings on Craigslist for them and am unsure about ease of transportation to work.

So. Based on the above, I'd love your wisdom! I was in Pittsburgh last week just for 1 day and thought it was one of the most beautiful cities I'd ever seen (and I've seen a lot). I'm really excited about getting to experience it properly, just want to make sure I make a solid decision in terms of where to live.

Thanks for any thoughts!

[BrianTH]

Welcome!

As an aside, this is a brand new website which may be a useful resource for you:

Welcome to PittsburghCityLiving!

Anyway, working at Pitt and not having a car, I would suggest your best bet is to live somewhere in the East End area. You can do it from other areas but there are many public transportation options to Oakland/Pitt from most of the East End.

If you want to be within walking distance of a Whole Foods-type store, that narrows things down considerably. There are a Whole Foods and Trader Joes in East Liberty, which are walkable from Friendship (plus parts of what are technically in Bloomfield but often treated as part of Friendship) and Shadyside. Also in that area is a Giant Eagle Market District, which is a sort of quasi-Whole Foods-type supermarket, and a farmer's market. As you have gathered, Shadyside is a popular choice, but also a bit pricey, and you should definitely look in Friendship (and the relevant parts of Bloomfield).

Another place to note is the East End Food Co-op:

East End Food Co-op - Pittsburgh, PA: A member-owned store and vegetarian cafe for organic, natural foods

That is near Penn and Braddock, and walkable from Point Breeze and a neighborhood sometimes called Park Place (down Braddock and over to East End). If you are in Park Place you can also walk to Regent Square, which has a small but vibrant commercial area with a nice little selection of bars, restaurants, a coffee place, an arthouse movie theater, and so on. That area is pretty popular with gay people but also fits your general sense of diversity quite well, and there are decent number of people associated with Pitt in some way.

Offhand, with your budget you might find a studio or very modest 1BR in Shadyside, which would probably be ideal as your first neighborhood in Pittsburgh. But I'd definitely at least check out Friendship(Bloomfield), as well as Park Place and parts of Point Breeze if the East End Food Co-op looks interesting.

Edit: Oh, and I don't know if you don't want to drive at all, or just don't want to own a car but might be willing to drive occasionally. But if it is the latter, you should check out Zipcar, a carsharing service with quite a few cars in Pittsburgh.

[epiphyte123]

Thanks for your response!

I saw the Pittsburghcityliving site, it was pretty cool. I still think there's nothing better than real, personal opinions, though

I will definitely consider Friendship as an option. Are there any areas to avoid? From a quick search the housing looks more affordable than in Shadyside, so that's a plus.

Park Place/Point Breeze/Regent Square looks like a good option too, any more opinions on those?

Thanks for the info about Zipcar, that's a good option to have if a car trip is ever necessary.

I'd love more thoughts if they're out there!

[Geeo]

I agree that looking in the East End is your best option. Close to Oakland and good public transportation. There is also the East Busway with several stations in Polish Hill, Shadyside, East Liberty, Homweood, and Wilkinsburg. It's a bus-only highway that can get you downtown in 5 to 10 minutes.

Anyway, as mentioned, Shadyside is very nice and you might just find a small place in an older house. Other neighborhoods mentioned are friendship, Bloomfield, Regent Square, and Point Breeze. Might also want to check into Polish Hill, which is a hillside neighborhood just north of Oakland. Still very ethnic but getting a lot of young people moving in because it's still cheap.

No exclusively gayborhoods here, and I like it that way. There is a high concentration of gay people in the East End, and we all blend in together and it's kind of nice. My partner and I are always comfortable in the area.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by epiphyte123

I saw the Pittsburghcityliving site, it was pretty cool. I still think there's nothing better than real, personal opinions, though

I agree!

I will definitely consider Friendship as an option. Are there any areas to avoid? From a quick search the housing looks more affordable than in Shadyside, so that's a plus.

The area I have in mind is between St Clair and Gross, Penn and Baum/Liberty. That whole area is fine.

[epiphyte123]

Thank you for all the advice, I'm soaking it all in and thinking it over.

Any opinions on these locations specifically?

Penn & Gross (Friendship?) loc: 4901 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh PA US - Google Maps

N Homewood and Penn (Point Breeze) loc: North Homewood at Penn Pittsburgh PA US - Google Maps