Posts Tagged ‘Uptown’
Oakland 2 Uptown
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last mansion, from Pittsburgh’s ‘Millionaire’s Row’ on Fifth Avenue in Shadyside. This one is called called the Hillman house.
The next section of this particular scuttle would see me moving through a very, very different section of Pittsburgh, called Oakland.
A quite urban section of the City, it’s replete with ritual centers for the various religious denominations, universities, and you’ll observe vast campuses of hospitals and college buildings.
Traffic is always heavy here and it’s the only place in Pittsburgh, other than nearby a stadium on a game day, that I’ll regularly observe thousands of pedestrians milling about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Eventually, I’m going to properly explore Oakland – on foot – in a block by block fashion, but on this particular outing my goal was to get through it as quickly as possible. Your humble narrator had an evening assignation with Our Lady of the Pentacle, during which we were going to meet up for a dinner ‘out’ at a restaurant, and I was anxious about getting myself over to that comparatively far flung area where we’d be meeting up.
When you’re on foot, most places are far flung.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Fifth Avenue corridor in Oakland is a congested mess. Street construction is never ending, and they’re building a couple of new hospitals, and there’s ten million college kids milling around, and grinding red light related traffic is omnipresent. I don’t fear driving through here, because I’m a former New Yorker, and this still ain’t what I’d call ‘traffic.’
If you’re not being forced into pushing your car’s transmission lever into the ‘park’ modality while sitting still in a trench on the BQE, or find yourself admiring Maspeth from up on the LIE, it ain’t traffic.
The Yinzers, on the other hand, would seemingly rather have bamboo shoots inserted under their fingernails rather than sit in this sort of slow down. Road rage is always on display here in Pittsburgh. That makes this sort of traffic dangerous to move around on foot.
As a note: the middle pedal in front of the driver’s seat activates the brake. Cars don’t just move forward – they can slow down, and stop too. Also, you can turn the steering wheel fully during a turn, it’s not just small adjustments and then driving up and over on the sidewalk’s curb.
These are people who have lived and learned to drive without the gentle guidance of the NYPD showing them the way, to be fair.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Polio was cured somewhere along this stretch. Jonas Salk, vaccines, scientific miracle – all that. Remember this as being part of ‘reality,’ as it’s also called ‘history.’
One managed to negotiate his way through the crowds of students, and started thinking about the next leg of this scuttle. I had already decided to attenuate certain plans…
It should be mentioned that this walk occurred on the one year anniversary of the broken ankle incident. My original plan had involved some ‘showing off,’ thusly, but I thought better of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was planning on spitting in the eye of my stair based PTSD by walking down the most insane set of City Steps which I’ve encountered so far in Pittsburgh – the ones leading down from ‘The Bluff’ nearby Duquesne University. In a rare moment of comportment, one reconsidered that plan and decided that it would be ‘daring the universe’ to do so.
One will be scuttling those steps again, just… not yet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Plan B involved crossing the Monongahela River via the Birmingham Bridge, just under a mile away, and downhill at that. More on that one tomorrow.
Remember: if it looks bad, don’t look, and always save the last bullet for yourself.
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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.
Ebrius est calor
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That abandoned structure pictured above, found in Pittsburgh’s ‘Uptown’ section, feels like it might be my spirit animal.
One was scuttling along on a dangerously warm afternoon, guzzling water from a flask that I now carry religiously. I had a bit of a trek ahead of me, but had downgraded the breadth of the route due to the fierce weather. A plan was hatched, and a new destination and path decided upon.
It still surprises me how many abandoned structures there are here – not just in Pittsburgh – but in the many communities that cluster around the city. After the steel industry pulled up stakes, the population collapsed.
Apparently, it’s quite a palaver to try and do anything with these properties – due to red tape, politics, etc.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One leaned into it, and soon found myself heading towards my new goal.
There’s a long stretch of fairly empty buildings and barren streetscapes to cross, between my spirit animal house nearby the Birmingham Bridge, and the downtown area. This is the very edge of the Downtown section, quite nearby the court houses and City Hall.
Some kid walked over to me, who appeared to be a creature of the streets, and scolded me for taking a photo which she thought she was in. ‘You have to ask permission to take somebody’s photo,’ she said. Rather than get into an argument with her, I just said that I didn’t take a photo of her, which I didn’t, and she sauntered away probably looking for someone else to annoy and boss around.
Lots of ad hoc constitutional scholars out there, these days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My short term goal is pictured above, the Smithfield Street Bridge over the Monongahela River. Given the atmospheric conditions, I decided that my best course of action would be to find some shady but photogenic spot where I might spy some passing Railroad action.
That brewery I like on the other side of the river, thereby, became my next walking target.
More 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.
Rain scuttling
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few odds and ends from a rainy day walk in Pittsburgh for today.
The shot above depicts the scene from a section of the metro area called ‘Uptown.’ The skyscrapers rising out of the mist are in ‘Downtown,’ and it was everything I could do to not break out into a song from the catalogue of the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ theatrical production.
