Numbers

I never liked numbers, ever since I was a kid they've always given me trouble. I failed algebra twice in high school. 

With step trekking, I find inconsistency after inconsistency. I invested in a little clicker counter so I could accurately ascertain the correct numbers. The alleged largest set of steps, Rising Main in Fineview has three different counts; my number, the number stenciled on the pavement by the Fineview Citizens Council, and the number in Bob's book. I double checked my count and I know that I am right. However, I am not going to argue with a community group over it. So how did Bob Regan, author of the only book on the subject of city steps, get the number 331? Who's right about Rising Main Ave? Me of course. I don't mean to discredit Bob Regan by any means. I have read his book a few times in fact and found it to be not only informative but beautifully written, wry, and thoroughly entertaining. I just mean to point out that his facts are wrong. For instance, he has listed the longest sets in Pittsburgh respectively as follows.

(My research is in bold.)

Ray Avenue(Brookline)- 378, 258

Jacob Street (Brookline)- 364, 121 & 124 (there are 2 sets that still don't add up to equal 364)

57th Street (Lawrencville/Stanton Heights)-345, 349

Rising Main (Fineview)- 331, 371

Yard Way (South Side Slopes)- 317, 315

This is Rising Main Avenue in Fineview.

When I read the book for the first time 4 years ago, I was motivated to go find these steps and start a new exercise routine. I live in Brookline so I was thrilled that we had 2 of the largest sets of steps in the city, proud in fact. But how disappointing was it to get to Jacob Street and get only half the steps I thought. How did Bob Get these numbers? Well, in his own words...
"The Author conducted the first complete survey of the city steps in the summer of 1999 using a combination of manual methods and sophisticated computer technology. At the start of the survey, he obtained a nascent database of the steps compiled by the City of Pittsburgh as well as digital maps of the streets and rights of way..."
There is one problem I can see already. How sophisticated was computer technology in 1999 really...compared to now. I can't be critical of that I suppose. My research using google Earth is far easier that I suppose Bob's was. I can however be critical of the fact that he clearly states that he "...walked the steps to obtain a count" when he clearly did not. I'm sure he walked some of them...most of them even, but then again, when you're listing the city's longest sets in a special section in your meticulously researched book, one would think he'd have the numbers right.

I digress. Perhaps it was an clerical error. Maybe while writing the book, all those numbers and facts got mixed up. Who knows? Whether Bob actually walked the steps or not isn't important. He's an older man than myself and I don't blame him. During hot summer days hiking through the South Side Slopes last year, I almost passed out a few times. Bob wrote a great book and did extensive research and that cannot be discredited.

But credit needs to be where credit is due. And Brookline should not have the credit. Fineview clearly has the largest set of steps. 

So the real argument shouldn't be about numbers, unless we're talking dollar bills. The only way to preserve the city steps now is to raise awareness. 

They're disappearing fast and I suppose the numbers aren't so important. 

Catching up in Hazlewood

I am kind of updating in reverse so forgive me. I did Hazlewood and Greenfield yesterday. In particular was Gladstone street. I have been wanting to find these steps for ages and keep planning a trip out there and never end up making it. Well I finally did, thank god. Hazlewood is a very historic neighborhood full of history and old things that are...historic. It's also a bit abandoned. But it has the oldest library is Pittsburgh (which is closed) and the oldest house in Pittsburgh (which is shuttered up and creepy)

This is the John Woods house. It was built in 1792 and is an important asset to our rich history, which is why we neglect it, because we're Americans. So I started in Greenfield and hiked up and over Gladstone street. The steps start by gently cresting the hill and then follow a flat sidewalk for a ways past a lily pond (aka drainage problem) then zigs once, descends, zags once, and descends into a lovely knoll of well kept homes and a great looking urban garden.

The top of the hill is Greenfield, the bottom is Hazlewood. Greenfield is stable, beautiful, safe. Hazlewood is decaying, forgotten, and crime ridden. So sad. Its location is absolutely perfect for revitalization. Midway between downtown and Homestead on the flourishing technology corridor, right next to the Three Rivers Heritage trail and right across the bridge from the Southside. Why is this neighborhood so neglected?

Tullymet Street There are signs of life in Hazelwood however. The Young Preservationist Association of Pittsburgh are looking to re-purpose the Carnegie Library currently and urban farming has also really taken a foothold. Perhaps if enough interest is garnered, we will see this place turn around.

North

Today I went through the North side neighborhoods and did some exploring. I came across a lot of closed sets of steps. Damn. Never one to follow signs, I climbed them anyway. What a weird day today turned out to be.

