Will you teach me how to live in Pittsburgh?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
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<p>Hello,</p>

<p>In the fall, my girlfriend and I will be moving to Pittsburgh for the first time-- I'm a small-town guy from Bradford and she grew up in the Bay Area of California, during the housing market crash (when things got BAD).</p>

<p>I'm a little worried about going to the big city but I've already gotten some sound advice from this forum. I'm just wondering if a new topic with a more apt title might bring about others to put in their two cents.</p>

<p>My girlfriend hates cities. She doesn't want to go back, with bad memories. I know Pittsburgh isn't exactly like the Bay Area but it's important that I have a lot to show her.</p>

<p>I'm not used to variety. Or excitement, frankly. It's a very small town. So I don't even know what to tell her that's good, I just have no concept of what's going on, save for Schenley Park. She loves nature and the more I can tell her about the nature aspects of Pittsburgh, the better.</p>

<p>EDIT: Also, this isn't just about getting used to the idea. My girl and I need to find housing and we need to figure out where we're getting our groceries and other necessaries.</p>

<p>Also, does anyone know how to find good apartment deals? Anybody have friends that will be leaving their lease open this August?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, to anyone who can help! :D</p>

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<p>The best way to think about Pittsburgh is that it’s less of a city and more a collection of neighborhoods that all happen to share similar zipcodes. Each neighborhood in and of itself is pretty small (a lot are walkable) so you kind of get a different feel of each neighborhood. </p>

<p>The main ones you’ll be frequenting are probably:</p>

<p>Oakland/South Oakland: Oakland is where Pitt is located, as well as a variety of shops (not a lot, but some, like the bookstore, Pitt store, and some other stores) as well as bars and restaurants and necessities (Rite Aid, IGA (a TINY grocery store). South Oakland is a lot of cheap student housing- ideal for you and your GF.</p>

<p>North Oakland/Shadyside: Getting slightly residential and away from campus. There are better housing options here, but also more expensive (and at times, farther from campus). Shadyside also has Walnut street- lots of typical shops (GAP, Apple Store, Coach, JCrew, etc.) and some good restaurants and bars. Craig Street also has a bunch of great restaurants.</p>

<p>There is a great Grocery Store here (Giant Eagle Market District) that the 71A or 71C (buses) will take you to. I’d highly recommend doing grocery shopping here, although it will be a bit of a trek all the way back to South Oakland (a car would SERIOUSLY help).</p>

<p>Squirrel Hill: A small street of shops (Forbes between Shady and Murray) with some great restaurants (lots of good Asian choices for some bizarre reason). On Murray there are more restaurants (some good pizza) as well as a great priced movie theater (The Manor) and a smaller, kosher grocery store (regular Giant Eagle). Any 61 bus (61A, 61B, 61C, 61D) will take you here.</p>

<p>The Waterfront: Your typical strip mall type atmosphere. Lots of typical stores (Macys, Ann Taylor, Express, Target, etc.) There’s also a massive Giant Eagle located. here. Also some restaurants scattered about (TGIFridays, Red Robin, PF Changs, etc.) and a huge AMC movie theater. The 61C or 61D will take you here.</p>

<p>The SouthSide: At the Southside Works you’ve got some food choices (Cheesecake Factory, Hofbrau Haus) as well as some stores (Forever 21, H&M). On the opposite end of the bridge, you’ll also find a ****ton of bars. I actually recommend avoiding these bars. Too many weird people. And bros. The 75 will take you here.</p>

<p>Downtown: If you ever go Downtown to see a show (you get GREAT student discounts) at the theater, or a performance at Stage AE, or a concert/game at Consol, you’d go here. I rarely eat or do anything downtown except go to see a show or go to the football stadium. Almost any bus will take you downtown to almost all the same stops. </p>

<p>You’ll be able to grab all of these buses from campus and use your ID for free to get you to these locations. There is also Schenley Park which is a walk from campus (easy walk, pretty) which has a variety of things like an ice area/mini golf course, frisbee golf, a turf field/track, playgrounds, grill areas, lots of grass, etc. There is also the Phipps Conservatory, a great botanical garden that has a few themed shows throughout the year. Your ID gets you in there for free too (as well as the Carnegie Museum. I highly recommend the Natural History and Art ones at Forbes and Craig. Go touch a dinosaur bone!)</p>

