Pros and Cons of buying a home in Monroeville

Submitted by ChefKil t3_yfwl0a in pittsburgh

My wife and I are thinking about buying a house in Monroeville. We currently live right in the heart of downtown and want to get out of the city. We do however want to be close to restaurants, shopping, and activities. I currently work downtown and can walk to work. With all this being said, is anyone able to help us and give some pros and cons to living in Monroeville? Maybe some information on commute (I am a chef and don't work 9-5 so I won't be commuting during rush hour the majority of days), some fun things to do, restaurant suggestions and any other info that would be helpful? Thank you!

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xnick58 t1_iu5kl8x wrote

Outside of "traditional" work hours traffic on 376 before the tunnel can still be terrible. There is truly no rhyme or reason for backups it seems. I will say if you had zero traffic it takes maybe 10-15 at highway speeds to get from monroeville to downtown. Im assuming you are a foodie if you are a chef. Dining options are terrible in the monroeville area. I agree that monroeville would be pretty miserable. We live right off the churchill exit and we still drive into town if we are looking to go out for dinner or drinks as a couple in our twenties.

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sqqueen2 t1_iu6d1z4 wrote

Tunnel traffic might get a bit better when they reopen the Forbes bridge. A lot of people are using the parkway instead of Forbes right now.

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epicstar t1_iu8ivb1 wrote

Sorry my dad insists to slow down to 20-30 mph before the tunnels... He should get his license revoked.

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HewDew22 t1_iu6mxp9 wrote

Eighty acres off golden mile highway is really good

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mypassword23 t1_iu6ok6j wrote

On the parkway during none rush hours I find traffic isn’t horrible unless there’s a concert/sports game in town or if it’s raining. Everybody slows way down when it rains.

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uglybushes t1_iu5uqm3 wrote

Monroeville to downtown is the absolute worst commute the city has. Pick any other direction to live.

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Low-Ear-2171 t1_iu885aq wrote

Yeah, It didn't used to be so bad, like in the 80s. It was never wonderful, typically bad at rush hours, but after rush hour was done it went back to a reasonable amount of traffic. Now its a constant traffic jam. What happened!?

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SmellView42069 t1_iu63zr3 wrote

Honestly if you don’t want to live in the city and want to be close to downtown you should look at Bellevue and Avalon. You can go north in the direction of Ross Township or McCandless for shopping, they are minutes from downtown, and about 15-30 from anywhere else in the city provided you are driving in moderate traffic. The houses in these areas also aren’t ungodly expensive.

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twigman030 t1_iu71sfw wrote

Avalon and Bellevue are some of the most underrated places around the city IMO.

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Vast-Support-1466 t1_iu88gfo wrote

This right here. And I'm in the housing industry....

Monroeville and all areas adjacent are suburban hell.

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da_london_09 t1_iu5j3ar wrote

Going to and from downtown via the Squirrel Hill Tunnel traffic will get annoying quite quickly. Monroeville would probably be the last place I'd move if I wanted to be close to everything good in Pgh. An ex of mine lives out there, and I used to dread any time I'd have to deal with driving out or back from there.

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Any-Application-771 t1_iu5np11 wrote

Try Dormont..Mt lebanon..nice places..

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Conflixxion t1_iu5zop0 wrote

still have to deal with the liberty tunnels though, unless you are taking the T (which I did for a year, Castle Shannon to Oakland via downtown bus transfer). Prefer that to dealing with 376 and the Squirrel Hill tunnel though.

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steeerrrfff t1_iu71bic wrote

You have fort pitt too. Depending in the TOD I alternate routes.

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Conflixxion t1_iu73cm0 wrote

that's fair, but then you have to use the dreaded Banksville Rd.

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steeerrrfff t1_iu79ufs wrote

I'm so used to that drive I don't think about it.

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Conflixxion t1_iu9hrkt wrote

no thanks. did that drive for a year before figuring out how to take the T and transfer to a bus. Way better for my blood pressure.

