Franklin/Pittsburgh area parks or bowls?

[dstrytruitt]

I’ve got a work trip first week of June to Franklin, PA if anyone has a line on parks or bowls in that area.

[Pushing 4D]

Zelienople Skatepark is a little under an hour from Franklin, and that is going to be WELL worth the drive.  Big/unique park north of Pittsburgh.  If you're down closer to the city, Carnegie is another big/newish park.  Lots of cool spots/DIY's in the city as well if you're flying into/out of there.  Radio Skateshop in Lawrenceville neighborhood.

[dstrytruitt]

Much obliged!
I had planned to check out Carnegie but I’ll look up Zelienople, as well.
Driving the company car so I’ve got access and I’ll definitely check out the shop.

[Sativa Lung]

Franklin is pretty far north, if you just need a place to skate there's a shitty but fun (partially because of how shitty it is) prefab park in Butler. It's on the south side of town but you can still probably get there in 45 mins if you do 10 over and don't hit too many lights. Rt 8 is a straight shot but I would recommend taking 308 if you want a more scenic route that takes about the same time. If you fish there's some good bassin' out that way too.

Pitcher (Carnegie) is one of those fullpipe parks that Tony Hawk built all over the place back in the day. It's starting to age a little in places but it's still a nice spot. If you like big tranny that's your spot, but the other stuff is fun to skate when it's not crowded. There's a little shop called Flatbar out there but the inventory is limited and their hours can be kinda goofy.

Zelie is our new concrete park and it's pretty awesome. Took them fucking forever to build it but it was worth the wait. Nice mid sized flowy tranny and basically everything is fun to skate even if you suck like me. Hot moms for miles too.

We also have switch & signal which is our indoor, kid friendly place. It's a little Woodward-y (in attitude, not obstacles) but they're good folks who do a ton of community outreach and diversity stuff. If it's raining it's definitely worth checking them out, just beware it's in kind of a bad neighborhood so park close by and don't leave valuables out etc.

Then there's polish hill which is our old school "park" with the weird little bowl you'll see in tons of videos. Kyle Nicholson fucking murders that thing. This is also the place they dumped sand in the bowl and pissed everyone off early on in the pandemic. The bowl is pretty fun but the ground sucks so take big wheels or sweep it out real good lest ye get stop rocked straight into the wall like I did last time I skated it. There's some mellow ramps and street stuff there but it's pretty small so the bowl and location (it's the closest actual park to downtown) are the main reason people go there.

There's also a couple DIY spots in the city. I'd recommend hitting those if you want to get the best feel for Pittsburgh. If you go to Radio then right down the street under the Bloomfield bridge there's some ramps and boxes and random stuff to skate. If you go across the bridge to Oakland theres a newer, more built up DIY at the boundary st playground. That's kind of the cool kid spot right now, there's some really fun shit to skate there and they somehow managed to build the tennis court on an incline and you barely even have to push going the one direction. It's fenced in too so you don't have to chase your board and can just lay there on the cold filthy cement in pain questioning everything that lead you to that moment. That's what I mostly do.

Definitely do go to Radio though. And buy something. Nick is the mad scientist behind Scumco and Eric is the embodiment of all that is good about our scene. If you dig through the sticker wagon there might still be some SLAP pal stickers buried in there too.

[dstrytruitt]

After looking at video I’m definitely planning to hit Zelie and Pitcher looks like fun, too.
Radio is on my to-do list for sure; Hoping they have evening hours.
I’ve also seen mention of a park in Jamestown, NY that looks to be about the same distance North as Carnegie is South of Franklin so maybe one night I’ll check that one out.
I greatly appreciate all the info and now I’m stoked on this work trip!

[Sativa Lung]

After looking at video I’m definitely planning to hit Zelie and Pitcher looks like fun, too.
Radio is on my to-do list for sure; Hoping they have evening hours.
I’ve also seen mention of a park in Jamestown, NY that looks to be about the same distance North as Carnegie is South of Franklin so maybe one night I’ll check that one out.
I greatly appreciate all the info and now I’m stoked on this work trip!

There's a park up in Warren (about an hour north) somewhere too but I think it's just a slab and ramps, no bowl. Erie has a similar setup. Just beware those would be basically straight park missions, there's no shops or really much of anything to do up that way.

Also if you're planning on doing zelie and radio in the same day know that the park is a good 30-35 minute drive from the shop depending on traffic. You might be further ahead to go skate polish hill after the shop if you get burnt out from doing the 279 shuffle.

If you want other non-skate things to do in the area or places to eat/drink let me know, I grew up not too far away and still spend a fair bit of time up around Tionesta.

