The Mexican War Streets are mostly flat, but at the back end they start to creep up the hill toward Perry Hilltop. This beautiful block of rowhouses is just about perfect: the street paved with Belgian block, the houses well taken care of but not ostentatiously overrestored, and filled with friendly neighbors.
Brick sidewalks have their own charm, and they become more charming as they age and grow more difficult to walk on.
Stream valleys with precipitous slopes–too precipitous even for Pittsburghers to build on–cut through the city and suburbs everywhere. In the spring, wild woodland flowers take advantage of the last few days before the leaves come out and the shade closes in. These flowers all grew within a few yards of each other in the Squaw Run valley.
Trillium grandiflorum, Large-Flowered Trillium
Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells
Claytonia virginica, Spring Beauty
Phlox divaricata, Blue Phlox
Trillium cernuum, Nodding Trillium
Tiarellia cordifolia, Foamflower
Viola pallens, Northern White Violet
Viola pennsylvanica, Smooth Yellow Violet