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mattsheeks t1_iu5u4dv wrote

Just moved to Monroeville this year from out of state and also work downtown. I don’t mind the commute. It’s been bad a handful of times coming home at 4pm. We have a nice house with a decent plot of land for a good price. It has a lot of good things going for it. Everything you need is close by. There are a lack of good restaurants but we appreciate how close everything is around us. We go to shady side/squirrel hill often. Downtown is 20 min away for anything else we might want. It’s nice and quiet in our neighborhood. Overall I like living here and don’t regret it at all.

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bluebr65 t1_iu5os6r wrote

Egh monroeville

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Danthezooman t1_iu6j0sj wrote

I like it out here, but I do drive a lot to downtown and the surrounding areas.

Pros: You can have a house with a big yard, there's lots of shopping, big giant eagle, aldi, Boyce park is pretty nice, 20 minutes from downtown tops

Cons: The traffic on 376 is a nightmare when it comes to the tunnel, the traffic on the weekend is pretty terrible too, The giant eagle,though big, sucks. I was just at the one in the waterfront yesterday and it's so much better!

People shit on monroeville and further out but I kinda like it. It's country without being like middle of nowhere

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just_an_ordinary_guy t1_iu6toat wrote

Can't think of a lot of pros other than a lower income tax rate and slightly lower real estate tax than the city. Which will be completely wiped out by your commuting expenses. Have you done a commute like that before? No amount of podcasts and music can make up for it, in my experience. I specifically bought a house where I'm very close to work (not quite walking distance, but there weren't any good options within walking distance and those options were extremely limited anyhow).

Cons are going to be more time spent on getting to and from work. I'd say minimum an hour a day, if not an hour and a half (round trip). You're probably going to have to pay for parking, which gets expensive. Vehicle fuel and maintenance costs go up. Do you have a car? Does the wife work from home? Are you going to have to get a second car to accommodate both of your work schedules? If so, this is just another expense to add to the list.

I'm biased myself, but I hate the mall and chain restaurants, which is mainly what the burbs have. Activities? Eh, depends on what you like but the burbs are a snore fest there too.

I don't know exactly what you're thinking or your reasons for wanting to be in monroeville, but you'd almost certainly be better served finding something in your price range in the city. The downside being that you'll probably get more house for the same price point, and city lots run smaller. But that's also less to mow. People in the suburbs like to talk about how they have a huge yard for activities, but the vast majority use about the same amount of yard as we do here, but they have triple the yard to mow. And even the price might not be true. When I was house hunting, houses in Ross township were running more expensive than similar houses in Brighton Heights.

Some other things to consider, you'll have to pay for trash pickup, which will probably run you $50-$60 a month, which, depending on your income could easily be 1% of your income (if you want to look at 1% vs 3% of city income taxes). If it's 1/2 acre or more, you're going to want a more expensive riding mower unless you absolutely love cutting grass for hours each week. You may think "oh, I need the exercise" but trust me, it gets old fast. I did that myself years ago. After the first time, I looked at riding mowers that night.

Also, if you're dead set on not being in the city, why Monroeville? If you want a single family house with a decent sized yard, there's better options in my opinion. Ross township is much closer. Shaler, Ohara, some of the south hills. Especially south hills for transit, if that doesn't conflict with your work schedule. If you just want a single family house outside the city but don't care about the yard size, a lot of the inner ring suburbs would be better too.

The short of it is, I don't know your life experiences or if you've ever lived in the burbs like Monroeville, but I have and I find it absolutely soul sucking. I'd hate to see somebody make the mistake of moving there and hating it. If nothing I've mentioned can dissuade you, then I guess you're a fit for it.

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LostEnroute t1_iu920fl wrote

Great comment that really nails the choices being made.

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stadulevich t1_iu6fjge wrote

Depends what you are looking for. If you are trying to live in Pittsburgh, walkability, amentities, convinience etc. Not a good idea. If you want a suburb, should be fine.

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pittsburghirons t1_iu7jhgh wrote

I feel like Monroeville is the worst of both worlds. It’s far from anything and kind of a dump. If you’re going that far out there are much better options, or closer nicer ones. Can’t imagine living out there. Have you looked just north - Aspinwall/Blawnox? Outside of town but with some character. Just a bridge away from Highland Park/Lawrenceville. If we left the city that’s where we’d look for sure.

