Talk about a starkly different experience of walking. I love to take walks wherever I go – to explore, relax, exercise, and take in the surroundings. While visiting my family in Western Pennsylvania this year — or “Western PA” as we natives call it — I could hardly have had a more different experience of walking during the weekend there. If I compare and juxtapose the two walks, one through downtown Pittsburgh and another in a city suburb, they tell me a lot about how we plan – or perhaps more accurately, don’t plan – and build places these days and just how much the car remains king, to our detriment.
I took the Greyhound bus to Pittsburgh, where I was going to walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure of breast cancer in Schenley Park. Yes, a lot of people sniff at the thought of going Greyhound and mostly I prefer the train. But you can’t beat the price of the bus, and I love the ease of walking down Eighth Avenue from our Manhattan apartment to the Port Authority terminal, a small suitcase and backpack in tow, choosing from a bunch of daily trip times to Pittsburgh, and hopping on a bus. Easy!
And the people-watching is never dull. So I “landed” on that day in Pittsburgh at a bus station on Second Avenue that was temporary, while a new one was under construction. (The new bus station opened in September.) If Pittsburgh’s downtown is a triangle where three rivers come together, this was at the extreme upper-right corner, off the Parkway East and Monongahela River.
What do you notice about a city when you arrive? For me, it’s what’s alike, what’s different from places where I have been. When I ride into Pittsburgh, I always look at its large hills filled with the frame houses that once were home to so many steelworkers and their families. The neighborhoods cascade over the hillsides like human-built waterfalls.
Today, the smokestacks are gone from the riverfront, and many of the cavities left by them are filled with offices and stores, such as the Waterfront open-air mall on the site where the Homestead works of U.S. Steel once stood.
On this trip to the Pittsburgh area, I was disoriented because of landing in a different location from where the old bus station had stood. I was off the familiar streets of the downtown and had little idea at first of how to get to Liberty Avenue where I meet my connecting local bus to head out to my hotel. But as I walked out of the station to my left I noticed the Parkway East, which runs parallel with the Monongahela River, and I spotted a walking trail along the highway. Because of this orientation to the river and road, I could sense the direction of downtown and began walking that way. Sure enough, I began to see the familiar landmarks of downtown Pittsburgh in the distance.
These Streets Are Made for Walking
That is the thing about cities like Pittsburgh. They came of age in an earlier time, one in which geographical development didn’t center on the automobile with a massive tangle of circular roads and parking lots as the exurbs now have. The city’s settlement and development were forged by a natural geographic point, the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers – which rival groups fought to control over many years — and by its surrounding hills and valleys. Of course commerce played a role, but those who developed the cities laid out blocks and streets geared to being powered on foot, whether human or horse.
So, in my walk out of the bus station toward the core of the downtown, I could orient to the sight of the river and road alongside it, knowing both would lead me where I wanted to go. And I literally picked up the trail – which turned out to be part of the Eliza Furnace Trail, a 2.6-mile trail that is named for the Eliza Furnaces that were part of the massive Jones & Laughlin (J&L) Steel Mill in Pittsburgh. (It’s part of Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Heritage Trail.) The first part of the walk felt very urban and gritty, with a fence separating me from the parkway and bridges in the distance. And in fact, I passed the Allegheny County Jail. (Hence, some call this the “jail trail.”)
Still, as I headed northwest along it and onto the sidewalks of First and Second avenues in Pittsburgh, the walk was one of constant discovery: the fonts of the signs on old industrial buildings; brick streets; the diagonal and winding stone paths, ornamental trees, and grasses of Firstside Park, a green oasis that invites a playful feeling; buildings from different eras; and a gift store dating from 1938, among other things that caught my eye on every block. How far had I walked? Who knows…I felt invigorated.
Suburban Townships: Miles – And Worlds – Apart
Compare this with my experience the next two days in the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, where I stayed at a Days Inn in Moon Township just near its border with Robinson Township. I met family and friends in Robinson and took a walk outside my hotel in Moon Township, and I couldn’t help but compare my experiences with walking in Pittsburgh’s downtown.
