Trip #548 Orient Way to Sylvania Street, Beltzhoover, Pittsburgh took place on December 23, 2020, and was published on February 10, 2021.
What are you in love with? We tend to think of love in relation to other people, but we all know it’s so much bigger than that. Love has the power to encompasses everything and, as the saying goes, “knows no bounds.” What you’re in love with spreads into every corner of your life. It’s the love that keeps you committed, interested, and curious. It’s comforting in sad times and celebratory during the good. The love in your life shapes you, defines you, makes you the best version of who you are right now and who you can be in the future. It might not be strictly true that “love is all you need,” but a life without even a few precious drops would be terribly cold and desolate.
Field Notes: Many of the city steps in Beltzhoover are made of red brick and so many of them have been thoroughly abandoned. Here are two stairways, one was likely the city steps and the other went to a house but it’s difficult to tell exactly what the lot would have looked like when it had buildings/houses on it. Of all the neighborhoods I visited, I feel like this one has seen the most deterioration since Bob Regan’s mapping of the stairways 20 years ago. I’ve seen lots of stairways but it’s hard to match up his notes with what is viewable today.
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.
