Trip #569 Marland Street, Knoxville, Pittsburgh took place on March 24, 2021, and was published on April 4, 2021.
The next time you interact with a person IRL, on social media, or even by watching a movie or reading a book, think about your gut response. Do they make you feel angry or jealous? Or maybe they elicit admiration or empathy? People you hold in high regard or automatically connect with shine a light on our positive attributes and potential. They help us to become better versions of ourselves. On the other end of the spectrum, people who bug the living shit out of you (to put it nicely) somehow know the secret code to unleash all of your worst qualities. Paying attention to interactions and reactions isn’t about trying to love, please, or appeal to all the people all of the time (an admirable goal beyond most mere mortals). The real reason for paying attention is that it helps us see we have a common cause with our heroes AND our foes more often than we’d like to admit.
Field Notes: The first trip solidly within the confines of Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood. This is right off of Brownsville Road, which is a central business corridor, and I was a bit surprised by how densely populated it is. I guess I was thinking it would be more like Beltzhoover. There are only seven flights of city steps here but I’m curious to see more.
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.
