Pittsburgh Steps

There are more than 800 sets of public outdoor stairways in Pittsburgh, more than any other city in the United States. Along with over 400 bridges, they make life possible in a city built into hills and rivers.

The steps are used for exercise and exploration, but also form the backbone of many pedestrians' commutes to school or work, particularly in lower- and middle-income areas. These stairways help residents navigate the unusual urban landscape, moving along and between some of the steepest roads in the world. The size, shape, conditions, and history of these stairways can be explored thanks to data collection efforts by professor Bob Regan and a Steps Assessment undertaken by the city in 2017.

Staircase Height
Shorter
Taller
Length of Staircase (feet)Height of Staircase (feet)

The stairways are spread throughout the city, but are most heavily concentrated on the South Side, along the Monongahela River.

A quick scan of the city’s topography shows why these stairways are such a crucial piece of infrastructure, dotting the ridges of hills too steep for traditional sidewalks or roads.

The history of the steps is closely tied to the history of the city. The bulk of the steps were constructed in the 1940s and 1950s, a period during which Pittsburgh's population peaked and the steel industry thrived.

The staircases come in many sizes and shapes, with some cutting sharply up hillsides between streets and others winding alongside hilly roads.

Approximating their heights based on the number of stairs allows us to get a sense of their slope, with the steepest nearing a 70% grade. This is almost twice as steep as Canton Avenue, the steepest road in Pittsburgh and in the United States, which has a 37% grade.

Stacked one on top of another, the steps would rise over 24,000 vertical feet, nearly twice the climb from Mt. Everest's basecamp to its peak.