I've turned Pittsburgh basements into living space. It's brutal, expensive work but possible. You have to install perimeter drains/sumps, reroute the utilities into the joists, cut in egresses, demo the interior concrete slab and then dig until the floor is low enough. If the foundation is too shallow, then you have to underpin. Then you have to set new center supports and pour new foundations for those, pour a concrete slab, and waterproof.