Hype for the Future 41A: About the Pittsburgh Area

Pittsburgh is located within the Alleghenies of the Appalachian Mountains, at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River and the source of the Ohio River. While the innermost area is identified as an obvious grid pattern, as with Philadelphia, the terrain of the Pittsburgh region results in organic street patterns further away from the inner city naturally, as is the unfortunate reality of modern suburbia. In comparison, the region around Philadelphia is flatter, so the grid plan can spread significantly further away from the inner city than would even be considered possible throughout the Pittsburgh area. Perhaps a more similar street pattern to the Pittsburgh city pattern may be the systems associated with the southernmost tip of Manhattan or much of the Greater Boston area, where the street patterns are similarly haphazard.

Hype for the Future 41/284: Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Compared

While the historical context of the vast majority of major cities is related to the waterways associated with each region, perhaps the most significant of the regions that must be compared are Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Both are located along the Ohio River, but separately. Cincinnati is former Losantiville, referring to the position of the city opposite the mouth of the Licking River of Kentucky. On the Ohio side, however, the city is located directly in the middle of and between the Great Miami River and the Little Miami River. Pittsburgh, in comparison, is located at the source of the Ohio River, at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River.

While both cities are largely noted for German heritage, particularly in the more recent generations, the historical contexts were quite different. Although Cincinnati was largely settled by English Nieuw Nederlanders earlier on, largely from the Southold and Southampton communities, the surrounding areas, largely associated with the Symmes Purchase, were also historically settled by some of the original Dutch families of New York and especially New Jersey, as well as additional settlers predominantly from New Jersey in numerous places. Settlers from nearer Pittsburgh would also play a large role in settling much of the State of Ohio, including the Cincinnati area, in numerous case scenarios.