Relo to PIT

Will relo to PIT very soon. Had a quick neighborhood search this past weekend. Single male, late 30%26#39;s.

My needs:

A destination neighboorhood - within 5 min. of ';stuff';; shopping, grocery, food, bars.

Easily accessible/drivable to work, which is located near the airport -I will travel a bit for work, too.

Safety/parking - I like my car parked indoors, free from weather.

Townhome or single-family home is definitely affordable - I like newer or recently rehabbed homes.

People - I am brand new to the city, I%26#39;d like to find a place which welcomes 30-40-somethings (not just the late night ';party'; crowd, but chill out atmosphere, too).

I%26#39;ve lived in cities before (Memphis and Chicago) and I%26#39;ve also lived in more layed out suburbs/subdivisions.

This weekend I saw Southside and was impressed, but got no flavor for the people. Liked Squirrel Hill a bit. On the suburb side, Robinson and Moon Townships.

Any other thoughts are appreciated? I did some searches, so I%26#39;m trying to be a little more specific about my needs/wants. Thanks.

Relo to PIT

Are you completely averse to Beaver County?

Although not yet complete ';destination'; neighborhood, Center Township is booming with shopping and new eateries. You would also be within 10 mies of the airport area if not less, and our taxes are MUCH lower than Allegheny County.

While the South Side is nice to visit, you won%26#39;t get much for parking and you%26#39;ll likely end up with higher insurance rates because of the frequent hit and runs.

Are you looking to buy or rent? Independence Square in Hopewell Township is right off the highway, 5 minutes from the airport area and less than 10 from the shopping area in Center. They are townhomes with garages and some condos with no garage.

Robinson and Moon are both nice areas, but like I said, the taxes are higher.

Relo to PIT

If you are working near the airport and also traveling a bit for work, then I believe you will be happiest living in the Robinson or Moon area or Beaver County as the prior person mentioned. Other names to look up on real estate websites - North Fayette (a lot of newer homes, newer and established subdivisions with town homes, near shopping etc). North Fayette is a Township so they could also be listed as Oakdale, McDonald (Allegheny County) as the City. You could also try Imperial (Findlay Township). You might want to search by school district, not because you need school info, but because it will pull the areas you need - they would be West Allegheny, Montour, Moon and maybe the prior poster could help with school districts in Beaver Co - maybe Hopewell?

Traffic on the Parkway West (279) is a pain, especially if you live on one side of the tunnel and work on the other.

Hope this helps.

The urban residential neighborhoods where you can walk to restaurants, shops, etc. are mostly in the east end of Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside). Mt. Lebanon is in the south hills, and therefore closer to your job, but depending on how close to a main artery you live, the commute might not be much different. Mt. Lebanon is more of a family neighborhood as people go there for the schools, and real estate taxes are high, but it does have sidewalks and a business district.

I%26#39;ve never lived in the Southside but I worked there for a few years, and it is an interesting place. Parking is a problem right around the main street (E. Carson) but I assume a lot of the newer townhouses would come with a garage. Southside attracts a young crowd, college age and a bit above. Shadyside has a slightly more mature appeal, I think. And then there%26#39;s the rest of the city, where we%26#39;re all about 80 years old. (Not that there%26#39;s anything wrong with that, I hope to make it there myself)

If you don%26#39;t mind driving everywhere, then the areas in Moon and Robinson might appeal to you but they do not have an urban feel to them.

Good luck, there are plenty of affordable, safe places to choose from. Welcome to Pittsburgh!

The 2 Beaver County school districts I would recommend looking at are Hopewell and Center. South Side schools are a little more rural than I think you would like, Monaca and Center are in merger negotiations, and some of the others aren%26#39;t quite what you would be looking for.

Oh and if you do prefer the urban life to suburbs, check Mt. Washington. You%26#39;re just an incline ride away from Station Square and some of the best restaurants in the city are on Grandview Avenue there.

It%26#39;s pricey but there are single family homes and it%26#39;s a nice neighborhood.

Thanks all, for the great comments. 2 quick follow-ups.

Commute - I live in Chicago where traffic is often at a standstill, so commutes are all relative. It can take me an hour to drive 20 miles.

Singles scene - If I choose a further out %26#39;burb, what are the social scenes like (are there better places than others)? I%26#39;m looking for more than a family-friendly community.

Thanks.

After growing up in Pittsburgh, moving to Va Beach for 6 years and then to DC, upon my return there was not a doubt in my mind I%26#39;d live in the South Side. I%26#39;ve lived on 18th and Carson for 3 years (in a great 2 bedroom, 2 story apartment) and have just now bought a house a few blocks down.

If you%26#39;re looking for city-style living, South Side has it. You can walk to the post office, grocery store, restaurants, nightlife, etc. There is, to me, less pretentiousness than in Shadyside. If you like to chill, there are chill bars- Fatheads on a weeknight, Lava Lounge, Z Lounge, Tiki Bar, and then on Fridays/Saturdays get away from the novices and go behind Carson to the Jaggerbush, or Red and Irenes, or go shoot pool at Shootz.

For food, I suggest the Library (serves until 1 am and has cool theme nights like crepes and karaoke, all you can eat BBQ, movieoke, etc), 17th Street Cafe, Carson Street Deli. I can give you more!

Here%26#39;s my synopsis in a nutshell-

Shadyside- snobby, but a great place to live

Oakland- great if you%26#39;re 18-21

Monroeville- close to all amenities but too far from airport area

North Hills- McKnight Road isn%26#39;t called McKnightmare for nothin%26#39;

South Hills- no 376 means sitting in lights no matter where you want to go, but the T is convenient for working downtown

I probably sound so pro-South Side, but there ya go.

Not being single, I can%26#39;t really comment on the ';singles scene';, however we do go to the South Side for a night out every once in awhile and it%26#39;s a great place to people watch.

While we stay on the main street (Carson) I%26#39;m sure there are places on the side streets that are favored by locals and would probably be better places to meet people. The Caron Street bars are loaded with college age - remember there are several major universities in downtown.

Again, check out the Mt. Washington area. I think it may be exactly what you are looking for.

Have to agree with ihearteurope post. I used to live on 16th Street, on the Southside. As a single person (then), had no car ...you didn%26#39;t need one...walk or take a bus. Always people around on the main street (East Carson). Always hussle and bustle of life going on, morning, noon and night. Sunday mornings were great...nice and quiet...all the outsiders have gone home and for the most part, just the people who actually live there are on the streets. Just don%26#39;t go food shopping on Saturday, it%26#39;s crazy busy at the Giant Eagle. On any given night you can just walk along and find a bar to go into, from loud and crazy to tame and everything and everybody inbetween. I had lots of fun...and I was in my early 40%26#39;s, so you being SM in 30%26#39;s would have no problem in the finding of fun aspect. If I were to move back to Pittsburgh today, there is no doubt in my mind I would be moving back to the Southside again...

If I were in my 30s, single and professional I would choose to live in either the South Side, Shadyside or please consider the new trendy places in the Strip District (part of downtown) which are really quite enticing. There are a few just now being rebuilt and redone from old architecture. Lovely, albeit expensive. I would simply want to be where some fun and people are as well as some good food. I am not in my 30s nor single anymore although professional....and I am rotting in the suburbs- they are okay if you are raising kids blah blah...but soooo boring. I think now that I should move...