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Low-Ear-2171 t1_iu8cbbp wrote

>traffic

Just curious what you find appealing about Aspinwall/Blawnox area? I agree with you about Monroeville, it used to be nice, but those days have passed, it's a shame. I've always thought of Aspinwall/Blawnox to be worse than Monroeville. A/B is an older more run down community, not that great shopping and places to eat, the mall that is close (Mills mall) is all but gone, at least Monroeville mall still has some stores left in it, and they have 28 to deal with which is awful imo. But to each his own. Not being hostile, just genuinely interested in your perspective.

It looks like OP might want to consider the Ross township and Bellevue areas, they seem to offer the things they are looking for.

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pittsburghirons t1_iu9jqo4 wrote

I like how Aspinwall and Blawnox have their own little downtowns with small businesses. Old Thunder is a great brewery. You’re in the burbs but the eating options aren’t just Applebees. Proximity to Lawrenceville is great too; you’re 10 minutes from lots of great options if the traffic is right. We don’t have kids, but if we did it’d be attractive for the Fox Chapel school district also. There’s a great waterfront park in Aspinwall, and depending on your starting point you’d also be a quick drive to Harwood Acres. We still live in town, but if we left these are the reasons we’d look in that area. Also, I don’t think I’ve been in a mall since 2006, so not being near one doesn’t bother me at all.

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cmyk412 t1_iu6ty0c wrote

Pro or con: Zombies.

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JWsWrestlingMem t1_iu5ugi7 wrote

Monroeville’s fine. It was great. The only bad part of it is that the bad element that all of these naysayers must love (flying lead for one) has finally made its way there in the last decade or so.

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Neverendingwebinar t1_iu7i1oa wrote

I live near there. I don't hate it here. But there are better places to live in the area. It is hard to get anywhere, the food is all chain restaurants, the mall is okay.

Upside is most of what you need is there and houses are affordable. If you want east, it's alright. But if you have choices, I would go north of town.

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Jagoff420 t1_iu7ojqk wrote

Almost bought a house in garden city part of monroeville.. Picked oakmont instead.. Life changing

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LostEnroute t1_iu91rhk wrote

When you say out of the City, I'm guessing you think the City is just Downtown. The City is much larger than the Downtown area you live in. Monroeville is OK, but have you considered other neighborhoods closer to Downtown?

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Urbanspy87 t1_iu6w64n wrote

Depends what you want. Do you want land or space ? Don't think you'll mind the commute? Then maybe. But nothing will be walkable. I would look at other boroughs closer to the city for walk ability and more community feel, wouldn't be as much of a culture shock

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Self_Hating_Dentist t1_iu6zmf9 wrote

Avoid any tunnel if at all possible… parkways east and west are toxic

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Interesting-Stop-920 t1_iu7byrg wrote

morning traffic will be awful but some of the neighborhoods are nice. I just moved from there a few years ago but lived there from 91-16. Problem is, Gateway School District is pretty awful now.

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__Chimichanga__ t1_iu8y1wl wrote

I love living in Monroeville because I have a young child and theres lots of nice parks, an accessible trail nearby, and the local library has a lot of activities. We also have a nice sized yard and house which is really why we wanted to move to the suburbs. School district is also more diverse than most suburbs around here. Monroeville does have some local restaurants, lots of chains, and theres quite a bit of shopping. We have the Monroeville Mall, but it's definitely dying. There's also the Monroeville Convention Center which always seems to have random things going on. With that said, I don't think I would want to live here if I had to commute into the city. I would probably move to a northern suburb if I had to commute downtown.

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jollygreendrops t1_iu96yym wrote

I don't even like to drive through Monroeville. The house would have to be fabulous and secluded for me to even consider that area.

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Professional-Till806 t1_iuc4c7c wrote

We have been looking into the Pittsburgh area in the next few years and all my friends from the city to other suburbs all told me to avoid Monroeville - just a general consensus 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Omgitsjustdae t1_iue5dkq wrote

Pros: it's peaceful, the property taxes are lower than the city, and it's a cute suburb

Cons: traffic

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NathanLocke t1_iu9xi3j wrote

Why not Robinson? Without the Tunnel Monster's Death Star magnetic field, I can be downtown in around 15 minutes.

Crafton is also an option.

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