Thoughts on living on the North Side?

[large garlic]

It has to be one of those two neighborhoods?

No, it doesn't, but my wife is set on either a condo or a townhouse in an urban setting (no whiff of suburbia) and a max commute of 10-15 minutes. I figure that gives us the options of the North Side, Downtown, the Strip District, or Lawrenceville. Anything else would seem to push past that commute limit. If there's an area I'm missing, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Have you considered Shadyside?

Yes, but my wife thinks that's pushing her commute too far.

[LITT]

She'll fit in perfectly here

[large garlic]

She'll fit in perfectly here

Hah. That's what my sister told me...she's thinking like a Pittsburgher already. If you have to cross a bridge to get there, it's too far.

[llipgh2]

Yes, but my wife thinks that's pushing her commute too far.

It takes about 15 minutes to get to AGH from Shadyside.

[slappybrown]

Yes, but my wife thinks that's pushing her commute too far.

It takes about 15 minutes to get to AGH from Shadyside.

That's an easy 25-30 minutes during weekday rush hours

[llipgh2]

That's an easy 25-30 minutes during weekday rush hours

Hospital working hours are usually different than normal rush hours.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Mrs. Garlic probably needs to readjust her expectations if she wants to own something that close to town n a good neighborhood in a reasonable price

[Shyster]

Mrs. Garlic probably needs to readjust her expectations if she wants to own something that close to town n a good neighborhood in a reasonable price

I'm inclined to agree. Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of good neighborhoods that offer "no whiff of suburbia" and low housing prices. Pittsburgh had massive suburban flight. For example, it's only been in the last 10 years or so that any noticeable amount of housing has been built downtown. The good neighborhoods that remained in the City (like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside) were (and still are) expensive. The cheaper neighborhoods weren't all that good. Some neighborhoods like Lawrenceville are rapidly gentrifying, but that also brings higher prices.

How long is her residency? Does she expect to stay in Pittsburgh afterwards? Do you two plan to stay in the house after the residency, or would you be looking to trade up? Any plans for kids (because Pittsburgh City schools suck)? If you two would only plan on keeping this place for a couple years, I would suggest just renting an apartment. An apartment in Allegheny Center, for example, would be in easy walking distance of AGH, and if she can walk to work that might mean you two would only need one car.

[PFiDC]

I'll piggyback on this thread.

Thoughts on McCandlass/Bellevue/points around there?

[Miami Vice]

I think the city has a few types of neighborhoods:

-big and fancy (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Highland Park, Mexican War Streets)
-walkable with a business district, likely no garages (South Side, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville)
-suburban, with some really nice streets and some duds, likely garages (Stanton Heights, Brookline, Sheraden, Crafton Heights, Swisshelm Park)
-sketchy (Homewood, East Hills, Fairywood, Perry South, Hazelwood)

[Miami Vice]

My list in rough order, if money was no object

-Mount Washington (Grandview Avenue, duh)
-Shadyside
-Mexican War Streets
-South Side
-Downtown
-East Liberty (where I live now)
-Squirrel Hill
-North Oakland
-Lawrenceville
-Bloomfield

Suburbs
-Oakmont
-Aspinwall
-Sewickley

[Troy Loney]

I think the city has a few types of neighborhoods:

-big and fancy (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Highland Park, Mexican War Streets)
-walkable with a business district, likely no garages (South Side, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville)
-suburban, with some really nice streets and some duds, likely garages (Stanton Heights, Brookline, Sheraden, Crafton Heights, Swisshelm Park)
-sketchy (Homewood, East Hills, Fairywood, Perry South, Hazelwood)

Greenfield probably fits in the third category there.

I still think the Strip is going to be the next place to expand. That part where the museum is starting to see a lot of development, and I can see a lot of businesses moving in to the parts between 31st street and the center of it. It's weird to me that the Larryville boom is pushing out further on Butler towards the zoo as opposed to the city.

They probably just need to figure out how to get more affordable rental units there, right now it's all high end. Is it just impractical for a new development to have $750 1 BR places as opposed to $1100 studios?

[Freddy Rumsen]

Wasn't there a big plan surrounding the strip district with a whole bunch of new apartments?

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Yes buncher is developing apartments down by the river in the strip

[Shyster]

I'll piggyback on this thread.

Thoughts on McCandlass/Bellevue/points around there?

