This trip to an unmapped flight of city steps connecting Gazzam Street to Bentley Drive in West Oakland, Pittsburgh took place on March 14, 2021, and was published on April 2, 2021.
If you’ve traveled north on Kirkpatrick Street between Lily Baptist Church and the Addison-Skyview Terrace apartments, you may have spied some stairs set into the hillside. Or maybe not. For more than half the year, these concrete steps are utterly obscured by unchecked vegetation. In this pocket of land where West Oakland, Terrace Village, and Crawford Roberts come together, there are many flights of city steps. And for most, their glory days have long passed. Throughout my travels in these neighborhoods, Bob Regan’s book never directed me to Gazzam Street, so I assumed these stairs had belonged to a house…
Until a warm mid-March Sunday, when I decided to stop and take a look. And look I did. And then I walked, and walked, and walked up a long meandering flight of stairs to Bentley Drive. They sure as heck looked like city steps to me! I promptly emailed Bob my photos and asked for his opinion, and he replied, “I’ve never seen those before. I think I need to get over there.” So, it appears another uncharted flight of stairs has been discovered! If you’re looking for an “off the map” adventure, you now know where to go. But don’t delay – it won’t be long before they once again go into hiding.
Field Notes: This is another flight that was not included in Bob Regan’s book! This one could have been hiding behind the greenery if Bob passed by during the months when the hillside is overgrown. Also, there is a railing cut for the flight at Bentley but the stairs are some distance from it and if they had railings, they’re long gone.
Love city steps? Get yourself the latest issue of Mis.Steps: Our Missed Connections with Pittsburgh’s City Steps! Each copy is unique and features 10 randomly selected “trading cards” of Pittsburgh’s 739 public stairways. Visit the Mis.Steps online store to see all issues and place your order.
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
Be a good neighbor! Have you visited these stairs and found them in poor condition or that illegal dumping (large items like tires, old furniture, and construction debris) and trash were abundant in the area? There are two things you can do to take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! First, grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems, both broken stairs, and railings, as well as trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling.
