Questions about Pittsburgh

amother

Tue, Jan 11 2011, 4:09 pm

miami85

Tue, Mar 20 2012, 7:43 pm

I'm originally from Pittsburgh, haven't really "lived" there since high school, we visit my mom a couple times a year. I love that city. Not sure how up-to-date my info is, but perhaps I can help:

Quote:

Someone mentioned Pittsburgh to us and I was wondering if anyone would help me.

First regarding kollels in Pittsburgh. What Kollels are there? Is it a kiruv kollel with requirments to do active kiruv and give shiurim? or is it a learning kollel (no kiruv requirements)? Are the yungerman generally younger (mid-late 20's), or are they older? As far as I know there is only one kollel, which is a "lakewood" style kollel. There may be another kollel in a neighboring community from long beach, but I'm not sure. I think the number of "yungermen" vary, I don't believe that there are ever too many there at one time, more people learn there part time. I don't know much about their "requirements" as it hasn't been nogeiya for me.

What is the job market like? particularly in accounting or bookkeeping? I don't know specifics, but I would think that there are jobs there, but you'd have to ask someone who is in that field. The city has a number of suburbs which aren't TOO far away where I know some accountants work. If you've lived in the NY metro area, you'll find Pittsburgh traffic to be a joke.

Are there a decent amount of younger couples there? im almost 23 and dh is 25. no kids (soon imyh)
will we be able to find a place to fit in age wise? I think there has been a significant "burst" of young couples, perhaps not in your demographic specifically but people are generally pretty friendly there regardless of your background. Pittsburgh is rather diverse and it needs more young couples!

We are litvish yeshivish. BY upbringing. not very very very super frum chardei type, but very frum and charedi. is there a decent sized yeshivish community? [b] I think very super frum would be a "disadvantage", but there are a number of "lakewood yeshivish" families a lot of them have teenagers already, but they are wonderful families.

I dont really know much about the place at all. but we have been trying to move for a while- but are having trouble finding an oot place with a job for me and a kollel for my dh.

any info would be very appreciated.
Thank you[/b][b]

Different amother here however I have very similar questions. DH and I are moving to pittsburgh. We are mainstream yeshivish. Can anyone tell me anything about the community, types of people, shuls, schools, and home prices? Where shoudl we be looking? Any rentals, or do you have to buy?

[b] There are about 5 shuls: 2 BIG shuls, 3 other smaller shuls (bigger than shtiebels) and lubavitch, My guess is that you'd probably find the best fits in either the Kollel or Poale Zedek (one of the big shuls). People are very diverse--pretty much the entire spectrum of Judaism, but no hard core Chassidish, a few Bresslovers though and BIG lubavitch, but all very friendly. There are two schools--Hillel Academy (which I don't really know so much currently it has changed a lot since my time) and a lubavitch school. The main community is called Squirrel Hill. I've never seriously considered realty there, but I believe you can rent a house or a part of a 2-family house. My mother's house which is a decent size--but small compared to the community probably is about 70-80K. The community is great, shopping is convenient. Not too far from NY.
VERY hilly, get good comfortable shoes!

I love Pittsburgh, I hope I can move back there someday.

Ema of 5

Tue, Mar 20 2012, 8:08 pm

miami85 wrote:

I'm originally from Pittsburgh, haven't really "lived" there since high school, we visit my mom a couple times a year. I love that city. Not sure how up-to-date my info is, but perhaps I can help:

Quote:

I love Pittsburgh, I hope I can move back there someday.

my aunt and uncle live in pittsburgh, and ive always loved it there. its a very warm, welcoming, relaxed, laid back place, which is perfect for me. as far as I know there is only one kollel, very small. the community is great- ive never really noticed a divide among the different types of people who live there, but then again ive only been there for vacation for two weeks at the most, so I might be wrong.
we considered it for about 30 seconds when we were talking about moving, but my husband would be keeping his job here, and I wont allow my children to grow up with a father who is home only on the weekends. its bad enough that they never see him, but to actually not even be in town...not happening.

chabadnikit

Tue, Mar 20 2012, 9:42 pm

I"m originally from Pittsburgh too but moved after high school about ten years ago. I"m not really up to date on the details of the community nowadays but I can tell you that it has changed A LOT since I lived there. If you would like accurate and updated information please speak to current residents.

I'm pretty sure the kollel there has never been into kiruv but I could be mistaken. There has been a very large influx of young couples lately from all different backgrounds.

The job market is HORRIBLE. I will give you one word of advice and that is to please please do your family a favor and look for a job before moving there. A lot of people are attracted to Pittsburgh since it seems like a fairly affordable place to live and the community seems cheerful. Keep in mind that the wages there are very low (even for professional jobs), the housing market has gone up ridiculously in the past few years and school and kosher food is expensive. An average sized, newly renovated house in central Squirrel Hill was recently sold for $500,000 as opposed to my parents row house which they purchased for under $100,000 15 years ago. Rent is also not cheap anymore. If you want more specifics on pricing you can checkout Pittsburgh Craigslist for Squirrel Hill. Some people are moving out to the neighboring growing community of Greenfield where the housing is cheaper and there is a small shul but pretty out of the way.

Back in the day, the Yeshivish BY type of girls either went to the Chabad school (it's called Yeshiva) or Hillel but Hillel has more of a modern crowd so it's a decision you'd have to make. There were also a lot of Yeshivish boys who went to Yeshiva but probably switched for high school when they vamped up the Lubavitchism.

The shopping in Pittsburgh is wonderful! They have all of your favorite stores within very close driving distance and the expensive stores there have sales unlike in New York where your seasonal items are sold out before the season even starts! I still do most of my shopping in Pittsburgh whenever I have a chance to visit.

Tamiri

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 7:26 am

Mrs Bissli wrote:

No, we are not moving but visiting Pittsburgh over Shabbat next month.

A very simple question: where do people stay if you want to be within walking distance/within eruv? I contacted two main shuls (PZ and ST) but haven't had any success finding someone who can put us up. The only hotels I know are in Oakland/Shadyside which are not really walking distance to Squirrel Hill.

Are there any private B&B type accomodation? It's rather urgent so any tips would be much appreciated.

Also are PZ or ST wheelchair friendly? I thought you need to go up stairs for PZ and ST is on steep hill?
Which shuls do you recommend for someone in a wheelchair?

Practically everything is a hill. Squirrel Hill... get it? I pushed my pg self and strollers there for 7 years. Especially horrible in the summer. Coming from Israel, we truly suffered the summers there, so keep that in mind. Good luck with finding housing..... ST has a sidewalk-level entrance but the shlep UP Murray Avenue (we lived down that hill for a couple of years) is insane.