Trip #675 Ordinance Avenue, Beechview, Pittsburgh took place on November 17, 2021, and was published on December 20, 2021.
Our sleeping dreams are often fantastical, confusing, or disjointed, and upon waking, we struggle to make sense of them before the details slip from our mind’s grasp. For me, walking around can sometimes feel like a dream. In some places, there’s a sensation of passing through a scene without genuinely being seen. This long hillside flight on Ordinance Avenue cuts through a residential block with houses on either end, but now empty in the middle. There are sounds of a leaf blower in the distance and a small group of young children playing a running and shouting game in a nearby yard. I quietly float up and down the stairs looking at everything around me and wondering how long the impression of this place will stay with me. A week? A month? A year? At some point, this waking dream will slip through the cracks and be lost, consigned to the space that holds the dreams of sleep.
Field Notes: This is a long flight that cuts between Louisiana and Connecticut Avenues. Except for the house at the top, the other structures are long gone (one appears empty but under renovation – maybe). As I’m using both the Spectra and the iType film now, I have two versions and I like both of them.
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.
