Moving to Steubenville, with kids, Advice?

[Et_Cetera]

Good question. I’ll be able to work in the Greater Pittsburgh area and I figure Steubenville is pretty close to Pittsburgh. I’m looking for an area that is 1) Affordable, 2) Catholic enough, 3) Safe, 4) Good Schools. Plus, the University is right there and who knows maybe I’ll take a couple classes or finally go for an MA or PhD in Theology!

There are plenty of really nice neighborhoods in Pittsburgh that you should check out. Mt. Lebanon, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, etc. are all very nice, but pretty expensive. Places like Mt. Washington and Lawrenceville have some nice little areas that are not nearly as expensive. Pittsburgh has some really good private and Catholic schools too, and in the upscale neighborhoods the public schools are ranked really high. The city also has lots of good, low key restaurants and cultural events. It’s a laid back kind of city for sure, but once you find your niche you see that it actually has a lot to offer. Plenty of museums that kids love! Also, as far as cities go, it’s not that expensive. For example, I have a friend who rents a three-story house in a residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh for about that same amount that I pay for a one-bedroom apartment in a much bigger East Coast city.

Seriously, take a look around Pittsburgh. It’s not as exciting as LA or New York, but as someone who grew up in the area, I can say that it’s actually a pretty cool little city once you get to know it. And I’m pretty sure that your family will by far prefer it to a town like Steubenville. I don’t think many people willingly move to places like Steubenville (no offense). Housing is also pretty affordable, and if you do your research, you can find a nice neighborhood with good schools for a reasonable price. It’s more like a city composed of little neighborhoods than a huge concrete jungle.

Oh, and you do not want to be making the commute from Steubenville. You’ll just be throwing away time and gas money.

 

[Et_Cetera]

And I will add, from driving around lost in Pittsburgh enough times, you do not want to come into the city from that end of town. It is a traffic bottleneck from the airport (which is west of Pittsburgh) all the way into town.

This is true. It might look like 50 minutes or whatever on Google maps, but once you factor in the traffic, you will have a pretty miserable commute.

I should also add that there are a lot of family-friendly suburbs that you might like, if you don’t want to actually be within the city limits. There are plenty of Catholics in the Pittsburgh area. The lack of community shouldn’t present any type of issue for you.

 

[Joe_5859]

Wow, that’s great. I did not know that. If I hadn’t heard so many bad things about Steubenville, I would consider moving my family there, since FUS is definitely in our top five or top ten colleges that we would like our kids to attend.

Do you know if any other orthodox Catholic colleges have programs like that?

I haven’t heard of any of the other good Catholic colleges offering something similar. But they might still exist without me having heard of them.

It is a good deal for Steubenville locals. Of course, I suppose there’s no guarantee the program will be around indefinitely. But I’ve heard of people moving to Steubenville when their kids are in high school so that they could take advantage of the program.

Looking at the info, it doesn’t specifically say they have to live in Steubenville. They just have to “live within commuting distance”. If you live in a big city, anything less than two hours might be considered “commuting distance”.

 

[Joe_5859]

I concur with an earlier post - Steubenville would not be a fun commute to anywhere in the greater Pittsburgh area, even if you’re working somewhere on the west side.

I guess it depends on your perspective. I know many people in Chicago who do or have commuted for over an hour (sometimes two or three when traffic is bad) one way to get to work in the city. Most people don’t bat an eye at such things in those parts. Looking at a map, Steubenville is just as close to Pittsburgh as some of Chicago’s outlying suburbs. And there’s not all population in between.

Obviously, most people don’t enjoy a long commute. But it seems within the realm of possibility if a person was so inclined.

 

[sterkie97]

Steubenville is a pretty dangerous city. The nicest part of the city is Franciscan University. It’s not a place I would recommend for raising kids, though. It’s like Brooklyn, NY.