To DM:

I live about 30-40 minute drive from Freedom. The towns around it are old steel towns where they would not be catering to the education system, although they do have the Penn State Beaver Campus very close by. Freedom isn't even in the same county as Pittsburgh (its in Beaver, vs. Allegheny County). My late g-ma and I use to travel to that area regularly in the early 1980s before they put in a mega mall out in Imperial, PA area(where I live). I remember the smell of the Steel Mills while traveling to Rochester, PA (no more mills anymore though). Imperial has the West Allegheny School District which probably is pretty top notch because we are experiencing suburban sprawl and new houses have been popping up constantly since the mid-1980s and I doubt all the parents moving out here would want an inferior school system for their children. There is also Sewickley which is alot closer to the Freedom area and the school system is the Quaker Valley High School, which has all levels of education and its a pretty safe area - Sewickley is about a 20 minute drive from my hometown. Its a pretty easy commute from both places. Over time you'll learn all the shortcuts to get to work (back roads) but since the Beaver Valley Expressway was built commute time anywhere is faster and your company is out in suburbia (30 miles from Pittsburgh) you will be running in the opposite direction of Beaver Valley Expressway traffic so that may even cut your commute time even further. Can't give you advice about your wife's teaching career. I've lived in D.C. and the economy there has always been significantly better than the rest of the country.

DMB -

Responding to your questions about Freedom. Freedom is in Beaver County. Each community in Beaver, Allegheny, Butler, etc. county has it's own school district. Unlike MD where you may have county school districts. Some surrounding areas are Rochester, Beaver, Center, etc. A large growing suburban community is Cranberry, about a 20 minute drive from Freedom. You will find a combination of rural, suburbs and city living in all of these areas.

Also thinking of moving to Pittsburgh area, in 2006. Need a decent home in a safe neighborhood, near public transit would be nice. Hopefully in the $50-70K range for a three bedroom. Need a quiet neighborhood, nightlife and shopping not necessary, just quiet and safe. Need to be able to get to the Universities for work purposes without a two-hour commute. Any suggestions as to neighborhoods?

You probably want to be in the East-End of Pittsburgh. This is where most of the Universities are, and the best public transit options. However, I am not sure if you can get a house (as you described) in your price range in those areas.

Hi. Thanks.

I have a car, so I don't absolutely have to have public transit, but I prefer to use it when it's available. Can you tell me about the "T"? Does it run anywhere near the universities in town? (Specifically, Carnegie Mellon)

When I look online at home listings, I keep seeing the names of Carrick and of Beechview come up with some decent looking homes for decent prices. Can you tell me anything about those areas? Are they directly on top of a smoking mine or something that causes the prices to be lower? (attempt at humor)

Also, I absolutely must have high-speed internet access, due to the nature of my work. Is it available in all areas of Pittsburgh proper (and surrounding), or is that a spotty sort of thing?

Thanks again.

Nan

" have a car, so I don't absolutely have to have public transit, but I prefer to use it when it's available. Can you tell me about the "T"? Does it run anywhere near the universities in town? (Specifically, Carnegie Mellon)"

Car? Carnegie Mellon? Excuse me for laughing. Your chances of finding a parking place within a mile of CMU are less that 0.

The most important think to know about buying a house is this: don't buy it in the city. You are subject to the outrageous city payroll tax and ridiculous property taxes. These are why the population of the city hasd shrunk by 2/3 iin the last 40 years. Forget Carrick. It's in the city I believe. Move down the road one town to Brentwood, which is outside the city limits. Edgewood is the best choice to the east, because it too is just beyond the city limit.

"Also, I absolutely must have high-speed internet access, due to the nature of my work. Is it available in all areas of Pittsburgh proper (and surrounding), or is that a spotty sort of thing?"

You are out of luck. There is no internet aaccess in Pgh. Even on phone lined. Also the TV stations still broadccast in black and white and people commute on horses.

The T connects neighborhoods in the South Hills to the South Side and to downtown. You would have to transfer from the T to a bus to get to CMU. I am not sure what type of lifestyle/neighborhood you typically like. I am not a fan of Carrick and/or Beechview. They are very old neighborhoods and parts of them are run down. If you lived in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill or Oakland, you could easily walk or catch a bus or drive to CMU. I never had a hard time finding parking at CMU. Are you young? Single? If so, I would stress living in/near the East End. If not, then moving out to the suburbs would not crammp your style. Having said that, it will be hard to find a house in your range in the East End. You could try Point Breeze or Regent Square. Of course, Pittsburgh has high speed internet!

Gee, then no horse-and-buggy required? Don't have to haul water up from the river anymore?

You may laugh, but there are parts of San Diego that do not have high-speed internet access wired in - the cable company hasn't got there yet. : ) We have neighbors not too far away from us who have to rely on slow dial-ups. They are useless for me, I really need cable-internet access.

Thanks for the advice on the city taxes. Will definitely consider the other areas. I don't mind old, just as long as the neighborhood is secure. I am single with a grown daughter who will be attending a university in the area. I typically find work at them as well, on a contract basis. Normally when I work at universities I have parking permits for on campus spaces. Does C.M. not issue them?

Thanks again.

CMU issues parking passes. FYI: When I said "old" I meant "run down"--not historic and charming.

