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.