Driving in Pittsburgh (neighborhoods, live, bus)

[TightButLoose]

Hello,

Is driving in Pittsburgh (downtownish area) crazy? What about parking?

Thank you

[Hopes]

Crazy compared to what? I don't think it's crazy. The taffic isn't very bad at all.

Parking is available. It's expensive by our standards but extremely affordable by NYC or Chicago standards.

[schwinghammer]

Originally Posted by TightButLoose

Hello,

Is driving in Pittsburgh (downtownish area) crazy? What about parking?

Thank you

as a life long pittsburgher, yes, driving downtown IS crazy if you've never done it before. watch out for one way streets and remember, if you're facing down river, left is south, right is north.

[la_torquemada]

Are you moving here or just coming here on a trip? If you're just here on business, skip driving downtown, IMO -- it's really easy to get disoriented and lost because of the one-way streets and other crazy road features. Also, in Pittsburgh, you can't always get back the way you came, so it's important to get directions both ways before you set out.

When you get lost, drive downhill -- you'll always get to major road.

[prototypepariah]

driving in the golden triangle, roughly from the point to 579. is very similar to any other NE big city. lots of one way streets and nonsense no turns 4-6. parking is 5-10 bucks. plenty of metered lots that aren't usable 4-6.

driving outside of the immediate downtown area is a totally retarded and needs to be taken carefully. know where your going and don't deviate.

[SteelersFan09]

It can be very frustrating. The first few times I did it,it was very intimidating, but it gets better the more you do it. It doesn't hurt than MOST of the drivers here are actually friendly compared to some of the larger cities I've driven in.

The best piece of advice I could give (and I'm new here as well so I totally understand the worry) is to try to (as mentioned) use something like Google maps to plan out your trip beforehand and study the directions. I spend a bunch of time just looking at maps of Pittsburgh,trying to make heads or tails of the streets and it's actually helped. I also scan the following website before heading out :

Pittsburgh Traffic Report | Traffic Information | Road Conditions PA:: Traffic.com

Good luck!!

[Geeo]

Two main rules:

1. Know your path
2. You can't go back the way you came.

It's an old northeastern city built for trolleys, not cars, so the streets are narrow. The hills, while providing tremendous views from any vantage point, make having a good map in the car a necessity.

Good alternative for city dwellers is the bus and light rail system, which can get you just about anywhere for $1.75.

The fun part is that I've lived here 25 years and still find new neighborhoods that I never knew existed!