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[battlepunk]

Hey everyone, I'm Jei, and I'll be starting grad school in Pittsburgh this fall. This is my first long-distance quest for housing, so I'm kind of anxious about it and could really use some advice. What neighborhoods would you suggest for a University of Pittsburgh student who A.) doesn't have a car, and B.) is uncertain about her future employment

Comments

[beeporama]

Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and North Oakland are very convenient neighborhoods along bus lines. A little further out along the same lines are Bloomfield and Greenfield, which are usually a little more affordable.

[battlepunk]

Cheers! I feel like bus lines will become my new best friends.

[dreamslesssweet]

Would also suggest Friendship, which is really affordable, is on many bus lines, and is the same area as Bloomfield/Shadyside. It was my favorite place to live in Pittsburgh.

Although it's been ~5 years since I've lived in Pgh, what always worked for me was driving around the neighborhoods and calling numbers on For Rent signs. If you can swing this, it'll be worth the trip. Pittsburgh has many beautiful, unique, and inexpensive apartments out there. It also has many shitty, broken, and inexpensive apartments, too. :)

Stay away from ES Management. Horrible slumlords. Also check out landorslum.com for ratings of local landlords.

[battlepunk]

Thanks! I'll be heading out there for orientation, but I'm worried that that'll be cutting it a little close, so I'm scouring the Internet now.

Oh, that looks like a really useful website! Thanks a bunch!

[dreamslesssweet]

Oh, and one more thing--especially since you're a grad student, I'd suggest staying away from South Oakland. It's chock full of shitty houses and loud undergrads. You can find a gem here or there, but you can do way better.

[simrob]

Great advice - I live in a South Oakland gem (in Panther Hollow, which isolates me from the undergrad craziness somewhat), but finding one takes a lot of patience and luck even if you're living in the city. Stay east of Craig, and, failing that, at least stay north of Fifth.

[battlepunk]

I Google-mapped it, and it looks like the campus building I'll be frequenting most is just north of Fifth St! (I know, I know, I'm dreaming if I think I can find a place across the street from campus without paying out my nose for it. And yet. -_-;)

[ipmcc]

At the same time, Souf Oakl'n' is the closest to where you'll be going to school, so if you want to walk, it's your best bet. I'm now in my mid-thirties, so those days are over for me, but I lived in a student ghetto pretty much all through my late twenties and didn't really mind it all that much. I think I can count the number of times I was actually, materially kept awake by neighbors on one hand (at worst on only two.)

[battlepunk]

Sweet, thanks for the advice!

[battlepunk]

Cheers! I'm going for my MLIS.