Trip #732 Birchland Street, Brookline, Pittsburgh, took place on April 17, 2022, and was published on May 25, 2022.
The word “pluck,” when used as an adjective, has a bit of an old-timey sound to it, reminiscent of an older, passing generation. But pluck is precisely what is needed to walk on the city’s oldest surviving paving materials – Belgian Blocks. These days, the city does make an effort to preserve and repair these old, historic streets, and neighborhood associations tend to favor them for their traffic calming and speed reduction qualities. But walking on them can be tough on 21st-century feet, even those shod in anatomically engineered footwear. I think about the shoes men, women, and children wore 100+ years ago when block and brick streets filled the city, and acknowledging their steadfast determination and energy by saying “they had a lot of pluck” seems very appropriate.
Field Notes: Another super steep Belgian Block street in Brookline! The stairs are nice, wide, sidewalk-style steps without railings. Everything was very clean and orderly, so the circle of the manhole cover really stood out. Strange, but that’s how it goes sometimes… 🙂
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, and trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling.