At the end of the walk, my companion used his phone to calculate our mileage between the two parked cars, which ended up being something in the neighborhood of seven miles – if memory serves. My ‘Mobile Oppression Platform’ was waiting for us downtown, whereas his ‘two ton murder machine’ was behind us in Oakland.
I hope to never be unthankful to the good people of NYC’s Transportation Alternatives lobbying operation for introducing many hyperbolic terms to my vocabulary. A favorite from the last months I served as the Transportation Committee Chair for the Astoria community board was that when a driver placed a key into the ignition of a motor vehicle, they were entering into a state of ‘pre murder.’ Two wheels good, four wheels bad, just ask ‘em.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of murder, there’s a new Facebook group that’s sprung up which calls itself ‘Death Stairs.’ It took the Pittsburgh commentariot about three days to overwhelm the moderators, and entirely take over the group.
This lonely collection of ‘rises and runs,’ which led from ‘nowhere’ to ‘somewhere else you don’t want to go,’ captured our attentions when we walked past them and they demanded a shot or two.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Birmingham Bridge, connecting Pittsburgh’s peninsular section to the ‘South Side’ across the Monongahela River. There’s a few posts which I’ve offered about the span in the archives, including one where I walked over the thing. It’s a neat bridge.
Back with something different, from the Paris of Appalachia, at this – your Newtown Pentacle – next week.
“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.
Up leads to down
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in prior posts, due to the challenging nature of the terrain here in Pittsburgh it’s best to have a well thought out route in mind if you’re planning on taking a long walk. The hills and valleys often create cul-de-sac areas that you’ve got to be mindful of lest you find yourself having to double back over a steep hill.
This particular walk began at a ‘T Streetcar’ station called ‘Steel Plaza’ in Pittsburgh’s Downtown business district, then led through and into a neighborhood called Uptown, with the ultimate goal of walking over the Birmingham Bridge spanning the Monongahela River governing the route guiding my steps. Said bridge is pictured above, in the left hand section of the shot.
The area pictured above squats upon a considerable prominence which offers a substantial and sheer drop off to a flatter patch of land far below, found along the river. That’s also where speedy and voluminously populated highway roads are found, as well as the waterfront Eliza Furnace Trail – which I’ve mentioned in the past.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Incidentally, I had finished listening to the ‘1984’ radio drama that was playing through my headphones at the start of the walk, and had switched over to enjoying some music instead. This time, it was Husker Du’s 1980’s perfect album ‘Zen Arcade.’ I like light hearted and cheery fare, music wise.
This spot seemed to be fairly industrial in character, but there’s a lot of construction work going on nearby so maybe that’s a temporary thing. Remember that bridge which collapsed about a year ago in Pittsburgh, when the President was in town? That was quite nearby.
The collapse set off a mad dash of engineering inspections city wide, scrutiny of an overpass bridge in this area revealed it was dangerously close to collapse, due to a lack of maintenance and heavy usage. They’ve (as in the local and state Govt.’s) been rebuilding the thing ever since. That’s why you’re starting to see all this construction ‘stuff’ popping up, as I got closer and closer to the Birmingham, which the circumspect overpass bridge overflies a part of. Big project underway, right here.
One wandered down the hill a bit, to get a better look at the bridge project, and see what might be lurking about, on my way to the Birmingham Bridge’s pathway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Photo Tip: Something I’ve learned over the years – through long trial and years of error – is that you want to place your camera’s focusing point on the post between the windshield and driver’s side window when photographing vehicles, especially when they’re large ones like the truck above. This sort of knowledge really matters when shooting in low light and wide aperture, I’d offer.
The truck was rigged up with – what looked like to me – one of those giant suction pump and pressure cylinder frammistats you’d use to slurp water out of manholes and underground pipery.
A humble narrator always has to repeat a corny joke when witnessing one of these setups – Hey, ya see’s dat truck over dere? yeah? Aww, that truck, it just ‘effin sucks.
I’m here all week, two shows on Saturday…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Believe it or not, I wasn’t the only pedestrian. Saying that, it wasn’t exactly a well populated path that I was scuttling along. Except for cars, trucks, that sort of thing. I saw zero bicycle enthusiasts.
My plan for the second half of this longish walk would involve crossing the Monongahela River, on the Birmingham Bridge’s pedestrian and bike path. I hadn’t walked that one yet, although one has quite enjoyed several automotive drives across the span, while motoring upon the thing. Sick views, yo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It always strikes me, how visually distinct Pittsburgh’s various sections are from each other. There aren’t ‘gradient areas’ between them, due to the geology of the place, I’d reckon. You cross a street with skyscrapers behind you and on the next corner there’s an abandoned Second Empire rooming house or a boarded up terracotta mansion. Off in the distance you see train tracks and highways, and then there’s a band of one family homes set into deep valleys or atop steep ridges. Just beyond that… and then… and then… Pittsburgh is just… fascinating.