[dstrytruitt]

Zeile park is great! One of the funnest bowls I’ve skated. Lots of lines and I’d skate it every day if I lived there.
Planning to hit Jamestown park tomorrow after work and then stop by Radio and do Pitcher Thursday afternoon/night.

[Sativa Lung]

Zeile park is great! One of the funnest bowls I’ve skated. Lots of lines and I’d skate it every day if I lived there.
Planning to hit Jamestown park tomorrow after work and then stop by Radio and do Pitcher Thursday afternoon/night.

Glad you liked it man, id skate if every day too if it was in the city. You got like the best week of skate weather we've had this year too other than the wildfires fuckin up our air quality. What kinda boards do you skate? Radio actually got cleaned out pretty good by some of the sales but there's some interesting stuff on the racks right now. They also recently put out some really cool t shirts if you want something soft.

If you're hungry there's a decent Mexican place around the corner and plenty of chains and gastropubs in that area, but personally I'd probably sit down at one of the older joints like Tessaro's if you have time. Great burgers and you'll run into some characters there.

PS - The flip racks at radio are kinda awkward to use at first so best bet is to ask Eric or whoevers working to show you how to take stuff off/on..my trick is to get one side in place and hold the board steady then use the flexibility of the other post to move it into the truck holes with your other hand.

[dstrytruitt]

Pitcher was a lot of fun, too! Bowl was still in good shape and there’s a broom stashed in the bushes which is always nice. Pretty tight and fast ride and I was solo so took me a bit to figure out where the lines were.
Radio is a cool little store and I picked up the black AS-1s and a shop t-shirt. Excellent recommendation, man! I appreciate it.

[Bummer Vacation]

This is all good info for when I pass thru there next month. Very stoked.

[Sativa Lung]

Pitcher was a lot of fun, too! Bowl was still in good shape and there’s a broom stashed in the bushes which is always nice. Pretty tight and fast ride and I was solo so took me a bit to figure out where the lines were.
Radio is a cool little store and I picked up the black AS-1s and a shop t-shirt. Excellent recommendation, man! I appreciate it.

Pitcher is definitely a little squirrelly haha, it's a grindline park after all. There's been some pretty gnarly shit done in that bowl, especially back when it opened. I mostly stick to the bottom part though. If you get bored and wanna learn about it Ride channel did a documentary about the park a few years ago, it's a sad story but the Hawk man came through and it's just such an authentic Pittsburgh story that I watch it a few times a year. Every person you hear interviewed has a mega thick yinzer accent haha

Next time you gotta try polish hill and the old bowl, the skating is so-so but it's a damn fine place to get high and watch kids fall.

Radio is one of my favorite shops ever, so I feel really lucky to have them. Little shit like the sticker wagon or coin-op sticker machine by the door really do make me feel like a kid again. I wish my some miracle they had the money to buy the lot next-door (the building that shared a wall with them burnt down a year or two back and somehow radio was undamaged, truly a miracle) and just expand into a super shop. Which shirt did you get? I just snagged the skeleton one last time I was there.

Glad you had fun dude, hope you got to meet some yinzers and try a primantis sandwich while you were here too.

This is all good info for when I pass thru there next month. Very stoked.

Hmu if you need anything... I think we handled the tranny stuff but if you need pins for the DIYs or street parks let me know.  Skating in July can be brutal (especially on the prefab metal ramps, that shit is like a frying pan) so the trick is to go at sunrise if you can. You'll usually get about 3-4 hours where it's nice before the humidity sets in, so keep that in mind as an option. There's also a pool at polish hill if you want to wash the crust off, but there's some pretty gnarly folks that frequent it so your enjoyment may be directly tied to your faith in chlorine.

[Bummer Vacation]

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This is all good info for when I pass thru there next month. Very stoked.

[close]

Hmu if you need anything... I think we handled the tranny stuff but if you need pins for the DIYs or street parks let me know.  Skating in July can be brutal (especially on the prefab metal ramps, that shit is like a frying pan) so the trick is to go at sunrise if you can. You'll usually get about 3-4 hours where it's nice before the humidity sets in, so keep that in mind as an option. There's also a pool at polish hill if you want to wash the crust off, but there's some pretty gnarly folks that frequent it so your enjoyment may be directly tied to your faith in chlorine.

Hell yeah. Much appreciated. My joints are too bad for street spots but I might take you up on the DIY pins. The Polish Hill bowl looks fun. Should I lower my expectations? Haha

[Sativa Lung]

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This is all good info for when I pass thru there next month. Very stoked.

[close]

Hmu if you need anything... I think we handled the tranny stuff but if you need pins for the DIYs or street parks let me know.  Skating in July can be brutal (especially on the prefab metal ramps, that shit is like a frying pan) so the trick is to go at sunrise if you can. You'll usually get about 3-4 hours where it's nice before the humidity sets in, so keep that in mind as an option. There's also a pool at polish hill if you want to wash the crust off, but there's some pretty gnarly folks that frequent it so your enjoyment may be directly tied to your faith in chlorine.

