Pittsburgh leads all American cities in the number of its public stairways (followed by Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco), but the city has begun removing some of the staircases, citing the high cost of maintenance and public safety.
John Miller reports on the concern of Pittsburgh residents who want to preserve the city's vast network of public staircases while the city is removing steps that are "falling apart, rarely used and costly to maintain."
"The city has just $200,000 for step maintenance in its $52 million budget and it can cost $100,000 just to repair one set of steps," reports Miller. The city has already begun removing stairways, although the city's count of staircases differs from the count of Bob Regan, who wrote the book (The Steps of Pittsburgh) on Pittsburgh's staircases: "the city has roughly 675 public staircases, down from the 712 listed in Mr. Regan's book, and Pittsburgh still needs to get rid of a few more. Mr. Regan disagrees, saying he has now counted 739."
Read the full story: In Pittsburgh, Residents Are Divided on What to Do About Famous Staircases
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