The Newtown Pentacle

Monday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Continuing with a scuttle between Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville and the Downtown area in today’s post. Scroll down to past posts from last week, for prior ruminations on robotics and AI, and see where this walk started.

As mentioned in those posts, wherever it was possible, your humble narrator’s path stuck to the ‘way’ or alley streets for this scuttle. Just happens that there’s rail tracks along this particular way, but my fever dream of catching a train moving around back here didn’t come true this time. Again.

The gentrification fires burn brightly in both east and west directions from this industrial area, like book ends. It’s all a part of the ongoing recovery from the regional collapse of the steel industry in Pittsburgh over the last 40 years. Nowadays, they’re building autonomous vehicles and battlefield robots here, whereas just a few blocks distant it’s ‘affordable housing’ and ‘YIMBY’ sentiment.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

This trestle is part of the 33rd street rail bridge, which spans the Allegheny River and connects to the northern shore nearby Etna and Millvale.

For those of you keeping score, this walk started at Pittsburgh’s 50th street, so 17 blocks in with a few tessellation’s north or south, while underway. The reliable measure in NYC was always ‘20 blocks are a mile,’ but that’s based on a predictable grid. There is no such organizing principle here. Pittsburgh was a boom town, and if an industrial entity wanted a large campus that broke a grid, they’d get it.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

After passing under the rail bridge, I was walking into somewhat familiar territory, so decided to mix that up a bit. As mentioned, I was trying to stick – as much as possible – to the alleys.

This is where one such as myself belongs, amongst the abandoned rails, and the cast away possessions of the human infestation.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

As is my habit, I was busy beating myself up psychologically while walking along, but that’s something I’m trying to stop doing so I plugged the headphones into my ear holes and keyed up some music. This time around it was the band ‘Gorillaz.’

Have to download a few albums from the Mountain Goats before my next walk. Love that band.

I listen to this 20 year old song from the Mountain Goats a lot these days, and especially so when all the ankle drama was going on. I will survive this year, if it kills me.

Mountain Goats wrote and performed one of my absolute favorite ‘Newtown Creek theme songs’ with ‘Lovecraft in Brooklyn’ as well. Recommended listening.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I was forced off my alleys path for a bit due to a huge construction project. Remember when I mentioned the Gentrification Furnaces glowing brightly? There’s an invisible line somewhere around this set of warehouses where Lawrenceville ends, and the Strip District begins, but I’m ignorant of its actual location. Ask a realtor.

Ok, I mentioned the ankle situation above. Everything was cool on this walk – no pain, swelling, or clicking. Fingers crossed, this experience might be a bad memory at this juncture and ‘fade into black.’

Again: I will survive this year, if it kills me.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The 31st street bridge was in now front of me. I still had a couple/three miles to go before meeting Our Lady downtown. Lots of alleys coming up.

Back tomorrow.

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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.