A few minutes from work
Pittsburgh has a long history of being an industrial city, and as recently as 60 years ago, exerted a great influence on world affairs because it its production of steel. The steel industry has all but vanished, and Pittsburgh is trying to reinvent itself as a tech center.
A few minutes from work (and not very far from ‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ for those who know that children’s TV show) there is a small area which sits at the bottom of what is known as Panther Hollow. There is some kind of industry there and driving down this tiny road evokes an earlier time in Pittsburgh’s history (to my eye).
Not the same place that Eugene Smith photographed in the 50s but then no where is. Like the image and thought though.
I didn’t know Mr Rogers was from that area, cool.
I remember driving through Pittsburgh a number of years ago. From my previous memories of the town, it had been cleaned up substantially. Lots of the soot that I remember had been cleaned off or perhaps painted over.
We really need to get together. Perhaps the next time that I find myself in Akron, I’ll give you a call and we can get together. It’s less than a 2 hour drive and, if we are feeling lazy, we can meet half way.
I must say I find this very interesting. The same happened to a city nearby Lund, called Malmö. It was previously a city with large industries and many shipyards. This disappeared quite abrupt about 20 years ago and it seems that the city now has reinvented itself into a media and tech centre. But, for many years, many were unemployed and life didn’t seem that bright.
I like that picture, would probably have shot away like crazy if I were there. I have this thing with chimneys.
I definitely would have to check out anyplace called “Panther Hollow”. What a great name. This certainly fits my mental image of Pittsburgh.
I’ve had a thought to visit Dream Street and re-visit some of Smith’s locations. It’s a little chilly for that right now, though.
We COULD do both, meet in Akron, drive to Pittsburgh, shoot in both places, then you could fly back. is this before or after the SW excursion?
Ove, if you like those, wer’ve still got them a-plenty. Things still struggle a bit here, but they are getting better.
The local Big College is the Pitt Panthers. There is a beautiful statue of a Panther near work. I’ll have to take an image or two. Pittsburgh isn’t known for it so much, but it is very hilly here. My wife and I sort of think of the local area’s topography as ‘take San Francisco, add snow and ice.’ The area is also famous for its outdoor staircases, many of which the steelworkers trod on their way down to the mills (which were always on the rivers). Here is an image of the staircases, and here is an image of the mills as they looked long ago. I now work to the right of that image (+ 60 years). The rail yard in the foreground is now a shopping area.