First, a little background: Robinson is a fast-growing suburb – its population has grown 13.3% since 2000 – just over nine miles west of where the three rivers meet in downtown Pittsburgh. It’s as different from the historical city as a Wal-Mart is from an Art Deco skyscraper. To be sure, some welcoming neighborhoods exist in both Robinson and Moon townships, but I was experiencing the place as a visitor in one of the hotels.
For many years the primary sight in Robinson from the Parkway West highway was a single multiplex cinema pretty much surrounded by big green hills, but it has vastly changed in the past 15 years. Today, that same view of Robinson Township shows a massive hodgepodge of nothing but malls, shopping plazas, and big-box stores filling the hills for as far as the eye can see. Trees have lost out to neon signs and concrete.
While riding through this section of suburban Robinson on the way to and from my hotel, I noticed several things: Few people walk anywhere along the streets and roads near the malls and shopping plazas. Not one thing attracts the eyes in a pleasing way in this shoppers’ paradise. Traffic became clogged much of the time, meaning one spends lots of time stuck at lights and stop signs.
Lastly, it’s easy to get disoriented while trying to find your way. Two friends who have driven in this township many times got completely confused while seeking to find a certain place. In a jumble of roads pegged to the automobile and shopping as the center of existence, few, if any, natural features exist to help guide the way.
In this kind of environment, I tried to take a walk while at the hotel on Saturday afternoon. Just outside the hotel the only places I could find to walk were parking lots, the large connecting road, Market Place Boulevard, and a teeny weedy, sort-of-swampy green area. Wanting to get some exercise, I walked up Market Place Boulevard to a nearby huge Kmart, and then I walked a few circles around its parking lot so I’d log a little distance. As I walked, I looked a lot at the sky – first, because it was a beautiful blue, but also because I could find nothing that grabbed my interest otherwise.
This is what walking has become in much of our newest suburban areas across the U.S. It’s pedestrian-unfriendly, and little draws the eye, unless you get completely captivated by looking at the standard-issue concrete boxes of suburban hotels or license plates on the cars in these huge parking lots. If you love miles of pavement, little bushy shrubs, and a sea of cars, you’d love this walk.
It makes me wonder if anyone gives a thought to walking while they plan and construct the malls, hotels, restaurants, and big-box stores – the “towns” of today – that now inhabit so much space in America. There are some lessons in the city of Pittsburgh.
Walking itself is becoming a lost art. Observing while walking might be too complex for harried citizens on their way to somewhere, oblivious to what is surrounding them on the way.
My beloved Pittsburgh, a compact triangle of American history, is worth the look. Reminds me of the lyrics “Slow down…you move too fast”.
“Beloved Pittsburgh” is so right. That triangle must be one of the key places in America that holds so much history…and very compactly, as you say. I had never even checked out First and Second avenues before. Who knew? It’s so great to orient along the rivers and hills — and know where one is going.
And the PNC Firstside Center is a lovely and interesting building, a modern and warm-looking (with its light-golden brick) version of those old manufacturing buildings full of glass and great angles.
As the song goes, “You gotta make the morning last.” I see so many in New York looking harried (and confess I am among them too often). It’s almost like you can hear the colliding thoughts out there! A lost art indeed.
I told my friend/colleague about this site and wanted to let you know that she loved this piece about Pittsburgh (she is from western PA). She then passed on to some family members who love Pittsburgh, and they greatly enjoyed the article and how you captured the feel. Kudos!
You have the sound of a native down: Western P-A. That’s it! Thanks so much for passing the word — appreciated very much!
I’ve lived in, and loved, three different Pittsburgh neighborhoods: Squirrel Hill, Mount Lebanon, and Mount Washington. What great walking! I wonder what Mt Washington’s like now — it used to be this fantastic warren of old houses on the most tiny, narrow streets. Is there much new development?
Those are all great neighborhoods, and quite a variation. And excellent walking!
We spent a week’s vacation in Pittsburgh last year, and walked and ate our way through a lot of neighborhoods, from the South Side to Shadyside and Oakland. Do you believe that we never got up to Mount Washington? So much to do, and I especially got into walking a lot of the South Side’s side streets, with a local history in hand.
I’m not sure how much new development is taking place in Mount Washington. (I’ll check this out with some sources.). I read that city planners just approved a project to convert the former South Hills High School into housing for seniors, and it will have a YMCA and early childhood development center on the ground floor. You must’ve really loved walking around that “fantastic warren of old houses on the most tiny, narrow streets.”
