The Hazelwood Greenway was established in the early 1980s by Mayor Caligiuri and City Council as part of the “Greenways for Pittsburgh” program. At this time in history, Pittsburgh’s population was in a chronic state of decline, and vacant land was rapidly expanding. 🧵

💭 Can we build a city that isn’t car dependent? Join BikePGH for a live conversation with the hosts of The War on Cars as they discuss their new book, Life After Cars 📅 Jan 29, Live & in person @ Alloy 26 👉 Register now: bikepgh.org/2025/12/18/life-after-cars-bikepgh-book-talk-january-2026

Located on the outskirts of Hazelwood, Gladstone Field has two ball fields: one appears to be for “official” softball or baseball games, and the other might be for practice or T-ball, offering a smaller, more manageable space for those new to the game or working on fundamentals. 🧵

While playwright August Wilson is mainly associated with the Hill District, he did spend a few adolescent years in Hazelwood. They were not happy years, but they were formative. 🧵

When it comes to change, Hazelwood’s trajectory has been dramatic. What began as a nineteenth-century pastoral enclave for the wealthy was replaced by twentieth-century heavy industry and mill-working families. 🧵

🚶 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐰! Collect data to help the City improve sidewalks across Pittsburgh. ✨ Sign up for a virtual training: www.pittsburghwalks.org/sidewalks Sat. Dec 11th Tues. Jan 13th Sat. Feb 14th **ASL Interpretation will be provided 2/14.

A desire path is an unofficial trail created by repeated use of the most direct or convenient route between two points. Once established, these paths can influence how pedestrians use and interact with their environment. 🧵

Hey, Bloomfield, walk with us on December 14th! sign up: secure.everyaction.com/BUcRFJiZAUWtstHfohwqGw2

On the Pittsburgh playgrounds bingo card, Four Mile Run Park checks a lot of boxes. Fancy new play equipment? Yup! Industrial-strength musical instruments and large chimes? Cool! Courts and athletics fields? Nice! A working water fountain during warm weather months? WOW! 🧵

Schenley Park looms high above the area known as Four Mile Run (often called “The Run” by locals). In addition to the park, the neighborhood also lies below a segment of I-376 and the latest version of the Greenfield Bridge. 🧵

The Hazelwood Healthy Active Living Center (HAL) building has a rather curious history. The structure was once part of the Glenwood car barn operated by the Pittsburgh Railways Company. 🧵

Magee Park is known for its community pool, but once the summer ends and children are back to school, the daytime vibe quiets down… but not entirely. Plenty of families live nearby, and parents and caregivers with toddlers take full advantage of the playground.🧵

While Greenfield has a few bustling streets, it’s primarily a residential neighborhood wedged between Oakland, Hazelwood, Squirrel Hill, and Schenley Park. As this is Pittsburgh, it’s hilly (LOL) but more importantly, it has a home-spun quality that reminds me of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. 🧵

Hays Woods is Pittsburgh’s newest and largest park, and chances are, you’ve never even heard of it! Located at the far southeastern edge of the City on a bluff overlooking the Monongahela River, Hays is 626 acres of preserved greenway. 🧵

Surprise! Nine Mile Run Trail is closing from Nov. 17, 2025 to Jan. 30, 2026 😬 – See options for getting around the closure here: https://bikepgh.org/2025/11/05/nine-mile-run-trail-to-close-for-2-5-months-see-options-for-getting-around-the-closure/

Another fun walking/photo exploration from Mitch Waxman. This time, he ventures over to German Square for city steps and freight trains. newtownpentacle.com/2025/11/10/c...

We're going on a walk! You coming? www.facebook.com/events/10662...

Before someone built the playground, invented the automobiles that rocket along Mifflin Road, and constructed the homes lining Hillburn Street, there were these railroad tracks. 🧵

Looking for some lovely South Side Slopes photos? Mitch Waxman has some beauties in this recent blog about exploring Sterling Street. He just happened to be wandering around the neighborhood on the day of the annual Step Trek. 😆IYKYK😆https://newtownpentacle.com/2025/10/29/styling-down-sterling-st/

The Veterans Memorial is located by the school’s front entrance, overlooking Mifflin Road, and the dedication marker is out back, next to the playground equipment. This separation strikes me as somewhat unusual, and I wonder if the two were originally together but then separated. 🧵

Looking to extend your Halloween celebrations with an outing to an appropriately gothic setting? You may find the lower end of McBride Community Park enticing. 🧵

New Homestead is on Pittsburgh’s southeastern edge, bordered by Hays and Lincoln Place and the boroughs of Munhall and West Homestead. According to the 2020 census, there are a smidge over 900 residents. Not a lot, but similar to neighborhoods like Spring Garden, Bon Air, or Regent Square. 🧵

The Arlington Rec Center is sandwiched between South Side Park and Ormsby Playground in the South Side Slopes. While the center offers lots of programming for kids and adults, what’s really fascinating (IMHO) about this space is that from 1888 to the 1930s, it was the site of the St. Clair Incline.🧵

The Oliver Bath House has been closed and under construction for so long now that many people who pass by as they travel the 10th Street Bridge may have no idea of its significance (beyond the traffic delays work crews have caused). 🧵

Hello Pittsburgh friends! What are you doing on Sunday? Why don't you stop by the 14th annual Pittsburgh Zine Fair! It's from 11am-5pm at the Kingsley Association at 6435 Frankstown Ave in Larimer/East Liberty. 🧵

Knoxville Incline Park is part of the South Side Greenway, and this section meanders along the old Knoxville Incline track. From 1890 to 1960, this curious form of public transportation (known in other parts of the world as a funicular) connected the South Side to Knoxville. 🧵

