PITTSBURGH’S PROMISE

The Iron City has morphed from smoky-industrial to vibrant and hip.

By Mary Mihaly

Photograph Courtesy of visitpittsburgh.com

Pittsburgh’s downtown sits on the once-grassy triangle where three rivers meet, connected by bridges to 88 distinct neighborhoods and districts, originally settled by immigrants who came to work for giants like Alcoa, U.S. Steel, PPG Industries and H.J.Heinz. Some of the neighborhoods retain their cultural and ethnic identities, immediately apparent from the clusters of Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant and shop signs.

Alas, we were overwhelmed with too many choices in this town. But we managed to see a lot, starting with a morning at the Andy Warhol Museum, seven floors of drawings, prints, paintings, sculpture and film he created, along with artifacts of his life: party invitations, samples of his collections (including the famous cookie jars) and a wall of his Interview magazine covers. Don’t be intimidated by the seven floors; they’re small and easy to cover.

Another spot we’re glad we saw is the Mattress Factory, an easy-to-miss gem of a museum on the North Side offering contemporary installation art – massive, mostly room-sized works, fun and provocative. On each floor of this converted warehouse, you enter a room that has been transformed into art: In one room, dozens of plaster garden statuaries appear to tumble across the room, into a hole in the floor.

Down the street and associated with the Mattress Factory is House Poem, the home of celebrated Chinese poet and human rights advocate Huang Xiang. He’s transformed the exterior into his notepad, covering the dark clapboards with his poetry in white Chinese characters, in a haunting, beautiful plea for freedom.

One of Pittsburgh’s most vivid neighborhoods is the Strip District. By day this strip of warehouses and freight docks hums with wholesalers, fish and produce merchants, ethnic food stores and sidewalk vendors –– a 10-block marketplace and true urban adventure. At night, the Strip becomes a restaurant and nightclub district and Pittsburgh’s only 24-hour neighborhood.

Across the Monongahela River sits Station Square, now a restored restaurant and shopping complex. For a different kind of fun, drive down the road a mile to the South Side neighborhood, 15 blocks of Victorian storefronts and homes housing cafés, shops, bars and galleries. We browsed earrings from the Far East and boots from the Wild West, and when we wanted a rest, we had six coffee shops to choose from.

We capped our visit with a trip up (and down) the 800-foot Duquesne Incline – a bit scary because of the height, but oh, that view. One of the few remaining such inclines in the country, the Duquesne is a cable railway, slooooowly taking riders up the mountain in enclosed wooden cars. Go at dusk, when the sunset-painted backdrop showcases the entire city.

Three of Pittsburgh’s don’t-miss details:

We stayed at the Priory (www.thepriory.com). Once a home for Benedictine priests, it’s now an elegant European-style boutique hotel with monastic charm.

Pamela’s P & G Diner is a popular Strip District icon, which you’ll learn if you try to get a table for Saturday breakfast. Banana-walnut pancakes are worth the wait; 412-281-6366.

Pardon our gushing, but we’d never tasted blue cheese dressing as good as Chef Rosato’s at City Grill on East Carson Street, South Side; 412-431-1770.

For more information, go to www.visitpittsburgh.com.

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