Did you have a favorite among those neighborhoods, or is that like asking about three wonderful meals?
That’s tough. Pittsburgh is one of the most beautiful and interesting cities I’ve lived in. It’s almost tied with San Francisco (which is ahead owing to the fact on my walks I always smelled rosemary and jasmine.) I loved all the neighborhoods. Mt Lebanon and nearby Dormont are leafy and old; Dormont is more working class. Great walking in both of those peaceful suburbs built in the ’40s. Dormont reminds me of London.
Squirrel Hill I love for its diversity — you see a lot of orthodox Jews, students, recent Russian immigrants. Plus the very varied architecture and all the green. Last time I was there downtown Squirrel Hill seemed a bit down at heel. More boarded up storefronts than I remember. You should take the incline up Mt Washington sometime. Disregard the silly restaurants with views and just pick along those old streets. Oh, and I love the aluminim-siding ambience and the feel of Lawrenceville. Great polish food, too, as I recall.
Sometimes the train is less expensive! Right now I think strangely planes to Pittsburgh are less expensive than both.
I love the train better than the bus to be sure. Worth checking those prices constantly! If you’ve gotten a plane ticket less expensive than both, that’s great!
Susan
I find it ironic here in Pittsburgh that we have many walking and biking trails in the area and the closer that you live to the city, the more convenient it is to walk and bike. Where you stayed in Robinson, there is a very nice walking and bike trail called “The Montour Trail.”
With that said, places like Cranberry and Robinson Township are just a nightmare of asphalt, concrete and box-store mentality. You cannot live there without a car, though in some of the expensive housing plans they have walking and bike trails through the woods. The don’t, however, go anywhere except near and around the plans themselves. Within and just outside of the city limits is an oasis of urban living with all its benefits, from Northside to Southside, Oakland to East Liberty, we do have some special places. I’ll take them any day over the suburban blight of places like Cranberry and Robinson.
Heydee17,
You capture so well the special experience of walking and biking – in “an oasis of urban living,” as you call it – within and near Pittsburgh’s city limits.
On the other hand, what if someone wanted the option to walk around Robinson’s “Towne Center”? Did those behind it ever consider this choice, in the planning stages, in order to make it a welcoming, even enjoyable, experience?
As commercialism became a more dominant force and our society super-sized the shopping experience, newer suburbs left walking out of the equation. That is unless one is talking about the walk from the parking lot into a store.
Thanks for citing The Montour Trail. I will check it out one of the next times I’m in Western PA. My “experiment” while staying at the suburban hotel was to consider my walking choices while I was without a car. Pretty dismal, I found.
Anytime people design new “towns” where someone has to drive at least several miles from home just to get a loaf of bread something is very wrong!
I know many others who agree that this has become “suburban blight.” Well said.
Susan
I enjoyed reading all of the comments about Pittsburgh. Living in Squirrel Hill is great–I can walk everywhere!
Jill,
So glad that you enjoyed the commentary about Pittsburgh. It’s a place very dear to my heart.
Squirrel Hill is wonderful…excellent walking! And to be able to walk everywhere in this day of so many car-centric places is truly a great blessing.
Thanks,
Susan
I just stumbled upon this and found it a very enjoyable read. Downtown Pittsburgh is a great place for walking. Bellevue just north of the city is another great walking neighborhood to check out. Mexican War Streets on the North Side is blossoming back to life, too – a lot of character houses and people to watch. If you ever end up in Robinson again, check out Montour Trail (just down the hill from Days Inn) – it’s a belt rail-trail circling the entire Greater Pittsburgh area and also connects to the Great Allegheny Passage. You can bike all the way to DC from there!
Hi, Alex,
Thanks so much for all of those suggestions. I need to walk the Mexican War Streets more. I’ve actually walked the Montour Trail, with my sister. It’s great! Amazing that one can bike all the way to DC from there.
Your comments are a reminder that Pittsburgh and its surroundings have so many superb neighborhoods to walk. I have family in Pittsburgh, and my roots are in Western PA — and I always look forward to my next visit home.
Thanks again, come back to visit, and enjoy your walking!
Susan