Steps of Pittsburgh

Last updated

Typical steps in the South Side Southside steps 2.jpg
Typical steps in the South Side
Pittsburgh "orphan" house with stairs-only access Pittsburgh city steps orphan house with stairs-only access.jpg
Pittsburgh "orphan" house with stairs-only access

Pittsburgh has nearly 800 sets of city-owned steps. Many steps parallel existing roads, but others exist on their own and are classified as city streets and are commonly referred to as "paper streets". Nearly two-thirds of the steps are in low or moderate-income areas. Approximately 450 sets of steps are built on structures and 350 are built into sidewalks, known as "jumpwalks". [1]

Contents

The large number of steps are an engineering approach to the topography upon which the City of Pittsburgh is built. According to author Martin Aurand, Pittsburgh "lies unevenly on unruly land". The city is located at the confluence of two rivers which cut through elevated land of the Appalachian Plateau. The city is settled at elevations ranging from 710 to 1,300 feet (220 to 400 m) above sea level. [2]

Steps have defined Pittsburgh to many of its visitors. Writing in 1937, war correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote of the steps of Pittsburgh:

And then the steps. Oh Lord, the steps! I was told they actually had a Department of Steps. That isn't exactly true, although they do have an Inspector of Steps. But there are nearly 15 miles of city-owned steps, going up mountainsides. [3]

Pittsburgh's steps were cataloged by author and University of Pittsburgh professor Bob Regan in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He located and documented 739 individual sets of steps, including 44,645 risers, accounting for 24,108 vertical feet. Regan's first book [4] was published by The Local History Company in 2004 and is currently out of print. The second edition, published by Globe Pequot, appeared in 2015 and contains updated content and photographs including a full Appendix that provides the location, steps count, and construction year for each flight. [5] In 2017, The City of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure utilized Regan's data to form the basis of the current "City Steps Plan" which is used to determine how public stairways are cared for and remediated by the City. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenfield (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Greenfield is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the city's 15th Ward along with Hazelwood and Glen Hazel. Greenfield is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Squirrel Hill to the north and east, Hazelwood to the south and west, and Oakland to the northwest. Greenfield includes the geographically and culturally distinct sub-neighborhood of Four Mile Run, also known as Rusyn Valley. Pittsburgh Fire Station #12 is located in the neighborhood on Winterburn Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazelwood (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Hazelwood is a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Barb Warwick. It is bordered by Greenfield and Oakland on the north, Squirrel Hill and Glen Hazel on the east, and the Monongahela River on the south and west. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 13 Engine and 13 Truck in Hazelwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomfield (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Bloomfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located three miles from the downtown area. Bloomfield is sometimes referred to as Pittsburgh's Little Italy because it was settled by Italians from the Abruzzi region and has been a center of Italian–American population. Pittsburgh architectural historian Franklin Toker has said that Bloomfield "is a feast, as rich to the eyes as the homemade tortellini and cannoli in its shop windows are to the stomach." Recently, the neighborhood has attracted young adults and college students as a "hip" neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crafton Heights</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Crafton Heights is a neighborhood in the 28th Ward of the City of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located in the northeastern section of the city and spans the Allegheny River. Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar houses PBF 15 Engine, and is covered by PBP Zone 5 and the Bureau of EMS Medic 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Elliott is a small, hilly neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States' West End Region. Elliott is represented on the Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2, and uses the ZIP code 15220.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garfield (Pittsburgh)</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Garfield is a neighborhood in the East End of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Garfield is bordered on the South by Bloomfield and Friendship, on the West by the Allegheny Cemetery, on the North by Stanton Heights, and on the East by East Liberty. Like many parts of Pittsburgh, Garfield is a fairly steep neighborhood, with north-south residential streets running at about a 20% incline from Penn Avenue at the bottom to Mossfield Street at the top. Garfield is divided into “the valley” and “the hilltop.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uptown Pittsburgh</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Uptown or The Bluff is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the southeast of the city's Central Business District. It is bordered in the north by the Hill District and located across the Monongahela River from South Side. The predominant area zip code is 15219.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California-Kirkbride</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

California-Kirkbride is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Lawrenceville</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Central Lawrenceville is a neighborhood in the northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It has a zip code of 15201, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 7. It is home to Allegheny Cemetery. Central Lawrenceville is the home of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire's 6 Engine and 6 Truck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Northside</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Central Northside is a neighborhood in the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has a zip code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 6. Originally known as "The Buena Vista Tract", it is densely filled with restored row houses, community gardens and tree lined streets and alleyways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duquesne Heights</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Duquesne Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Allegheny</span> Neighborhood in Pennsylvania, US

East Allegheny, also known as Deutschtown, is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh's North Side. It has a ZIP code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 32 engines and 32 trucks in Deutschtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Hills (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood in Pittsburgh

East Hills is a neighborhood in the east side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Its ZIP Code is 15221. It has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morningside (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Morningside is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's East End. It has two Zip Codes, 15201 and 15206.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Hill</span> Neighborhood in Pennsylvania, US

Polish Hill is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Primarily a residential area, it is home to Pittsburgh's Immaculate Heart of Mary church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakwood (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Oakwood is a neighborhood in the West End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has a zip code of 15205, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry North</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Perry North is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA's north city area. It lies within zip codes 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1. The highest elevation in Pittsburgh is 1,370 feet at the Brashear Reservoir at the top of Observatory Hill. The Pittsburgh Bureau of fire houses 34 Engine in Perry North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paola Corso</span> American poet

Paola Jo (PJ) Corso is an American fiction writer, poet, photographer and literary activist. Corso is a New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellow, Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award Winner,, and included on the Pennsylvania Center for the Book's Literary Map. She is the author of eight books of fiction and poetry, including 'Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps,' (2020) with original photos by the author and archival photographs from the University of Pittsburgh Library; Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories (2010) on Library Journal’s notable list of first novels; Giovanna's 86 Circles And Other Stories (2005), a Binghamton University's John Gardner Fiction Book Award Finalist; a book of poems, Death by Renaissance (2004), and award-winning poetry collections, The Laundress Catches Her Breath, winner of the Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing; and Once I Was Told the Air Was Not for Breathing (2012), about Pittsburgh steelworkers and garment workers in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and winner of a Triangle Fire Memorial Association Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steps of Cincinnati</span> Municipal stairway network in the U.S.

The Steps of Cincinnati refers to roughly 400 sets of city-owned steps in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. The steps are an unusual and integral mode of transportation in the city. In addition to practical use, the steps offer recreational users exercise and serve as a scenic attraction to tourists.

References

  1. 1 2 Pittsburgh City Steps Plan
  2. Aurand, Martin (2006). The Spectator and the Topographical City. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  3. "Pyle's Great Column on Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Press. April 19, 1945.
  4. Regan, Bob (2005). The Steps of Pittsburgh, Portrait of a City. Local History Co. ISBN   0-9711835-6-2.
  5. Regan, Bob (2015). Pittsburgh Steps, The Story of the City's Public Stairways. Globe Pequot. ISBN   978-1-4930-1384-5.