Pittsburgh: Tales of the Topographic City

[Evergrey]

relax... and keep your eyes open... for you are now a spectator of the Topographical City

The view from my apartment... the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning looms over Oakland

St. Paul's Cathedral

Duquesne University in the foreground... University of Pittsburgh in the distance... Oak Hill in the middle

South Side with Squirrel Hill / Greenfield in background

PNC's FirstSide... completed in 2001... LEED-certified green building

Grant Building... 1928 vintage

The Try St. Terminal (bottom center) has just been converted to student apartments for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh

The intricate detail at the top of the Park Building (foreground)... built in 1896, it is Pittsburgh's oldest existing skyscraper... it unfortunately suffered serious defacement during the mid-20th century

151 FirstSide is nearing completion... it is an 18-story condo tower... the beginnings of a wave of new residential downtown

The Mt. Washington overlooks were refurbished last year

South Side Slopes... the overhead apparatus of the Allentown trolly line is visible bottom right

the historic Mon Wharf

looking towards the redeveloped areas of the Lower Hill District

the Monongahela Incline descending into the lush vegetation

the prominent church no longer beckons the faithful... but serves as luxury condos with breathtaking views of the cityscape

Gateway Center... early 50s office complex

[Evergrey]

i love these old buildings

a few more old gems

Duquesne University

city of bridges... Allegheny River

North Side and PNC Park

Heinz Field, Community College of Allegheny County and North Side neighborhoods

Allegheny General Hospital and a bunch of ugly 1960s apartment buildings

looking towards the Strip District and Lawrenceville in the distance... the huge brick complex in the foreground is the long-vacant Armstrong Cork Factory... just converted into 295 apartments... in the background the new Children's Hospital is under construction and designed for LEED "green" certification

the old Heinz Factory is now 265 apartments

close-up of PNC Park and some of the new development on the North Shore

mid-rise mania

Duquesne Incline

Ft. Pitt Bridge crossing the Monongahela

awesome

Troy Hill on the right... Spring Hill on the left... and Spring Garden in the narrow valley in between

the Ohio River

[Evergrey]

Strip District, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, Garfield, etc.

Duquesne Heights

the confluence

Convention Center... largest LEED-certified green building in the world... University of Pitt in background... the Goodyear's (lower right) days are numbered... as a "green" neighborhood of 700 residential units in multiple towers will begin construction on that site later this year

this city is awesome

[Evergrey]

Manchester... spot the infill?

Monongahela bridges

a rather steep backyard

I thought this view would be better... from Round Top in Crafton Heights

a Burnham original... former rail offices... now apartments... though Amtrak still stops there... the soon-to-be-demolished Mellon Arena behind it

[Evergrey]

The Oliver Building (center) is one of my favorites

the Renaissance Hotel in middle

how many other American cities offer you views like this? (rhetorical)

so rich in texture

running out of light

Come to the Pittsburgh Forum Meet on May 12th

Farewell from "America's Most Livable City"*

*according to Places Rated Almanac

[seicer]

Excellent batch of photographs! What is your opinion on the downtown/city housing situation? With the population of Pittsburgh on the decline since the 1970s, do you think that the recent infill and downtown development projects will add a substantial amount? I spotted numerous infill in the images, plus a new 18-story condo, and the mention of the 700-unit condo to be built soon.

This building, though, is ... interesting to say the least. I won't say it is ugly, but a transition at the top would have been nice.

[ohioaninSC]

Great pictures...does any other city truly match the topography of Pittsburgh, or even come close. I know several cities out west have huge mountains nearby, but the cities aren't really built into them like a lot of Pittsbugh is. It's also good to see the infill going in and some new downtown housing, condos, and apartments.

[seicer]

I would say Charleston, West Virginia would come close. It has a lot of steep topography surrounding the city, and the terrain made constructing the interstate highway system extremely expensive -- although it is still quite innovative and fun to drive through. Houses stack up on the hills, density is in the inner-city, and the scale of it all is quite grand.

[ohioaninSC]

I would say Charleston, West Virginia would come close. It has a lot of steep topography surrounding the city, and the terrain made constructing the interstate highway system extremely expensive -- although it is still quite innovative and fun to drive through. Houses stack up on the hills, density is in the inner-city, and the scale of it all is quite grand.

[torgo]

Excellent pics! Some of those nearby neighorhoods must have views that are just incredible!

[A2]

Excellent Pics!!!

A2

[byrde]

Thanks for taking me on a quick trip to Pittsburgh

[UptownNewOrleans]

The confluence picture comes out to form the letter Y, I thought that was neat.

[pennabill]

Pgh is my favorite city. My son and wife/kids live in greensburg. It is a huge place. went there for business many times.

it is the safest city/metro for its size. keep the pictures coming, they are great pictures.