Let's hear it for beautiful Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

[Radio_Lady]

I was born there on May 31, 1939. I would love to go back there again some summer.

THREE-RIVER CITY: Paddling the Allegheny River in view of Pittsburgh's towering skyline


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Go From Street to Summit

PITTSBURGH
BY THE NUMBERS:

Population: 334,563

Elevation: 1,223 feet (373 meters)

Median Home Price: $157,000

Hot Job: Biotech engineer

Main Industries: Insurance, education, high tech, steel, aluminum


The best place to witness the new Pittsburgh is from atop Mount Washington, the 1,250-foot (381-meter) hill that rises over the Ohio River. From there you can view the once soot-choked skyline—now a well-arranged collection of modern high-rises and repurposed early-1900s factory buildings. What's most surprising? It's beautiful. Thanks to a 15-year urban renewal program, the city has been revived, morphing from a stronghold of industry into a place that better reflects the surrounding Allegheny Mountains.

This sort of integration into the natural setting is precisely what makes a top-notch adventure city, and, in achieving it, Pittsburgh has become a place where residents can be serious both about their careers and their outdoors. The same shift away from heavy industry that beautified the skyline has also reordered the economy: Over the past decade, hundreds of technology companies of all sizes have set up shop in the Steel City. Still, relocators can take advantage of home prices that remain well below the national average and renovation opportunities in the increasingly trendy downtown zones, such as the artist-filled Oakland neighborhood.

Another sign of Pittsburgh's metamorphosis is that the city's outdoors community now has a central clearinghouse: Venture Outdoors (www.ventureoutdoors.org), a nonprofit that promotes recreation within city limits. The group's comprehensive Web site includes event calendars and activity guides. It can also point you toward area outfitters such as Kayak Pittsburgh, which rents kayaks for exploring the urban-riparian landscape ($24 for two hours; www.kayakpittsburgh.com), and the Ohiopyle Trading Post, which runs half-day rafting trips on the Ohiopyle and Upper Yough Rivers ($63 per person; www.ohiopyletradingpost.com). "We've had to show people—even locals—that they can be active and there are places to do it," says Tricia Chicka of Venture Outdoors. "Once they understand that, there's so much to do."

From link: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/relocating/pittsburgh-pennsylvania.html

&&&&&&&

[I Have A Dream]

1. Yaaaay, Pittsburgh!!!

:applause:

[Radio_Lady]

9. Cool clapping! I'm thinking about having my 70th birthday near where

I was born. Left there in the early 1940s when I was about three years old.

Just waxing sentimental. I believe lived on Fernwald (or Ferndale) Road. in Squirrel Hill. I've been told I had a temper tantrum at Zecher's Market. Maybe that was on Murray Avenue.

My grandmother's home was on Beechwood Boulevard. My mother and father eloped to Chevy Chase, Md. to marry in April 1938. I was born in May ummmmmm ............... of the following year.

[Westegg]

47. I grew up on South Linden Ave....

...Which connects to Beechwood. I know it well, my good lady.

[miss_american_pie]

2. Was somebody

insulting my city again? :hi:

[Radio_Lady]

5. Not at all. I just brought up the topic in a couple of other threads and wanted to give it

better placement.

:hi:

[lost-in-nj]

3. I don't like Pittsburgh

my son went to Paramedic School there...
he rented an apt. on Louisa St...

to many hills
the ride there (7 hours) was hell
and he had to wear a bullet proof vest
for his clinicals, when he rode the trucks....

to many hills


blech

lost

[Radio_Lady]

10. Are you saying there are too many hills? I'm sorry about your son,

but I love hills. I don't understand the bulletproof vest. What kind of job required that?

But I respect your feelings. No worries here.

Thanks for your comments.

Cordially,

Radio Lady Ellen in Oregon

[zbdent]

33. Don't worry ... Hill's is out of business ...

[distantearlywarning]

4. Pittsburgh!

I love living here!

[Radio_Lady]

11. You've got DU company... Hawaii Hiker, jlake, and tigereye all were in touch on another thread.

They're all in Pittsburgh, PA.

You guys rock!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7469712#7476556

In the early 1980s, Audio Al and I drove from Boston to the Amish Country -- Lancaster, Intercourse, Blueballs... or is it bells? It was a beautiful trip but I would have to look to see if we have any photos.

Goodness, that was a long time ago.

Cordially,

Radio Lady Ellen

[PittPoliSci]

23. me too.

i'm shady but i'm around. ask tigereye.

