For a long time, I have tried to imagine what sort of person would be attracted to live in Pittsburgh, absent some sort of ancestral connection to the place (or terminal-stage Steelers fanaticism). It’s quite a list, which includes:
- Rustbelt enthusiasts. Also, rust enthusiasts
- Cloud formation researchers
- The undead and those who love them
- Wedding guests who went looking for the cookie table and never returned
- Nihilists who also enjoy baseball
- Canadians who think Pittsburgh is a tropical paradise owned and operated by Sidney Crosby
- Ghosts of Highland Scotsmen still seeking the windswept green hills of home — and willing to settle for haunting the shit out of some landlords
- Furries
- Comedians who need a crash-course in self-deprecation
- Outcast Midwesterners who love hills and rudeness
- People who miss the deep roots and history of the old country, but not enough to give up America’s endless bounty of guns, cars, and drugs
And so on. But maybe that list is starting to get a little less exclusive. In fact, every week, it seems, there’s more evidence that people are moving here on purpose, because they think their lives will be better here.
This time, it’s a study from Redfin that observes Pittsburgh’s multifamily housing has exploded by an incredible 184% to 8.8 units per 10,000 people over the past year, up from 3.1 during the pandemic. Though less than the usual sunbelt boomtowns and their local equivalents (Columbus), this is a huge change from 2014-23, which had some of the lowest multifamily housing growth in the country.
While some will no doubt see this as a problem (negative self-talk is our love language), it is most certainly not. If you care about “affordable housing in Pittsburgh,” then building lots of new housing is the healthiest way to do it. And dense multifamily housing, especially in city neighborhoods rich in transit connections, jobs, and retail, is better than paving more farmland for suburban sprawl. Yes, there are other ways to keep prices down — economic collapse, crime wave — but you probably won’t like those.
For sale: 3722 Millerton Ave., Brighton Heights, $190,000.
Triangles within triangles. Did a kindergartner draw this house? At less than $200K, with central air and enough porch for two hammocks, does it matter? There are some ugly-charming Pittsburgh houses that invite affection, despite their flaws; this isn’t one of those. This one is just straight-up charming, even if you’re not a fan of wood paneling, dated carpeting, and mismatched hues of blue paint.
For rent: Southcrest Heights, 631 Southcrest Ave., West Liberty, $995-1,030.
Rents have been dropping in cities all over the country for various reasons, but not in Pittsburgh (yet). But if they do, it’s not necessarily good news (recession, stagflation, etc.). This neighborhood is called West Liberty on the map, which is the rare place in Pittsburgh that I don’t have any sort of impression of at all.
For sale: 3855 Hiawatha St., Brighton Heights, $250,000.
We can’t entirely rule out the possibility that Brighton Heights is some kind of warp zone that transports the homebuyer to an older, cheaper iteration of Pittsburgh. I mean, that’s probably not the case, but yet again, this is a lot of solidly built (circa 1914) brick four-square for not a lot of money. That might even be a functioning fireplace, which seems like a solid hedge against a future filled with weird weather and power outages.
For rent: 425 Kathleen St., Mt. Washington, $1,499/month.
If you haven’t been to Emerald View Park in Mt. Washington, it’s perhaps Pittsburgh’s nicest park that virtually no one uses. It takes a lot of steep ravines and builds a meandering, unpredictable, nearly vertical park, interspersed with various cliffside dwellings. This one features four bedrooms and a two car garage.
For sale: 2011 Woodward Ave., Brookline, $219,900.
OK, let’s check in on the other Most Inexplicably Cheap Neighborhood in Pittsburgh: Brookline. While a little less convenient to Downtown than Brighton Heights, Brookline’s main business district boasts an embarrassment of riches, if by riches you mean delicious tacos, shawarma, Italian pastries, etc. This house features an actual garage and some Pittsburgh camouflage (gray paint) in case you prefer a house that blends stealthily into its surroundings.
For sale: 728 Mayville Ave., Brookline, $219,900.
Is this house winking at us? I have no idea what would possess someone to replace a normal-sized, symmetrically placed window with a much tinier version, but it happens quite often in Pittsburgh! Given the updated kitchen, with granite countertops and new cabinetry, it’s not a house that has been sitting derelict, either.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2025.
