What pieces of the puzzle does Pittsburgh lack to be a great city? (York: camps, transport)

[_Buster]

Philly is more litter-plagued than Pittsburgh, although due to topography it may be more of an overall eyesore in Pgh.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by UKyank

My two eyes are all I need to notice more litter here than other cities I've visited.
Besides 'has to be' is not a very bold claim at all & most certainly one of opinion.

I know here in San Francisco, there is a diligent attempt to keep the tourist areas clean. They are somewhat successful. I am sure other places attempt the same thing...including Pittsburgh...

Might that be the reason you think that?

Because people who live here do nothing but complain about trash and the addition of the many homeless people peeing and pooping in streets and doorways. Seriously it's disgusting here...

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Because people who live here do nothing but complain about trash and the addition of the many homeless people peeing and pooping in streets and doorways. Seriously it's disgusting here...

Well, it doesn't help when you have family in for a convention downtown and while leaving the Omni to show them the town we see a man pee on the sidewalk.

Someone on this forum mentioned Pittsburgh not getting conventions. One reason is the accessibility for drivers. Pittsburgh is horrible to navigate for visitors.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

Someone on this forum mentioned Pittsburgh not getting conventions. One reason is the accessibility for drivers. Pittsburgh is horrible to navigate for visitors.

You know what - seriously, people are just dumb. They think they will punch in an address and get there with the guiding hand of a robotic voice. Why not plan ahead? Look at a map, look at the internet for possible road closures, and view images of your route to clear any doubt about prohibited left turns and so on?

I'm not saying Pittsburgh is as easy as a Manhattan grid, but I do think a lot of people are just not that savvy and left unprepared.

[yinzer93]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

You know what - seriously, people are just dumb. They think they will punch in an address and get there with the guiding hand of a robotic voice. Why not plan ahead? Look at a map, look at the internet for possible road closures, and view images of your route to clear any doubt about prohibited left turns and so on?

I'm not saying Pittsburgh is as easy as a Manhattan grid, but I do think a lot of people are just not that savvy and left unprepared.

I couldn't agree more with this. Before you go somewhere you've pre-planned to go, just take *three* minutes to follow the route on google maps and make sure, especially if it goes through an unfamiliar urban area, that you are aware of any possible odd spots. In the several times I've driven to and through DC it certainly helped, and I imagine it might go double for Pittsburgh.

[ferraris]

Pittsburgh is very unforgiving if you miss a turn or exit. A good example is coming uphill on Allegheny Avenue approaching Ridge. If you want to turn right onto Ridge you may switch to the right lane, which unexpectedly becomes an on-ramp to the highway and you have to go all the way to East Ohio, or back track through downtown, or around to the West End bridge to get back to where you were. And that mistake could involve both the Ft. Pitt and Ft. Duquesne bridge so you may end up all the way on Banksville Avenue if you can't figure out where/how to merge quickly enough to avoid the tunnel.

Pittsburgh is full of potential navigating blunders like this.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

You know what - seriously, people are just dumb. They think they will punch in an address and get there with the guiding hand of a robotic voice. Why not plan ahead? Look at a map, look at the internet for possible road closures, and view images of your route to clear any doubt about prohibited left turns and so on?

I'm not saying Pittsburgh is as easy as a Manhattan grid, but I do think a lot of people are just not that savvy and left unprepared.

Some people are dumb.

But Pgh is a confusing, difficult city to drive in if you are not familiar with it. Signs suck, merges can be complicated and very unforgiving - you have a very short distance to make strange adjustments that are not easy if you're not familiar with the area.

The constant construction and detours don't help either - especially downtown.

[fleetiebelle]

Any city can be confusing if you're not used to driving around in it. I grew up in Cincinnati, and the last time I was home I took a wrong turn driving around downtown and ended up in Kentucky. It happens.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Any city can be confusing if you're not used to driving around in it. I grew up in Cincinnati, and the last time I was home I took a wrong exit driving around downtown and ended up in Kentucky. It happens.

I couldn't figure out Boston in the four years I was there, makes Pittsburgh look like a friendly grid.

[MountainDewGuy]

Let's not pretend that Pittsburgh roads aren't confusing because of GPS or because other cities might have confusing roads too. Bottom line is that the lack of grid infrastructure, multiple consecutive one way streets, and street names that sometimes don't follow logic is down right confusing even for people who have lived in the area for their entire lives.

Boston streets are even more confusing, but guess what... they worked to improve their infrastructure, even during 50 years of declining population. We didn't.