Pittsburgh's crazy streets and old houses (Philadelphia, Washington: apartments, high crime, neighborhood)

[ctoocheck]

There's a book that might be of interest if you're interested in the whole city planning scene: "Before Renaissance-Planning in Pittsburgh 1889-1943." It's en route to me now so I can't say exactly what's inside, but it might be something to check out. I know they sell it at the Heinz History Center, and of course on Amazon, etc.

[chloride1]

You may enjoy the Historic Pittsburgh Image Collection. You can search for
historic pictures of a neighborhood before visiting it. Below is a link (though it may be easier to google it):

Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections - An Online Gateway to Thousands of Images Documenting Pittsburgh's Visual Past

I've lived here for 9 years and am still having fun discovering new neighborhoods/areas.

I actually enjoyed running errands last weekend because they brought me to
different neighborhoods. I was proud of myself for getting from one to the other :-)

[chloride1]

Since you want to tour in other ways than driving this trip, I would recommend taking a walking tour of the South Side Slopes. What an interesting neighborhood; you'll get some good exercise and see some great views

There are two self-directed walking tours (Step Trek). Unfortunately, I didn't find the actual course on-line. However, you should be able to get a copy if you contact the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association.

Here are some interesting fun facts (from a community website):

At the height of the South Side’s glassmaking industry in 1876, the neighborhood was home to 76 glass factories.

The South Side was once home to five inclines that carried passengers and freight up to “the Slopes.”

The current site of the South Side Works shopping and residential development was once home to the Jones & Laughlin and LTV steel mills.
In the late 1960s, nearly 8,000 people worked at the plant.

44,645 individual steps add up to 712 sets of public stairways (24,108 vertical feet) in the South Side Slopes and Flats.

[fleetiebelle]

I used to have this blog bookmarked: Walking Pittsburgh They never finished their quest of walking all the Pittsburgh neighborhoods, but what they did is still pretty cool.

[Johnny C]

Originally Posted by chloride1

Since you want to tour in other ways than driving this trip, I would recommend taking a walking tour of the South Side Slopes. What an interesting neighborhood; you'll get some good exercise and see some great views

There are two self-directed walking tours (Step Trek). Unfortunately, I didn't find the actual course on-line. However, you should be able to get a copy if you contact the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association.

Here are some interesting fun facts (from a community website):

Here is a site that provides walking directions for exploring the south side slopes:

Movers and Shakers, Active Outdoors Tour : Pittsburgh Neighborhoods

[mattm93]

Its a reason why I like Pittsburgh. Flatness and perfect city blocks are boring.

[PreservationPioneer]

I love Pittsburgh for the same reasons you do, Squeamish, and I'm sure many others do as well. It seems Steelers seem to take priority in this city, but I think there is a lot of pride for the historic architecture around the city (although I think admiring old buildings makes someone something of a minority in our "newer is better" culture).

I have a little row house in Stowe and I love it. I'm not gutting it -- it actually has a perfectly useable 1930s era kitchen, with big porcelain sink and built in antique cabinets. I love Presston and The Bottoms -- I just discovered them the other day. What fascinating history there is in that area. Did you know Presston used to have a casino and its own school? These were torn down in the 1960s. I also love the Mckees Rocks bridge. I think the area as a whole is very underrated, not the crime ridden hole some people say it is (perhaps parts of Chartiers ave do fit that description). I think the main reason the area gets a bad rap is because it was obviously built for, and is lived in, by low income working class people. Not the kind of neighborhood someone who wants to appear affluent would choose (but I think you could actually save enough money living there, the houses are so cheap, that you could actually become affluent!).

But I think there are plenty who admire the old houses, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people restoring them in areas like the War Streets, Manchester, South Side, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, etc. All of these areas, with the possible exception of Manchester, seem to be on the upswing. I also recommend some of the river towns such as Etna, Sharpsburg, and Millvale if you love old row houses, as I do.

[PreservationPioneer]

Another fun walking trip would be to walk down Penn Ave through the strip district and into lower Lawrenceville. There are some absolutely fascinating mid 19th century buildings in that area, and many are being beautifully restored.

It's funny to me that cities like Charleston and Savannah are tourist destinations because of their abundant historic architecture, but nobody seems to visit Pittsburgh for those reasons, even though the city was much more populated in the 1800s and has abundant mid 19th century architecture. My biggest fear is that much of the surviving 19th century architecture in Pittsburgh, will continue to be neglected and eventually meet the wrecking ball. I have this fear every time I expllore the North Side -- that neighborhood has lost so much. Just looking out over the North Side from Route 28/ 65, you can see so many abandoned Victorians in the Manchester/ Calbride Place areas. It's so depressing to me.

[Nebat]

I too was blown away by the rich architecture throughout the city. Last time I visited, i avoided the interstste and just drove east through the city to Monroeville. Doing that I wound up going through Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, two amazing neighborhoods I had been curious about. I always laugh when people from the mid-west or west coast make fun of the street patterns of many east coast cities. In Pittsburgh it's impossible to have a grid pattern because of the hills and mountains and rivers. Also, old cities generally built roads as needed without regard for practicality. Even lower Manhattan's streets are a jumbled "mess" compared to midtown. For the record, I'm not a fan of grid patterns, (even though they make finding your way around easier), because they are boring. Pittsburgh bleeds character for many things, including the way the streets are laid out. It sorta has an old world feel to me sometimes.

[groar]

the wacky geography and especially the architecture is definitely a big part of what drew me here (along with the cheapness). i pretty much moved here on a whim from nyc.

the abandoned houses in my area (wilkinsburg) absolutely blow my mind. the period when wilkinsburg (and pittsburgh) was most affluent - the turn of the century - also happens to be one of my favorite american architectural periods, at least as far as ordinary housing goes.

i dig the row houses too, although i wouldn't want to live in one! i feel the same way about the south side slopes actually.