| South Side is a Pittsburgh neighborhood
that contains more restaurants and bars than perhaps anywhere else in the
city. It is bounded by Station Square on the west and extends 30 or more
blocks to the east. On the north its boundary is the Monongahela river and
it extends inland many blocks. The central artery is East Carson street on
which most of the restaurants and bars are located. Historically the area
was home to the mill workers for the steel mills that once lined the
Monongahela river. Since most of these workers came from eastern Europe
there is a European feel to it: small homes built right next to each other,
dozens of churches of various ethnic persuasions and even more neighborhood
bars and small shops all mixed helter skelter together. Today the mills are
gone and shopping centers are springing up in their place. The older area is
an interesting place to wander and people-watch because it is very dense and
you can easily walk almost anywhere. It is one of the few places in
Pittsburgh where, in the summer, people eat and drink at tables outside
restaurants. There are two main sections of Southside, aptly named the
"Flats" and the "Slopes". The flats of course are near the river while the
slopes begin several blocks south of the river and extend farther south up a
very steep hill. On the flats are shops, bars, restaurants as well as many
interesting homes and apartments. On the slopes are houses, hundreds and
hundreds of narrow, tall homes, cheek-to-jowl with one another, perched
precariously on the hillside. One area of the slopes, suitable for goats, is
called, appropriately, Billy Buck Hill! There are dozens of streets and
pseudo-streets (steep concrete and wooden stairs maintained by the city)
which residents use to get up and down. No need for a workout at the gym if
you use these routes. There is also a pretty walk right along the river that
extends for miles where from the woodsy bank you can view the sleek downtown
area right across river.
Attractions
• Station Square at
10th and East Carson street was at one time a railroad station. The original
station, fully renovated, is still there. Now housing the Gandy Dancer
Saloon and the Grand Concourse restaurant, it is a beautiful example of the
grand train stations of the past with a huge, beautiful colored glass
skylight that seems to be a mile in the air, feaux marble columns and fine
wooden appointments. You may still see a train passing on the tracks between
the station and the river, but they are freight trains, not passenger
trains. In the many ancillary buildings that surround the station itself
(some new, some original) is a unique entertainment and office complex. One
is tempted to use the term "mall", but that really doesn't cover it. In the
space between the buildings you will find several artifacts of the steel
industry past on display: huge ladles and furnaces and other equipment.
• The Gateway Clipper Fleet
will give you the feel of the old days when paddle wheel boats plied the
rivers in a never ending stream pushing barges and transporting passengers
up and down the Ohio, Mississippi river ways. Today they will take you for a
short tour of the nearby river system and point out many of the interesting
sights to be seen along the water. There are also ethnic dinner and dance
night cruises, where you can eat galumkies (Polish stuffed cabbage) and
polka away the evening on the river. Its dock is immediately west of Station
Square. Check the link out for directions, events and schedules.
• South Side Shops
and Restaurants are strung out along East Carson street from about
10th street to 27th street, an unbelievable mélange of quirky shops, used
book stores, tattoo parlors, mystic readers, and ... well you get the idea.
Mixed in with all these are so many bars and restaurants that if you
attempted to have one drink in each--people have (attempted)--you would not
make it nearly from one end to the other before requiring assistance. There
are fine restaurants mixed in too. The street traffic on a weekend night can
be formidable, but fun if you have the right constitution.
• South Side Works is the reconstituted site of the old Jones &
Laughlin steel mill in Southside.
Here's how
it used to look . Today it has become a
residential-commercial-industrial park, but it also has some bars and
restaurants, the appropriately named, Hot Metal Grill, for example. It also
contains a complete football field where the Pittsburgh Steelers practice
and where, logically enough, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
maintains a center for the study of sports injuries. This is a work in
progress and new facilities, including a ten theater film complex, are
sprouting like mushrooms. |
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Get In
From Downtown go south across the Monongahela river. There are four
bridges you can use to cross the river. All intersect with East Carson
Street after you cross the river. Beginning at the west end of Southside is
the Smithfield Street bridge, which will take you directly to Station Square
an interesting stop on its own -- see below).
You may also cross a little further east using the 10th Street bridge,
then turn left on East Carson street for the South Side Shops and
Restaurants. Farther east, you may cross the 22nd Street bridge, also known
as the Birmingham bridge. Then turn right for the South Side Shops and
Restaurants.
Still farther east you may use the Hot Metal bridge, so-named because it
was formerly used to transport ladles of molten steel from the blast furnace
on one side of the river to the rolling mill on the other. This will take
you directly through the South Side Works.
On the flats you can sometimes find on-street parking on the side streets
and there are also some metered parking lots.
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