Seldom Seen Greenway, Beechview, Pittsburgh took place on October 6, 2022, and was published on October 8, 2022.
Since it was formally established in 1985, Beechwood’s Seldom Seen Greenway has lived up to its name. In fact, based on the reclamation work undertaken by Allegheny Cleanways and dozens of volunteers in the last two years, it appears the only people who frequented this quiet hillside with any regularity were illegal dumpers. While a large portion of this greenspace is sandwiched between Banksville Road and Saw Mill Run Boulevard, a smaller portion is south of Crane Avenue and adjacent to the Beechview spray park and Vannucci Field. While the Seldom Seen trail here is only a quarter of a mile, it has a 50-foot elevation change, and a new flight of city steps constructed by Landforce makes a considerable difference in accessibility.
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If you’re looking for a walk that combines nature with quiet residential streets, consider parking at Vannucci Field, walking the Seldom Seen trail to Crane Avenue, and then taking a left to go up, up, up the 20% grade of Dagmar Avenue. Dagmar is one of Pittsburgh’s steeper streets, and while walking up is a workout, it is considerably less nerve-wracking than being in a vehicle! Once you reach the summit, turn left onto Andick Way and follow its various city steps and paths downhill for several blocks until you reach Orangewood Avenue. The park, field, and greenway will be to your left.
Field Notes: In looking at the old maps of this area, the Theodore Lau family owned this land dating back to 1890, before Beechview was even part of Pittsburgh. Several structures existed on their expansive property, and today’s nature trail appears to follow the original access road. Theodore Lau, who passed away in 2017 at the ripe old age of 100, lived here and likely walked the path to Andick Way to attend the Beechwood Public School (which featured a public playground next door!) Would young Theo have also enjoyed a spray park and baseball field in the 1920s? I like to think he would have.
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.
