Posts Tagged ‘Downtown Pittsburgh’
What the Ravens may see
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Riding on a tourist double decker bus was actually kind of fun. One has been appreciating the esthetics of Pittsburgh while driving about, but for obvious reasons – largely not recording them. The bus allowed me to roll about freely, and enjoy the visual advantages of being about 15-20 feet above the street. I was shooting fast, as the bus was moving with traffic at anywhere between 25 and 45mph. It’s nice when someone else is driving, and I get to just ‘do my thing.’
We were heading from the Strip District towards Downtown Pittsburgh. Downtown has a decent collection of tower office and commercial buildings, which are of several different vintages. Older buildings in Pittsburgh have lots and lots of windows, having been built prior to the introduction of air conditioning in a famously humid climate. Post AC buildings in Pittsburgh are sealed up in glassine envelopes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For this part of the ride, I decided that I wanted to abstract things a bit and started looking up a whole lot. The streets in the downtown area are fairly well populated, and we passed a couple of small concerts in public parks as well as mobs of people heading north who were all dressed the same. I suspect that this ritual garb clad crowd were heading to some local sports ball stadium, for one of the weekly tourneys offered by the athleticists.
Me? I was dressed in the normal manner, and also wearing my $12 Costco fishing hat to shield away the radiates of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself from the noggin. I had a bottle of water with me, but it was a summer’s day and a humble narrator was baking in the heat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s Philip Johnson’s PPG center, HQ of Pittsburgh Plate Glass – pictured above – the mirror box one with the castellated looking peaks on it. There’s been a lot of hullabaloo about this section of Pittsburgh in the interval since I’ve relocated here, an area referred to as the Business District by some, the Cultural District by others. The local powers that be are concerned about the effect that a fairly noisome homeless shelter has had on their bottom lines, and thereby have been pushing the government types to excise the haggard population that’s served by the shelter, which they perceive as having impacted their businesses. Fascinating, the way that the bosses think.
These powers that be, of course, are corporate landlords who believe that the reason their office buildings are emptying out is because of the homeless situation, rather than that there are better/cheaper options for your business to locate itself in the surrounding counties, which aren’t in a crowded downtown metro area, or that they’re maybe charging too much per square foot for the space. Also, corporate taxes are quite a bit lower in the surrounding counties than they are in Pittsburgh, but it’s definitely the homeless who are the problem.
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.
Point Scuttling
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is still learning his way around Pittsburgh, and after a bit of a scouting mission to the metro area’s ‘North Side,’ a scuttle back to the south side of the City was enacted. The Allegheny River was crossed, and my ultimate destination at the T light rail station was on the other side of the Monongahela River.
I leaned into it, and actuated the camera along the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m starting to notice the little things. The minutia as opposed to the grandiose. I like the downtown area for these walks, as it’s relatively flat. The more elevated and hilly areas require a bit more planning, which tends to reduce the serendipity that is preferred. If you leave a car ‘up there,’ you need to get back to it somehow from ‘down here.’ It’s a pickle.
Downtown, you can just sort of follow your toes, and go wherever they happen to be pointing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are very few places back in NYC which could be defined as being ‘alleys,’ but Pittsburgh is full of them. This is a legitimate vehicle lane, I would mention, and periodically I’ve found myself driving through these narrow byways to get here and there. I think they’re legit, I should mention, as Google maps has directed me through them. Of course, the same application has sent me all over hill and dale in a haphazard fashion here in the greater Pittsburgh area, so…
Onward and… well, I mostly stay at whatever altitude I’m at, so… Onward and across?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was heading for a crossing of the Monongahela River which I hadn’t used since the winter, the Fort Pitt Bridge. Along the way, and I think they call this area ‘The Cultural District,’ I remarked to myself about how many sky bridges there were here and wondered if they’re counted when discussing Pittsburgh’s many bridges.
One was also looking over his shoulder a bit in this area, as it’s one of the spots where the local drug enthusiasts gather. Debased, the local junkies form a fairly pathetic and predictable population. I’m basically the only person you see waving a camera around, so the junkies tend to lock their lizard brain onto me as I’m walking by. So far so good, and I know how to handle that sort of thing from my long years of scuttling about in distaff sections of New York, but it’s best to,pay attention to your surroundings in this zone.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it to Point State Park, where Pittsburgh’s famous convergence of the 3 rivers occurs. There’s a mega fountain there, one which I’ve recently learned is fed by a fourth river, an underground aquifer.
As is always the case, hundreds and hundreds of people were in the park. Pittsburgh is a bit of a tourist draw for the regional vicinity with its Casino, and Sportsball Stadiums. They’re not pulling European package holiday tourism here, but there’s a not insignificant economy built around people visiting from out of town locales in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and other neighboring states.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I finally made it to the Fort Pitt bridge and scuttled up onto the pedestrian/bike pathway. The last time I walked this path, it was early February and the pathway was a skating rink. This time around, I had to cant my funny little $12 Costco fishing hat to one side in order to provide myself with as much shade as possible.
Back tomorrow with the end of this journey, which began on Pittsburgh’s North Side when I was scouting for a set of train tracks.
“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.
A light rail hullabaloo
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A ‘long walk’ day appeared again on the calendar, and as is my new habit I took the T light rail into Pittsburgh. The transit agency which operates the service was doing some sort of maintenance at the stop I wanted to get off at, and thereby skipped it. I found myself on the triangle side of the Monongahela River at the First Avenue station thereby, and needed to catch a T going in the inverse direction to get to where I wanted to be.
