Revisiting Joncaire Street and Frick Art, Central Oakland, Pittsburgh, took place on August 14, 2022, and was published on August 25, 2022.
Just behind Pitt’s Frick Fine Arts Library are the Joncaire Street steps. This flight, originally constructed of wood in the early 1920s and re-built in concrete in 1949, connects the Belgian block streets of Panther Hollow to the highly traveled section of Oakland featuring the Carnegie Museums, Phipps Conservatory, Schenley Park, and dozens of places to eat, drink, socialize or relax. The first Polaroid is what I saw when I visited in July of 2017. It’s only been five years, but a lot has happened since then!
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The flight you see at Joncaire today is the first of the “stairs 3.0” model launched by the city in 2018. Unlike the wooden flights from the turn of the twentieth century (1.0) and the concrete stairs constructed to replace them post-WWII (2.0), the 3.0s are very different. Most notably, they’re broader and deeper but with a shorter rise, making the climb a wee bit easier on our twenty-first-century bodies. The railings are constricted, creating extra safety precautions for smaller humans and furry friends. The lighting is better, and the hillside landscaping designed to cope with water runoff. Finally, and most interestingly, a runnel track is placed to the side for cyclists to get from the nearby Junction Hollow bike trail to all points throughout Oakland and Squirrel Hill. All things considered, it’s a fantastic improvement, even if you still feel the burn walking up or down. Regardless of the year or how they are constructed, they are still stairs, after all. 😉
Field Notes: Big changes to this flight – 100% for the better. When I was here in 2017 it was in tough shape despite being regularly used.
Love city steps? Get yourself the latest and FINAL issue of Mis.Steps: Our Missed Connections with Pittsburgh’s City Steps! Each copy is unique and features 10 randomly selected “trading cards” of the 739 public stairways referenced in Bob Regan’s Pittsburgh Steps book. 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 and trash were abundant in the area? Please take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! Grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling. Thank you!!
