Best Subway - Pittsburgh has art
There is a discussion occurring on the MetroBlog network (Manila, Bankok)about what are the top undergrounds (subways, and it Pittsburgh we call it the T) in the world. I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce the little known Pittsburgh subway to the rest of the MetroBlog world and remind Pittsburgh that we do in fact have a subway that is underground.
I think Pittsburgh’s underground transit could rank on the list for a few reasons:
- Clean - compared to every other underground, Pittsburgh’s is immaculate
- Free - if you are riding the underground, underground, anywhere in Downtown Pittsburgh - it is totally free, no hassling with passes, tickets or change
- Never crowded - ever, I have never seen a crowd there ever. Since it is probably faster to just walk from one stop to the next most people never take the underground. (I never take the Pittsburgh underground, unless there is a torrential downpour)
- Artwork
The Gateway Center T-station has a mural that I remember from riding the T as a kid. (I loved it but I realize now that my parents were only taking me on the T for my entertainment - it is amazing how the city used to be so interesting to me, but now that I work in the city everyday, it is not so exciting.) The ceramic mural is called Pittsburgh Recollections. The only picture I could find of this mural can be seen here. I have just learned that the artist, Romare Bearden, is not from Pittsburgh and didn’t live here. Oh well, he still does a good job of capturing the city.
The Wood Street T-station houses an art gallery, Wood Street Galleries, on the upper floors which has had some great exhibits in the past.
Pittsburgh has an interesting relationship with public art. I will try to dig up the article on the sculptures that were lost in a city storage facility for years.
Related posts:
I wonder if T-Mobile thought about sueing Pittsburgh for the T-Centers.
Free? Are you kidding me?!! Although with stations so close, as you said within walking distance, it’s no wonder.
One of the big attractions of the Spadina line, the last real subway line built in Toronto back in 1978, unless you include the Sheppard runt, was its call for artwork. Every station features art and is completely different from the other. One uses mosaic tiles to create art, another neon lights. I believe that that line is the least used in the system. Not being crowded is nice for the commuters, but kind of sucks to get the powers-that-be to expand the system.
Toronto’s used to be pristine. Now it’s shabby and garbage strewn. A complete indictment of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) which is fighting with the janitors as to shift hours etc. It’s too bad, as I always used to come home from my travels and marvel at how clean and relatively uncrowded it was. Relatively is the operative word! We’re still not up to the full-body-contact crowding of some systems, thank goodness, but the lone east-west line is feeling the strain of an inadequate subway system.
I still can’t get over the free part. Here in Toronto, we pay through the nose.
More information can be found for T artwork in the booklet “Pittsburgh Art in Public Places; Downtown Walking Tour.” Here is the link: http://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/public_art_walkingtour.htm
Plus Romare Bearden did live in Pittsburgh for a few years during his childhood. He stayed with relatives.