The "ghetto" (I hate that term)

Today was a good day for stair climbing. The clouds were blocking the sun from searing my pasty skin and the temperature was right around 70. It was a bit balmy but Spring has sprung. The smell of gardenia is in the air.



I went to Beltzhoover today after making excuses for so long. You see, this particular neighborhood is purportedly the worst in the city. Lowest housing values, highest crime, it smells funny...it does. (probably because of all the rotting trash and abandonment) Beltzhoover was this place that I never imagined setting foot in. Why would I? It was blown out of proportion in my mind however. Naturally, things are never as bad as you make them out to be. In reality the place was quite charming. The housing stock was similar to the rest of the city as far as architecture and design albeit I'd say there was perhaps a 50% vacancy rate. The homes that were still inhabited seemed well-maintained and there were people around sitting on front porches and doing yard work. A promising amount of home renovation seemed to be taking place. I counted three construction projects going on. There is new housing too. While other neighborhoods get all the credit for rebounding and revitalizing, Beltzhoover has a harder row to hoe. It's got a lot more to bounce back from. So perhaps the renaissance will just be a slower, subtler process here. We shall see.


As far as steps are concerned, I encountered too many that were just demolished or too overgrown to count. Many of the steps in Beltzhoover are extremely old brick steps that the city has probably never maintained. Before I go to a place, I scour old maps for locations of steps and plan out a good walk to cover efficiently, as many as possible. Well Beltzhoover's steps were not easily covered. One set in particular, Montooth Way, which cuts through four or five blocks, barely existed. I found myself trudging through grass and mud more than anything hoping to find remnants. I did find some steps but I felt inclined not to count them. Instead I highlighted them on the map with red indicating they should not be traveled.





From Beltzhoover I walked to neighboring Allentown. Allentown was along the now defunct Brown line trolley. There are many storefronts and a lot of vitality along Warrington Ave. Allentown has charm in spades. Architectural detail out the wazoo. Views to kill. It's a shame it hasn't been able to really gain much recognition. Still, it seems stable enough.



All in all, I did 563 new steps today. I realized I haven't been keeping track of how many sets of steps I have found so today I counted. Officially, I have found 414. Sheesh, right? Apparently I need to find another 298 although I think Bob Regan (author of "The Steps of Pittsburgh: Portrait of a City") must have been counting differently. I believe he counts each set separately if it is bisected by a road. Like Eleanor St. in the South Side Slopes for instance. It goes for nearly 6 or 7 blocks but I only counted the whole shebang as one set. What I am really trying to say is that I think that I have at least located a vast majority of the sets of steps. I still have yet to walk less than half. Bob has the number at 44,000 and I have logged 23,100 or so. Yay me. Not much further to go, my pets.