Urban Hike

Thanks for coming out to our West View hike! We (poorly) dodged raindrops, hiked hills, covered over five miles, met new friends, and generally had a great time. Follow our route here. Hike highlights include:

• Visiting St. Athanasius Church
• Walking by the defunct Highland Country Club
• Hearing the colorful history (and sad dismantling) of West View Park
• Touring Pinball Perfection‘s museum and player’s club, and
• Ending with a true Pittsburgh lunch at I.s.a.l.y.’s.

Stay tuned for our next hike … details to come in a few short weeks!

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Big thanks to the great speakers and to all the hikers who came out! Check out our route here.

Here at Urban Hike, we appreciate the importance of a well-rounded neighborhood education. A is for Ambridge, B is for Beechview, C is for Crafton … and Z is for Zelienople! Join us for a hike this Saturday, June 29, that will take us not only to Zelienople, but also to its historic next-door neighbor, Harmony.

Meet us at Wunderbar Coffee House at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday. We’ll hike first through the quiet neighborhoods of Harmony, then we’ll take a short jaunt over to Zelienople, where we’ll explore its business district, iconic theater, as well as its parks and residences.

The hike is 3.3 miles long and should take a little over two hours. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle if it’s warm. This hike will stick to sidewalks, so it should be stroller-friendly. Dogs are always welcome too, but note that we will go inside a couple of buildings along the way.

Wondering where to park? Check out this map for a list of public lots in Harmony. For reference, the coffee shop where we will begin the hike is #25 on the map.

After the hike, feel free to stay for a late lunch at the Harmony Inn!

Join us this Saturday, May 25 at 11:00 a.m. as Urban Hike heads south to Bridgeville. Since the hike takes place during the long Memorial Day weekend, we’re keeping things pretty low key. We’ll start at a cosy neighborhood coffee spot, LaBella Bean Coffee, then cover about three miles walking up and down some hills in Bridgeville. (Another Pittsburgh neighborhood with a hilly terrain‽ Impossible!) We may even cross a bridge or two!

There’ll be a couple of other interesting stops along the way, including a visit to the lively local historical society.

We’ll be there, rain or shine. Hope you are too! : )

Recap
What: Urban Hike in Bridgeville
When: Saturday, May 25 at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Meet at La Bella Bean Coffee, 609 Washington Avenue, 15017.
There is metered parking in the lot right beside the coffee shop. Please park towards the back and bring your quarters.
Who: You, your family, your friends, their friends, and people who just might become new friends!

Thanks for coming out (in droves!) for our Garfield hike last weekend. Here’s the route we took and a little follow-up information about some of the points on the hike.

• We stopped at the Sprout Fund, and listened to an impassioned Garfield-Bloomfield Corporation speaker, but there were so many other groups that we just couldn’t get to in our limited time. Check out this document to get a sense of how many other community organizations and non-profits populate Penn Ave.
• Want to learn more about the water tower park proposal? Check out this link from cityLAB.
• And finally, a slideshow of pictures. (Or it didn’t happen, right?) : )

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Ready for the first hike of the year? In case you haven’t yet guessed our destination from the comic strip in the post below, Urban Hike is heading to Garfield! It’ll be a short, sweet, and steep hike — around three miles in total.

We’ll begin at Artisan Tattoo / Gallery at 5001 Penn Avenue at noon. From there we’ll walk up and down the hills of Garfield, and take in some lesser-known vantage points. Following the hike, we encourage you to join us for a buffet at People’s Indian Restaurant. We expect the hike to take around two hours, followed by an hour lunch or so.

As always, folks of all ages are welcome. There will be some step climbing and unpaved trail walking, so pushing a stroller for younger kids could get a bit difficult. If you have any other questions, post a note on our facebook page, or drop us a line at info@urbanhike.com.

We’ll see you this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. — rain or shine!

The first Urban Hike of 2013 will take place Saturday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m.!

Think you can guess the neighborhood where we’re headed…?

(Garfield. We’re headed to Garfield. Get it?)