<p>Pitt itself is pretty good about green space, we’ve got a huge lawn all around the Cathedral (lots of clubs like Quidditch and Rugby will practice here). There’s also Schenley Plaza across the street as well as Soldiers and Sailors Lawn off of Fifth. They tore down the old Children’s Hospital on Fifth and turned it into this huge green grassy area, but honestly I’ve never seen anyone actually on it…</p>

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<p>Craigslist. Scour it. Look up the locations on the map. Make sure the landlord isn’t crazy (google that!). That’s how a majority of Pitt students find housing.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much, A.O! You sure know your Pitt!</p>

<p>And thanks to Southeastmom for the PM! (I can’t respond yet, posts < 15).</p>

<p>Also I’ve heard about the Strip District downtown being good for fresh meats and etc, do you guys know anything about that?</p>

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<p>Hi, Darkiron and possum made great posts about the University and downtown areas. True, it is where you will spend most of your time if you are a student. (But don’t forget to ride the incline up from station square and stroll along the edge of Mount Washington. View the city lights at night. On a special occasion, maybe have dinner at LeMont’s if you feel like splurging. Very romatic!)</p>

<p>As a student, finding transportation can be hard. A car is so worth having if you like to get out in the woods. If you can tackle that, the area has so much to offer if you can find a way to travel a little further beyond the downtown-south side - Oakland corridor.</p>

<p>Parts of Allegheny county and Westmoreland county are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful in the autumn when the leaves change colors. If you can manage it, a trip to Fallingwater in the fall is definitely worth it. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright house, cantelevered over a stream in the woods. It’s really nice. I used to bike. There are beautiful biking trails at Ohiophyle. You can also go rafting there. Closer in, Hartwood Acres and North Park are also beautiful. I think there is a place to rent kayaks off the north shore, and you can paddle around and look at the city from the water. In the winter, you can go skiing at Boyce Park or, better yet, Seven Springs. Yes, there is the hill, but it’s not as big as the mountains you see out west. In my opinion, cross country skiing is definitely the way to go in that are. There is a cool cave with trails inside that you can see at Laurel Caverns. </p>

<p>If you like little towns, the area in eastern Allegheny and western Westmoreland is dotted with genuine log cabins built in the lte 1700’s. Settler’s Cabin park also has a log cabin. North of the city, there are a bunch of little towns with antique shops, B&B’s and pretty homes built in the 800’s or early 1900’s. To the east, Ligonier is pretty and in Fayette country to the south, there is an old historical military fort where George Washington once fought during the French and Indian war. </p>

<p>If you can go as far as West Virginia, Cooper’s Rock State Forest is absolutely beautiful in the spring when the rhodies bloom. The Cheat River gorge is something to see, and also has rafting.</p>

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<p>What luck for me, this would probably be my favorite question in the world as I frequently joke that I should work for the PGH Chamber of Commerce. I am a native but have lived out of state since 1995, with the exception of one year and am hoping to move back this summer. Here is what I love about the area, you have city life on a scale that is not overwhelming in size or price, great healthcare and education available. People are NICE. I live in New England and let me tell you, people are cold up here. Yes, sometimes I meet somebody rude in Pittsburgh, but that is the exception, and yes, sometimes I meet somebody here who is very nice and helpful, but THAT is the exception. Regarding a move to the area, I guess the biggest issue is where to live. I think that would depend on if you had a car or not, if you do then that does allow more freedom, if not, no problem. Choose a location closer to where you will need to be, perhaps between where the 2 of you need to be if you are not going to the same school or working in the same place. AwesomeOpossum did a great job of providing some neighborhood information. I would include Lawrenceville as an area that has experienced a lot of change over the past several years and is somewhat of a hipster neighborhood… not sure if that is viewed positively or negatively by you. Regarding the Strip district… I LOVE it. I am middle aged so not really interested in the night life piece but on a warm Saturday morning, there is no place I would rather be. I go all year when I am in town, but when it is warm it takes on a different feel (at least to me).</p>

