PGH summer brings a sense of community

By now, everyone here has survived at least one Pittsburgh winter. Before this year, I never… By now, everyone here has survived at least one Pittsburgh winter. Before this year, I never really understood what the big deal was about winter in this great city of ours. Growing up in Pittsburgh, I was convinced that our winters were nothing compared to what people in New England must go through every year. Having never been to New England, I still thought that its winters were as every bit harsh and deadly as the ones braved by settlers some 350 years ago.

Surely, Pittsburghers have no right to complain while the folks in greater Boston’s log-cabin community starve and freeze to death — at least that’s how they taught it in school. And until this winter rolled around, I believed that. Now, though, I know it’s not true — people in Pittsburgh have every right to hate its winter.

Winters in Pittsburgh aren’t disastrous or catastrophic. But they’re just dark and gloomy enough to put everyone into a depressing, down-and-out, chapped-lip, won’t-see-the-sun-until-May funk that’s enough to make residents contemplate either moving away or killing themselves.

If the gloom weren’t enough, when April does roll around, the transition to spring is paved with rock salt. Blustery, snowy days often follow sunny, beautiful ones, and nobody seems to know what the hell is going on. After two or three weeks of extreme climatic confusion, Pittsburgh manages, despite its best efforts, to throw together a string of six or seven amazingly gorgeous days.

It’s only then that many of us are reminded just why we liked it here in the first place. The signs are everywhere: Old couches find new homes on weathered porches; students dressed in brightly colored summer clothing occupy the areas in front of their friends’ houses. They read and do homework; they drink beer and toss footballs.

People are everywhere. And they are all smiling. And traipsing around between campus and Atwood Street, I notice that Oakland once again feels friendly. There’s a real sense of community here once the greenery starts to come back.

And it’s genuinely unfortunate that many people only get to experience a few weeks of summer in Pittsburgh before returning home for the break. The truth is that Pittsburgh is a great place to be during the spring and summer, and contrary to local belief, there is a lot going on.

Sunday and Wednesday evenings are for movies on Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park. The movies are almost always bad, and the point of going isn’t so much to watch them but to see your friends and spend quality time outside at dusk.

Contrary to popular belief, Pittsburgh still has a professional baseball team. The Pirates kicked off their 2005 campaign last week and though they’re indisputably bad, they play in the world’s finest ballpark. Nine bucks gets you into the game, and there’s nothing better than watching baseball on a warm summer night with a hot dog in one hand and a cold, overpriced beer in the other. And the satisfaction you get out of the experience makes it well worth the price — even more so should the Pirates actually win.

Pittsburgh is the center of the fireworks universe. Pyrotechnics light the night sky regularly throughout the summer, for no other reason than that there’s something going on somewhere in Pittsburgh that might be enhanced by fireworks. Find them, watch them, ooh and ah at them.

Summer is concert season everywhere, and larger local venues will attract their share of big-name musical acts. The most fun you’ll have at a concert, though, will be discovering and watching new local bands at smaller venues, of which there are dozens outside Oakland.

The search for good local music should directly force you into the most fun activity you’ll participate in all summer — getting out of Oakland and exploring the city. Pittsburgh’s overall appeal is a direct consequence of the character of its neighborhoods. Downtown Pittsburgh has little, if anything, to offer.

But the city’s surrounding areas — Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, the Strip District, the North Side, the South Side, Bloomfield and Point Breeze, to name a few — are steeped in both goings on and old, urban charm.

Perhaps the most satisfying bit about the Pittsburgh summer comes at the end of the day, when you’re back in Oakland and find that there’s always an open parking space waiting for you, as well as a seat at your favorite campus bar.

Matt Wein is looking forward to his last Pittsburgh summer. E-mail him at mattwein@hotmail.com.