An Oregonian Hits the Burgh (Pittsburgh, Washington: hotel, houses, neighborhood)

[Fiddlehead]

[SIZE=3]In early August this Oregon boy spent a full week in your fair city while attending a conference, and I was eager to see if the place lived up to my expectations. I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Oakland, and took the bus each day to the Convention Center downtown. My impressions are below in a few obvious categories.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]People- I was most curious about this, because my impression of this board was so favorable. My first impression was that people across the city seemed like they came out of general casting. Characters! Like “Barney Miller” meets “Fifty Cent.”My first meal in the city was a gut-busting Primanti’s pastrami in Oakland served by a flirty Pitt girl with dancing eyes, and my last meal was a corned beef on rye served by a guy downtown who looked like Grizzly Adams on steroids. Both were accompanied by pints of Yeungling, which were not bad. There seemed to be a bit more of the gangbanger style among the kids than I expected, but the people were very nice, and the city felt safe. It did seem like the black and white residents seemed to live in parallel bubbles, with little interaction. Is that the case? Overall, I am delighted to report the folks of Pittsburgh seemed to be among the most friendly I have ever met in the states. People were helpful, chatty, curious, interesting, and refreshingly down to earth. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The City-I loved the architecture of the city; it kind of reminded me of Metropolis in the Superman comics I read as a boy. One of the buildings downtown looked like it could have been the Daily Planet building. Way cool. The convention center was very spacious and nice, with wonderful views of the Allegheny River and northside (I believe). I hit the Carnegie Museums and the Church Brew works. The first was great, and the Brew Works was majestic as hell, but I must admit I felt a bit sacrilegious swilling pints in a church. I must be more old-fashioned than I thought. I took a brisk lunch walk over to the Monongahela incline and shot up to Southside for lunch, and it was gorgeous, of course. I was impressed by how compact everything was downtown, even if very confusing. Luckily, I left the driving to the hotel shuttle drivers who were also fonts of knowledge about the city. The comparison to Portland, Oregon seems very apt. Portland has a bit more majestic landscape, with the snowcapped peaks and all, but Pittsburgh has better architecture and more universities and cultural institutions; both are lovely. I did a brief sweep through Squirrel Hill, and as I expected, it is a leafy domain of stately to-die-for (for a West Coast guy at least) brick houses within a nice jog of Schenley Park. It looked great, but my time was very brief.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The Landscape and Weather-Like others have noted, the topography and rivers add immensely to the appeal of the city and area. I was able to experience a bit of both. I did a couple of trail runs along the Panther Hollow trail in Schenley Park and loved it. I also took a drive out to Ligonier and Ohiopyle State Park and rented a bike for a couple hours of riding along the Youghaheny River. I did my graduate thesis on streamside forests so I was in heaven looking at the trees, watching river rafters, and just enjoying the riparian ambiance. Then I drove down into W. Virginia for a peek at Coopers Rock State Forest outside Morgantown, returning to the Burgh via the Fort Pitt Tunnel (bam! instant city). Coming from a mountainous area out West, I must admit the mountains looked more like large hills to me, and there was less geographic diversity there than here, but on the whole it was very easy on the eye and looks like a lovely region to call home. It was darn humid too, but I kind of liked it. A lot of sweating, but not all the damn blazing sun we get in summer. I gathered it would not be the best place to watch the Perseid meteor shower though…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Overall, I think it is a great American city, and [SIZE=3]many Westerners might just be surprised by what it offers. [/SIZE]I would return again anytime. Thanks for the hospitality.....Pittsburgh rules! [/SIZE]

[Aran]

I'm not reading anything that small.

[PreservationPioneer]

Glad you enjoyed Pittsburgh! Your impression of the people here seems correct. My parents from Michigan always complain when they come here that "the people are so weird-looking."

[BrianTH]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a good trip, and you certainly saw a lot.

Unfortunately, I think you are right that more often than not, black and white people can operate in parallel worlds that very infrequently touch in even somewhat substantial ways. But that doesn't have to be the case, particularly if you make an effort at it.

[Geeo]

Wow, you did more in a week than some people who live here do all year! Glad you liked the town. Be sure to come back and tell your friends.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Wow, you did more in a week than some people who live here do all year! Glad you liked the town. Be sure to come back and tell your friends.

Ha! So true. I am a true rolling stone,and I love learning about new places. Hence my delight with discovering Pittsburgh.

I ought to plan a ripping vacation in my own home town sometime. There are so many things I have not done, perhaps because there is no time pressure to do so.

[creepsinc]

FYI, that little strip on Mt. Washington at the top of the Mon Incline isn't the South Side. It's called Shiloh Street, and if you liked that, you'd probably love the actual neighborhood called South Side (the other end of Carson St. with all the bars n'at, starting about a mile east of the incline). Apologies if I interpreted it wrong, but it sounded like you hopped on the incline and "shot up to South Side for lunch".

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

FYI, that little strip on Mt. Washington at the top of the Mon Incline isn't the South Side. It's called Shiloh Street, and if you liked that, you'd probably love the actual neighborhood called South Side (the other end of Carson St. with all the bars n'at, starting about a mile east of the incline). Apologies if I interpreted it wrong, but it sounded like you hopped on the incline and "shot up to South Side for lunch".

Well, I was on the south side of the Mon. and within a couple blocks of the incline station, but I have no idea what the name of the neighborhood was. It did not seem very hip to me. The view, however, were excellent.

Forgot to mention they did a blood drive at the conference, and while I was giving a pint of west coast latte sipper blood to the Burgh, I witnessed a righteous lightning storm through the window. Perfect!

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Well, I was on the south side of the Mon. and within a couple blocks of the incline station, but I have no idea what the name of the neighborhood was. It did not seem very hip to me. The view, however, were excellent.

Forgot to mention they did a blood drive at the conference, and while I was giving a pint of west coast latte sipper blood to the Burgh, I witnessed a righteous lightning storm through the window. Perfect!

Yeah, I like that little strip, just didn't want you to think it was the fabled South Side.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Well, I was on the south side of the Mon. and within a couple blocks of the incline station, but I have no idea what the name of the neighborhood was. It did not seem very hip to me. The view, however, were excellent.

Forgot to mention they did a blood drive at the conference, and while I was giving a pint of west coast latte sipper blood to the Burgh, I witnessed a righteous lightning storm through the window. Perfect!

Damn! I miss lightning storms. It's such an oddity out here that it makes the headlines in the morning paper with pictures.

And I miss brick houses. Although I totally get why we use stucco and clapboards for housing out here in the quake prone west coast, nothing has the sense of safety and permanence than brick and stone to me.

Maybe next year I'll come home again -- this time for a happy time.