Closer to Heaven?

In the Downtown Pittsburgh ghost town that is G-20, there were still a few civilians, clued in and clueless alike, populating the streets.

Police, police cars and security officers were everywhere. Sidewalks were blocked and shops were closed.

And yet! Starbucks in ripped-up Market Square was open. As I walked back to the office with my small skim latte, a passed a tiny old woman walking hesitantly across the Boulevard of the Allies. When I reached the office door, the security guards asked me if I knew where 21 West Park was.

It's not a where, it's a what. It's a bus route. Tiny old woman had asked them, and they, not knowing, sent her along without an answer. I left my latte and wallet in their hands, sprinted after her and brought her back -- turns out she could barely speak -- scribbling to her on her pad that the buses had been rerouted and I would take her to her stop, once I knew where it was.

Well, the guards ushered her into the lobby, I went upstairs, found the route, came back down, explained to her it was up the street only to learn from her hand motions that she expected me to drive her.

Much pointing and gesticulating ensued, including her mouthing that I was crazy. I kept trying to explain that her stop was just up the street but she was having none of it.

Finally I wrote on her pad: "Do you want me to walk you to the bus stop or not?"

She agreed. By the time we had gotten halfway up the block, I pointed out to her where the buses were stopping. She had a flash of recognition, waved me off and trotted ahead.

Hope she figured out the stops for the rest of the weekend.

Anyway tiny old woman. You're welcome.

Pittsburgh and G-20

The Group of 20 will meet here in September. I guess the buzz-o-sphere has been all a-twitter about it. There were letters to the editor in the Post-Gazette shortly after the announcement from local readers complaining about the snickering in the Washington press corps after the announcement was made.

How boring.

When I first moved to Pittsburgh in the early 1980s, and then moved back in the mid 1980s, the city was exiting its first Renaissance. It was much more beautiful than it had been 20 years previously. The air was cleaner, new buildings had gone up (unfortunately at the expense of some beautiful old ones) the sports teams (except for the Penguins) were winning.

Cleveland, on the other hand, was just starting to see a boost in development in the Flats, but Downtown was dying. Higbees, Halles, May Co. were dying and/or about to disappear. The Browns and Indians were losers and played in drafty Municipal Stadium, which at least had the cachet of having been built as an Olympic venue, rather than an ugly cookie cutter multi-use stadium like Three Rivers here or Riverfront in Cincinnati.

Cleveland had the Rapid. Pittsburgh still had creaky trolleys. Cleveland had a dirty river, Pittsburgh had three of them.

For all the similarities, there was a lot of snide comparison in Pittsburgh about the Mistake on the Lake, and then, in the mid to late 80s, Pittsburgh was named one of America's most livable cities, which prompted tons of provincial crowing. Cleveland, feeling inferior, began a thankfully brief, and incredibly embarrassing PR campaign that had this slogan to offer:

"If New York's the Big Apple, Cleveland's a Plum."

Why? There was and is no basis for comparison. Why would you put yourself in that ridiculous position? Pittsburgh is the same, provincial and insecure and hence all the crowing, and indignation about being dissed, over G-20.

I like it here. I've lived in a lot of places and I think the near-Midwest, I guess you could call it, really has a lot going for it. Low cost of living, proximity to the East Coast. Good pro and college sports for the most part. Museums, bike trails, lots of great state and local parks. Nice, if underused, airports. If we had good inter-city train service, we'd be set. And Pittsburgh really needs light rail transit from the airport to downtown and from Downtown to the university center in Oakland. That's been talked about for at least as long as I've lived here, if not longer.

Still though, pretty here and pretty in Cleveland. We should support each other, not snicker. We both have a lot of great amenities and truthfully, it's a lot nicer living in a smaller city than a larger one. People are friendly and mostly more laid back than those who live amid the crowds of New York, Washington and Boston. Mostly.

I think the world and the Washington press corps will be impressed with Pittsburgh. If we did have a light rail from the airport to Downtown, the Romare Bearden mural at the top of this post is the first thing they would see once they got off the train Downtown.

I never fail to be absorbed by how it shows history, the passage of time and beautifully uses the repetition of shapes and patterns to make its point.

This station will be closed soon for two years as construction continues on a light-rail spur to the North Side and the mural will be taken down for repairs. I'll be looking forward to seeing it again in its old spot. And hoping that new eyes will see it, too.