Allegheny Commons / West Park questions (Pittsburgh, Manchester: condo, neighborhood, YMCA)

[SteveinRaleigh]

I'm a former Northsider who is visiting Pittsburgh for a business trip in January. I plan to workout outside in the early AM (5-7am ish) before going to the office.

2 questions - is there still Parcourse exercise equipment on the trail around West Park near the Aviary? In particular I'm looking for a pull-up bar station.

And, will I be relatively undisturbed running, doing pull-ups etc in the park in the early morning hours? Or is the area not safe enough for this?

I grew up in Manchester and Brighton Heights and Perry hilltop, so I'm not expecting it to be suburban, but I haven't been to the park in over 20 years.

[RogersParkTransplant]

I have never been in the park that early in the morning, but I cut through it pretty often in the evening (walking from the YMCA on North Ave down to Cedar Ave at E Ohio St, for example), and I don't feel unsafe doing so at 7pm even in winter when it's dark. I'm female, mid-30s, medium build, for whatever that's worth.

I am not sure if there is workout equipment in the park -- I honestly can't recall -- but there are plenty of kid's playgrounds where you could probably improvise a spot for pull-ups if needed.

Welcome back to the neighborhood!

[guy2073]

When I was in the union my shift at agh started st 6:30 am. I would walk through the park. There are alot I mean alot of homless people in the morning, but I was never spoken to or felt unsafe

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by steveinfl

I'm a former Northsider who is visiting Pittsburgh for a business trip in January. I plan to workout outside in the early AM (5-7am ish) before going to the office.

2 questions - is there still Parcourse exercise equipment on the trail around West Park near the Aviary? In particular I'm looking for a pull-up bar station.

And, will I be relatively undisturbed running, doing pull-ups etc in the park in the early morning hours? Or is the area not safe enough for this?

I grew up in Manchester and Brighton Heights and Perry hilltop, so I'm not expecting it to be suburban, but I haven't been to the park in over 20 years.

You would be better off running along the river trail. Pittsburgh's river front park system has blossomed over the last 20 years. I believe there is exercise equipment on the trail between the Alcoa Headquarters and the Heinz plant.

[SteveinRaleigh]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll plan to hit the River Front trail since it's close to where I am staying. I'll do some pull-ups off tree branches or climb some walls if I can't find a pull-up bar.

[RogersParkTransplant]

OK, but do take a few spins through the Northside if you have time! I would be interested to hear your responses to all the changes around here. If you have time, check out the Allegheny City Historic Gallery on E Ohio St -- they are focused on photographic documentation of the North Side, and you might see some cool old pictures of the streets where you grew up.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

OK, but do take a few spins through the Northside if you have time! I would be interested to hear your responses to all the changes around here. If you have time, check out the Allegheny City Historic Gallery on E Ohio St -- they are focused on photographic documentation of the North Side, and you might see some cool old pictures of the streets where you grew up.

I would suggest breakfast or lunch at the Bistro To Go. I love that place. The Priory Bakery is nice as well.

[norcider]

I think most of that old exercise equipment is gone these days but there are newer monkey bars you could probably improvise with. The park is pretty safe and definitely more so that early in the AM. If you haven't seen the condors in a while be sure to go see them in their renovated enclosure. You'll be surprised that the old pedestrian bridge across the RR tracks is now gone. Man the place has changed big time in the past 20 years. Dare I say Federal street is pretty normal these days.

[Uptown kid]

Manchester is now only rough for gang members. Much of Perry Hilltop was a war zone every year between the inner subneighborhods of UpTop the Charles St Valley and Perrsyville... Now days there's realative peace, hence small scale revitalization is occuring in the worst parts. The more declining parts were quieter in the 90's.
SE Brighton Heights is the only place which was worse. The 1992 Gangsters In Disguise gang that was mention in the post gazette as dismantling in 1993 was fortelling of what would happen in the 2010's. Now gangs are forming in part of the southern portion. tho IMO parts north of Termon and East of Shadeland Avenue have a better chance than Bellvue around Ohio River Blvd.

[SteveinRaleigh]

It's 18 months later and I'm back in the Burgh on business again. Here's a quick update for anyone else staying near Pirates stadium looking for a place to workout.

When I want to hit the gym, I walk across the Clemente bridge and go to Gold's Gym in market square. It opens early and has a decent daily and weekly rate. It's got all the good stuff like free weights, dumbbells, machines etc.

For outdoor pullups and a place to hang rings or suspension straps there's a playground behind Sue Murray pool (look up 400 Cedar Ave in Google maps to get there). I hung my rings from the swingset bars. I got caught out in the rain this week but still had a good workout. I saw no homeless people at 530-630am. There were a bunch if working class people walking to town and catching the bus at nearby stops. I imagine they thought I was a weirdo doing exercises in the playground, but nobody bothered me.

Pirates Stadium leaves the River side of the outer stadium deck open many mornings too and people walk through here. It offers some shelter from the rain. I might try hanging my rings here this trip if it rains.

If you stay at the Hyatt place, you can go in the stairwells and hang from an I beam. It's a little challenging on the hands so I recommend wearing some gloves. But this is convenient when it's too cold to go outside.

As for the area around Pirates Stadium, I am amazed at the changes since I lived on the Northside in the 80s. This place used to be a wasteland of parking lots, a few dives bars and not much else. As kids, we'd roller skate on the ramps and in the lots surrounding Three Rivers Stadium and we'd avoid any scary looking drunks or addicts on the streets. Now the only danger is getting hit by a hipster biking on the Riverfront paths or getting a ticket for parking in the wrong spot when visiting one of 20 some restaurants.

It's nice to see a blighted area that I watched go downhill in my youth turn around and be full of young, energetic people and new businesses.

Lastly I'll recommend Burgatory for dinner. I had excellent food and service there a few times.