Archive for the ‘Pittsburgh’ Category
Montour at South Hills
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After walking on a section of the Montour Trail over in Library PA, I drove over to another link in the trail’s chain found in the neighboring community of South Hills. Deeply suburban, this is an absolutely lovely section of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area which often reminds one of the setting for a Disney movie.
I parked the Mobile Oppression Platform (MOP) at the Montour’s parking lot, and since I still had a bit of daylight and ‘some gas in my tank,’ decided to walk off another couple of miles. Ultimately, this day was originally scheduled as a ‘short walk,’ but two of my short walks ended up making a ‘long walk.’
I’m all ‘effed up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, the community of South Hills is lovely. Picturesque homes, sitting on manicured and large properties, are everywhere. The architecture of these residential buildings are disturbingly heterogeneous but in their variety you can observe about sixty to seventy years worth of real estate development and architectural experimentation in the private home sector.
Interesting, I say.
The Montour Trail runs in a trench of sorts here, with earthen berms forming the trench’s walls in some spots whereas others are cuts in the rocky hillsides. In other flatter areas, there’s a tall fence and somebody’s back yard is on the other side of it. There’s lots of ‘posted’ and ‘keep out’ and ‘no trespassing’ signs in these sections.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was actually a bit of a chore, getting a clean shot of this section of the trail without any people in frame, as dozens of the local humans were using it to recreate. These trails are really embraced by the communities they snake through, in my observation.
I can’t help but be bitter about my Montauk Cutoff experiences back in Long Island City, both for the pie in the sky planning process insisted on by my fellows (which at one point involved human waste composting), and by the absolute obstinacy and stalling of the MTA. Imagine that one coming true, in LIC, without me driving the process along by sheer force of will?
The rail to trail thing is implemented in such a positive manner here, and embraced by both government and constituent. Win.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I reached my turn around point, and started back towards the parking lot where the MOP awaited me. Along the way, I spotted the contrails of a jet and couldn’t help myself from getting a little artsy fartsy with the framing in the shot above.
As has become my habit, I was also auditing the location for future visits by Moe the Dog. Moe’s big problem at the moment is aggressive reactivity to other dogs, and as this section of the Montour Trail was actively being used for dog walking, it’s kind of a ‘no go.’
We need deserted areas shunned by man and beast alike, Moe and I.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before I got back behind the wheel of the car for the drive back to HQ, I poked my head into a small burying ground directly across the street, the St. Vladimir Ukrainian Cemetery. I took a couple of pictures, but the cemetery was small, the headstones were largely modern, and there wasn’t anything ‘monumental’ there which drew me in other than the iron work of the fencing and a large steel (or maybe zinc/aluminum) cruciform.
There’s graveyards like this one all over the place here in Western Pennsylvania, hosting a few dozen interments marked with modest monuments. The community developed around these cemeteries which were originally on farm land, and you’ll see suburban houses and commercial buildings literally right next door to the graveyards.
All part of the milieu, I guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Dormont, on my way back to HQ, and I felt compelled to pull the MOP over and grab a shot of the wonderful lighting on offer from the late afternoon sun. HQ is at the bottom of this steep hill.
Yes, those are brick pavers on the street. The pavers, rather than asphalt are a combination of historic preservation and practicality here in Pittsburgh. With hills this steep, you want some extra ‘tooth’ for car tires to bite into, especially during rainstorms and during the winter months. At the bottom of the hill, it turns back into regular asphalt.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Montour at Library
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another ‘short walk day’ found me scuttling down a section of the Montour Trail that I hadn’t visited yet, here in Pittsburgh, this time it was in the South Hills town of Library.
As you may have guessed by now, I’m really leaning into the exercise at the moment. I’ve always walked a lot, but that was in New York where you could walk on a mostly flat plane for dozens of miles in any direction. The terrain of Pittsburgh is challenging, to say the least, and I’m walking about 20% less in terms of miles than I used to according to the phone’s health app.