[Radio_Lady]

43. Nice to have you here!

My mother went to the University of Pittsburgh. Do they call it the "Tower of Learning"? She wanted to be a journalist, but she married my father instead. She was 19 and pregnant with me when she quit (1938-1939).

My father and I encouraged her to continue her studies in some way after I was grown up.

She never did.

Her name was Estelle and I am Ellen. I wish I hadn't interrupted her schooling.

[PittPoliSci]

45. wow she's beautiful.

it's actually the Cathedral of Learning, not that it makes much of a difference. I'm Wil, by the way.

[Radio_Lady]

46. Hi Wil. Thanks... Cathedral... right. Howzithangin'?

Good to meetchu on the DU.

Cordially,

Radio Lady Ellen in Oregon

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. I love Pittsburgh

Visited in 2000 and 2001. Great city.

[Radio_Lady]

12. Yep. My 84 year old aunt was there in 1989. She said the rivers were so clean,

you could fish and swim in them!

Is that still true today, I hesitate to ask....?

[JVS]

21. LOL. Well I guess compared to the 50 years before 1989, the rivers were clean then...

and they're as clean if not cleaner now than in 1989, since most of the mills shut down during the Reagan era. I never fished or swam in those rivers, although I swam in a lot of creeks that dump into those rivers.

[Radio_Lady]

22. Thanks for the information, JVS.

CU@theDU

Over and out.

RL

[harmonicon]

7. seems nice

I was there for a few days a couple of years ago, and found the city very lovely, but sort of strange - lots of windy/hilly/crazy roads. I think I could live there.

[Radio_Lady]

13. Sounds like San Francisco... windy, hilly, and crazy roads...

We love SF, too!

"The Crookedest Street in the World" -- Lombard Street, San Francisco, California

[distantearlywarning]

24. Pittsburgh is very much like San Francisco.

Same kind of terrain, similar kinds of houses.

Two big differences though: housing costs & we have 3 big rivers instead of a big ocean. :-)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

26. But SF has better food.

:hide:

[Lyric]

27. Better food?

Obviously you haven't tried a batch of piping hot, handmade Pittsburgh pierogies. Mmmmmm. :9

[JVS]

28. Better than using french fries or deep fried pierogies as sandwich toppings?

I don't believe you!

[J-Lo Biafra]

36. Give me cole slaw in my sammich!

Yum!

[distantearlywarning]

40. Or salad toppings!

You can go into almost any restaurant within 50 miles of Pittsburgh and order at least one kind of salad that has french fries as a main component.

[JVS]

50. mmmm steak salad!

[JVS]

8. *sigh*

:cry:

[Radio_Lady]

14. Hey, buddy... dry those tears. Did this bring up some sad memories for you?

I'm sorry.

Cordially,

Radio Lady in Oregon

[JVS]

17. I just miss it so much, and it will be a long time before I can get back

[Radio_Lady]

18. Wish I could wave a magic wand and fly you there with sparkle dust or something...

:hug:

[Ellen Forradalom]

15. I worked for Westinghouse Credit in the 80s

out in Chicago. Pittsburgh was the center of my universe for two years...yet I've never been there.

[Radio_Lady]

19. Fascinating! You never went there for any training sessions or to meet the people in the main...

office? I guess it depends on the job you held and what you signed on for -- also company policy.

I was a Technical Sales Representative in Boston for the Clairol Professional Products Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb. I held that job from 1983 to 1992. (UPDATE: The company has been sold to Proctor and Gamble.)

I was hired in November 1983 and then in January 1984, we had a full month of training in New York City where the company has its main office on Park Avenue.

Then, we had regional beauty shows all around New England and once in New York City.

Every year we had a January sales meeting in various places -- Atlanta, Summit, New Jersey, Long Island, etc.

Periodic training took place in the manufacturing and regional office in Stamford, CT.

[qb]

16. I have relatives in the area. The highlight of my visits there was a ride on the Duquesne Incline.

That and visits to a stained glass factory and mushroom farm :)

[Radio_Lady]

20. Not sure, but I might have done that when I visited at age 13.

My older cousin Lissy and I met in Pittsburgh. One of the highlights of that trip was a tour of radio station KDKA. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Then we took the train to Manhattan, and I went to six plays in seven days. It was terrific!

The Pajama Game
Teahouse of the August Moon
Tea and Sympathy (it was a big year for "tea"!)
Kismet
South Pacific
New Faces of 1952

Thanks for the memories.

Radio Lady Ellen

[China_cat]

42. KDKA...Rege Cordic

Old Frothingslosh...the pale, stale ale with the foam on the bottom.

