Pittsburgh help!!

Thank you all for the info on Baltimore. We got another fellowship interview at Pittsburgh yesterday, so here I am again!!!

If any of you can tell me a little about Pittsburgh and where I should be looking for rental properties (either house, apartment, condo, townhouse) within 20 minutes commute to the medical center, safe for walking around in, and with good elementary schools (I will have a first grader by then), I would greatly appreciate it!!

Thanks!!!

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Grandma and cousins (on DH's side) live in the 'Burgh. Grandma lives right by Pitts campus and cousins live in burbs. I love, love, love Pittsburgh! But I know nothing about schools and such. The houses right around campus are old and depending on the previous owner (college students or old Italian couple) you could be getting one that needs a lot of work.

There are good school districts in Pittsburgh (not sure what they are, but I know they're there!) With most big cities, the actual city school district is usually hit-or-miss.

[DCJenn]

I love the 'burgh! My family is from the 'burgh and my grandmother is still there. My family lived in Bellevue and Ben Avon. Dad says the Northgate school system isn't that great. He says that on the North Side, out toward Cranberry has better schools.

Abigail can hopefully chime in.

Jenn

We lived in Shadyside which is a quick busride to UPMC. Squirrel Hill is another popular neighborhood, equally as close. We didn't have school-aged kids when we lived in Pgh, so I can't comment on that. Of course, there is Oakland, the UPMC's neighborhood, but I wouldn't consider it kid friendly. I call Oakland the college ghetto. Shadyside is SO beautiful! Another neighborhood to consider is Regent Square. It's a little bit further away.

[DCJenn]

My great-aunt lived in Shadyside. It IS beautiful.

Jenn

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Grandma lives in Oakland - it is the college ghetto Cousins live in Cranberry...

[GrayMatterWife]

I spent the better part of my childhood in the North Hills. My parents still live in the Burgh. And my mom used to be a pharmaceutical sales rep in the city, so she is very familiar with the entire region. If I can be of any help in any way, PM me!

Shadyside and Squirell Hill are both really lovely. A friend whose husband did a Cards fellowship at UPMC lived pretty close to Ross Park Mall, right off of the dreaded Rt 19. I think she said the schools in that area were good (they've since relocated for "the job").

My cousins grew up in Cranberry Township -- which pretty much personifies urban sprawl. The schools were good back then, but they're 40 and 42 now ...

[GrayMatterWife]

. . . Ross Park Mall . .

Random, silly aside: I sang at the opening of that mall!! I was in a chorus. (Sad because I CANNOT sing.) We sang cheezy songs from "Fame."

We are currently in Pittsburgh for my husband's residency. The parts that seem to be most family friendly are the North and South Hills. I currently live in Greentree which is in the South Hills and we like it. It is very close commute to down town and we only have a 1% wage tax versus a 3% you will find in the city. We also love Cranberry Township but it is a pretty far commute, it takes about 30 mintues to get downtown with out traffic from there.

We like Craigslist to find places to rent. They have a lot of housing rentals on there as well as some apartments.