Starting Point: Philadelphia, PA
Ending Point: Pittsburgh, PA
Distance Traveled: 300 Miles
After staying up until 2:30AM last night (and speaking to Sara for an hour :-/ ) I got a pretty late start, leaving the house at 8AM. I traveled straight to the historic part of Philadelphia and visited independence hall, the liberty bell, and other historical sites.
The first stop of the day was Reading Terminal Market (http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/) Reading terminal market is located in the center of downtown and can be best described as an urban farmers market/restaurant/bakery complex. The selection throughout the complex and in each store individually are widespread. For example, there are shops that have 30 different types of Chapstick, 20 different types of cheesecake, 50 different types of scented candles, etc. It’s a good thing I’m not trying to buy anything, or else I would have a stressful time making a decision and choosing just one thing. There is plenty of seating and I’m sure this place is hustling and bustling during lunch hours.
Next, I headed over to the liberty bell. The liberty bell is a symbol of the ideals of freedom and liberty on which our country was founded. Over the years, it has come to be a world-renowned symbol and visited by many world leaders.
Upon walking around the Downtown area, I came across a newer building which seemed to be striving to be the ugliest and most pointless in design. I couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why the building was so cold/distant looking, had no windows, and looks like it should enclosing a nuclear reactor.
The building is so ugly, I felt confident I could find out a lot about the building by searching “ugliest building in Philadelphia” on Google. The building was one of the first results and featured in a Curbed article under a similar name: http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2013/12/17/philadelphias-ugliest-buildings.php
Afterwards, I walked toward the complex of historic buildings including Independence Hall and the neighboring buildings. These buildings are where the constitution was written, the founding fathers philosophized, strategized, and compromised based on their visions of the ideal free country which respects its individuals rights. This is where it all began. Immediately behind the buildings is Independence Square, a beautiful park-like area with huge trees providing shade and a feeling of comfort and serenity.
Across the street from Independence Hall and Independence Square is Washington Square. Washington Square is a peaceful, shaded one-square-block park in historic Philadelphia. Thousands of unknown soldiers are buried in the park, and one grand monument remembers their sacrifice. The monument reads “freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness”. There is a beautiful water feature in the center of the park with pathways radiating outwards in five directions. The fifth pathway (without a matching pathway in the opposite direction is opposed by a flagpole with the United States flag. This is a very respectful and appropriate way to remember these soldiers who played a significant part in the formation of our country.
After, I drove five hours to Pittsburgh, continuously listening to the Bigger Pocket podcasts. The podcasts are filled with excellent content, great insights, and a no-secrets-withheld approach to sharing ideas and methods. It’s a pleasure to listen to the discussions and I hope to learn much more while listening to the remaining podcasts. I was shocked to have to pay $31 for the toll, but at least I’m grateful for living in Los Angeles, where I’m not being robbed by the government while driving.
Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, I set my navigation to Bicycle Heaven (http://www.bicycleheaven.org/), a vintage bicycle shop and museum located in an industrial area in Pittsburgh. The store is laid out as a maze of several different rooms on several different levels, almost as if a 10-year old has been given free rein to design a store based off on their imagination. When I was trying to think of one word to describe the shop, the only word that seemed to describe the surroundings is “passion.” Passion for bicycle design, bicycle mechanisms, bicycle history, and bicycle culture.
Afterwards, I drove to the Duquesne Incline (http://www.duquesneincline.org/). The Duquesne Incline is a historic inclined trolley that transports passengers from the level of the river in Pittsburgh to the top of Mount Washington, overlooking the entire city of Pittsburgh. The Duquesne incline was restored and is now operated by a preservation/historical society. The view from Mt. Washington is beautiful and highlights the downtown area and numerous bridges crossing the river.
On top of Mt Washington, overlooking Pittsburgh, there’s a monument displaying a 1770 meeting between George Washington and a Native American leader. At the time, Washington and the Native American were at this location overlooking the desirable area of modern-day Pittsburgh, which is located at the intersection of three rivers, and discussing its future use.
The Strip District is another example of one of the most undesirable/industrial parts of town becoming trendy and hip. The old functional characteristics such as loading platforms on industrial buildings and wide, short buildings now serve as “cool” design features which attract hospitality entrepreneurs who use the unique environments to further their design goals and create an entertainment hub.
When I visited the AirBNB house, I was disappointed at the location. The home is located in a primarily African-American neighborhood with dilapidated homes and vacant lots. Upon feeling that the house was artificially staged to look as if someone was living there. The owner went as far as creating a tacky welcome brochure, staging keys in the kitchen, and three cats living full time in the house. I looked up the profile report on the home (5650 Rural St, Pittsburgh) and noticed that the home is owned by Larry Manno, the AirBNB host. Larry acquired the home in 2011 for $56,000 with about $1500 (approximately 3%) down. The mailing address is listed as a P.O. Box in Fort Worth, TX. My theory is that the owner lives in Texas, but has someone working for him occasionally check on this home (and probably a few other homes in this area) and make it seem as if someone is living in the home part-time. Instead of renting the home to a single tenant for approximately $1,000/month, he probably nets around $2,000 month from renting the rooms via AirBNB. From his $1,500 initial investment, he probably takes home $15,000 year and now owns a $150,000 home. Wow!! Although this model probably wouldn’t work in LA because of the high housing costs, it’s interesting to see how creative people are and the effects of the peer-to-peer economy.