Use it or lose it, regarding internally lubricated parts…
Luckily, rail’s road grading standard is one foot of elevation per every hundred feet, and since the historic Montour Railroad’s ‘right of way’ has been ‘nationalized’ and turned into a bike and pedestrian trail it’s easy to rectify all that.
Several sections of the Montour Trail have been visited in the single year that I’ve lived here, click here to see those posts in reverse chronological order.
My gameplan for this explorative process on the Montour has been to pick a parking spot and then walk around 5 miles in one direction and then double back to where I parked the car (the trail’s ‘org’ offers parking lots at some of the trailheads).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Library Trestle, a 506 foot long former rail bridge which carries the Montour Trail over a primary arterial street called ‘Library Road.’ Said road varies in shape, width, and purpose over its travel route.
Midway along Library Road, quite near the massive recreational center called South Park, it’s what traffic engineers would call a ‘Stroad.’ Wide, multi laned, with strip malls and shopping centers populating either side. Stroads often omit sidewalks in favor of having pedestrians walk in the store’s parking lots instead. Here in Library, this stroad transmogrifies into a single travel and parking lane, in each direction, and it functions as a sort of ‘main street.’
The real estate in the surrounding towns, whose road system branches off of Library Road, is fairly expensive and quite suburban in character.
There is a T station in Library, however, which is accompanied by a large ‘park and ride’ lot that is seemingly free to use. I didn’t pay anything, at least, when I parked the Mobile Oppression Platform there for this walk. I looked around for some sort of kiosk, couldn’t find one, so… free.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I was walking across the Trestle, a T Silver Line came rolling by below. As you can see, the streetcar service uses a catenary system to power its operation.
The waterway you see in the top left of the shot, to my knowledge, is called Montour Run.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This time around, the audiobook I was listening to was a reading of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as narrated by Christopher Lee.
It really fed into a creepy mood I was enjoying. The great thing about these trails is that you’re often totally alone and isolated from surrounding communities. Sure – a bike rider will zip through, or you’ll cross another walker along the path, but the isolation can be glorious.
Surrounding the trails, there’s usually a bit of that massive urban forest which Pittsburgh hosts, but just as often you get to peek into unknown neighborhoods and observe ways of life alien to your own.
Gotta say, it’s weird seeing the Confederate flag being flown, especially so in Pennsylvania, where a lot of that conflict played out.
Y’know, many horror movies are set in Western Pennsylvania, not just Night of the Living Dead. Something about the place is inherently spooky, and especially so at night.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had walked through several communities on the Montour that particular day. I only know this because they set out ‘welcome to’ signs along the trail. I had doubled back by this point of the walk, having walked the trail about three miles or so. With the turnaround, it boiled down to about six miles which I walked quicker than usual down – about 3.2 mph, according to the fore mentioned health app.
Every walk has to have a ‘turn around’ point here, either to get back to the car or to the T. It’s not like NYC where I could walk to the Gowanus from Astoria, and then just hop on the G to get back to LIC.
That’s (as I still believe it to be) Montour Run again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I hung around on the trestle for a bit, hoping that I’d get another ‘T from above’ shot, which eventually paid off.
This wasn’t the only section of the Montour Trail which I’d end up taking a walk along this particular week. There’s reasons I’m leaning into the exercise as hard as I am at the moment, which aren’t dire, but mainly revolve around toning up the musculature and dropping a few pounds by revving up the ‘old’ metabolism.
No… I literally mean ‘old’ here, and not colloquially. I’m at that age where men begin to lose muscle, and it’s a ‘use it or lose it’ type scenario regarding staying active.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“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.
An avenue called Broadway
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described in yesterday’s post, one decided to climb the equivalence of 12 building stories worth of municipal steps here in Pittsburgh’s Borough of Dormont, on a short walk around the neighborhood. Thing is, when you leave these steps, you’re in a different neighborhood than where you started – pictured in today’s post is one called Beechview. Beechview is notoriously hilly, but there’s a fairly flat street called ‘Broadway Avenue’ which the T street car runs along, so that’s where I was heading to.