I am assuming the offender of this graffiti had his/her heart broken. It's sad, love is evol. Spring Hill- City View doesn't even seem real. Crazy winding streets and utterly disconnected form the rest of the city, it feels like walking through the post apocalypse version of Pittsburgh. Years after humans have left and the deer have taken over. I felt uneasy and couldn't find a suitable place to park. People kept giving me strange looks as if they knew I was an outsider. These tiny pockets of homes on dead end streets I assume don't get many visitors.

This is Bly Street. It doesn't go anywhere.

These steps are by far the coolest urban decay I've seen so far. They lead up from Royal Street then fork off into two different sets that are equally enthralling. There used to be homes all along the hillside but only concrete stoops and sandstone foundations remain amid mossy bricks and other debris. Who knows what the street was called. Steep steps lead to shallower steps that lead to a flat sidewalk. It eventually connects to Bly street. The other fork leads straight up zig-zagging to meet Brahm Street.

I then headed over to Perry North and Fineview to see all the business I was missing.

This is Milroy Street. The Steps switchback over a babbling brook past a few lovely homes. I kind of want to live on this street. So today was good. I got almost 500 steps done today. i wanted to do more but I was short on time. Plus, no offense Perry South, but you kind of had be afraid for my life a few times with all the scary dogs, crackheads, and gangsters. I'm bringing a friend next time...and maybe a gun...or a pittbull.

Valhalla

I've been thinking a lot about the parallels of my step climbing obsession and the pilgrimages of world religions to shrines and holy sites around the world. It's a human need I believe to suffer for one's beliefs. To test the will, the heart, and faith by subjecting one's self to a challenge. It has certainly made me stronger not only physically but mentally and spiritually as well. I have grown a great deal of reverence for Pittsburgh's steps. After all, the whole reason they exist was to transport factory workers to and from work. The poorest of Pittsburgh would work 12 hour shifts then hike a sheer 400 foot cliff through thick smoke to get home, to see the end result of his suffering in the clear air above the factory shrouded in its own filth. To see his family safe and taken care of. There is no Valhalla like home.

I'm getting a bit lazy.

The other day I hiked from Polish Hill, over the Hill district, into Terrace Village, then into Oakland. I took a small break then hiked all the way back to The Southside. It was a long haul but the weather was perfect and I am on a deadline to get 20,000 steps done by the end of the week. I am 300 steps away....oh wait, I missed my deadline. Guess what? I don't care. I have mentioned before, at this juncture in the journey, it's become increasingly difficult to log steps as they are so spread out. For example: the neighborhood of Oakwood allegedly has 3 sets of steps amounting to 57 (allegedly due to the fact that I am using Bob Regan's inaccurate calculations) In the grand scheme of things, me going to Oakwood would be like picking up pennies on the street trying to make a dollar. Oakwood isn't close either! It will take me a whole day just to get out there, find the spread out sets of steps, and get home. At least there are other neighborhoods near by with steps too. I also have to hit Lincoln Place which is by far the most pointless of all Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
View My hike in a larger map In other news; the controversial North Shore Connector is opening today and as soon as I get off of work I am hopping on the trolley which stops right in front of Brew on Broadway and I am riding all the way to the Steeler's Stadium. Oh! The convenience.

Productive

In the last two days I made it my goal to get to 20,000. Right now I am at 18,818. That's pretty close. Problem is, at this point I've covered all the areas with large concentration. What's left is a set here and a set there. LOTS of walking with no step climbing makes Ben a dull boy. Yesterday I hit Stanton Heights and Morningside.

Each time I think I've found my new favorite view of the city, I have to think again. The view from the top of Mcandless street is breathtaking. It broadly shows the city but subtly. Centered with a view of Children's Hospital Oakland rises to the left above the height of the downtown skyline to the right. The sun was setting and the hazy spring day with the pastels of magnolia trees and crab apples made it look like a Degas painting. God it was gorgeous. Morningside reminds me of Brookline; The homes look similar and the street grid echoes Brookline's as well. There are some older homes, though, that look a bit more stately. Stanton Heights kind of annoyed me. It's really two different neighborhoods rolled into one. there's the side closest to Lawrenceville with turn of the century homes, brick streets on a grid, and some really stellar views. It connects directly to L-ville via city steps, some of the city's biggest sets in fact. But then there is the new Stanton Heights all cul du sacs and switchbacks and senseless cookie cutter homes that confused me endlessly. It's just my cup of tea is all. No offense.

Halfway

I have officially hikes 18,000 different steps in Pittsburgh now. That's nearly half-way. This spring and summer I hope to finish the whole 30,000 feet. When I am done with this, I will know the city like the back of my hand. It's empowering to be able to give directions and especially for a guy without a car that relies on public transit to know the many shortcuts to bus routes and the T. This city has really opened up to me. The steps are great but contrary to the popular saying, in this journey, the destinations are always way more fulfilling that the journey itself. Steps take you places.