Relocation question - Pittsburgh

[frank_h]

Hi all,

We are planning to relocate to the northeast (heading back) from NC this summer. Trying to settle in on a location, Pittsburgh area is on the list (Franklin Park). Anyone have any experience cycling in the area and have any thoughts to share (pro/con) for road and off-road? Or any thoughts on family life in the area.

We are also open to any recommendations anyone might have on locations they like that are both family and outdoors (especially the bike, of course) friendly.

Thanks in advance!

[AngryScientist]

biggest difference from NC is depending on how "hearty" you are, you're going to lose a much bigger part of the year to bitter cold and snow on the ground to be able to ride outside.

[rwsaunders]

Franklin Park...North Allegheny school district...very good district albeit one of the largest in the area. Some refer to it as the University of North Allegheny. Plenty of good road riding starting out of North Park, which borders Franklin Park. There are a few parks in the area that have decent mtb trails...Hartwood Acres, Frick Park and North Park...90 minute drive to the Laurel Highlands...excellent off road, hiking trails, skiing and kayaking. Road riding is location dependent imho...North Hills and Fox Chapel but I’m partial. Depending where you are in the North Hills area, fairly easy access to the airport and downtown. City bike lanes are expanding every day and you might be surprised where a bike lane/trail can take you around here...all the way to DC.

Cultural venues are mostly located downtown and in the Oakland area...mixed in with PITT and Carnegie-Mellon and a few other schools. Many forgotten neighborhoods are now the place to live and play...Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, the Strip and the East End. PM if you want to talk in more detail.

[rnhood]

My sister moved back to NC after retiring, she lived in Mt. Lebanon for 15 years and loved it. That's not the NW of course but just thought I would mention it.

[dbnm]

Start training for the Dirty Dozen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Dozen_(bicycle_competition)

[false_Aest]

I went to school at CMU in the early 2000s. Returned in 2008-2009 for a short time. The riding was quite good as I remember it. There's not a lot of true climbs more like rollers (remember that the short climbs around me are 15 min long). There was also a decent race scene then -- not sure how it has held up.


I usually headed up towards Fox Chapel from the South Side (or Squirrel Hill).

One thing I definitely remember is that I got a lot of flats from tiny wires. IIRC there wasn't a real budget at the time for street sweeping anywhere in the city (I think Pgh ran out of salt that year too). It's the only time that I was happy to ride Gatorskins.

[Ken Robb]

One thing I definitely remember is that I got a lot of flats from tiny wires. IIRC there wasn't a real budget at the time for street sweeping anywhere in the city (I think Pgh ran out of salt that year too). It's the only time that I was happy to ride Gatorskins.
You probably know that those "tiny wires" are usually from destroyed steel-belted tires and those tires usually blow up at higher speeds on hot days. Even on roads that have been swept some of those fine wires will remain behind. This is a case where old-time tire sweeps of rawhide might prevent the wires from sticking to the tire long enough to work its way through the tread.

[seanile]

theyre also stray street sweeping bristles. boston has em all over low-speed streets where blown tire belts are a non-issue

[likebikes]

streetsweeping brushes are plastic

[allezdude]

just curious, why are you leaving NC? seems like a pretty desirable place to live- not that Pittsburgh isn't. once all our kids are out of the house, NC is 1 of the places we've talked about moving to. so, interested in your perspective.

[false_Aest]

You probably know that those "tiny wires" are usually from destroyed steel-belted tires and those tires usually blow up at higher speeds on hot days. Even on roads that have been swept some of those fine wires will remain behind. This is a case where old-time tire sweeps of rawhide might prevent the wires from sticking to the tire long enough to work its way through the tread.

I kind've figured that that was the case but didn't know for sure.

I wonder why I haven't experienced any of those tire wire flats (that I can think of) in other cities. Maybe I was just running shyte tyres for a while.

[frank_h]

Thank you, all, for the great input so far!

rwsaunders, I'll send you a PM in the near future as we gather some more questions. Thank you!

allezdude, feel free to shoot me a PM.