I live in Ross, so I'm not far from either. I looked at some places in Bellevue when I was home shopping years ago. Bellevue struck me as an older and more crowded type of neighborhood, with houses fairly close together and mostly one-car garages. Lots of people have to park on the street. Those types of neighborhoods bug me. I bought in Ross near West View. McCandless would be more spread out with bigger/newer houses, but will be more expensive. If you have kids, McCandless is in the North Allegheny school district, which is up there with places like Mt. Lebo and Fox Chapel as a good school district.

[Miami Vice]

They probably just need to figure out how to get more affordable rental units there, right now it's all high end. Is it just impractical for a new development to have $750 1 BR places as opposed to $1100 studios?

Thats everywhere around town where new development has happened. Fancy hardwood, granite countertops, higher end appliances. Nothing basic for someone who doesn't care about any of that.

I understand those places will command higher rent and would be more attractive to a potential owner, but I'm not sure there are enough pro athletes, CMU start up wiz kids, and downsizing McMansion owners to fill all the Cork Factories and Bakery Squares that are being built from the Strip thru Larimor.

[Silentom]

North Shaler and Southern Allison Park is the answer. I'm on the border of the 2 and it takes ~20 minutes to get downtown.

[PFiDC]

I'll piggyback on this thread.

Thoughts on McCandlass/Bellevue/points around there?

I live in Ross, so I'm not far from either. I looked at some places in Bellevue when I was home shopping years ago. Bellevue struck me as an older and more crowded type of neighborhood, with houses fairly close together and mostly one-car garages. Lots of people have to park on the street. Those types of neighborhoods bug me. I bought in Ross near West View. McCandless would be more spread out with bigger/newer houses, but will be more expensive. If you have kids, McCandless is in the North Allegheny school district, which is up there with places like Mt. Lebo and Fox Chapel as a good school district.

Thanks. We have friends who live in Bellevue and McCandless so that general area is about where we are looking. We would love to find a place in Shadyside but unless we want to settle for a tiny apartment that wont be possible.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Shaler is much overlooked area. There are some great places tucked away there that are just as nice as anything in Hampton.

I lived in Sarver (Freeport) for a year and worked in Gibsonia (FedEx Freight). I liked living in that part of Armstrong/Allegheny County.

[Shyster]

Don't forget that living in the City means higher taxes. IIRC, the City's income/school taxes are 3%, whereas my taxes in Ross are 1%. If one makes $50k a year, that 2% difference is $1,000 in higher taxes to the City.

[Miami Vice]

City of Pittsburgh has lower property millage rates than a lot of other places (Ross is really close at 24.69). Your kids would also go to college for free.

Given that I'm house hunting I put this chart together of areas I was looking in. A house assessed at $100,000 would be taxed at this much in the following areas:

Pittsburgh $2,213.00
Ross $2,469.00
Green Tree $2,697.00
Ingram $2,773.00
Baldwin $2,775.00
Aspinwall $2,821.83
Shaler $2,856.00
Bethel Park $2,947.76
Reserve $3,054.00
Crafton $3,142.40
Castle Shannon $3,174.50
Cheswick $3,188.21
Dormont $3,233.00
Churchill $3,261.00
Mt Lebanon $3,290.00
Edgewood $3,303.00
Penn Hills $3,432.80
Forest Hills $3,513.00
Oakmont $3,576.20
Wilkinsburg $5,136.00

[Shyster]

City of Pittsburgh has lower property millage rates than a lot of other places (Ross is really close at 24.69). Your kids would also go to college for free.

True, but the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship also requires attending the Pittsburgh Public School System, which is not something I would do to my children. Most of its schools are scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of academic performance. For example, Perry high school, which covers the north side, ranks 589th out of 639 high schools in PA. That flat-out sucks. If I had kids and lived in the City, they'd be going to private or Catholic school, and that would increase my costs of living even more.

[llipgh2]

Thanks. We have friends who live in Bellevue and McCandless so that general area is about where we are looking. We would love to find a place in Shadyside but unless we want to settle for a tiny apartment that wont be possible.

Sometimes you can find a real steal in Shadyside, but it takes some digging to find it.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

This gentleman dated a smarter girl that attended allderdice. She has quite a few friends that ended up at solid schools including cmu. That bein siad we broke up so clearly he judgement is skewed by sabotaging a relationship with the kangaroo