Grad student renting in Pittsburgh suburb (Ross Township, Lebanon: apartment complexes, for rent, transfer) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

dani5505 · 02-19-2011, 10:46 PM

I am going to be a grad student (PhD in chemistry) beginning this summer at Pitt. I have lived within 30 miles of the city for the majority of my life, but I have never really been familiar with the City of Pittsburgh and its immediate neighborhoods, so I'm looking for some some insider info. I am currently engaged, and my fiance is trying to join the PA state police. However, with Pennsylvania's current budget issues and the lack of State Police classes, he may have to join a local department in the interim, so we are looking for somewhere outside the city limits. With my stipend and his income at his current job, we have a rough max budget of 700-800 a month for rent alone, although we would be thrilled to find something in the 500-650 region. Our primary concerns are safety and accessibility to public transportation (Pitt's parking permit prices are huge , and I'd like to avoid extravagant gas costs, plus with my Pitt I'D I can ride Allegheny County Port Authority transit for FREE). We had been looking into some nice apartment complexes in Allison Park, but I am afraid we are overlooking other areas that are cheaper and just as nice. I would say that the ~45 minute commute by bus from there to Oakland is perhaps a bit longer than I'd prefer. From what I do know, I think I would prefer places north of Pittsburgh, but I am open-minded. Grad school could last as long as 5 years, and I'd love to find a place that we will be happy in for that amount of time. As the two of us have grown up in very suburban neighborhoods, we are not too concerned with being able to walk to entertainment, although it would be a nice change.

Not sure if I've provided enough details to narrow anything down since Pittsburgh's huge, but I can add any details about what we want if asked. Thanks in advance!

BrianTH · 02-20-2011, 12:06 AM

Regent Square and its immediate surroundings are partially in three suburbs (Wilkinsburg, Edgewood, and Swissvale), and it has good bus access to Oakland. I actually started renting in this area as a Pitt grad student.

dani5505 · 02-20-2011, 02:34 AM

BrianTH: I will have to look into Wilkinsburg, Edgewood, and Swissvale. Regent Square, although I have heard rave reviews of the area, is inside city limits and thus not what we are looking for at the moment since he would prefer to not join the city PD at the present time.

PeterRabbit: troll alert?

greg42 · 02-20-2011, 05:42 AM

Well, only a tiny bit of the area considered Regent Square is in the city. The rest is in one of those other municipalities (Wilkinsburg, Edgewood) which on their own have varying degrees of desirability but when they are in the Regent Square area are all pretty decent spots to live.

Allison Park (Hampton and vicinity) is probably not going to have the best transit connections for you, though I'm not quite as familiar with the bus route out there (just when checking one time seemed like the Rt 8 bus routes were not too handy). Plus, yeah, I wouldn't think most rents out there would be too low.

I think you could look at the Ohio River suburbs, like Bellevue, Ben Avon, Emsworth. These usually had reasonable rents. This probably wouldn't have a direct Oakland bus but connection transfer downtown should be straightforward and buses between downtown and Oakland are always pretty plentiful. Or, if you can find something along the West Busway, like Crafton or Carnegie, there is a West Busway route that goes through to Oakland without transfer necessary. I don't know what the rents are like out there. These may not be the shortest bus trips in the world either but I think they would be under 45 min, maybe closer to 30 min. Someplace like Millvale or Sharpsburg could probably work too, or perhaps the West View vicinity (including parts of Ross Township). Just trying to think of places that should have reasonable rents, are not in the city and would have a reasonable bus ride. Those are what come to mind for me. Millvale and Carnegie especially (and particularly the former) you have to watch for flood prone spots, unfortunately, but they are otherwise reasonable towns to live in.

Blackbeauty212 · 02-20-2011, 07:33 AM

Yes be careful about renting in the Burbs and depending on PAT....right now PAT is struggling and has been cutting routes and service for the last 3 years consistantly...

Public Transit is not one of Pittsburgh strong suites right now, and is a serious turn off to anyone that doesnt want to be a depended on a car.

BrianTH · 02-20-2011, 07:44 AM

Unfortunately, the G2 (the West Busway route that continued to Oakland) is one of the latest victims of the state's funding cuts for public transit. So, it is back to transferring Downtown, which is doable but obviously more inconvenient.

Anyway, it is confusing because Regent Square is an official neighborhood of Pittsburgh, but it is also a bigger neighborhood that includes parts of Wilkinsburg, Edgewood, and Swissvale (all of which have their own police departments, I might note). And there are areas not technically in the broader-defined Regent Square that people still tend to associate with it.

(by the way, obviously the OP is not a troll. everyone has a first post, and this was clearly a legit one)

SteelCityRising · 02-20-2011, 07:53 AM

Dormont may also be a possibility. You would be living just south of the city and could take the "T" to Downtown. From there you could take a bus to Oakland. I'd imagine that would be under a 45-minute commute. Dormont is a dense inner suburb of Pittsburgh with a small Downtown area. It is surrounded by some very affluent communities (i.e. Mt. Lebanon Township, Upper St. Clair Twp., etc.) but Dormont itself is more working-class and affordable (albeit with very high property taxes). The non-Pittsburgh portions of Regent Square are also good recommendations.

greg42 · 02-20-2011, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Unfortunately, the G2 (the West Busway route that continued to Oakland) is one of the latest victims of the state's funding cuts for public transit. So, it is back to transferring Downtown, which is doable but obviously more inconvenient.

Yeah, that's gonna up the time a bit to maybe put the trip over that 45 min mark, but maybe not given that the busway helps avoid some traffic. Funny that right after I posted I looked at the link someone posted for the cuts, and I was trying to figure out if that's what it meant, G2 no longer to Oakland. Sucks.

BrianTH · 02-20-2011, 08:04 AM

That and the 28X taking back over the Robinson loop are two big steps backward for the West Busway.

dani5505 · 02-20-2011, 04:59 PM

I hadn't mentioned before that my fiance currently has a job in Cranberry Twp. that he will be keeping until another opportunity is available, which is why we were concentrating our efforts on areas north of Pittsburgh so as to keep commuting costs as low as possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg42

I think you could look at the Ohio River suburbs, like Bellevue, Ben Avon, Emsworth. These usually had reasonable rents.

I have looked into the cost of rent in these areas and they are for the most part indeed quite reasonable. I'm wondering if you or anyone else could give me more information about the area itself, such as safety, neighborhood feel, if the area is thriving/run-down, etc. I am aware of the difficulties the PAT line is having, though I still feel that dealing with a transfer downtown may still be a better choice than gas costs and parking pass costs at Pitt.