IN about a million ways, crazy old Pittsburgh is not like other cities in this part of the world, but the first thing people usually notice about it — coming in from the Pennsylvania Turnpike and through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, or shooting under Mount Washington on their way in from the airport — is that this is a city with a lot going on in the looks department.
The setting, along those famous three rivers — Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela — at the foot of those dramatic hills, is unforgettable. The ruggedly handsome skyline is a constant reminder of an era when this was one of the world’s eminent industrial capitals.
Never mind that it’s half empty — of all the half-empty Rust Belt cities, none wear diminished status as comfortably as Pittsburgh. It is the master of keeping up appearances. The downtown, known as the Golden Triangle, remains one of the country’s best-planned and most walkable, with one pleasant streetscape after another. In some ways, it is like a mini-New York, streets filled with people on sunny weekdays, pouring off buses and a little subway in the mornings and back on at night. Pittsburgh feels busy, alive. Industry has given way to research, health care, education, the arts. Smart people are moving in or moving home. The city feels young again, promising, like a place that has a future, one brighter than just about any of its contemporaries.
In short, Pittsburgh is just a little bit of a miracle. It is springtime, now — a good time to go take a look. Here are just a few reasons why.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE The ‘Burgh’s crazy topography — the likes of which could make a San Francisco city planner shudder — makes for close-knit neighborhoods that often function almost as if they were their own cities. To really get to know Pittsburgh, you’ve got to hustle a bit. There’s the bustling South Side, with its endless selection of bars along jammed East Carson Street; try the local East End Brewing Co. beers on tap at The Bar at 2132. Then there’s sleepy Highland Park, where locals sip espresso at (the excellent) Enrico’s (1125 N. Highland Ave.), not to mention the Williamsburg-ish scene up the Allegheny in secluded Lawrenceville — stop for lunch at Dozen Bake Shop, a city favorite (3511 Butler St.). There are many Pittsburghs, all in very close proximity to each other, but each their own universe. East Liberty, for years one of the city’s trouble spots and all but abandoned by the end, is a major happening these days, with tons of shopping and other developments that include a new Google campus. Stick around when the whistle blows five and take a table at neighborhood favorite Dinette, a vivacious rustic Italian canteen and wine bar with its own rooftop vegetable garden. Snack on grilled shishito peppers with fried almonds, goat cheese and sea salt while you contemplate the pizza menu (5996 Penn Circle S.).
THEN THERE’S ALL THAT ART From big-ticket shows and show-stoppers at the Carnegie or the Frick to the avant-garde at the North Side’s Mattress Factory, a site for unusual installations created by resident artists since the ‘70s, Pittsburgh knows from art. Just as it knows from music, theatre, opera, dance and pretty much any other cultural indulgence you can name. If you just want to stare at canvases, you need more than a weekend to see everything worth seeing here — the Carnegie is a good place to start, functioning as sort of a mini-Met, with its Roman and Chinese artifacts, its Degases and Monetses. If you missed the retrospective of shoulda-been-more-famous American artist Paul Thek’s unique work at the Whitney this past winter, the show’s here until May 1 (4400 Forbes Ave.).
IT TASTES GOOD, TOO To some, Pittsburgh dining means overstuffed sandwiches topped with french fries and coleslaw. You can eat that sort of thing, if you must, but save an appetite for the city’s quickly evolving culinary scene. An American city of this size generally doesn’t go in for tiny, noisy, unpretentious little neighborhood bistros the way Pittsburgh does; see for yourself at spots like legume (1113 S. Braddock Ave), a tiny, crowded and rather poorly lit (a la, say, Paris) Regent Square BYOB / farm-to-table spot where you’ve got to book early if you want a choice in what you’ll be eating off the menu that night. Down on the South Side, there’s Dish Osteria, the sort of slapdash, here’s your overfilled-glass-of-plonk-and-plate-of-great-calamari type of place that people love so much when they go to Italy. There are others in the genre — Avenue B in East Liberty’s another good one — but it’s worth detouring from the comfortable, out to some of the buzzier spots in town. For instance, Salt of the Earth, a minimal-chic East Liberty room where Chef Kevin Sousa is garnering accolades for his unusual treatments of classics such as beef tartare, introducing flavors like blood orange, white chocolate and fir needles. The cocktails are good too, the kitchen stays open until midnight (5523 Penn Ave.). Sometimes, you just want a cozy late dinner down the street from your hotel — for that, anyone staying Downtown could take just a short stroll up past the convention center to Eleven, a civilized room for oysters, terrines, nice fishes, good pork chops served with Anson Mills grits and a nice wine list (1150 Smallman St.).