My legs were absolutely quivering from bounding up all those stairs. Goal set, and achieved.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Like the section of Dormont where HQ is found, this part of Beechview is largely residential and its streets are lined with fine old houses of heterogenous character, and hosts many hills and valleys. Broadway Avenue runs along a ridge at the top of the stack, and the T streetcar tracks run along it.
The streets in Beechview are quite challenging to drive along let alone walk – I’d mention – narrow and set against the steep slopes. In fact, the 2nd steepest street on the planet is found nearby, dubbed Canton Avenue. There’s a street in New Zealand which is half a degree steeper, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T was passing by just as I got to Broadway Avenue, and the streetcar service was entering a small rail only bridge which carries it over a gully. This one is moving away from Pittsburgh, towards its South Hills terminal stop several miles away.
The T system is confusing for this MTA Subway veteran.
You pay your fare while boarding on your way into Pittsburgh, and while debarking the car when you’re leaving Pittsburgh.
In the center of the city, you can ride it for free.
You buy a credit card like thingie called a ‘ConnectCard’ at one of the local supermarket chains, and then either load it with cash or simply connect it to a checking account. I prefer the latter, although back in NYC I refused to ever connect a Metrocard to my bank account because… MTA. They have ticketing machines too, but they’re a pain in the neck. Supposedly, they’re rolling out a ‘tap your phone’ system, but I haven’t done that one yet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s what Beechview looks like, from Broadway Avenue. You can kind of understand why they build all of those municipal steps.
Ruminating while scuttling along, it occurred to me that I’ve spent most of my adult life along ‘Broadways.’ When I lived in Manhattan, its was at 100th and Broadway. Astoria was 44th and Broadway. In Dormont, I’m a few blocks from Broadway Avenue. Weird.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another T came rolling by, as I walked on and on. This had to be about 4 or so in the afternoon, I reckon. In this section, the T isn’t separated from vehicle traffic as it is back in Dormont. It mingles with automotive and bus traffic. They have little raised concrete ‘islands’ set up for people waiting to ride the service. The islands are protected from traffic by bollards and those little plastic sticks with the reflectors on them (flexible delimiters is the official name for these sticks).
Personally speaking, I detest having to drive on top of the streetcar’s rails, and especially so when it’s raining or icy out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My turn around point on this walk was at a T stop called ‘Fallowfield,’ and the plan was to actually take the T back to Dormont rather than just reverse course on foot. Those stairs really are something.
You’ll notice two sets of doors on the T. The foremost set are designed for the little customer islands, and within the car there’s a set of bus style steps you use to enter or leave the thing. The second set of doors are designed for the ‘high platform’ stations which are also found within the system. Neat.
Back next week with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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A Dormont ‘thigh buster’ scuttle
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The scene above is found about a block and a half from HQ, in the Dormont Borough which directly borders the City of Pittsburgh. Actually, the shot above is in Pittsburgh proper, as the city’s border line is found somewhere’s mid block. I’ve mentioned that HQ is nearby a gorge in the past, that bridge spans part of that landform.
Also mentioned in the past are the presence of hundreds of sets of municipal steps here in Pittsburgh, installed to help the citizenry navigate the area’s challenging terrain.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This bridge is ‘officially’ a set of stairs, or at least it leads to a set of them, which climbs up the other side of the gorge. I’ve walked Moe the Dog back here in the past, and for this particular day’s ’constitutional,’ I decided that I wanted to do some leg work.
According to the phone, when I had gotten to the top of this and its accompanying structure, I had walked something like 11-12 stories worth of stairs in the equivalence of two city blocks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These stairs are set against a wooded hill, where those deer which keep on wandering into my back yard spend their time. Pittsburgh used to have predators, notably Panthers and Wolves, but they’re long gone and the deer population is thereby unfettered by predation. Their main danger to them these days revolves around getting hit by a car.
Good cardio, these stairs.
