Wonderful community resource that is a collaborative effort of the Allegheny Cemetery, Grow…read morePittsburgh, and the Stanton Heights Neighborhood Association. For $30 a growing season you get a  20'x20 plot. There's a tool shed with shared tools, and rain barrels. This is a great way to meet people in the neighborhood and also raise home grown vegetables. There are fences around the garden that mostly keep the deer out, but there are definitely rabbits in the garden, so most people put up some fencing.

Riding thru the Mecican War streets My wife and I came across these gardens…read more They are open to the public and it is free of charge to look around. Lots of vegetables and beautiful flowers. If you are in the area it is a lovely thing to see.

When I'm walking on the North Side this community garden is one of my favorite places to stroll…read morethrough. It's small but tranquil and filled with flowers, plants and veggies. It's a great little gem that you expect to find tucked away in major city neighborhoods.

One of the best things about living in Bloomfield was being able to take a quick walk to The…read moreOctopus Garden in Friendship. Professor Hughes from CMU started the garden back in 2009. The idea was (and is) bringing community together through art and gardening. Octavia (the octopus) is loved by kids and adults alike. There's a little free library onsite too. This is a fantastic community urban garden growing veg to share with neighbors. It's also off the beaten path and mainly known to neighborhood folks. If you're visiting my hometown of Pittsburgh and wanna see quirky things, check out this garden.

I moved nearby recently and had no idea this was here. What a lovely surprise!…read more It's not the biggest park but you can tell that a lot of love created it and sustains it. Activities looked fun for any age--a little free library, chalk and chalkboard, glittery octopus statue. I have not looked into the plant stuff yet but can already say I enjoy the park.

Originally the rose garden for the historic Pine Hill Manor, part of the Oliver Kaufmann estate…read morethat was sold to Robert Morris University in 1963.  Frank Lloyd Wright stayed here while drawing up his masterpiece, Falling Water. Although no longer primarily a rose garden, they have preserved the beautiful trellises that were a distinctive feature of the garden. Ideal location for a reception or outdoor wedding. There are several benches you can use to sit and read.

Built in 1821 and beautifully restored, the Burtner house is an important piece of local history…read more Tours are by appointment or at one of their events. They rebuilt the spring house to how it looked originally. There's also a small cemetery. The gift shop has books about the house as well as coffee mugs and Christmas ornaments. Their Strawberry Festival occurs each June.

5 Stars for preserving the past it's a nice house that I have driven past for ever. There's a phone…read morenumber for tours. There's not a lot of parking but it's easy to get to from RT 28. The grounds are really nice with a stream running through the property. Lots of antiques to see inside plus a well preserved spring house

Yes, it's a small one square block park, but it's well maintained and provides a nice community…read morespace for Troy Hill. There is a place for posting events, and I generally check here for interesting things to do. It's particularly useful for people with dogs, and I often see dog walkers here. There's a nice bench and some old shady trees. Today, the grass was freshly cut. I counted 5 species of birds. Cardinals, House Sparrows, Starling, House Finch, and Chimney Swifts

I live a stone's throw from the the Arrowhead Trail, which is the local branch of the Montour Trail…read morein Peter's Township, and go running and biking there at least three times a week. The Montour Trail is a 46 mile portion of the Great Allegheny Passage, which stretches from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and is a rails to trails project. They do an excellent job keeping this trail up, on both the paved and crushed limestone surfaces. I've only seen it closed once, after last winter's massive storm which caused alot of fallen trees. Some of the trail is quite beautiful, and there are plaques and photos up near the Greer Tunnel, where you can see what it looked like back when this was the Pittsburgh/Ohio railroad and coal cars moved through here every day instead of bikes and strollers. I noticed the other day when I was running through the Greer Tunnel that it was raining inside, due to large chunks of concrete that have fallen. You can look up and see dirt, so I think at some point, maybe very soon, this tunnel is going to need some work. When we first moved here I called and asked if they needed volunteers to work on the trail, and they said no, they had plenty of volunteers, but they could use some money, so we've been members ever since.

Although this trail is pretty, and well-kept, I prefer the Yough Trail. If this one had been closer…read moreto where I lived, I might have been here more frequently. Take your pick, but do try them both!! Whitney B. is right on - this trail is a real asset. Crushed limestone surface is great for running, but it's long enough for a serious bike ride. As always, don't forget to pass on the left and hail when passing!

The Nine Mile Run is a small stream that connects Frick Park with the Monongahela River. Chances…read moreare you've driven over it, biked over it, or walked over it but you wouldn't know it. You can cross it in hundreds of places but you won't need a bridge. That's because the stream runs almost entirely underground, emerging in Frick Park. The address shown is approximately where it emerges. People have lived in the Nine Mile Run Watershed for many centuries. The Native American Deleware tribe resided here until the 1600s. LIkely they hunted and fished here because it has been home to many species. When the Europeans arrived, they formed small communities and the region prospered, especially with the arrival of the steel industry. When that industry declined in the 1970s the area suffered a sizeable population loss. It is now reinventing itself into a post-industrial environment with plenty of green space. Nine Mile Run flows through Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Edgewood, and the eastern most portion of Squirrel Hill. It is currently unhealthy. As the 20th Century began, streams were often used to transport trash and sewage and most of the Run was piped into underground culverts. The Run often gives off a stench of sewage after a rain. That's because over a quarter of the watershed is covered by impermeable surfaces such as pavement and sidewalks which do not allow rainwater to filter into the soil. Whenever it rains, Nine Mile Run becomes overwhelmed with water runoff, causing erosion, destruction of animal habitat, and environmental degradation. This is not helped by Pittsburgh's outdated sewer system. Just how antiquated is the system? No permits for the construction of the type of sewers Pittsburgh uses have been issued since the 1930s. Nine Mile Run was also deeply affected by the steel industry. While the mills kept us fed and put our kids thru school, they did heavy damage to the environment. Nine Mile Run Wateshed contained no mills, but millions of tons of slag were dumped along the edge of the stream. In 1922, Duquesne Slag Company bought 94 acres of the Nine Mile Run Watershed and over the years bought more and more land. Despite this being zoned a residential area, Duquesne Slag continued dumping. It's estimated that some 200 million tons of slag rest in the area. Today the Nine Mile Run Watershed is in the middle of decade long restoration project. Reclamation projects have resulted in new housing, vegetation, and greenways on the former slag heap. The Watershed is currently home to 250 plant species, 22 different mammals, and 189 types of birds. A 100 acre greenway is being built to connect Frick Park with the Mon River. A trail has been built along the stream and it will eventually link up with the Duck Hollow Trail and a direct connection will be made to the trail system in the park. My Girlfriends and I hike Frick Park's extensive trails and we are looking forward to being able to hike all the way from Reynolds Street down to the Mon.

The Nine-Mile run Watershed is located in the Regent Square/Edgewood area of Pittsburgh and covers…read more~6.5 square miles. It boasts a stream and breathtaking scenery. It includes hiking trails and the largest urban stream restoration completed by the Army Corp of Engineers. The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, is s non-profit organization located at 321 Pennwood Ave., supporting preservation of the site. They maintain a Facebook site and sponsor social and fund-raising events.