Join the revolution: Ditch your cars and dig up Bigelow

PNC finally installed its own name-brand carousel in the newly created Schenley Plaza, so… PNC finally installed its own name-brand carousel in the newly created Schenley Plaza, so that surely means that the park is at long last complete. In an ironic role reversal, a parking lot was for once turned into a park, all before our very eyes — Joni Mitchell is going to have to find something new to sing about.

However, instead of satisfying my hunger for parks and the outdoors, this park’s conversion has left me with a new feeling inside. Instead of thinking “What now?” I am left thinking, “What’s next?”

The answer is simple, and every one of us who doesn’t own and drive a car agrees. The city of Pittsburgh should fill in Bigelow Boulevard between Forbes and Fifth avenues, to better connect our two central campus locations: the Cathedral and the Quad.

This isn’t the first time someone has suggested the unthinkable: making Oakland’s traffic problems even worse. The issue hasn’t been addressed recently, and in light of the newly constructed Schenley Plaza, I say it’s time we talk about it.

As far as I’m concerned, Bigelow Boulevard between Forbes and Fifth is already University property. We seal it off twice a year for Fall Fest and Bigelow Bash. It was the site of our Super Bowl celebration, and all non-engineering students cross it at least once a day for class. Frustrated drivers can wait in their cars for up to 10 minutes while never-ending streams of Pitt students approach or depart the Cathedral.

Of course, sometimes, a driver will get lucky and there will be a natural stop to the migration. Or they could just hit the gas and let god sort it out. But during the middle of the day, Bigelow Boulevard might as well just be an actual part of the Pitt campus because the student traffic utterly dwarfs the road traffic.

We could have ourselves a new field there instead. Wouldn’t that be great?

I’m not just a hippie; there are also practical reasons to re-sod Bigelow beyond the fact that green spaces are always happy spaces.

Fields seem to be doing a disappearing act around the University nowadays. Schenley Plaza can boast many things, but I seriously doubt if they’ll let us play a good game of football on that pretty new lawn. There will probably be pleasant “stay off the grass” signs planted firmly in the ground, and unpleasant police officers ready to enforce the warning with their horrible billy clubs.

Just try to remember back to last year. Although it’s not much to boast about, there was a field right next to the Pete that could facilitate all of upper campus’s outdoor activities. Now, instead of growing more grass, the University grew a new dorm, and the field has been reduced from what it once was.

By my count, that leaves about three viable fields right at the foot of the Cathedral to support our entire campus. Count in the fact that one of the fields doesn’t have any grass, and will probably be fenced off soon to reseed the soil, and suddenly, the fact that you can’t find a place to play catch will turn from an occasional afternoon annoyance to a chronic problem.

Of course, this lack of open space should trigger more than a violin playing in your head. Think about it this way: The school is also hurting itself.

As Pitt is so willing to tout, we are growing both in terms of selectivity and attendance. I seriously doubt that my own grades and test scores from high school would be enough to earn me a spot as a freshman here today. Suckers.

If we are becoming a university built to compete, and if we are undergoing such a glorious expansion, doesn’t it only make sense that we add the final thing we don’t have: more green spaces and that ever-elusive ‘campus’ feeling?

Incoming freshmen and, more importantly, their parents look at many things when picking out schools. They look at cost, they look at cost again and they look at graduation rates and employment percentages. And on a subconscious level, they look for perceived beauty, calm and peace.

Oakland is unique in the fact that it provides us both with the opportunity to live in an urban environment and yet still keep the convenience of the suburbs — think of how close Squirrel Hill and Schenley Park are. Shouldn’t we try to sweep just a little more of the city off our campus?

E-mail Sam Morey at smorey88@hotmail.com.