THE STRIP’S A SHOW Imagine if there was enough space in a gentrified Meatpacking District for all that new stuff as well as the original businesses that gave the neighborhood its character — that pretty much describes the Strip District, a sprawling, 24-hour jumble of discount produce, late-night dance clubs, vintage Italian cheesemongers, hip cocktail speakeasies and trucker bars, abandoned warehouses and upmarket apartments. Easily walkable from the downtown area, the Strip gets its share of tourists, and as such, sustains its share of tourist dreck. Step into the new Pittsburgh Public Market — running Friday-Sunday on Smallman Street between 16th & 17th Streets — for a glimpse of the now; the fledgling market is a Pike Place/Reading Terminal-like show place for what’s good and local (pittsburghpublicmarket.org).
THE OUTDOORS ARE TRULY GREAT As complicated as Pittsburgh can be to navigate, there’s still plenty of it that’s easy to figure out on foot, from the museums and sports stadiums of the North Side to the bars and restaurants of the South Side, all the way out the Strip District and, of course, right downtown. When the weather’s nice, there’s nothing better than exploring on two feet — particularly along the increasingly developed riverfront. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail is a many-segmented and growing trail network that covers an impressive 21 miles; pretty much any direction you want to go from the center of town, there’s a path for that. If you prefer an upper-body workout, Kayak Pittsburgh, which reopens May 1 for the summer season, provides affordable rentals in its downtown location under the Sixth Street Bridge. And while you won’t get much of a workout climbing Mt. Washington — the Duquesne Incline will do the job for you, for a low cost of just $2.25 each way — it’s an exhilarating, 800-foot climb on a cable car plying a steep route (a nearly 60 degree angle!) that went into operation in 1877. Whether it’s your first or tenth time to Pittsburgh, the view from up here is a must-see (duquesneincline.org).
SO’S THE INDOORS Spring not moving forward fast enough for you? Get a jumpstart on summer indoors at the gorgeous Phipps Conservatory up in Oakland, where 19 indoor and outdoor gardens, representative of many different types of habitats, have been thrilling Pittsburghers for more than a century. While it takes a little less than two hours to do the site justice, stick around for lunch in the airy café; if you get in to town early enough on a Friday, note that the gardens are open all the way up until 10 p.m. (phipps.conservatory.org). An easy hike from most Downtown hotels, the surprising National Aviary, an all-bird zoo that features 600 winged-things from the world over in a beautiful indoor garden setting, is an only-in-Pittsburgh must. Do not miss the pink flamingos (aviary.org).
BEEN TO FALLINGWATER YET? It must be said that no museum in the city quite competes with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, one of the most iconic residences in the free world, located just an hour or so from town, in the heart of the beautiful Laurel Highlands. Designed as a weekend spot for the Kaufmann family, local luminaries who most famously owned that big department store downtown that is now a Macy’s, Fallingwater is reason enough to come to Western Pennsylvania, never even mind Pittsburgh. Book the extended tour, well in advance. For $67, you get more access to the home than most tours do — either way, plan on half a day at least, all in (fallingwater.org).
THERE’S FINALLY A DECENT HOTEL Every once in awhile, you run across a hotel that just gets it right. Sometimes, where you least expect it. Like, say, Downtown Pittsburgh. A city that hasn’t had a really great hotel for years now lays claim to one of the nicest in the state — the shiny new Fairmont. Occupying an attractive glass tower that’s part of a larger redevelopment project off of the city’s impressive Market Square, sleek, outsized rooms, good service, an outstanding health club with floor-to-ceiling views of one of the city’s busiest corners and a location of the city’s hippest café — 21st Street Coffee — located out the other side of the building make this the sort of hotel that could have you forgetting there’s a city out there worth exploring. Book the “It’s a Date in the Burgh” package Thursday-Sunday through Dec. 31; it includes accommodations and credits for food and beverage ($50) and spa ($25). The starting rate is just $199 (fairmont.com).
additional reporting by George Hobica