Jefferson Hills in the south. Nice newer home plans (where you may get more for your money than in the trendy North), great school district, good parks, and I worked Presby for 2 years on call and could always be in Oakland within 30 minutes, NP.
Wexford area. Access to 79/279, and T-Pike is right up the street.
279/79 and the turnpike doesn’t really get you into oakland… wexford isn’t a bargain… getting on 79 it’s like 20 miles to the vets bridge…
Wow, never would have thought to look all the way down there! (Can you tell I’m from the North?)
I don’t know where to look for homes. In my preliminary searches I have found pretty homes in some North Hills Neighborhoods, and South Hills Neighborhoods. If they are working in Oakland I would suggest finding a well kept home in Squirrel Hill. Just because the homes are old does not mean they all have problems.
x3 on sq. hill. taxes suck ass @ 3%, but if they don’t have kids but have a dog, they have 2 really great parks to choose from (frick and schenley) pretty much within walking distance. I loved living there, but our budget for buying a house was significantly less than the houses we would have considered in sq. hill. Plenty of bars / restaraunts to choose from. Usually pretty quiet streets.
Old construction is awesome. My house is nearly 100 years old and is so solid it’s rediculous. My parents built their house is 96 and have cracks in some of the concrete slabs. All depends on the builder / contractor and his subs.
Yea, JH and even west mifflin might work, there are new homes in both areas. All he would have to do is go down 885 then to 837 and across the hotmetal bridge. If they want to live in the city, Schenley Farms would be great, he could probably walk to work.
Go there and type in this MLS # 639830 into the box, and you will see the type of homes that are there.
there is a new plan going up on arndt rd. in mc candless. drive past all the time .it may be a bit pricey but its 5 mins to 279 10min to 79. thats a sweet spot.
Stay the fuck out of West Mifflin. Shitty school district, no homes what you are looking for other than in CloverCrest, and even there they aren’t worth it.
Also, whomever said try and stay away from Ryan Homes, that is the truth. Miranda are just as bad.
And like Fah_Quad (and I said also in a previous post) if you want to go in the South Hills, Jefferson/Pleasant Hills is a great choice. Thats where I want to move to.
I typically tell people to look at the school districts, you can usually tell what kind of people make up an area by the schools. A good site to compare schools is www.schoolmatters.com
I’m an Allison Park (on the Shaler/Hampton border) but plan to move back to North Allegheny before the kids start grade school. The wife works downtown, and loves the easy commute. However she did work at Bechtel Bettis out in West Mifflin for a while and almost went crazy going to West Mifflin everyday. I work all over and like how easy it is for me to get wherever I need to go…
I’d be glad to help as a Realtor, and I also do rental properties if they decide to build, or rent until they decide.
I’ve set up auto-searches for a lot of people that would e-mail them new listings without having to do as many searches. No obligation to work with me, just glad to help out…
While I agree to stay out of West Mifflin, it isn’t due to the schools; it’s more the housing. It actually is a good district. It is on par with West Jefferson Hills if you compare like-students to like-students, and certainly on par with most of the North districts (using same like-to-like) except NA. The thing I like about West Mifflin schools is the diversity. You aren’t just sunk in to white middle or upper class. It has all colors and socio-economic backgrounds without the uppity snobs. But yet you can get a very good education there should you choose to these days. Recently new/renovated buildings, stadium, decent sports, good arts/music and advanced coursework should a student choose it. My wife teaches there, lol…, and we’re very good friends with the superintendent and assistant superintendent so I’m kind of biased. What brings West Mifflin’s “ratings” on those blanket rating sites down are the kids who could care less, or are socioeconomically challenged, which of course the district has more of than a white middle to upper class district would. If you take those out of the mix it is a great school district because it still has the same offering that a place like NA has, with the mix of diversity that I think a lot of kids grow up lacking these days.
I grew up in the North Hills. Graduated from NA. I like the North Hills better than the South Hills over all, but Jefferson Hills/Pleasant Hills area is right up there with any neighborhood in the North IMHO, and has more character. The only down side is that nasty-azz mall. But you can always get to South Hills Village pretty easily. South Park has a dog park as well. And I bet cash that you can get to Presby faster from there than anything comparable in the North but maybe Ross or Shaler/Hampton, and your home will be better valued.
I second the Shaler suggestion. I work for UPMC as well and it is very easy to get to any of the campuses from there. I like the area and we saw some nice houses while doing some house hunting of our own recently. Just be sure to stay away from Millvale.
I understand that there is more “diversity” and other things within the West Mifflin district, and that is fine and you are correct in that. But, I have lived here my entire life. I have two cousins that are in the middle school (one heading out to the HS now). I know basically the entire school board. I’ve known the past 2 superintendents, and I’m well aware of Pat Risha and his agenda for the district.