[close]

Hell yeah. Much appreciated. My joints are too bad for street spots but I might take you up on the DIY pins. The Polish Hill bowl looks fun. Should I lower my expectations? Haha

It depends what your expectations are haha. It's old and shitty, but it has character and it's somewhat unique. It's a remnant of a bygone era and not a lot of parks from that time are unchanged and skateable so it's interesting from that angle, but its definitely one of those parks you wanna feel out because it can be awkward to skate the first time. With the bowl...It's not very deep and there's what seems like an acre of flat (you can comfortably play SKATE inside the bowl) so make sure you have your good bearings in, but its pretty gentle and easy to skate. If you know what you're doing (I don't) then you can actually get some pretty impressive air off the walls. I've seen Kyle Nicholson do some fucked up flip tricks that seemed like they were at eye level when standing on the deck. Kevin Taylor has torn that thing up for like 25 years now too.

I know you said you don't like street stuff but it's actually got some pretty mellow low impact stuff that's easy to skate and fun, including a really nice flat bar for beginners and old guys. Shits like 6 inches high. There's a mellow spine, pole jam, and a slappy curb too...that's pretty much all I skate when I go there.

[Pushing 4D]

How about the bangingest food spots in Pittsburgh these days?  Looking for the must-hits.  I think I'm covered on spots and parks, but trying to keep the crew eatin good.  Will be out for a skate weekend next month.  Staying in the Southside, but assuming we'll be all around town - Lawrenceville, Oakland, Polish Hill, Bloomfield areas primarily I'd guess.

[Sativa Lung]

How about the bangingest food spots in Pittsburgh these days?  Looking for the must-hits.  I think I'm covered on spots and parks, but trying to keep the crew eatin good.  Will be out for a skate weekend next month.  Staying in the Southside, but assuming we'll be all around town - Lawrenceville, Oakland, Polish Hill, Bloomfield areas primarily I'd guess.

What are you into? I'm a meat and potatoes guy so I've been ordering a ton of Fogo de Chao lately. In Oakland there's a place called stackd that has solid burgers and is staffed entirely by college girls. If you're at the spot and don't want to leave then there's a ghost kitchen run by the common plea catering folks called The Hungry Cowgirl that's like a better chipotle and gets delivered to damn near anywhere in town in under an hour. Those have been my staples the past few months.

Unfortunately a lot of places got taken out by the pandemic and a lot of people who fraudulently got pandemic money tried to invest it in restaurants so there's a glut of franchise spots that cut every corner shitting up the area now. Fuel and Fuddle (longstanding college bar with great food) just closed last month...I wanted to cry. Stick to established places that have been here for a while or word of mouth and don't trust online reviews because the first thing the shady places do is buy a bunch of fake ones.

For the standards you probably already know this but it's my legal obligation as a yinzer to recommend Primantis. I usually get roast beef, pastrami, or cap n cheese which have plenty of flavor but if you get something like the Pittsburgher then the trick is to knock some fries out then load it up with red devil and some ketchup. Out of towners sometimes think it's too bland and that usually fixes it. I recommend the south side and strip locations just to say you've been there, but Oakland does a good job with the food.

[Musicaldeath107]

How about the bangingest food spots in Pittsburgh these days?  Looking for the must-hits.  I think I'm covered on spots and parks, but trying to keep the crew eatin good.  Will be out for a skate weekend next month.  Staying in the Southside, but assuming we'll be all around town - Lawrenceville, Oakland, Polish Hill, Bloomfield areas primarily I'd guess.

Depends what you're looking for but Pittsburgh food is no fucking joke. All the stuff I'm gonna recommend is in the South Hills pretty damn close to South Side.

There's about a billion pizza joints that are amazing my personal favorites are Santoro's, Pizza Badamo and Slice on Broadway.

Oak Hill is an amazing breakfast and lunch spot over in Brookline they have some more trendy stuff but also a killer smash burger and breakfast burrito.

Jolina's is a Mediterranean/Syrian joint also in Brookline that rules.

If you're over by Pitcher Park on a Saturday there's a place called Apis pretty close by that has a food truck called Dos Reyes. Sonoran style Mexican food, one of the founders grandmother had a restaurant in Arizona, originally from Oaxaca I believe. They also do pop up events all around.

Las Palmas for street tacos.

Chicken Latino in Beechview for Peruvian rotisserie chicken.

If you want sushi or takeout style Chinese Osaka over in Greentree is amazing. Also only a few minutes from Pitcher.

I'll think of more, there's so many options