What to look for in a Pittsburgh apartment?

November 11, 2005 8:56 PM

PittsburghApartmentFilter: What recommendations do you have for someone looking for a (relatively) cheap apartment?

I'm looking for an apartment in Oakland or thereabouts. Since it will be my first apartment, I have little to no idea what I should be looking for, or what I can expect. My price range is somewhere around $400/month, give or take a hundred. I'm looking for suggestions like: Make sure it has a dishwasher. Or, Make sure to check out Shadyside. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

posted by matkline to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

For the money, you won't find much in Shadyside unless you have a roommate. If you are willing to try Bloomfield, Friendship, Greenfield or the Southern part of East Liberty (the rest of EL is not that safe), you might find better deals.

South Oakland is a typical college neighborhood. It's crowded and parking is impossible. North Oakland has more crime, but is cheaper. Both are not that nice to look at.

There is a very scary house that has a room for rent just a little bit down from Wightman on Forbes. It is super cheap (less than $400), but you'll have to share a bathroom. They do allow dogs.

I lived in Squirrel Hill in a very nice apartment for ~$600 a month. You might get lucky. Squirrel Hill is a great place to live is is very accessible to Oakland. If you are looking in Greenfield try to find something near the 61C bus line or the Greenfield bridge. Both are convenient to Oakland.

Stay out of the Hill District, Homewood, most of East Liberty (though it is having a comeback), Garfield, and Hazelwood.
posted by Alison at 9:23 PM on November 11, 2005

Good luck finding an expensive apartment in Pittsburgh.. try craigslist, try livejournal (pittsburgh, skibo, pittkiddies) - every post is about "finding cheap". Just get a roommate and live in Squirrel Hill, it's really the most pleasant route to take. You can easily find townhouses for $1000.. the one I'm moving out of is in Shadyside, 3BR, 2BA, W/D, four floors, garage ($70/mo extra), hardware floors, etc. for $1090/mo with the garage.

Just don't rent from Mozart.

If I could sum up Pittsburgh in a word, it might be 'cheap'.
posted by kcm at 9:27 PM on November 11, 2005

400 N. Negley Ave, managed by Colebrook, offers one bedrooms for $475. On the border of Highland Park and East Liberty, it's safe (about a block from a police and fire station), cheap, has garage parking (for an extra fourty bucks), is directly on the busline that goes into Pitt Campus (among other places).
posted by SeizeTheDay at 8:06 AM on November 12, 2005

A friend of mine lives in Bloomfield/Friendship and pays like $600 a month (between him and his roommate) for a huge two-bedroom. I really liked that neighborhood when I visited, and I definitely think it's worth checking out.
posted by elisabeth r at 8:13 AM on November 12, 2005

I live on McKee in McKee Place Apartments. They are pretty shitty and typical collegiate living, but I like it just fine. My two bedroom is 650/month, and all the building just got brand new windows last month.
There is always dumb stuff wrong but matinence is really helpful (especially if you're female).

I go to carlow and my bf (who lives on mckee also) goes to pitt- and sooo many times my friends who live in shadyside are frusturated at the commute, and have to super-plan to be on and off campus and back home before the bus stops running.

You said your first apt, are you a freshmen? If you're going to be a freshmen I would recommend living in a walking distance from campus.

Hope I helped!
- rebecca.label(at)gmail.com if you have any questions!
posted by ackeber at 7:59 AM on December 2, 2005