[trof]

25. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The song

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Guy Mitchell
Written by Bob Merrill

Peaked at # 4 in 1952

There's a pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
And I walk up and down 'neath the clock
By the pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
But I ain't got a thing left to hock

She was peaches, she was honey, and she cost me all my money
'cause a whirl 'round the town was her dream (was her dream)
Took her dancin', took her dinin' till her blue eyes were shinin'
With the sights that they never had seen (never seen)
If you should run into a golden-haired angel
And ask her tonight for a date
She'll tell you somewhere there's a rich millionaire
Who is calling again about eight

There's a pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
And I've just gotta get five or ten (five or ten)
From the pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gotta be with my angel again

[JVS]

29. listen here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot6gSfAuLTs

[Radio_Lady]

44. Trof, thanks for those lyrics! You're a peach!

[PRETZEL]

30. Another native Pittsburgher here,

love that city.

Would welcome the opportunity to move back there again. Although I wouldn't necessarily want to move back to my home town of Coraopolis. It's a nice town, but as with most of the industrial towns along the Ohio River, it's dying a fast death.

But to be back in the area would be great.

[dropkickpa]

31. I love it here!

Downtown from the Ohio River (west looking east)


Downtown from Greenfield (east looking west)


View of Oakland from Schenley Park (the cathedral has been totally cleaned and restored, it's gorgeous now!)


Mexican War Streets


my favorite pic of Downtown, a foggy sunrise, looks like a city floating on clouds

[Sock Puppet]

32. Pittsburgh's very own Isaly's dairy created the first Klondike bars.

I recently learned that a Klondike is another word for a lesbian Eskimo. The things you learn on the internet!

[Richardo]

39. I "<3" Wikipedia!1!!!

:bounce:

[Westegg]

48. I went to high school with an Isaly!...

...In Pittsburgh. Didn't care for the lad much at the time (1980s) and I also took Isaly's for granted. Now that this fine 'burgh institution is gone, I regret it. I paid good money for a vintage "Isaly's" ice-cream scoop recently. One way I stay in touch with my old home town.

[livetohike]

34. Sssshhh, don't let out our secret!

:hi: I just retired back to the area after many years of living out of state. It's a great value for retirees and young families (if you can find a job).

[JohnCheg]

35. I love Pittsburgh

The only big town where you can walk down the street and meet your buddies by chance - every day.

[I Have A Dream]

37. Yep!

:)

[livetohike]

41. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[SoxFan]

38. Pittsburgh: Gateway to Cleveland!

Pittsburgh: If You Smell Anything, It's Coming from Ohio

[Westegg]

49. So glad I grew up there...

...It's been two years since I've been there. I'm currently trying to finish a novel about a guy in L.A. who is abruptly called back to his hometown of Pittsburgh. I left the 'burgh after high-school. College out of state, then L.A. for many years, and I now live in NYC. But Pittsburgh is my "home" home. I know that. I read the Post-Gazette on-line every morning.

I've taken my wife, NYC born-and-raised, to Pittsburgh many times. She quickly fell in love with the city. She was surprised that she did. But I wasn't.

[lizziegrace]

51. Both my parents were born and raised there

I go back to see extended family and to attend funerals.

I remember as a child my Papoo worked in a coke plant. The soot from the stacks and the air was bad in Burgettstown where they lived that you had to take your shoes off before you went into the house so you weren't bringing all that soot in with you.

South of the city where my mother grew up, the plants on the Monongahela River had stacks belching all sorts of chemicals. We had to keep the windows closed on the river side of the house. (Gram lived high up on a bluff) Most, well actually all, of the deaths in my family were due to cancer. All different kinds.

I know that the city has cleaned up and is much different. But the Pittsburgh of my childhood (40 years ago) was dirty, depressed and rusting.

And don't even get me started about the potholes that can swallow a car on 51...

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

52. I lived near Pittsburgh for 5 years and graduated from Pitt Law

Beautiful city with friendly people - a little hard to get around sometimes, but gorgeous nonetheless.

[Lady President]

53. I Miss Pittsburgh

I went to college down the road at Washington & Jefferson and made many trips downtown. It's a great city with wonderful people.

This is what a college campus is suppose to look like:

[karmaqueen]

54. Hi Radio_Lady! I LOVE Pittsburgh!

There was another thread the other day about Pittsburgh and I posted this picture. The next day the whole thread was gone. I wanted to show you where I was born & raised. There are so many places in Pittsburgh with beautiful views and this one was from my house. Very poor neighborhood with million dollar views.

IMG]

[Bravo Zulu]

55. Pittsburgh is 250 years old this year!

250th celebration
http://imaginepittsburgh.com/