Negotiating my steps towards, and finding a path to, the entryway of the Birmingham Bridge was my next move, so off I scuttled.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Birmingham Bridge pictured above, and I’ll be taking y’all on a walk high over the Monongahela River upon it – soon.
I’m going to be taking next week off from the normal offerings, and do a week of single images you’ve seen here sometime in the past, (as is my habit) for the holiday interval between Christmas and New Years. We’ll pick up at the Birmingham Bridge for the rest of this walk on the 1st day of 2024, which I’m told will be a Monday.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
“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.
Fifth Avenue, Uptown
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has seldom even driven through this part of Pittsburgh, possibly twice in my recollection, but a humble narrator had never taken a look at the ‘Uptown’ section while on foot.
Uptown sits on a high bluff overlooking the Monongahela River, on the southern side of Pittsburgh’s so called ‘Golden Triangle.’ Uptown is neighbored by a corporate tower dominated zone called ‘Downtown’ to the west, ‘Oakland’ with its universities and cultural institutions, and an affluent residential neighborhood called Squirrel Hill to the east. To the north is the ‘Hill District.’
There’s a gaggle of ‘Second Empire’ style buildings found in Uptown, with their mansard roofs and terracotta finishes. Many of them are abandoned, or have been burnt out by fires and are being used as squats, or they’re tightly boarded up.
One was walking up Pittsburgh’s Fifth Avenue on this particular Sunday afternoon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The abandoned buildings ‘thing’ here is really startling.
When you saw something like this back in Brooklyn or Queens, it was generally because a real estate developer had bought the property, and was intentionally allowing it to rot away and become a nuisance, so as to avoid any sort of interference from historic preservationists or community groups getting in the way of their dreams of avarice plans. A friend of mine back in Greenpoint coined the term ‘Bloomblight’ for the practice of the Real Estate Industrial Complex.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has an abundance of abandoned homes within its borders. I’ve read estimates suggesting there are more than 50,000 buildings of all types within the municipality which have simply been abandoned by their owners. When you start looking at the larger region, the abandonment and concurrent blight conditions are hard to ignore.
‘Blight Clearance’ is a budget item in Pittsburgh’s annual spending, as it is for many municipalities in the region.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I saw signage promising this area was an ‘opportunity zone,’ which means that if you show up with financing and a plan, the City will likely approve it and give you tax breaks and the land will almost be free to do nearly whatever you want to do with it. I asked a local friend who recently retired from the local Real Estate Industrial Complex about Uptown, and he told me that Uptown has been the ‘next big thing’ here for about 40 years.
Compared to surrounding areas, the City of Pittsburgh has relatively high taxes and a political estate which will insist on all sorts of requirements – affordability, access, inclusion – which drive up the cost of building anything. Just across the county line, however, are lower tax suburbs which will bend over backwards to get you to build something there instead of here.
There’s ‘the City of’ and ‘the county of’ and then there’s ‘the metro area.’ Each zone has advantages and disadvantages, from a business or development POV.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Check out that old apartment house!
I see this particular ‘style’ quite a bit here in Pittsburgh’s urban neighborhoods. Lots of windows and terraced spaces. This sort of inventory dates back to before air conditioning, when ventilation in Pittsburgh’s famously humid climate demanded lots and lots of windows. Every other building on that side of the block I was walking down had stout plywood covering the windows.
To be fair, Uptown is a neighbored by a couple of troubled and ‘crimey’ areas to the north, and is set along a steep bluff hemmed in by highways and bridges. A couple of high speed roads and interstates form its southern border and subject the neighborhood (as it were) to 24/7 traffic noise and pollution.
This is another one of the places which the native “Yinzers” have advised me to avoid at night, due to crime and other insalubrious activities.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next big thing? It’s hard not to imagine some of these empty lots and historic homes housing some of the overflow population from the universities in nearby Oakland. Saying that – If I were in my early thirties and blessed with a large bank account, and looking to build my ‘compound,’ I’d probably be establishing ‘Waxman Manor’ somewhere else. Up in the hills, with a private stream for water.
I’ve long dreamt of building into a hillside, like a Hobbit, and surrounding my domicile with a murder fence and kill zones, which I’d hire a certain group of ‘Boomers’ to design – ones who had served in the Viet Cong.
Nobody but nobody knows how to keep the Americans out of your hair like the Viet Cong do.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The gentrification hammers seemed to be hard at work at a couple of spots here in Uptown. Mostly what I observed on this stretch were rotting old buildings, open brick lots, and a lot of people who definitely seemed to be living on an edge of some kind.
There were sparse examples of junkies and possibly a prostitute or two milling about, but otherwise there was very little in the way of street life. The occupied buildings I observed had the appearance of fortresses, which reminded me of the late 1970’s and 1980’s back in Brooklyn’s Flatbush and Canarsie. Bars on all the first floor windows, driveways adorned with barb wire fencing – that sort of thing.
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 