Your favorite set of steps (Pittsburgh, Troy: houses, school, live)

[BettyTheHun]

I absolutely love steps and explore them for fun. Anybody got any faves?

Mine is at the intersection of the Boulevard of the Allies and Parkview in South Oakland. They go down to two houses on Juno Street in Panther Hollow. I like them cause they seem to be so "secret" and I stumbled upon them by accident. I imagine they were used more frequently in the old days of Panther Hollow when there was more going on there.

[dissident]

I moved here about 4 years ago, and I've been trying to explore the city by bicycle, instead of always whizzing by things in the car. Two sets of city steps have really caught my eye so far.

I found the first while exploring the area near the West End Overlook. If you're brave enough to ride up Steuben Street, you will find an area of old, broken-down foundations, stoops-to-nowhere, and the back walls of basements for buildings long gone. The Planet Street Steps are pretty spectacular on their own, but they also lead you to a nice city view.
Planet Street Steps
I like to imagine what must have been there - the businesses on Steuben Street, the houses and the people who lived there.

The other set is on the west side of Rialto Street in Troy Hill. http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochball...gh_rialto1.jpgIt's extremely steep, and ends at busy Rte 28 -- so riding down would be very dangerous. But, you can see the ruins of various buildings that once existed all along the hillside, and gain a sense of the human landscape of rte 28 before it was given over to high-speed traffic.

Next time I go out, I may check out the Juno Street steps...but from looking up there from the trail, I feel like I would be intruding. It's a very isolated and private enclave within the city.

[gg]

Originally Posted by dissident

I moved here about 4 years ago, and I've been trying to explore the city by bicycle, instead of always whizzing by things in the car. Two sets of city steps have really caught my eye so far.

I cycle around as well and see tons of old steps. There are others that come down to Route 28 north of there, but I can't think of exactly where they are. They come down the hill with no road next to them. Ah the days people walked places instead of getting in their huge SUVs.

There are some cool steps that come down on Bulter Street around the Morningside area as well that are pretty cool.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by dissident

I moved here about 4 years ago, and I've been trying to explore the city by bicycle, instead of always whizzing by things in the car. Two sets of city steps have really caught my eye so far.

I found the first while exploring the area near the West End Overlook. If you're brave enough to ride up Steuben Street, you will find an area of old, broken-down foundations, stoops-to-nowhere, and the back walls of basements for buildings long gone. The Planet Street Steps are pretty spectacular on their own, but they also lead you to a nice city view.
I like to imagine what must have been there - the businesses on Steuben Street, the houses and the people who lived there.

The Planet steps were very useful back in the 1950's. The vacant lots at the base of the steps formerly held St. Martin's church and school which burned 50 years ago- and many of the Germans that attended lived up above in Elliott and had to have been using those steps regularly.

Even later into the early 70's, there were numerous businesses and bars in the West End, almost all of them gone- a state liquor store, a 5 and 10 at S. Main and Alexander, several bars and grills, the electric supply company at S. Main and Sanctus was a Kroger's.

[BettyTheHun]

Gonna have to check out the Planet steps, thx all.

[nuwaver88]

I like the ones heading up 57th Street in Larenceville where it meets Christopher leading into Stanton Heights. My mother grew up in Stanton Heights and we use to always see these steps when we would take the shortcut up the steep hill to see grandma.

57th Street, Pittsburgh, PA - Google Maps

They would then cross over Duncan and continue to the top of the hill as demonstrated in this streetview. As you can see, the steps are actually considered 57th Street. For steps to have street names is typical in Pittsburgh. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=57th+S...,,0,15.24&z=20

[steindle]

I hesitate to reveal my favorite set of steps...but what the heck: the steps connecting Sterling Street in Arlington to Sterling Street in South Side Slopes exposes an incredibly beautiful vista. One of my favorite parts of Pittsburgh.

[Squeamish]

There are so many steps that it's hard to name a favorite. All of the above! Above Royal St. in Spring Hill is an abandoned set of steps with an intersection. Pretty neat. The set next to the abandoned church on Rt. 28 is fun because it's so tall. The set at Homer and Diana is fun because the second flight doubles back on the first so you're about 2 stories directly above the road when you get to the second landing. Fritz and Windom in the Southside Slopes makes for neat pictures because there are two long sets of steps going up really close to each other.

I'm leading a geocaching "Walk through Seldom-Visited Nooks and Crannies" this Saturday across the Northside, starting at the church on Rt. 28 and ending down on Brighton Rd. A lot of this route is going up and down steps. It also features some abandoned, forgotten street right of ways. I've led similar walks through the East End (along the bluff atop the Mon) and the Southside Slopes in past years. Next year I'm going to try the West End.

[mikefromgarfield]

I enjoyed the steps pictures. I used to walk up the Winebiddle steps from Rosetta to Hillcrest when I was in kindergarten at Fort Pitt School (1960).