Walking Brighton Heights

On a sunny day in Pittsburgh, we set out to walk the neighborhood of Brighton Heights.  Yes, it was three months ago.  Yes, we’ve been on hiatus.  Onward!

Beechview Links

Just a quick note to point out that we’ve added two Beechview links to the blogroll on the right.  Pretty Up Beechview! is a trash blog–created to get people involved in helping to clean up the neighborhood.  The Beechview Blog is maintained by the office of Representative Chelsa Wagner, and it’s designed to keep people informed about happenings in the neighborhood.

Next Up: Brighton Heights

Brighton Heights is in Pittsburgh’s North Side.  The neighborhood of Perry North sits to the East and Marshall-Shadeland to the South.  Bellevue Borough and Ross Township are on the North and Stowe Township and McKees Rocks Borough are to the West.  The McKees Rocks Bridge serves as one entryway into the neighborhood at Ohio River Blvd.  Brighton Heights has an active neighborhood association, a lot of family-friendly neighborhood activity, and is sometimes referred to as an “urban suburb.”

Walking Bon Air

We began our tour of Bon Air having recently walked its geographic and alphabetical neighbor, Beltzhoover.  This tour was a study in contrasts.  The neighborhood of Bon Air is a pocket of land in the south end, with few entrances or exits by road, and consequently, there is a very apparent distinction at the threshhold of the neighborhood, rather than the usual gradual change that we’ve seen at the borders of other neighborhoods.

Next Up: Bon Air

 

Bon Air is a small neighborhood of just under 900 people in Pittsburgh’s South End.  It borders Beltzhoover on the North, Knoxville on the East, Carrick on the East and South, and Brookline on the West.

Between McKinley Park and the other green space that outlines the neighborhood, Bon Air is a little bit insulated, which contributes to the feel of “Country living in the City.”  The neighborhood is just about entirely residential.

Walking Bluff

We began walking Bluff (a.k.a. Uptown) at the Birmingham Bridge, which overlooks the tight, narrow neighborhood that stretches from Oakland to Downtown.

Next Up: Bluff

 

The Bluff neighborhood (more often called Uptown or sometimes Soho) of the City of Pittsburgh sits along the North Bank of the Monongahela River to Fifth Avenue and runs between the Birmingham Bridge and the Liberty Bridge.  It borders Downtown on the West, Crawford-Roberts and West Oakland on the North, and South Oakland on the East.  The South Side Flats are just across the River on the South.

Walking Bloomfield

We began our tour of Bloomfield on a cold, but clear day at the corner of Liberty Ave. and Main St., which would later turn into a blustery, snowy day, thus initiating our first official walk in the winter snow.

Next Up: Bloomfield

Bloomfield’s name is thought to refer to the blooming fields of wildflowers that filled the area long before any development sprung up.  A journal entry written by George Washington  referred to “the high ground through a field of many blooms”.

Walking Beltzhoover

With storm clouds having chased us clear out of Beltzhoover for the past two weekends, we swore that on this day, we would do the walk, rain or shine.  It was rain.  We started at the corner of East Warrington and Beltzhoover Avenue, ready for the soggy feet that lay ahead.