Trip #614 Hillview Street, Overbrook, Pittsburgh took place on July 15, 2021, and was published on July 26, 2021.
“It’s like what my Dad used to say, ‘What’s remembered, lives,'” is a line spoken by Fern, Frances McDormand’s character, in the closing minutes of the 2020 film Nomadland. For Fern, the past has a gravitational pull like the Sun and influences every decision in her slowly imploding universe. I can easily see my real-life superimposed on the fictional one of Fern’s, and I think about what I have intentionally chosen to keep alive through remembering. Some memories have grown rosier and more prominent with time, while others are consciously packed away but not forgotten. I know I am attached to both in very different ways but are they eclipsing my present life as they did to Fern’s? I’m not sure, but casting an unfiltered eye over the beauty and the brokenness of the internal landscape may help release a previously unimagined future.
Field Notes: This flight is built into the hillside and runs from Kingwood Street to Homehurst (with an Alley / Way in the middle). The top portion has plenty of Rose of Shannon on either side to obscure the flight but the bottom to completely exposed – stumps show a few trees have been cut down over the years.
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.
