Just got back from a great weekend in Pittsburgh! (Duquesne: lofts, hotel)

[Nebat]

Hi Pittsburgher's! Just wanted to say that I am continually impressed with your awesome city. The colors of the trees were great too, adding to my enjoyment. I got there Saturday and stayed out by the international airport. It was rainy and gloomy. Went to Robinson town center to re-fuel the car and now I know what Pittsburgher's do when it's rainy and gloomy, shop! It took me 45 mins just to get in and out of that place! Anyways, after leaving there we headed back into the city. The view coming out of the Fort Pitt tunnel is amazing. Went over to Homestead to catch a movie and check the status of the "ghetto bridge" (Rankin). Not much seems to have changed in the year since I was there. It is encouraging to see them actually working on it.

Sunday went on a casual ride out around the airport in the country by Oakdale. Then headed back to the city and wound up in Oakland at the University of Pittsburgh by accident, but took advantage of it and walked around that area. It's a cool place. My friend wanted to take a look at the Heinz lofts so we went there. Ended up driving through the Strip District. Nothing was going on it seemed, but it was Sunday evening. Not even sure if I was on the main street in the area. From there we went over to the inclines, as this has become a tradition to do this on every trip. Went up the Duquesne incline, walked over to the Mon incline and came down. Hung around station square and went back to the hotel.

Sunday went up to the Beaver area for some auto parts I was trying to find for a car I'm working on. The area seemed nice but didn't have time for sightseeing. After that came back to the city and went back to Oakland in search of Shadyside. Went through the Squirrell Hill neighborhood. That's a really nice neighborhood! I don't really hear many talking about it as much as Shadyside. From there found Shadyside. Also a very cool and very dense neighborhood. Again not much time for sightseeing, but already felt overwhlmed by all the cool houses and storefronts that were everywhere. Wouldn't know where to start sightseeing or to take photos as every place seemed worthy of a stare. After this we started making our way east as we needed to start heading home. We took Frankstown Rd all the way out of the city toward Monroeville. That street goes through some shady areas, but nothing too scary. Went to the Monroeville mall as that is another Pittsburgh tradition my friend and I have. It's a cult movie thing. It's actually how I discovered Pittsburgh in the first place. From there we headed home.

The architecture throughout the city always blows my mind. Even the dilapidated buildings. It just adds character in my opinion.
I always find people in Pittsburgh friendly and down to earth. I love that. Also it seems to be a very blue collar working class city. Something else I love, as I identify with that and consider myself as such. Now as far as driving, I was looking out for that Pittsburgh left, I think I saw it but wasn't sure. An old man actually let me do it to him despite there being cars behind him. On the highways no one seems to even use the speed limit as a guideline. It's either 20-30 over or 10-20 under. But at street level, like downtown or shopping centers, I find other motorists to be quite friendly. I lost count of all the people that let me go in front of them.

So those are the cliffs notes from my trip. Sorry for the essay, but thanks for reading. Always love coming to the 'Burgh and will be back soon!

[Fiddlehead]

Very nice summary. Thanks for posting. I was checking out houses on trulia again. Some amazing places there, that is for sure. I would love to have taken that road trip. Where are you coming form Nebat?

[BrianTH]

Thanks for the writeup! And you certainly covered a lot of ground for a short trip.

Incidentally, I also think Pittsburgh drivers are some of the nicest around--too nice in some circumstances, arguably, but overall I appreciate it.

[SewickleyPA]

You should have postponed your trip by a day. The past 5 days have been just about perfect weather-wise.

[mattm93]

Lol. The "ghetto" bridge and town Rankin are named after my great, great, great, etc. grandpa.

[Nebat]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Very nice summary. Thanks for posting. I was checking out houses on trulia again. Some amazing places there, that is for sure. I would love to have taken that road trip. Where are you coming form Nebat?

I don't really live that far away, I came up from a little town in Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, specifically Staunton. It's about a 4.5 hour drive at the most. Pittsburgh just seems to have everything I like in a city-being a large metro, but not too big, a nice skyline, a dense downtown with great historic buildings mixed in with the new. Nice historic neighborhoods with their own distinct feel. Friendly people. And beautiful natural beauty surrounds the city and is within the city. And best of all, it's only a morning's drive away for me. The only negative being that it's very land locked with the nearest coast hours away. But that's still fine, because I'm not much of a beach bum anyway. Just like having the option in case. Thanks for the comments and I'll see you around...figuratively speaking.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Incidentally, I also think Pittsburgh drivers are some of the nicest around--too nice in some circumstances, arguably, but overall I appreciate it.

There is no argument, way to nice. Just keep moving....

When we drove in the Boston area for our honeymoon, it was an experience I'll never forget, but I will have to say, traffic kept moving. Not this ridiculous letting people on to the interstate one car at a time crap.

[ajl777]

Drivers are friendly unless you're a pedestrian in a crosswalk