You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.
D’oh. :smack:
Pittsburgh isn’t bad (moved here to go to college 9 years ago). The only real problems are the roads, the bankruptcy, the empty downtown, the Pirates and the Steelers. But as a native of Northeast Ohio I’m not too upset about the Steelers’ predicament.
(And the only reason the Browns didn’t lose Sunday is because they had a bye week to prepare for the ass-kicking they’ll get from Kansas City.)
Well, as we Pittsburghers know, they always come back!
I was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in St. Louis, and got back to the Burgh as soon as I could.
“We’re from the Burgh. Proud of the place where we come from: The Burgh. […] Where do y’uns come from? Hon, we’re from the Burgh…”
I’m another native “expat” Pittsburgher, almost 20 years displaced. It certainly has one of the most scenically positioned downtowns of any larger city in the US. Also, the various neighborhoods and communities in Allegheny county have a diversity of culture and local traditions (and unique dialects!) that seem only surpassed by really large cities like Boston and NYC.
Also I remember it as being a very clean city. When I was young, in the late 1970s/early 1980s, going downtown was a pain because everything was ripped up for Rennaissance II, but that’s all a distant memory now, I suppose.
I like Pittsburgh. Especially Myron Cope. You have not LIVED until you’ve heard Myron call a Steelers game.
I’d like more info on this, please. Can you provide a book title on Pittsburgh ghosts/folklore? My Googling hasn’t helped.
Well, here’s a big thumbs up for Pittsburgh from the absolute unlikeliest of places:
Cleveland.
It’s pretty telling that since PNC park opened, our family has seen more Pirates games than Indians games. Both teams suck, so it’s not like the talent on the field is the draw. PNC is the ballpark of the gods, period.
For the past three summers, we’ve made it a point to spend a one-day vacaction in Pittsburgh and hit their wonderful zoo (among the best I’ve ever been to), the Carnegie museums, the National Aviary, and topping it with a night game at PNC.
It’s physically a very pretty city, with a stunning view of a river in just about every direction. 
The roads are a bit of a pain in the ass; really my only complaint.
Spend a day there if you can, it’s more fun than it sounds. Pittsburgh probably isn’t the first place most people think of as a recreational destination, but we’ve had a blast every time. “Pittsburgh day” is already looked forward to in our house as one of the highlights of the summer.
No problem. This is such a great story, that I like to spread it around as much as possible. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t seen it in print or on TLC yet. It is so gruesome that it rivals Chicago’s famous H.H. Holmes.
It is the true story of a particular house that existed at one time on the North Side of Pittsburgh. For all the Pittsburghers out there, it used to exist where present day 65 crosses over Allegheny Blvd. This is about 100 yards up the road from Heinz Field. Right at the end of “Millionaires’ Row,” where Carnegie and the others had their homes.
It was built by a Carpetbagger by the name of Congolier. But the most notable resident was an immigrant by the name of Dr. Brunrichter. In Dr. Brunrichter’s free time, he apparently was able to decapitate his victims and keep the heads alive for an extended period of time.
There were other residents over time. Edison visited it at its height of notoriety.
Sometime in the 1930s there was a massive explosion at the Equitable Gas plant that used to be located where presently the Carnegie Science Center is sitting. The explosion killed thousands, shattered most of the windows in Pittsburgh, and rang church bells as far as ten miles away.
When the dust cleared, the house was gone. Vaporized. Not a single piece of it was left. Just a crater, although the houses around it atleast were reduced to rubble.
For more information, type any of the following into any search engine:
Dr. Brunrichter
Congolier House
1129 Ridge Avenue
You know, there is a lot of hidden Pittsburgh history. Oodles of it.
General George Washington had a camp here one summer. A portion of the garden that the troops planted is still alive to this day, in the basement of the Hilton at The Point.
I just found out a couple years ago that the whiskey rebellion took place a mile from my old high school in Bethel Park.
Maybe it is this lack of knowledgeable history that is holding Pittsburgh back. When you look into Pittsburgh’s history, it pretty much jumps from the French And Indian War directly to the Super Bowl Of 1976.
I was born in the old Charleroi-Monessen Hosp and lived in N. Belle Vernon until I was seven, when we moved to So. CA. That was a while back though; Ralph Kiner was still hitting home runs in Forbes Field.
I still remember our yearly trip to Kennywood Park, and finally being tall enough to ride the coaster there.
So, how many Pittsburgh Dopers are there, and would any of you guys be willing to get together for a day or two of whatever fun type stuff can be scrounged up in Pittsburgh, say sometime early next year?
Out of towners would be welcome too, just take s’more planning.
I’m in the nearby hills, and a few months ago several of us met at North Park for a Mini-dope. Siege, Guinastasia, and samclem were there, along with a few others. (I’ve got some pics.)
Count me in on the planning for the next get-together.
I think that the Pittsburgh bad rap is from the years of heavy pollution the steel mills and other industries poured out into the valleys. The dirty air tended to stay in the low areas, coating lungs and buildings alike. That’s one reason why the richese of the town built retreats in the mountains, one of which was the South Fork club whose dam break caused the Johnstown Flood.
It wasn’t until the '70s and '80s that the failure of the steel industry closed the mills one by one, and the air quality began to improve- but the big steel paychecks were gone, and people either retired or moved to greener pastures. The conversion from an industrial-based economy to a service-based one has been difficult. Few big industries move here because of the high cost of labor, without big tax breaks.
So Pittsburgh gets cleaner air at the expense of the population, in a manner of speaking. It’s hard to make more than a subsistence living with most of the jobs that can be found here; for most good jobs one must move elsewhere. No wonder no one wants to come to Pittsburgh.
Hey, I’m not an ex-pat-I’ve lived here all my life!
There actually is a book out about haunted places in Pittsburgh, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember the title. The author’s name is Beth Trapani (Tripani?).
Oh, and Rockle, don’t you meahn Mahrn Cope?
As long as someone else plans it ( ) I’ll go. And I cannot for the life of me find that book that Guin is talking about.
The author does a bunch of books like that:
Haunted Ligonier
Haunted Pittsburgh
Haunted State College
Haunted My Tuchus
Maybe they are only available locally.
As long as someone else plans it ( ) I’ll go. And I cannot for the life of me find that book that Guin is talking about.
The author does a bunch of books like that:
Haunted Ligonier
Haunted Pittsburgh
Haunted State College
Haunted My Tuchus
Maybe they are only available locally.
Beth Tripani? The one who is (was?) a reporter on KDKA?
Yep, that’s the one, TeaElle.
Apparently, the people of Pittsburgh have spoken about the Get Fuzzy cartoon, and they are less than pleased, to say the least:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03308/236307.stm
This, along with the yearly outrage when the Forbes Best Cities for Singles lists come out (Pittsburgh has been dead last #40 for the last two years), shows just how loyal Pittsburghers can be to their city .
I’d love to do another Pitt DopeFest…should set one up for the holiday season!
Dammit RugbyMan! You beat me to the punch.
That’s okay, I don’t have any hard feelings against Get Fuzzy. I love the cartoon. If it ever comes up for a possible syndication I will vote for it over, say, Zippy.
Yes, I guess I do. chembug lived a while in Pittsburgh, and for as long as I’ve known him, he’s been talking about Mahrn. I finally got to hear Mahrn on the car ride back from the Infamous Meatball Wedding, when we drove across Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Maryland.
Mahrn really puts the classic Philly football announcer, Merrill Reese, just to shame. He is something altogether else, isn’t he? Thank Og the Steelers won that game, or Mahrn would have had that aneurysm for nothing.