Texas to Pittsburgh...so overwhelmed! (Bethel Park, Lebanon: apartments, rent, home)

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by greg42

Any commute through the Ft Pitt Tunnel and onto the Parkway West is never a reverse commute. Traffic is there both ways, morning and evening.

Indeed. The best way to get to Canonsburg in a timely manner is to find a way to go down route 19.

[Lauren18299]

Originally Posted by UKyank

If the time he is working are normal hrs (though this is obviously a gas related job so normal hrs may not apply), then he would be traveling against the flow of traffic outbound & the morning commute which shouldn't be bad.


The SouthSide would be a good choice as it caters to the younger crowd, is on the 'right' side of the rivers already that you're traveling to, has some good housing choices for your budget (I have a neighbor in the process of moving out that is looking to rent her place which is very nice if you want any of the details), and is the largest night life area in the city.

He will be working normal business hours so we were hoping it would be a reverse commute.

Yes, I would be interested in more info. We are looking at any and everything at this point! My only concern with Southside is that it seems to be more a place one would want to go to have a good time and then go home...not necessarily live there??

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Indeed. The best way to get to Canonsburg in a timely manner is to find a way to go down route 19.

I don't think there's such a thing as a timely manner from downtown area/South Side/whatever to Canonsburg. Sounds familiar though, like we had this question before.

From downtown/South Side I think it's going to take something like 45 min or so.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm going to have to start taking pictures of Market Square and the Cultural District in the evenings and on weekends just to prove they are not in fact empty at those times (and yes, I also speak from personal experience).

Keep note of the date and time when you do. I'd be interested in seeing such pictures.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Lauren18299

My only concern with Southside is that it seems to be more a place one would want to go to have a good time and then go home...not necessarily live there??

In my view the South Side is actually a great all-around neighborhood--most of the time. It does get a bit of a Mardi Gras/Spring Break vibe at times, but if you live a little distance from Carson Street I don't think that is necessarily a big problem.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Lauren18299

Yes, I would be interested in more info. We are looking at any and everything at this point! My only concern with Southside is that it seems to be more a place one would want to go to have a good time and then go home...not necessarily live there??

I'll see what I can find out. And the SouthSide is fine as long as you avoid living right on Carson St (the main St) as that will indeed fill up with peope having a good time post 10pm on fri & sat. But outside of those times things are only slightly busy with a good selection of restaurants & other amenities in close walking distance.

[Katarina Witt]

What about the immediate south suburbs, e.g. Dormont, Mt. Lebanon, etc?

[mjlough6]

Both Mt Lebo and Dormont or even Castle Shannon would cut a good bit of time off and a lot of headaches out of a daily commute to Canonsburg. Mt Lebo has nice parks, golf, tennis, decent little town area with a few bars and is just a nice overall place to be, and still only a 20 to 30 min ride on the train/subway to downtown.
Do not underestimate the importance of the rivers and tunnels around town. If you move to the strip and one single bridge closes for whatever reason, let alone all the road construction and then the tunnels, it could stretch a 40 minute commute to an hour and a half or three hours in no time.
I only lived in city of Pittsburgh for my college years, near Duquesne University (uptown) but I worked in Mt Lebo, and delivered for my job to Canonsburg. The drive from Canonsburg to Mt Lebo is relatively painless, especially if you are close to an exit for RT79 ("freeway") or RT19 (four lane with lights). If you are going from the city you will HAVE to cross a bridge, then more than likely go thru a tunnel just to get to 19 or 79. This alone if traffic is bad can be about a 40 minutes if not an hour. Do it on a sunday when the Steelers are playing and the place is a ghost town turns it into about 8 minutes.
If you want the urban feel...with a LITTLE more convenient commute than the strip, then go Southside. But unless you plan on going out every nite, Southside gets OLD quickly. Basically no green area, not much for just taking a nice walk, LOts of bars, tourists, and no bathrooms, parking is a nightmare, and once you are off of Carson St there really is not a whole lot more to do. All you end up with is a bunch of drunks (me included) stumbling around, trying to figure out where they parked all while having to take a leak. To see a true Pittsburgh tradition just google "pittsburgh parking chair" images and you can see how you will reserve you prized space when you live on the southside.
Mt Lebo has a main drag, yet is just a few minutes drive into town, with a ton of time shaved off of the commute to Canonsburg. Has nice parks, high school area, bars, grocery, etc. Houses are nice interesting older architecture, and the T that goes to PGH runs right next to the main street in town. So...shorter commute, nice neighborhood to just go take a walk, nice parks, public transportation, a few good watering holes, I would definitely look at Mt lebo area over downtown.
My post is so long because I may actually have to move from Western PA to Texas soon, and I am completely out of my element looking at that area. As of now may be San Antonio, so I know how you feel. Its like a different country altogether. Good Luck.

[ex-burgher]

I just want to point out that Mount Lebanon and Dormont would probably seem urban to someone coming from Fort Worth, since they have a central business district, sidewalks and older homes. I think they would be a great choice.

[subdivisions]

Your husband's commute will be a nightmare from downtown to Canonsburg, mostly due to the river crossing + tunnel combo. There is no such thing as a "reverse commute" when you are talking about the Fort Pitt or Liberty bridges/tunnels. Both of those arteries, which are your main roads between downtown and Canonsburg, are absolutely horrible during rush hour (meaning 3:30 - 7:30 pm), and I have been in traffic back-ups there even on weekend afternoons and at 11 pm at night, etc. Fully half the time he spends in the car daily will be spent just getting from Downtown to the other side of the river.

The problem with your plan is that Downtown and the Strip District are on the "wrong" side of the river for a Canonsburg commute. If you want a young, hip, urban experience without spending half your life stuck in a car on the parkway, do as others have suggested and look harder in the Southside (which in some places is just a little walk over a bridge to Downtown).

I know of which I speak, because I live in the East End and my husband commutes to Robinson Township over the Fort Pitt bridge. His commute is sometimes 2+ hours daily depending on traffic. He even goes to work at an ungodly early hour just to avoid the major traffic in the afternoon, but it's still pretty horrible. This lifestyle choice, to us, is the best of a variety of bad solutions to our commute problem (we have one car, I work in Oakland where the parking situation sucks horribly so I have to use public transit, and we refuse to live in the suburbs), and is still the absolute worst thing about our life in Pittsburgh. We both hate his commute with a passion and it sucks many valuable hours out of our lives together and kills the soul.

If you don't absolutely *have* to make a Fort Pitt/Liberty bridge commute (e.g., you work in the East End or something), my strong advice to you is: don't do it! Compromise a little on the neighborhood and buy yourself some happiness.