Everyone knows Mount Washington. It's that big hill that looks over downtown...wait. That would be all the hills. Well Mount Washington is the one with the inclines. The Duquesne and the Monongahela. At one point there were 16 inclines in Pittsburgh. With the advent of the automobile and the trolley, these inclines slowly faded away one by one. Even with so many inclines (or funiculars) Pittsburgh still has so many city steps. Why? Well the funiculars require a fare but the steps are free. Some people just couldn't afford the ride up the hill everyday. Many of the inclines were freight inclines as well meaning you could actually take your car or horse on with you. Like land ferries. Any average blue collar Joe will tell you how bourgeois that is. Real men walk up the steps. Mount Washington is home to the famous views thus hordes of tourists. It isn't just Grandview Avenue, mind you. Mount Washington has many hidden gems and many interesting enclaves. I often start on one side of the hill and walk all the way over to downtown. I don't think there is another neighborhood so dynamic as Mount Washington. With its mix of old and new architecture, poor, middle, and upper-class demographics, this neighborhood will always surprise you.
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