The three Wiseman sisters from Scott Township chose Mt. Lebanon to raise their families, with 10 children ages 5 to 16.

Leslie Kiley, Lynn Crogan and Terri Sigal — all of whom have since changed from their maiden names but still love to call themselves “The Three Wisemans” — live in walking distance of each other, but “it wasn’t even on purpose,” noted Crogan.

Crogan was the first to move to Mt. Lebanon with her then-fiancé Dan. “He grew up in Peters, I grew up in Scott, and we were looking for something close to Downtown. Just [somewhere] super neighborhood walkable.”

Kiley and Sigal moved in soon after, also looking for a picturesque community where they could raise their families. Kiley made the move back to the Pittsburgh area from San Jose, California, and hoped to find a version of the beautiful neighborhoods with tree-lined streets she grew so fond of. “I knew I wanted something very similar to that California feel where I could walk and drop my kids to school,” said Kiley. “I compare it to California.”

Kiley lives on Austin Avenue, closer to the high school but still in the Jefferson area. Crogan lives on Oak Park Place and Sigal lives on Beverly Road. The two streets are connected by a pathway, used on trips back and forth to each sister’s home. “The kids love it. We just pick up and walk,” added Sigal.

All three families take full advantage of the closeness. Holidays and sporting events are major get-togethers, but they see one another more than that. Quick trips to Target, impromptu at-home happy hours, playground visits, neighborhood walks — you can bet there’s always more than one cousin involved.

The youngest eight children attend Jefferson Elementary School and they “see their cousins all day, every day, at school. They shout in the hallways at them and they’re just always excited to see them,” said Kiley. Many of them play sports through the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department, sometimes even on the same team. “They probably don’t realize that it’s not typical. We do hear it a lot — how special it is — and we know that. We don’t take it for granted.”

Another sporting event the families cherish is Lebolympics, an annual competition held each spring by the Rec Department, where kids ages 5-12 endure Olympic-style trials. This year, all 10 children participated, and Mae Kiley even set a record of 78 feet in the softball throw. The oldest, 16-year-old Claire, a track runner in high school, worked the event, while the other nine competed in the games, including tennis throws and sprints.

Raising their families so close together is also a benefit for grandmother Debbi Wiseman, who lives a short drive away in the same Scott Township home all three sisters grew up in.

“We lost our dad a couple of years ago, and one of his favorite phrases was ‘create the environment.’ And he would say, “If you want your kids to hang out with you, you have to create the environment for them to want to spend time with you,’” said Crogan.

“Mt. Lebanon, overall, has created the environment where you just want to be here.”