Trip #192 Short Street, Southside Slopes, Pittsburgh took place on September 20, 2018, and was published on September 28, 2018.
Plants are like humans, they’re willful in their quest to survive. Humans are like plants, they expand and claim and take over space. Humans live in community with other humans – and plants are no different, once one moves into the neighborhood, more are sure to follow. Plants have the ability to make humans happy and can contribute to a better quality of life, but do humans make plants happy? I’m not so sure. Some plants we lavish with love and attention but others we ignore, and still others we actively try to eliminate and destroy. Considering that the biomass of plants outweighs all other life on earth, we’re lucky they don’t behave as we do, otherwise, we’d all be in serious trouble right now!
Field Notes: This is at the far end of Magdalena – looks like some of the roadway was put in after the stairs as there’s a quasi-orphan house right near the top (looks unoccupied but maybe being worked on?)
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
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. If the location has an abundance of illegal dumping and trash, also contact Allegheny Cleanways, letting them know the location and the nature of the garbage. Thank you!!
