These wooden steps extend the concrete Rising Main steps that begin at Toboggan St.  Those steps have the honor of being the longest flight in Pittsburgh with 331 steps.  This shorter flight contributes only another 33 steps.

These steps and railings are in good condition and serve the homes along this section of Rising Main.

Broadly, I feel that the City of Pittsburgh needs to find a better material to build steps out of than pressure treated wood, as this material deteriorates quickly and requires constant maintenance.

The 18th Street steps can be thought of as the South Side Flat’s of Pittsburgh gateway to the South Side Slopes.  The South Side Slopes go from Arlington Heights to Mt Washington and these steps are right in the middle.

These steps are an essential part of the Pittsburgh pedestrian infrastructure.  They create link between the flats and the top of the slopes, and would have a large detour cost if they were not there.

They also had a public art project to light each step, although this has mostly stopped functioning.

The steps and railings are mostly in good condition and these steps probably get more use than other steps in the city.  If you only visit a few steps, I recommend you climb these.

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These steps-on-grade extend the Greenwood steps that rise between Duffield Street and El Paso Street up to Nolo Way.  They have settled into the landscape in kind of organic way.  Although aging, they are not in bad condition.  My guess is that they are seldom used, even by the residents who live in these homes.

The top half of these steps continue as a cracked, gently sloped, sidewalk, boarded by a picturesque rusting metal clad garage.

These unremarkable steps, exist aside an unremarkable street, in an unremarkable part of Pittsburgh.  There is no particular reason to ever visit these Pittsburgh steps, unless you are also building a website on the subject of the city steps.

 

These wooden steps are in good condition, having recently been rebuilt.  Like many steps here in Pittsburgh, these steps do not just serve as a shorter route between two points, they are also a legal city street which provides the only access to some residences.

According to a local resident that I spoke with, these steps were deteriorating badly, and she and her neighbors purchased their own lumber and started repairing them, before finally enough calls were made to the city and these steps received the service that they needed.

 

The resident that spoke with was pleased with the quality of the repair work that was done, noting the bevel detail in front of her house.  She and her neighbors then took extra roofing shingles and attached them to the steps to provide a non-slip surface to climb.

 

Because of how essential these steps are to these residents it is my recommendation that they be replaced concrete steps, or if possible, a wood composite material that will not deteriorate as quickly as these wooden steps will.

By Pittsburgh standards, this is a short and well maintained stairway.  These steps and railing are in good condition and the brush around them is kept clear.

The only small bit of interest is that these steps feature a bicycle rail to aid cyclists in bringing their bikes up and down these steps.

Being in the center of Oakland, these steps get a lot of use.

I understand that there was a landscaping proposal for around these steps at one time, but clearly it never took place.

Among the least impressive steps in Pittsburgh are the city steps connecting Forward Ave and Eldridge St.

According to the city database that I downloaded there are four steps in this location.  According to some count one might say there are two steps.  I might only argue that there is only one step, between a bottom landing and a top landing which are both connected.

The City database has a Detour score to indicate how much inconvenience it would be if the person needed to take an alternate route because the steps were not there.  In my opinion, these steps should have a negative detour score, as I feel that it is safer and more convenient to walk around them than climb them.

I am thankful that they do have a railing, as I am prone to get vertigo at the extreme altitude that these steps attain.  Certainly, any visit to Pittsburgh would incomplete without a pilgrimage to this monumental example of public infrastructure.  Clearly, this is a prime location for the construction of another Incline, an example of Pittsburgh’s well-recognized landmarks.

I am guessing these steps do not get a lot of use.  There are only a few houses on Sawyer Street and I am guessing almost no foot traffic on Butler Street.  According to the City of Pittsburgh Steps website the bottom of these steps is at the bus turnaround.  Now, there is not even a bus stop at the bottom of these steps.

What is also obvious is that there has been some recent tree cutting around these steps.  I can guess that one or more of the large trees being cut fell across the city steps railings and broke them off.  The detour for these steps is long enough that it justifies the cost of the railings being replaced.

These steps are made of concrete, and are not in the worst condition I have seen here in Pittsburgh.  What does need to be repaired is that the railings are almost entirely missing for the top half of these steps.

There is also a pile of bricks at the top of the steps.  I am guessing that whoever is clearing the trees is also recovering the bricks from down on the slope.

According to the City of Pittsburgh database these steps were made of wood and were 87 steps long.  I went to visit these steps in April of 2021 and I missed them being there by maybe twenty or more years.  Visiting the location where they were, all that I found was a single steel pipe that I can guess was part of these steps railing at one time.  But even this might not be part of the steps, because if the steps were wooden they would not have had a steel railing.

At one time these steps served four houses.  Even without these steps, the detour around to Sawyer Street is not very long, and I am guessing that not many people are walking on Butler Street anymore.  Steps that serve almost no one, now gone.  The City of Pittsburgh no longer has 877 flights of steps, as shown in its database.

These steps are a pleasant walk in the woods.  If you can successfully cross Josephine Street you can reach the bottom of these steps.

A few of the step treads are cracked, but I did not feel unsafe climbing these steps.  The railings are also in good condition.

What is remarkable is that they are almost entirely canopied by a thick cover of trees.

From the Northview Street end these steps could be confused for private walkway beside someone’s home.