This sort of transfer works a lot like it does everywhere else in public transit, you head downstairs, then back up to the platform that’s pointed the other way. Why not get a few shots along the way, when you find yourself in the midst of a hullabaloo?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Working escalators and elevators in the transit system are something this former New Yorker is constantly rendered speechless by.
I headed up to the other side. (Note, the shot above was captured before the first one, but this one isn’t a ‘marquis’ image, so there you go)
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It didn’t matter which line I took, they would all be stopping at the first station on the other side which is where I was going. Normally, I’m a Red Line kind of guy, but the Silver Line got there first.
When Autumn is turning into winter, I plan on riding the other two lines and seeing where they go. Of course, I know where they go because I’ve got a map, but you know what I mean. You can buy a day pass which allows hop on/hop off access for the T.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on the south side of the river, and at the Station Square stop. I had a plan for the afternoon, built around giving one of my legacy lenses (the 18-35mm f1.8 Sigma) a workout on the newish mirrorless camera which I’ve never used it on.
I hit the streets, and headed over to the nearest Incline for a ride up the face of Mount Washington.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I love inclines, which has been mentioned in the past. So old timey, and a cool way to get from A to B. I got a free transfer off of the T, as the Inclines are operated by the same governmental agency as the light rail.
Earlier this week, I described walking down the latter half of the PJ McArdle roadway that’s slung diagonally across the cliff face of Mount Washington, and on this day I was going to walk the upper section.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was pleasant in Pittsburgh, with temperatures in the high 70’s. A humble narrator had laid out a series of things to do, with the intention of getting back to that bar nearby the rail tracks, described in earlier posts by around 7 p.m. This shot is from somewhere around 2-3 p.m. so I had a lot of scuttling to do before that. I like to earn a beer.
Back next week with more, and lotsa choo-choos.
“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.
Garlic is good for the heart
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another day, another doctor’s appointment. There’s nothing ‘new’ wrong with me, in case you’re wondering. Instead, after literal decades of ignoring my health, I’m taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s amazing Medical Industrial Complex to do some catch up. My new Doctor here has had me running around the area for various tests and probes. I’ve been magnetized, and irradiated, and punctured multiple times in pursuance of removing the ichor within for testing. Luckily, nothing terribly concerning has materialized from this inspection, and instead the Doc is busily establishing a base line of readings to work from, once things inevitably hit the fan.
Whilst driving about from place to place, I like to stick the camera up through the Mobile Oppression Platform’s moon roof and crack out the odd photo. This one is from Downtown Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Homestead, which I was visiting in pursuance of attending a Costco’s sale on men’s hats, and to take advantage of their fantastic pricing on a rotisserie chicken as well as purchasing puppy food for Moe the Dog, I got stuck in traffic for about a half hour while waiting for an endlessly long Norfolk Southern train to pass by.
Me? I love taking a picture of a train, so much so that I didn’t use the moon roof this time around and just shot it over the hood of the Toyota and through the windshield. I had a devil of a time dealing with the window’s tint while developing the shot, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m not always driving, of course, and on yet another one of my walks – this time a long one of about 18,000 steps – according to my phone – I found myself in what’s proving to be one of my favorite sections of the City of Pittsburgh, in the South Side Flats section. My kind of spot, with heavy and light rail transiting about, heavy industry at work, and a series of interesting bridges overflying the waters of the Monongahela River.
Back tomorrow with lots of Choo-Choo.
“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.
Move, move, move
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lots and lots of tasks needed tending, doctors appointments and other boring mundanities. This has seen me driving around greater Pittsburgh a lot and occasionally sticking the camera through the car’s moon roof when I’m waiting at red lights. I cannot wait for the inevitable day that I have to explain this to a cop at a traffic stop. That’s Downtown Pittsburgh pictured above.
I think this was from the first weekend in June. We experienced a couple of really disconcerting things during this interval. My next door neighbor’s house had a structural fire break out, for instance, which I had a front row seat for. 5 engine companies showed up to put it out. Other insalubrious stuff has happened too, but that’s life in the not so big City, huh?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another errand of mine involved bringing the Mobile Oppression Platform into the local Toyota dealership for its 5,000 mile servicing dealie. They rotate the tires and measure the various juices, and plug in a diagnostic device to run some kind of software checks on the various systems under the hood. Warranty maintenance stuff, basically, which is something I need to contractually oblige. It took about 90 minutes and then I was out.
While cooling my heels for the hour and a half, the verticality of the opposite side of the street caught my eye. I think that house is in Beechview, but I’m kind of guessing. I gotta say, if I owned a property here with a yard that had a slope like that, I’d pay whatever I had to for some landscape terracing. Flat areas. Then again, if I do end up owning property at some point, my first priority will be planning and building the boobie traps and kill alleys. That means I’m going to have a long conversation with the Postal and Amazon guys, of course. I’m also going to want to own the mineral rights of the under lands. Coal, yo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured above, in the Pittsburgh Borough of Dormont where HQ can be found, is about how bad the Canadian wildfire smoke got for us. It wasn’t anything like what y’all on the East Coast experienced.
!!! HEY, THAT’S THE FIRST TIME I’VE GOTTEN TO SAY THAT! A disaster happened in NYC and I wasn’t in the middle of it! WOW.
Really… Get out while you still can.
“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 