That being said, the district is bad, and it’s going to get worse. I graduated in 01, everything was great. Everything was really nice up until about 03/04. After that, things have gone downhill a lot. We had the diversity, the different backgrounds, and very VERY few problems. I unfortunately am well aware of the drug problem in the high school, especially considering the number of times my buddy who is a WM cop (and fellow grad like me) gets called there.
South Park, Elizabeth Forward, and TJ all have better districts to an outsider like me, but I really have no inside knowledge. But I know for a fact that WM is not good. Another district that isn’t very good is Shaler, but a lot of people don’t know that because there is quite a bit of money from Glenshaw going into that district, but you have a lot of problems from the Millvale end.
Nonetheless, West Mifflin doesn’t have the housing that this person is looking for, so its a moot point.
Thanks! I will definitely keep this in mind when they ask me for suggestions. They had toyed around with the idea of building instead of buying, but I don’t think any thing was ever decided on that one.
I live in, taught in (I used to be a teacher), and have relatives recently graduated from EF and trust that West Mifflin has way more opportunities for kids to excel. EF’s high school building roof leaks, but they have a multi-million dollar stadium and a non-winning sports program using it. Poor educational priorities, although more recent administration is trying to change it.
We’re talking about a few different things, though, Sean. What the district can offer for those who choose to use the opportunities, as opposed to the “class” (or lack thereof) of the student population that gets the negative publicity or pulls the rankings down… those are two different things.
West Mifflin offers a lot for those who want it, and the teachers and administration have the student’s best interests at heart even though that may not be seen when the politics become involved.
I graduated from NA and have friends who teach there now, and under the glossy exterior and rich district is a seedy underbelly of poor administration in some of the buildings, very heavy political agendas, and rampant student drug use. Upper St. Clair and NA have serious heroin problems. Of course that isn’t something reported in a web-based internet ranking.
Bottom line is, when you look at dollars spent per student, programs offered, and AP coursework offered, West Mifflin is up there. There are many schools with major problems, that West Mifflin certainly has, that don’t offer the kids who want to succeed a way out of it all. It is accepted practice from the administration on down in some districts to just live in mediocrity and not offer varied ways for students to achieve.
All I’m saying is: Yes, there are bad apples, like there are anywhere, from administration down to groups of students coming from areas where education may not be a priority. But the opportunity to succeed is offered and explored by West Mifflin, as a district, more so than many districts within the county, some with a more affluent population overall. Students choosing to take those opportunities (and parental support) is a different story, and that’s where West Mifflin has problems and why their “ranking” may not be as high.
Anyhow, sorry for the threadjack. It is moot. I wouldn’t move to West Mifflin, but I’d send my kid to school there in a heartbeat. And I would have my doubts about some other districts, some of which look great on paper, simply from knowing what I know from the inside of things and having friends within those districts. The shit you talk about at West Mifflin happens everywhere. West Mifflin at least offers ways out that some other districts with the same problems don’t.
Ideally, if I were in the south I’d pick TJ. If I were in the north, NA. But both have their share of problems that only differ from West Mifflin in skin color, or price of the drug used.
We have a house in the North Hills… I love the location and neighborhood… everyone is soo nice. It is very convient to get to anything. I would look into the Avonworth School District Area… Lots of new houses are going up and the School District is INCREDIBLE… if i could change one thing it would be our house was in that school district.
Having taught in Avonworthless school district, I’d totally disagree and not put that district anywhere close to it’s neighbors at NA. It is a step above Northgate, but still, not the best of districts. I’d go North Hills and NA first.
My wife and I bought our first house in Bethel Park about a year ago. We are both right out of college and the homes in BP are very affordable. Pretty easy access to 279, 79, 88, 51, and the homestead area without too much traffic. Usually takes me about 40 minutes to get into the city and I live at the far end of BP. Great school district, taxes are horrible (compared to the rest of Pittsburgh), and there are really no “lower class” areas or low income people to screw up the area. I have been in BP for all of my 23 years and I think it is great. It is far enough from the city to not have to deal with traffic, but close enough that you can get down there pretty easy. It is also on the trolley line which is really nice.
EDIT: I meant to say that taxes are NOT horrible compared to the rest of the area.
Forgot about BP area. Nice choice! Good district. My only concern for OP is getting to Presby in 30 minutes. That’d be cutting it close. But I would buy out there, for sure. Totally forgot about that and the area deserves mention.
Now i have to say NA is in no way a top district… I wouldnt even look at a house in that area for the fact of that school district… Its just too big and most normal average students are just that… unless your a superstar you wont shine… Thats my 0.02 cents