They Stole the Super Bowl, Anyway

I just got back from another work trip, this time to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'd never call it "beautiful Pittsburgh," that's for certain. There are some pretty nice views, and some interesting buildings like PPG Place, which is basically a six-building set of glass. And the views from PNC Park are better than the views from Busch Stadium, that's for sure. Of course, that might have something to do with the giant dirt hole that was supposed to be the economic savior of downtown.

But really, it's a very dirty, dingy, gritty town. That's not necessarily a bad thing - after all, the city was built on grit and dust and legends like Joe Magarac (who may or may not have been an actual legend of the area). But the problem is that the dust and grit and dirt carry over into downtown - which looks like it needs a good powerwashing, glass buildings included. Everything downtown has a layer of dust on it.

And everyone in that city smokes. I was walking through downtown looking for Macy's to buy a new necktie to replace the one I'd poured coffee all over on Wednesday morning (long story, don't ask), and it was tough to breathe because of all of the cigarette smoke wafting through the air.

And the highways - good lord, help the citizens there. I had a 7:30 breakfast on Thurdsday and was late for it because it took me more than an hour to drive from my hotel to downtown Pittsburgh, 6 miles away. The problem is that all of the onramps lead into the offramps, just like in St. Louis, so traffic backs up to let people on and off. And everything there is two lanes - there are no three-lane highways leading into the city. So this means there's not really any room for through traffic to move, and so everything becomes one giant motorized clusterfuck.

But now I'm back, and so I can stop bitching about Pittsburgh, and start bitching about Saint Louis again.