Featured Apartment:
Pittsburgh- Greensburg- Pittsburgh's exceptional hotel alternative, studio units contain Maple cabinets, Blue Sapphire granite, All Stainless Steel appliances, Italian lighting, White Color TV/VCR; as well as all utilities, free phone, cable, HSD Modem hook up, and Concierge services. View More Listings -->
Greensburg Information
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA. The
population was 15,889 (56,610 if surrounding Hempfield Township is included) at
the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Westmoreland CountyGR6. It is named
after Nathaniel Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American
Revolutionary War.
Located southeast of Pittsburgh, Greensburg is a major business and cultural
center in Western Pennsylvania. It is evident as the city's population doubles
during work hours. The city ranks seventh in Pennsylvania in terms of daytime
growth, behind Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, King of Prussia, Lancaster
and State College. It also ranks 16th in the United States for daytime growth
among towns with a resident population between 15,000 to 24,999.
The city of Greensburg is currently composed of eight wards, most of which were
formerly boroughs. The borough of Bunker Hill, now Fifth Ward, was merged into
Greensburg in 1894. The name originated because of fights at the rowdy Bushfield
Tavern in the early 1840s to mid-1800s that were compared to the Battle of
Bunker Hill.
In 1905, Greensburg absorbed three adjacent boroughs, including Ludwick, now
Sixth Ward, which was named for Ludwig Otterman, an early settler for whom the
street is also named, as well as East Greensburg, now Seventh Ward, and
Southeast Greensburg, unofficially known as Paradise (Eighth Ward). South Maple
Avenue was originally named Kinderhook. Second Ward, located north of Downtown
Greensburg, is the largest ward. The area near the Hilltop Social Club is
unofficially named Hilltop and was originally settled by Italian immigrants.
In August 1965, Greengate Mall opened west of the city in Hempfield Township,
marking a new era for retail shopping in the area. Greensburg's downtown was
adversely affected as large downtown department stores closed. However, it
rebounded as the city became a center for service industries, professional
offices and banking. Today, small downtown shops and a growing number of
restaurants are reviving downtown as a mercantile center. Westmoreland Mall is
currently the largest shopping complex in the Greensburg area and all of
Westmoreland County, while Greengate Mall was razed in 2003 for a new shopping
center called Greengate Centre, anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Numerous
shopping plazas and dining establishments also line the Route 30 corridor east
and west of the city.
Light to moderate industry and service industries thrive in Greensburg. Economic
downturns affect the community less than they do communities depending on one
major industry. Housing growth continues on the northern end of the city, with
the Saybrook Village and Evergreen Hill plans. The construction of the
seven-story State Office Building on North Main Street, the four-story addition
to the Courthouse Square Extension, and the proposed Performing Arts Center of
Seton Hill University is expected to add new jobs to the city.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for a Place...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.