I forced myself to move up them at a rapid clip while enjoying the feeling of absolute tearing agony in my thighs. I’ll admit to having to take a short break to catch my breath and allow my heart’s ‘beats per minute’ to settle down midway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The top of the stairs exits you onto a tertiary arterial road, one which follows a parabolic curve around the hill. This is a scary spot, as there’s not any sort of sidewalk, and you’ve only got about a hundred feet of view in either direction. A car moving at 35 mph would bring annihilation so you have to choose your crossing moment quickly.
There’s a red light found at the bottom of this hill, where this street interacts with a busy secondary arterial road.. When a burst of passing cars has passed, that’s when you sprint across the double laned street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the other side of the road is yet another set of stairs which carry you from the aforementioned secondary to a tertiary arterial road, and the top of a ridge. The street sign across the street is blue and white, meaning it’s in the ‘City of Pittsburgh.’ It’s also labeled as being a ‘way’ which indicates that it’s officially an alley. That’s the way they roll here.
Along the path above, somebody has placed plastic religious sculptures, depicting what I’m seeing as the Catholic Saint Francis. What do you think? This Francis or what? Help a guy out, youse ‘Catlicks,’ in the comments section? Whaddya say?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My goal was to get to the top of these stairs without dying, huffing and puffing, and then continue on a relatively flat path for a mile or two. I’d broken a sweat on all of these rises and runs, which was one accomplishment I was hoping for. I’d also gotten my heart rate elevated for an extended period, and positively blasted my thighs out with all these steep steps. It felt pretty good, I’ll admit.
In case you’re wondering, on this walk I was listening to music rather than an audiobook. Early Butthole Surfers, if you’re really curious.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“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.
Beyond the bend
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, a humble narrator was executing a short constitutional scuttle of about five miles along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, found on the south shore of the Monongahela River here in Pittsburgh. That’s the South Tenth Street Bridge pictured above, which I think I’ve finally taken an interesting picture of. It’s a fairly unremarkable span, and it’s a challenge I’ve been entertaining myself with for a while now.
It’s also the start of a huge encampment maintained by a population of homeless mendicants. The city of Pittsburgh has been dealing with these sorts of encampments all over its turf since COVID, and has been roughly uprooting the dwellings, tents, and shanties in the ‘Downtown’ area of the ‘golden triangle’ since I got here, in response to complaints by the business community about the situation.
These poor people had to go somewhere, and apparently it’s here, far away from the Downtown corporate world and the cameras of new crews.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the 1930’s, this would have called this a ‘Hooverville,’ shanties and makeshift dwellings composed of other people’s discarded items. During this walk, one noted that both sides of the trail were de facto neighborhoods. I observed a young guy doing missionary work here, bringing sanitary products to the residents. I also saw him cutting firewood for a camp of three elderly men at one point. He was wearing a T-Shirt signifying he worked for some local church. Good stuff.
Instinct is to pass some sort of moral judgement on our fellow Americans for ending up in this circumstance due to addiction or bad luck, but that does nothing to solve the issue and serves to dehumanize the homeless into a homologous ‘mono-issue’ population rather than individuals who all have different problems that have led to this circumstance.
Conversely, there are some fairly dangerous people amongst them and it’s important not to underestimate that. I don’t have an answer to the problem I can offer on this subject. Life on the edge is a hard life.
I’ve said it a hundred times (and especially so to members of ‘Team DeBlasio), that there’s not a ‘homeless problem,’ rather there’s thousands of individual ‘homeless problems’ with no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Few of them want to be living in a tent made of garbage alongside a river.
If you’re concerned about these people, think ‘existential’ instead of ‘penitential’ and drop off some old blankets or clothing nearby their campsites. At least they’ll be able to stay warm while living like this in the richest country that’s ever existed. That’s what I’d call the ‘Christian’ response, rather than putting them in jail for being destitute or something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
See what I mean about the South Tenth street bridge? It’s really hard to get an interesting shot of the thing… bah.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“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.
The Newtown Pentacle 