Things to do in Pgh/PIT.

[kennbenny667]

I'm coming to town next week to do a brief, two day recon of the Pittsburgh airport and general area.

I will not be riding, but I will be looking at the areas immediately around the airport and probably hanging out downtown at night.

Anything I should see?

Also, I'm aware of Pittsburgh's zombie problems, and I know how to handle myself.

[Spalls]

Head out to Oakland and the Pitt bookstore. Pick up a copy of Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture (Gay & Evert, 1983) and do an art tour. While in Oakland, stop at the Original Hot Dog Shop (the Dirty O) and get a beef sausage with mustard, onions, chili, and sauerkraut). Head over from Pitt to Carnegie Mellon, and take a walk through Panther Hollow and look for Maurice's wild turkeys. As long as you are there, take a walk through the Phipps Conservatory and take in some sweet smelling humidity (great on a cold day).

[S. cerevisiae]

Thought I saw where the "O" had closed in a U. of Pgh. land grab...

Hopefully I was mistaken.

[rockhound]

I will not be riding, but I will be looking at the areas immediately around the airport ...

Anything I should see?


Let's see, near the airport...

Go to Pirmanti's and get the special.

Go to Ikea.

Get your picture in front of a Beaver road sign.

Buy your beer at a restaurant.

[Spalls]

Sad to hear about the O. Haven't been in Pgh. for a while.

[jhl99]

Be sure to take the parkway (I-279) into town after the sun has set and traffic has cleared out...maybe leaving the airport area around 6:45pm or latter. Be prepared for one of the most spectactular entrances into any city.

Drive or take one of the inclines to the top of Mount Washington and enjoy the night time view of downtown. (you could go to Station Square, a series of resteraunts and shops set in an old train station to do this).

If you bring your camera, bring a tripod for those night shots.

Maybe head over to the Penn Brewery on the North Side... a micro brewery based in building that was a brewery way back when.

Assuming it is still open, maybe go to the Ambridge Bike Shop (Ambridge, PA)... as I recall, they have a lot new, old stock bikes.

kennbenny: Is your recon relocation related or airport business related?

[rockhound]

Assuming it is still open, maybe go to the Ambridge Bike Shop (Ambridge, PA)... as I recall, they have a lot new, old stock bikes.


I found that place while I was bumming around that area by accident. Cool little shop. I didn't realize it was a "destination" spot. :D

[kennbenny667]

My recon is a little of both, actually. I planned this trip to first recon the city for a possible move, but then I decided to "put in my bid" after my third consecutive day of 20min+ bus rides from employee parking to where I actually work at here in Denver.

And another thing! The riding directly along the Front Range isn't really anything spectacular. Fruita, CB, Durango, Gunnison, etc.. on the other hand... It's just not that rad.

Plus, people in Colorado don't seem to have much of the "realism" that my midwestern/ East Coast/Southern brethren do. Maybe it's because we are all from somewhere other than Colorado??

Also, Boulder is a great town with a lot of progressive liberal thought, but many of the people are FAKE in almost every way imaginable.

Anyone have any apartment leads in Pgh? (Less than 10 miles from PIT with on site/in-unit laundry??)

[rockhound]

I planned this trip to first recon the city for a possible move, but then I decided to "put in my bid" after my third consecutive day of 20min+ bus rides from employee parking to where


I hate that airport...looks like a Klan huddle. :rolleyes:

[poison idea]

the O is still open. i'll cry like a girl if that place ever closes

bring riding clothes/pedals and i'll loan you my beater if you wanna ride

[Spatafore]

B
Maybe head over to the Penn Brewery on the North Side... a micro brewery based in building that was a brewery way back when.


If you are going to visit a microbrewery, The Church Brew Works is more worth a visit then Penn Brewery.

[jhl99]

As far as apartments, a friend of mine lived in some of route 22/33 west of 60. I think the exit was Hankeytown, or Hankeyvillle?. There were a lot of airline people (flight attendents, etc) from US Air living is the same complex. Not sure about laundry. This would on the way to a ATBing place known as Bavington. Settlers Cabin Park and the Pan Handle Rail Trail and the Montour rail trail alsooffer nearby riding. Also, there is plenty of road riding potential to the south in rural Washington County.

I lived in Bridgeville (to the SE) for about 4 years... it is probably more like 15 miles to the airport.

The community near the airport, Robinson, has had very high growth in recent years... big box stores, high congestion on route 60 toward Pittsburgh, etc. A new bybass to the south is being built, but I would image the target date for completion is years and years away. If you work at the airport, you definitely would be best living on the West side of downtown.

Kennbenny, your comments on CO riding are interesting. Obviously you are not considering moving because of the riding potential in western PA. I think that this forum and DR may give the impression that there is more here than there really is. There is single track in the city and county parks, but these are small parcels. In my opinion, the really good riding (good=riding in the real woods, not a park, and having to navigate and having no idea if the trails are even suitable for mountiain biking and being able to ride all day without repeating trails) means riding about 100-150 miles from Pittsburgh in either WV or north central PA.