Pittsburgh craigslist

We will be relocating in less than 2 months to Pittsburgh!! Excited but also feeling a little overwhelmed with finding a good spot to settle- since we have school aged kids ( rising 4th & 1st grader). Ideally would like to pick a place to rent in a good school district and then look to buy within a year or two. Hubs job will be downtown- so max commute time 20-30mins. 1. Looking for tree lined neighborhood- city, inner suburb, or town. We currently have everything we need within a 2 mile radius. Ideally something similar: walkable neighborhood, safe, homes with character and small yards (no cookie cutter) good trick or treating,sense of community where neighbors talk! 2. Solid and nurturing school district- well resourced ( learning specialist, speech). We are a multi ethnic family- could this be an issue in certain areas? Do I look for the best high schools and then see what elementary schools feed into them? Any school suggestions appreciated. 3. Best way to find rentals- the last time we rented we used Craigslist- is that even still a thing? Go through a realtor? 4. We may get one quick trip to visit- so I need to narrow areas. Our budget to buy would be $500k, so wherever we rent we need to afford to buy.