Welcome to Pittsburgh..... I guess ??? (Washington, Portland: apartment, neighborhood, wedding)

[slamont61]

Don't know that a GPS is any better than experience itself. Just learn where you need to go and NO ONE is giving bad directions on purpose. It's just hard to do in that area. I know it, as I worked the Front Desk at two Greentree Hotels for several years. I was quite good at directions, especially in giving them to outsiders.

[fleetiebelle]

That statement is very pompous of you!

I didn't think it was pompous at all. Like everyone's said in this thread, with the layout of the city as it is finding your way around is kind of a badge of honor. Getting lost and frustrated is paying your dues, and finding the perfect shortcut feels like victory.

[juliempdx]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

I can't tell you how many times I've given directions and finished with the statement:

Once you get there, then ask someone how to get where you want to go. And God forbid you ask someone on your side of town to go OVER a bridge or Through a tunnel.

This area is tough, a GPS would help a lot. You might also want to pick up a map book, get the one that shows the Red Belt, Green Belt, Yellow Belt, and Orange Belt. As someone who traveled around the county pre-GPS days, those belts come in handy.

Do you know where I could get the map with the different belts? Thanks

[BrianTH]

For what it is worth, I also read Johnny C's comment as humorous in intent. And I also agree with fleetiebelle's sentiment (as I would put it, while getting to know how to navigate the city is a challenge, there is also a sense of satisfaction that comes once you have met that challenge).

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by juliempdx

Do you know where I could get the map with the different belts? Thanks

Check either at Staples, Office Max, or Barnes & Noble. They used to sell fold up maps with the belts. Also, there are two map books on the market, I think it's the over-sized one that shows the belts. I had a large wall size one for years that I threw out about a year ago. I think the Realtors still sell one.

Also, check out this site.


About.com: http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~jlin/signs/usa/Pennsylvania/Belt_System/

Figures you're a female, a guy would never ask for directions.

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I didn't think it was pompous at all. Like everyone's said in this thread, with the layout of the city as it is finding your way around is kind of a badge of honor. Getting lost and frustrated is paying your dues, and finding the perfect shortcut feels like victory.

Paying your dues??? So if someone new to the city is navigating and ends up in a bad section of Pittsburgh (and there are quite a few!), that's paying their dues?!?!?

[Bong477]

pittsburgh is definately hard to get around in... in four years there it was really easy to find my way around in the areas I frequented, but ask me to go somewhere new that wasn't directly off a major road and it was tough. plus pittsburgh seems to commonly have major road closures with no detours posted.

that sucks about your plates.

GPS is a tool that everyone should have. With a good device like the nuvi 350 only being $200 now, there's really no reason not to have one. I'd rank it up there with DVR/Tivo and Ipod as recent technology that has changed how I live on a day to day basis.

Pittsburgh is a nice city overall. I've been gone two months now (moved to Baltimore for job) and I wish I was still there.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Paying your dues??? So if someone new to the city is navigating and ends up in a bad section of Pittsburgh (and there are quite a few!), that's paying their dues?!?!?

Lighten up, Francis.

The comment was made in jest.

TC

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

So if someone new to the city is navigating and ends up in a bad section of Pittsburgh (and there are quite a few!), that's paying their dues?!?!?

As an aside, I wanted to note there are pretty much no sections in the city I would feel unsafe driving through (and I have driven through a lot of so-called "bad" sections). Even in Pittsburgh's more economically depressed and relatively high crime areas, bullets are not literally whizzing through the air.

That said, I again don't think the intention in these comments was to suggest it doesn't stink to get lost while trying to drive in a new city. Rather, I think the intention is to reassure the OP that many of us transplants to Pittsburgh have gone through this, but we eventually learned how to navigate the city, and in retrospect it is something many of us look on with a sense of humor more than anything else. In that sense, I think the intention is to be comforting, not dismissive.

[hempfield mania]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Paying your dues??? So if someone new to the city is navigating and ends up in a bad section of Pittsburgh (and there are quite a few!), that's paying their dues?!?!?

Yep, paying their dues. Just don't get out of the car to ask for directions in those bad sections you end up in and you will be fine.

It takes awhile but as others have said, learning the shortcuts gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.