Trip #437 India Street to Dickens Street, Crafton Heights, Pittsburgh took place on April 19, 2020, and was published on May 11, 2020.
Compared to a hundred years ago, there’s so much more information at our disposal. But for all this “intelligence” we can access, there’s a great deal we’ve forgotten. Take, for example, where our food and water comes from and where it goes. In the not so distant past, people had a personal connection to these necessities. The food on the plate came from nearby sources, and it was understood that if the outhouses were too close to the wells, there would be problems. Our food still comes from farms and factories, slaughterhouses and dairies, but the people and places responsible for the growing, packaging and distribution are generally unfamiliar to us. Our closest connection to what we eat is our preferred grocery store or the delivery person who drops a box at our door. We buy, we eat, we flush, we tie up bags of what’s unwanted or spoiled for the garbage collection. And unfortunately, we rarely give it a second thought – until now. Now, when all the systems are breaking down and backing up, we’re forced to consider the giant web we’ve created and how it’s ensnared us.
Field Notes: Short sidewalk flight that runs along a block of row houses. Unfortunately, the first few appeared to be abandoned/uninhabited.
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.