Most of Pittsburgh’s parks and playgrounds were built when the City was rapidly growing in population. By 1950, the 90 neighborhoods held ~677,000 people, compared to today’s population of ~307,668. This loss means many different things. On the positive side, it means MORE space per person. 🧵

While the Eleanor Street playground and park recently received a glow-up, one thing didn’t change: its very steep hillside location! If you’re walking (or biking) up or down Eleanor, you might think this is one of the City’s steepest streets, but SURPRISE! Eleanor is “only” a 12.2% grade. 🧵

I visited Esser Plaza Park on a sunny weekday around noon, settling on a park bench with a coffee and savory treat from Delanie’s. As the city birds looked for fallen crumbs, I looked at the flowers artfully arranged in raised beds and planters. 🧵

The South Side Flats has experienced continuous change since King George III granted John Ormsby the land in 1763. And to further that tradition, two long-standing, much-loved neighborhood parks, Ormsby and its “little sibling”, Armstrong, are scheduled for a substantial refresh next year. 🧵

Armstrong Playground came to life at a time when many South Side residents worked in steel mills or other industrial enterprises. Surrounded by narrow, crowded streets, it was (and still is) a safe place for children to run around and socialize. 🧵 [Photos by Elton Schnellbacher, Historic Pittsburgh]

Since 2001, the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association has welcomed urban hikers to explore this unique hillside community during StepTrek. This family-friendly event blends photography, local history, and the charm of a neighborhood built on steps. 🧵https://www.showclix.com/event/steptrek

In the summer of 1863, the American Civil War was underway. It was a frightening time, full of uncertainty. To protect the Pittsburgh region from a possible attack, residents constructed 37 “earthen defenses” on hilltops with strategic viewpoints. To call them forts would be generous. 🧵

Hello Friends! A quick announcement to let you know that we have THREE Carnegie Pittsburgh Library talks this month! On Saturday, 9/20, at 11 am (West End), we’ll give a talk and an optional guided city steps neighborhood walk. 🧵

South Side Park is deceptively large and offers multiple access points. Want to use the athletic fields? Julia Street and Saber Way have parking. Looking for a community garden to flex your green thumb? Access is right off Mission Street. Hankering for an urban hiking adventure with stellar views? 🧵

While this riverfront park is known as South Shore, South Side, and Southside, all refer to the same place. Extending underneath the Birmingham Bridge along the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats. 🧵

Sometimes, I come to a place that has a story, but what that story is… is unclear. Devlin Field is that kind of place. Quiet and well-kept like a house with wall-to-wall carpeting and undisturbed vacuum lines. The vibe isn’t creepy, but anything that alters the housekeeping feels like a bad move. 🧵

The South Side Market House is one of two surviving market houses in Pittsburgh; the other is in East Liberty (home to AAA and the DMV). Built in 1893, it was designed to sell produce, livestock, and late nineteenth-century home goods. Kind of like a shopping mall but with many more aromas. 🧵

Billy Buck Hill in the South Side Slopes gets its name from a long-ago local goat who would roam the neighborhood’s Alpine-like hillsides (and if you think I’m exaggerating the steepness, take a walk up Yard Way). Here's a 1923 map view of the neighborhood from when Billy Buck was roamin'... 🧵

Billy Buck Hill in the South Side Slopes gets its name from a long-ago local goat who would roam the neighborhood’s Alpine-like hillsides (and if you think I’m exaggerating the steepness, take a walk up Yard Way). Here's the 1923 map view from when Billy Buck was roamin'. 🧵

Getting to Monongahela Park is not for the faint of heart. Whether you’re walking, biking, or driving, navigating the narrow, winding streets (sometimes one-way, sometimes not) and city steps of the South Side Slopes requires patience and attention—and I’m sure the residents like it that way. 🧵

Almost everyone walks on the “view” side of Grandview Avenue to take in the sights. After the well-warranted ooh-ing and aah-ing, selfies, and photos, many folks dash across the street and slip under the Shiloh Street arch to partake in the refreshments all the local restaurants and shops offer. 🧵

Venson Park in Beltzhoover is easy to overlook. In fact, it doesn’t even appear on Google Maps. Because of this, it’s easily confused with Gearing Community Garden, which is a few blocks away. But whereas the garden is bold and bright, Venson is tranquil, shaded, and more reserved in appearance.🧵

The Duquesne Heights Greenway is one of my favorite hikes, partly because it offers incredible views and cycles between leisurely meandering and challenging climbs—but it’s really my favorite because it’s the first Greenway I explored several years ago. 🧵

I’m sitting in my car, and the rain is coming down. Not a downpour, but more than a drizzle, just enough to make the walk through the park and down to the trails soggy and slippy. I wait five minutes, then another three. I’m about to head home when “Andre and Phil Go Up a Hill” pops into my mind. 🧵

At 1,255 feet above sea level, Grandview Park is perched on one of the City’s highest points. The land for the park was purchased in 1897, and gradually, a picnic shelter (charmingly referred to as a “refectory” on old maps), a music pavilion, and an enclosed merry-go-round were constructed.

An old wooden croquet set has recently come into my possession, and I’m feeling a bit like Alice in Wonderland because finding a playing space that isn’t all “ridges and furrows and hedgehogs” is trickier than I imagined. But Bigbee Field on the Allentown-Mount Washington line may be a contender. 🧵

The Healthy Active Living (HAL) Center building on Virginia Avenue in Mount Washington has two former aliases: The Mount Washington Senior Center (which needs no explanation) and the more mysterious “Lodge Potenza.” 🧵

I’ve followed this project since the early days of Covid and in the last two years I’ve volunteered to walk routes in three locations. It’s such a fun adventure and a great way to learn about a community.