Pittsburgh PA

[bms]

Penguins games have the best atmosphere in the NHL, but it's a very tough ticket, be prepared to pay. PNC Park is great as mentioned, but it doesn't have the feel of a major league game apart from Opening Day. Don't buy Penguins or Steelers tickets from scalpers, who are notorious for selling fake tickets.

Church Brew Works is architecturally stunning, it's worth having a meal there whether you drink or not. But to experience the real Pittsburgh before gentrification is complete, go to the cheapest dive bar in any neighborhood on a weeknight.

 

[Trollopian]

If you do this, make sure you take the "via Beechview" Red line in one direction, and the "via Overbrook" Blue or Silver lines in the other direction, so you can see the whole system.

South Hills Village station (at the south end of the Red and Blue lines) is next to a shopping mall, with various other suburban-type chain retail and dining options located in the general area.

Library (at the south end of the Silver line) is a mostly-residential area with a couple of dining options near the station. (When I lived in the Pittsburgh area in the late 1990s, I lived in an apartment complex that was walkable from West Library, the next station north, which also has a few nearby dining options.)

And be aware that a significant segment of the Red Line is currently detoured due to a bridge collapse. No, not the Fern Hollow Bridge, a different bridge. (Tough time for Pittsburgh infrastructure.) The Red Line is basically bypassing the Beechview, Dormont, and Mt. Lebanon neighborhoods. More info at Saw Mill Run Boulevard Bridge Detours. This shouldn't affect MARC's plan to joyride the "T" to its terminus, but definitely affects anyone traveling to/from the affected portion.

And yeah, take it to Library. Or Castle Shannon. South Hills Village is generic and charmless.

From a Pittsburgher who loved streetcars, loves the "T," and thinks it's a perfect technology for Pittsburgh's hilly topography. The T runs underground beneath Pittsburgh's very compact downtown, aboveground elsewhere. But the catch is that it requires bridge and tunnel maintenance. Lots of it.

 

[Steel City Don]

And be aware that a significant segment of the Red Line is currently detoured due to a bridge collapse. No, not the Fern Hollow Bridge, a different bridge. (Tough time for Pittsburgh infrastructure.) The Red Line is basically bypassing the Beechview, Dormont, and Mt. Lebanon neighborhoods. More info at Saw Mill Run Boulevard Bridge Detours. This shouldn't affect MARC's plan to joyride the "T" to its terminus, but definitely affects anyone traveling to/from the affected portion.

And yeah, take it to Library. Or Castle Shannon. South Hills Village is generic and charmless.

From a Pittsburgher who loved streetcars, loves the "T," and thinks it's a perfect technology for Pittsburgh's hilly topography. The T runs underground beneath Pittsburgh's very compact downtown, aboveground elsewhere. But the catch is that it requires bridge and tunnel maintenance. Lots of it.

And we need lots of that bridge maintenance especially since that one bridge collapsed

 

[Trollopian]

Showing a bit of my hometown pride...that bridge by PNC Park is the Roberto Clemente bridge, part of a golden-hued trio (the "three sisters") over the lower Allegheny with the Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson bridges, more prosaically the 6th, 7th, and 9th St. bridges. Then at about 11th St. is the beautiful Fort Wayne Railroad bridge, which carries sleepy Capitol Limited passengers eastbound to their predawn arrival; see Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge - Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA. (And qualifying this post for a railfans' forum.)

Further up the Allegheny is the 16th St. or David McCullough bridge. Pittsburgh is proud of its native son, whose first book was on the historic Johnstown Flood that was triggered by a failed dam at a hunting and sporting club patronized by Pittsburgh robber barons.

 

[railiner]

This was my view of entering Pittsburgh last Sunday evening…

Sorry it was a bit out of focus…

 

[Steel City Don]

This was my view of entering Pittsburgh last Sunday evening…

Sorry it was a bit out of focus…

Here's some more pictures, a couple from PNC Park....

Pittsburgh is a very photogenic City! Lol

 

[KSOC]

Wife and I made a trip by car a few years. Stayed over by Primanti's, and walked to the ball park. It's a beaut alright. Ate at a really good Polish Deli (L&D?), had perogies and halushki! Saw the city for the first time. we took a guided tour which was very informative, and we noted how clean Pittsburgh was! Hope it's still that way! We're from Central Pennsylvania and it was our first visit. Very impressed. Next time will be a mid winter Pens game, and at some point Amtrak to Chicago via Pittsburgh.

 

[dlagrua]

Years back we took a drive to Pittsburgh parked across the street from the Amtrak station and caught a sleeper to Chicago. We arrived early so there was time to visit the Science Center and go up the incline to get a great view of the city. We dined in the strip area and when we arrived back at 5 AM, the only place that was open for breakfast was a little diner a few blocks away from the station on old RT 66. I don't recall the name but it had an old time look.

 

[Trollopian]

Wife and I made a trip by car a few years. Stayed over by Primanti's, and walked to the ball park. It's a beaut alright. Ate at a really good Polish Deli (L&D?), had perogies and halushki! Saw the city for the first time. we took a guided tour which was very informative, and we noted how clean Pittsburgh was! Hope it's still that way! We're from Central Pennsylvania and it was our first visit. Very impressed. Next time will be a mid winter Pens game, and at some point Amtrak to Chicago via Pittsburgh.

Close: It's S&D Polish Deli, and you can get your pierogi and dumpling and haluszki fix before waddling (yes, waddling) back to your hotel. Passing the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company ("Penn Mac"), Greek and Bulgarian and Asian and Hispanic groceries along the way. Thanks for admiring my hometown. How lucky to live right on the route of the Pennsylvanian! Harrisburg may have the best rail service of any city its size.


https://www.sdpolishdeli.com/

 

[joelkfla]

Years back we took a drive to Pittsburgh parked across the street from the Amtrak station and caught a sleeper to Chicago. We arrived early so there was time to visit the Science Center and go up the incline to get a great view of the city. We dined in the strip area and when we arrived back at 5 AM, the only place that was open for breakfast was a little diner a few blocks away from the station on old RT 66. I don't recall the name but it had an old time look.

Where's the "strip area"?

 

[Trollopian]

Where's the "strip area"?

Although "The Strip" sounds like the red-light district, it isn't. It's a narrow ribbon, hence "strip," of land hemmed in by the Allegheny River on one side and a high bluff on the other. (Pittsburgh is shaped by its topography.) It's Pittsburgh's historic wholesale-grocery hub back in rail's heyday. From the website linked below: "The generally accepted boundaries are between 11th Street and 33rd Street, with the river marking the northern border and Liberty Avenue marking the south, [but] most of the popular businesses are located between 16th and 25th street." Pittsburgh's pitiful Amshack, er, Amtrak station is at 11th St., one edge of the area. Arrive in Pittsburgh, gawk at the skyscrapers that mark its compact downtown, and head in the other direction to the Strip. In fact if you arrive on the Capitol Limited from DC or on the Pennsylvanian, you already passed through the Strip outside your train's windows.

https://www.discovertheburgh.com/strip-district-guide/