City Report: Pittsburgh

By Jeff Guerrero

Photos by Rie Sawada

City: Pittsburgh, PA

Nickname: The Steel City, the Iron City, or the City of Three Rivers.

Claim to Fame: Pittsburgh is home to the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a drinking town with a sports problem, or vice versa.

History in 100 Words (or less): Pittsburgh began as a fort during the Seven Years’ War between the French and British. The British won, and Fort Pitt became a city, which in turn became famous for the production of iron, then steel, then the development of aluminum. Pittsburgh played a significant role in the development of nuclear power, and today stands as one of the world’s foremost medical and technological centers. It’s also a big time food city, owing to an early influx of eastern European immigrants, followed by the more recent proliferation of Asian cuisine.

Random Fact: Mr. Rogers is from Pittsburgh. His neighborhood is a fictitious amalgamation of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, but the show featured a who’s who of Pittsburgh citizens, including regular appearances by storied jazz musician Joe Negri as Handyman Negri.

City’s Terrain: Pittsburgh is hilly with narrow streets and lots of bridges. As part of the Rust Belt, road maintenance takes a backseat to other public interests, but bike lanes continue to pop up as the economy continues to rely more on the education, technology and medical fields. As a relatively small city, Pittsburgh is very “bikeable” as long as you’re either young or strong, or you stick to the bike lanes and the bike paths which are flat and run along the rivers.

Weather Forecast: Pittsburgh sees the best and worst of all four seasons, but the climate is generally pretty mild. Expect snow and ice in the winter, and hot, humid summers, but it’s seldom as extreme as the conditions in cities like Minneapolis or Tucson.

Top Shop(s): Hands down, the most famous shop in Pittsburgh is Kraynick’s. The top two shops for urban cyclists are Thick Bikes and Iron City Bikes. But Pittsburgh has more than a dozen individual shops, several of which have numerous locations, such as Trek of Pittsburgh.

Best Watering Hole(s): In this writer’s opinion,
Kelly’s Bar & Lounge is the finest dive bar in Pittsburgh, but we would be remiss to overlook Over The Bar Bicycle Café, which now has two locations. D’s Six Pax & Dogz, a hotdog shop located right next to the mountain bike trails of Frick Park, is a beer lover’s dream. Also, the Church Brew Works is a stunning repurposing of an old church that now serves craft beer that’s brewed on site.

Authentic Local Food: It’s hard to talk about Pittsburgh without mentioning Primanti Brothers, home to the greasiest, messiest, most delicious sandwich in America. You don’t get fries with it, you get fries on it. As well as coleslaw and cheese. French fries and provolone cheese are common toppings for salads in Pittsburgh, and if you order a fried fish sandwich, be prepared for the filet to extend way beyond the bun.