Help and Info Needed for Pittsburgh
 

We're thinking about taking DS2 on a tour of colleges during his spring break or the first week of June. Pittsburgh is definitely on our list as he wants to look at Carnegie Mellon.

Questions: stay near the university, or is there another area that would be more fun/interesting?

How difficult is the bus system to navigate? A student ID allows CM students to ride free on all busses and we'd like to try a few bus trips to convince him he doesn't need a car---or does he?

Is the area around the school considered safe by people who live in the area? The school says it is but they are hardly objective. I'd be interested in any information about the safety of the CM area.

I'd be interested in general information about the university area and the city, too. We've only been to Pittsburgh to change planes, but the photographs of it are of a lovely medium-sized city. Does it live up to its photos?

My daughter is a junior at Pitt and, as you probably know, its campus is right next to the CM campus. She absolutely loves Pitt, the Oakland area where the two campuses are located and the city of Pittsburgh.
1. I would stay near the university so you can get a good feel for the area. He'll surely want to check out the local shops and restaurants in Oakland. If you want to go elsewhere, it's easy enough to do.
2. The Pitt students have free city bus privileges as well and my daughter and her friends go all over the city by bus. It may take him some planning to get around at first, but you definitely don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the bus system.
3. I am sure that the students you meet at CM will tell you the same thing that the students at Pitt told us--don't have a car on campus. You are in the middle of an urban area and parking can be a nightmare. The Pitt students have to park way up the hill at the far end of campus and most don't find it worth the trouble. I imagine things are similar at CM.
4. My daughter finds living and being on campus very safe. There are some areas near Pitt that don't look so safe, but it's mostly just run-down student apartments. I've walked around there at night and never felt unsafe. There are always people out and about; you've got constant traffic on Forbes and Fifth Avenues; and there's good campus security at Pitt and I'm sure they have it at CM too. No worries there.
Pittsburgh is a great city. We are not from Pennsylvania and visited Pittsburgh for the first time a few years before my daughter was even thinking about college. We had a really great time then and we always have a great time when we go to visit her. There's lots for college kids to do and many of the activities are free or specially-priced for the various college students. (Remember there are several colleges in Pittsburgh, not just Pitt and CM).

Go to Boston.

Sorry...couldn't resist. O:)((6))

We stayed over by Pitt when DD was looking at CMU (a Holiday Inn maybe?). It's not very far between the two and the area by Pitt had a lot of interesting restaurants. I loved CMU and it was where I wanted DD to go to school. There are two types of students - fine arts and math/science. It made for an interesting mix. The only thing we didn't care for were the dorms, but perhaps they've improved in the last few years. There seemed to be plenty of off campus housing in the area too. I was surprised how much I liked Pittsburgh.

Just looked at hotels and we stayed at Holiday Inn Pittsburgh at University Center. I don't remember there being much choice in the area.
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/.../PITSP/welcome

There are three hotels in the Oakland area that I am aware of; the Holiday Inn, like kybourbon mentioned, the Wyndham Pittsburgh University Place, and the Quality Inn University Center. All three of these hotels are on or very near the Pitt campus. You could also stay at any hotel in downtown and get to CMU easily by bus or 7 minute car ride.
Pittsburgh is a great city and has wonderful, diverse neighborhoods. Most students live in Oakland or Squirrel Hill. Decent apartments can also be found in the Bloomfield neighborhood. Rents get much higher in Shadyside. I would avoid living in the Hill district.
Parking is tough when school is in session, especially around the campus and student housing. The bus service is fine for a student to get around the city and reach all the outlying neighborhoods. CMU always used to have shuttle buses that ran on weekends that took students to the mall and outlying areas. (not sure if they still do that)
If you visit you must check out Dave & Andy's Ice Cream (Pitt campus), Tessaro's for a burger (Bloomfield), The "O" for fries (Pitt) and be sure to check out the South Side (Carson St.), Shadyside (Walnut St), and Squirrel Hill (Murray & Forbes Ave)neighborhoods.
Longhorn55 brings up an excellent point. There are a number of fine private schools other than Pitt & CMU that are centrally located as well. Point Park, Duquesne, and Robert Morris Universities all have downtown campuses.
Even if DS2 doesn't wind up going to school in Pittsburgh, you still will have had a great trip!

I went to Pitt for grad school many years ago and just went back for my 25th reunion. I loved it then and it was still great. IMO, CMU is in a better neighborhood than Pitt. Public transportation is very good within the city. although I had a car, I rarely used it as parking was always a problem. It may be better at CMU but unless you want to get to the burbs, public transportation will get you where you want to go. CMU straddles two lovely neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, besides staddling Oakland. Shadyside is the preppie HQ of Pittsburgh. Walnut Street is a commerical area with restaurants, stores, etc. It used to be local places but now it seems to be more national chains that you see in the malls. Squirrel Hill is the old Jewish neighborhood of Pittsburgh and it still has a strong Jewish flavor. Its commerical area has restaurants, bars, delis, stores etc too, but more local or regional ones than national. Oakland, where Pitt is, is an ok neighborhood right around Pitt and the dorms, but it has some pretty rough areas too.
I've recommended Pitt and CMU to many of my friends kids who were headed to college and so far, everyone who has gone to either has loved it. Two things I loved about going to school at Pitt were the ease and accessibility of public transportation to get you places when you wanted to get off campus, and the large number of corporations in Pittsburgh for interships and jobs (and having good transportation to get you there.
My only gripe @ transportation in Pittsburgh is that when it snows, its a mess. Not that it snows that often. Its fairly hilly and not well equipped for snow and ice. I'm jaded because i live in a cold climate and we're used to driving in the snow and ice. The first time I encountered snow in Pittsburgh, I was on a bus, going back towards campus from downtown. The bus couldnt manuever both the hills and turns in the snow and ice and just had everybody get off and walk. This was only about 2-3 inches (not feet) of snow. I laugh about this 28 years later.
The city is actually pretty small geographically. I would probably stay downtown or near the schools.
Cant say enough @ Pgh as a place for college.

I went to Carnegie Mellon for grad school -- it is a great school in a great location.

Lots of students stay in Squirrel Hill, which is a very nice-neighborhoody area in walking distance to CMU. Lots of rental house/apartments there. The students with more money stay in Shadyside (also in walking distance), the students with less money stay in Oakland, where Pitt is. There are a few small-but-sketchy corners of Oakland, though. The neighborhood on the other side of Shadyside (forget its name) has some crime and poverty issues.

The bus system is not as extensive or convenient as other cities, but perfectly decent for getting downtown and to nearby neighborhoods. You can take the bus to the touristy things downtown; try the express bus if you get a chance.

Ninety percent of the things a student would want to see are in Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill anyway.

A car would be an unnecessary burden.

Area safety -- see above. Mostly fine. It is a city with city-style crime areas, but the area around the universities is good.

Great university, wonderful city, stunning views, some of the best food in the world. Lots of CMU grads never move away.

Wow, I am thrilled with the positive responses and the great opinions of Pittsburgh! It sounds wonderful :)

We really did not want him to have a car for at least the first year of school, so I am glad that there is good public transportation.

kybourbon, the reason DS is interested in CMU is that he is both a fine arts and a science guy. He wants to do a program of theater AND environmental science and CM would be a very good place to do that. We're going to look at different schools because the audition process is heinous and he wants to make sure that he only applies to schools he really, really likes. (And is well-suited for/ has a good chance of acceptance.)