" If you lived in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill or Oakland, you could easily walk or catch a bus or drive to CMU. "

You will also have to dodge the muggers. Oakland has a terrible crime problem. Walking the steets there at night is definately not safe. The problems have spread to Squirrel Hill as well and especially to Shadyside.

As far as getting a CMU parking pass. Good luck. The demand far exceeds the supply. If you are not a faculty member, the odds of getting one is not high.

Just out of curiosity, what IS the city payroll tax rate? This would be on top of state and federal income tax, so it could make a great deal of difference to us.

Am I to understand that one can work and earn their paycheck in the city, but not have to pay the city income tax if they live outside the city?

Thanks - Nan

Nearly a year ago my family looked at relocating to Pittsburgh, but ended up moving elsewhere. We have researched many cities, and I have yet to find one that generates this range of emotional responses. When I saw this thread today, I had to laugh when I saw that nothing has changed. Some people really seem to hate Pitt. My thought on the subject is to go visit the area with an open mind, and see what kind of feel you get from the different areas. Good idea to do your homework, but in the end you have to get your feet on the ground and check it out for yourself. Good luck to all of you who are moving there- there certainly are a lot of interesting places to visit near Pittsburgh if you find the need to escape! I wouldn't let the negative comments discourage you- it's nearly impossible to judge what other people will like.

I am also planning to move to Pittsburgh for job purpose. I am moving from Fairfax, VA to Pittsburgh. I am married with a 11 month old. I do plan to stay in pittsbugh for atleast 5 years. My office is in Downtown and i am looking for apartment to stay on a rental basis as of now. I could see lot of people have good posting on places to stay. I had just few questions:

1) Which are safe locations in and around pittsburgh to live such as Monroeville / Squirrel Hill
2) I don't want a high commute time of 1 hour every day
3) Reasonably prices and young crowd to live. I am 30 as of now.

Any recommendation would be highly appereciated specially from someone who lives in pittsburgh as of now. Also any apartment community that you have liked. Thanks a lot for the help.

I'd suggest South Side/South Side Slopes (you'll see the houses on the hill) if you work downtown for temporary housing. If you are driving it should take you 10 minutes tops in rush hour traffic each way. Just go over the Birmingham or Smithfield Street bridge and you are in downtown. It is right across the Monongahela River from downtown Pittsburgh. Lots of college kids and senior citizens live there. South Side has LOTS (not overemphasized) of specialty shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. Especially bars because it was a place where steelworkers use to go for a drink after work (the steel mills are long gone but the bars still stick around). Squirrel Hill is a nice safe traditionally Jewish neighborhood. Lived there for nearly 6 yrs and walked around at all times of the day and night and felt safe. The neighborhood looks down upon crime big time. Actually City of Pittsburgh doesn't have much crime in most of the neighborhoods. I'd stay out of North Side, Television Hill, Homewood/Brushton, Wilkinsburg, West Mifflin or Braddock area. Monroeville is way to out of Pittsburgh 16-18 miles and the east is overpopulated as is the south suburbs of the city. I wouldn't really stay in the city, the taxes are way too high. There are many boroughs and township that surround Pittsburgh where the taxes are lower. Since you are emphasizing being around young people I wouldn't suggest Crafton/Ingram/Carnegie area but you have to get use to the idea that Pittsburgh has alot of senior citizens in its population. Hope this helps you out.

Oh, and by the way - PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!

Go STEELERS! ONE FOR THE THUMB, BABY!

(just to make sure we remind everyone of one of the highlights of this great city, in fact some might say it's heart and soul...the Stillers!!!)

I would look for apartments in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Regent Square or the South Side. I think Shadyside would be the best in terms of being hip and being a place to walk around with your child. The South Side can tend to get overrun with drunks on the weekends. Your commute from Shadyside would be 10 minutes on the express bus or about a 20 minute drive in traffic.

Shari, someone in the thread said that Squirrel Side is getting influeced by oakland (crime rate is high) and the jeweish population is going away from squirrel hill and crime rate is increasing in squirrel hil. Is that true also for shadyside? Can you help? Thanks a lot.

Shari:

Not really if you don't live right on the main drag of the South Side. There are many houses and places to stay several blocks up that aren't filled with drunks. I've been around South Side alot and most of the young people during the day and even nights I've experienced are addicted to caffeine and hang out at the cafes regular sipping java. It also can't be too bad since the old people seem to stick around the place.

You can't really say Squirrel Hill is a bad area. There is a solid neighborhood established. There are 3 bus lines that end up in bad areas that go through Squirrel Hill so those people do get off but if you move to Shadyside there is East Liberty right next to it. You can be in Shadyside on one block and then the next block is East Liberty. The city is mixed. There is also Bloomfield which is a predominant Italian neighborhood with lots of Italian grocery stores and restaurants.

As I am reading the rest of the posts I'd highly recommend going to pbs.org and looking up Rick Sebak's name on that site. I know that there is a wide variety of DVDs/VHSs on different parts of the area "All About Oakland", South Side, one was about the old architecture of Pittsburgh, Holy Pittsburgh (about the religous bldgs), the Al, Mon & the O (about the 3 rivers), Strip District, Wylie Avenue Day (Hill District), Kennywood, and many more. He even has 2 about Pennsylvania Road Show and Pennsylvania Diner. Rick Sebak has such a friendly soothing voice and he makes Pittsburgh very appealing on all these tapes that you want to go see the places he describes in these short documentaries (usually 90 min to 2 hrs) long.