<p>-Check out Pittsburgh Magazine as a source for regional information on an ongoing information
-<a href=“http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/”>http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/&lt;/a&gt; for some outside activities focused around the rivers
-<a href=“http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/”>http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/&lt;/a&gt; all types of outdoor activities
-<a href=“http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/raccooncreek/index.htm”>DCNR Homepage; a state park that is about 45 minutes from Oakland, click on “calendar” for events
-<a href=“http://bike-pgh.org/”>http://bike-pgh.org/&lt;/a&gt;
-<a href=“http://www.threeriversrowing.org/”>http://www.threeriversrowing.org/&lt;/a&gt;
-even though you are outdoor enthusiasts, don’t forget about the wealth of opportunities available in other activities…museums, music, theater, opera…My son has a friend who is a student at Pitt and I know she uses the bus system for free, I believe the Carnegie museums are free as well.
-<a href=“http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/”>http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/&lt;/a&gt;
-<a href=“http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/”>http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/&lt;/a&gt; great history museum
-<a href=“http://www.mattress.org/”>Home Page - Mattress Factory; a smaller museum in the Mexican War Streets
-<a href=“Home | The Frick Pittsburgh”>Home | The Frick Pittsburgh; has a great art museum and the old Frick house, also a carriage/car museum
-<a href=“http://culturaldistrict.org/”>http://culturaldistrict.org/&lt;/a&gt; cultural district offerings
-also tons of sports team things, Steelers, Penguins, Pirates… even though I do not enjoy sports generally, I try to take in a Pirate game every so often, just a beautiful stadium and beautiful view of my favorite city.</p>

<p>How is that for a start? Let me know if there are any other specific questions I may be able to help you with. You can add it here or PM me. I feel for your situation. We are hoping our son gets into a grad program for the fall and he will probably be in the same situation of having to move someplace where he has no idea about anything. I would recommend going once before if possible to get a feel for the place and scope out areas. If you will be affiliated with Pitt, I believe they have a list of landlords that agree to meet minimum criteria in exchange for being on the Pitt list, if you choose other than that, try to get a good idea of management.</p>

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<p>DarkIron112-
Where exactly are you from? If you mean Bradford, PA, you’re totally right, Pittsburgh is such a change from rural PA/Western NY. </p>

<p>Are you two coming in a freshmen students at Pitt? If so, consider dorm life. Life on campus is a little different from living an apartment. </p>

<p>As for your gf hating cities, the Oakland area of Pittsburgh is not as crazy as you’re probably imagining. Coming from a small town close to Bradford, PA, myself, I can tell you that only 4 months into living here, Oakland has already become homey to me. </p>

<p>It’s easy and free to get around the city with your student ID, and the buses go almost anywhere. In my experience, the Port Authority website is not really reliable or straightforward, but Google Maps is really good for its public transformation option.</p>

<p>Opossum has done a great job (as usual) detailing each neighborhood, and the best way to really discover the atmosphere of the areas is to experience them, though I do understand your desire to figure out places to get the essentials.
I live in dorms now, but I do know there is a website for some landlord information for apartments associated with Pitt. [Off-Campus</a> Living | University of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.ocl.pitt.edu/]Off-Campus”>http://www.ocl.pitt.edu/) might be a good place to start.</p>

<p>If you have any more specific questions I can do my best to answer for you!</p>

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<p>I lived in San Francisco for a few years so I can compare and contrast Pittsburgh to the Bay Area some. Where did your girlfriend live, specifically?</p>

<p>If she is into nature, I think living somewhere with quick access to Schenley Park or Frick Park is ideal. These parks are large and much more natural and wooded than the laid out planned parks like Golden Gate Park. They’re more like the wooded parts of the Presidio. Now, to be honest, nothing is going to be as spectacular as the nature around the Bay area with Yosemite and all of those parks that are around there (really I’m not sure if there is another place in the nation like that), but there are plenty of outdoorsy things to do outside the city. If you have a car or rent something like a zip car, you can easily get to the Laurel Highlands and go to places like Ohiopyle, etc. Pittsburgh is a pretty green city though in its own right. It really has one of the nicest park systems in the country, and they are all more wooded and natural than, say, equivalent parks in other large cities like Philly or NYC. For instance, in Schenley and Frick, there are parts of the park where you absolutely can go and pretend you are out in the middle of the woods. There are activities to do on the rivers. Just be proactive about getting out and taking advantage of the things that interest you and I bet you’re going to really enjoy living there.</p>

<p>The comment above about considering dorms may be a good one, at least for a year, just to gain a sense of community with other students. If not, then I’d look around South Oakland, Squirrel Hill, or Shadyside. I think it is important that both you and girlfriend make your own friends too, so if you do live off-campus, remember that you may need to be a little more proactive getting to know your classmates or neighbors. The good news is, Pitt and Pittsburgh are pretty friendly.</p>

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<p>If you are into the outdoors, you may want to check this out: [Venture</a> Outdoors - Home](<a href=“http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/]Venture”>http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/)</p>