Walnut Street is a great place to shop or just people-watch. Unfortunately, rents can be rather high, and break-ins sometimes a problem. South Side is a short ride away from Oakland on PAT's 54C, which comes every 20 minutes via 18th Street. Rents have increased too, in the flats, but decent deals are still available. Squirrel Hill is about as close as Shadyside to the University and also can be reached by shuttle.
Rents are slightly lower than in Oakland or Shadyside.
Located a little more than a mile to the east of campus across Schenley Park, Squirrel Hill has a mixture of single family houses, duplexes, and small apartment buildings. It is readily accessible from campus by walking through the park, and by PAT bus. Like many other Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill conveys the pleasant feeling of a very small town with its two main commercial streets, Murray Avenue and Forbes Avenue. Stores are within walking distance of almost any part of Squirrel Hill, and include a number of restaurants with a variety of international cuisines such as Italian, Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Thai. There are also four coffee houses, several bagel shops, numerous delis, three video stores, and two movie theaters.