[deleted] t1_jeepj6c wrote on March 31, 2023 at 2:00 PM

Echoing above commenter they said avoid the Woodstock side. Like the plague.

There are a lot of condemned houses and vacants in Swissvale, I lived there for eight years and the borough doesn’t have any budget anymore for tearing down those homes that are a blight. It’s unfortunate because it would create parcels between houses that the neighbors can buy and use as green space.

There are a fair amount of shootings in Swissvale but outside of a child getting killed in a retaliatory shooting on Columbia Ave I don’t remember any of them being random. EDIT: oops forgot about the woman and child who were killed last month. So a FEW dead kids but hey.

One big thing to note is the Commercial Street Bridge (the bridge that goes into the SH tunnel) is set to be replaced soon and Commercial Street itself will be shut for years. There will be no good cut around for avoiding the tunnels when that happens and that construction project is going to be an absolute bear.

If you live up on the slopes side, watch out for Mark the Tweaker. Keep your yard implements inside or they will absolutely go missing.

Expect to get yelled at by the school kids a lot.

dfiler t1_jef4nve wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:41 PM

Commerical street is NOT being closed for years. It will be open except for brief closures and the final bridge move/demolition. Source: PennDOT.

Watchyousuffer t1_jef0dvw wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:13 PM

funny - I've always felt like the borough is too demolition happy and loses poor but salvageable buildings often.

generally, the farther you are from rankin the better. the northern portions are pretty nice.

[deleted] t1_jef2qe8 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:28 PM

Condemned houses are condemned for a reason. And the neglected buildings tend to have an awful tax burden so transferring them is a legal nightmare.

Each building they tear down coats the borough tens of thousands of dollars because of the work that goes into it, they are limited to a handful of properties a year because of the budget constrictions. This comes up in borough meetings all the time.