Was wondering if anyone currently lives in or around these two neighborhoods. We are looking to buy a house and are considering them. We both work downtown so our route seems that it would either be california or brighton, or on nice days, maybe the trail from the prison.
How safe is the commute at night?
Any insight is appreciated.
Dan would be the expert on this, but I commuted through Brighton Heights (going to Sewickley) for awhile.
I generally rode California, because that hill was more tolerable than the climb (McClure?) from the trail. I was doing the commute at the end of the winter, so it was usually dark when coming through the North Side, and I didn't feel terribly unsafe.
I work in Machester and I often ride up that way for a scenic trip through the park (and some hill work). I've never felt unsafe. I don't live on the north side, though.
I ride in from Emsworth a couple of times a week (ok, in a good week). My route takes me right through Bellevue. It's a great commute in.
I have two alternate routes that I use. My preferred route is to take Lincoln through the heart of Bellevue, turn right at Termon and then left onto California (at the top of the McKees Rocks Bridge hill).
Follow Califonia a couple of miles, including a VERY QUIRKY left merge into high speed (but low volume) traffic just before Marshall Street. (The scary part only lasts for a quarter mile, and I am usually doing close to 30 mph when I do the merge.)
After the merge, stay left to regain California at Marshall. Stay on California around the big bend at the post office. At the stoplight at Brighton, turn right. There's a small hill (down hill when travelling inbound), and then it drops you at West Park (near CCAC).
Turn left into the park. From there, you can take Merchant/Scotland/Tony Dorsett down to the Stadium area, and take the Point State Park Pedestrian Bridge into the Point, making your way through downtown streets to your office.
Alternately, you can stay on East Ohio Street to the Allegheny Center Mall, and then follow the Road around the mall to pick up Federal, Sandusky or Anderson Streets, which then lead you to the Three Sisters Bridges, and into town.
You can also take the trail, as you have noted. I prefer not to, but that might just be me.
From the trail (outbound) the secret to accessing Bellevue is the tunnel under Route 65 that will take you to Woods Run and McClure Street.
It's actually a little further out than the prison, so you have to leave the trail and travel north on Beaver Avenue for a block or two to get to the tunnel. From there, just watch for the first left (uphill) onto McClure. That will drop you on Termon, between Lincoln and Brighton.
I live 3 miles or so futher out than Bellevue, so factor that into your thinking, but I can complete my ride, door to desk, in about 50 minutes. That includes locking my bike about a block from my office, and walking to the office. If is take the bus, the trip is about 10 minutes shorter.
The ride home has a few hills, but after about three days of training, they are very managable. The ride home takes me only about 2 minutes longer than the mostly downhill ride in.
Note that there is a safer street route available as well. From Lincoln, you would turn left onto Termon. At the Rite Aid at Brighton you would turn right. As the road splits, stay right on Shadeland, rather than Brighton. This will take you about a mile or more on a very level road, as opposed to Brighton, which does a big hill down to Woods Run, and up again, with a stoplight at the bottom. Shadeland bridges Woods Run instead. I ride Shadeland to the ice cream shop (across from Horace Mann School), then turn left towards Brighton. You can cut right and then left, on side streets, to avoid Brighton for a few more blocks. Eventually, you come out just before Marshall Avenue. I just take Brighton straight in from there, making my next route decision at the Park, as per above.
The loss of the downhill along California, and the presence of stop signs along Shadeland make this about 10 minutes slower that the other road route. But, it is significantly safer, as well.
More questions? PM me.
Thanks all for your input. We live in Friendship now, and while I love the area, for the size house we want, its just a cost / benefit issue.
