College Green

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

<p>D and family visited CMU and Pitt this past week. I was actually very impressed with Pitts program and the opportunity for enjoying the Arts in the Oakland area. Pitt meets all of our D criteria. Pitt in my opinion did not feel very much like a college campus but more like a college city. The Cathedral of Learning was impressive as were the academic buildings. What was missing in my opinion was open space. Are there places on campus for students to enjoy a beautiful fall or spring day, to run, play frisbee or just relax outdoors? I know that there is a large park nearby which we were unable to visit. Does that take the place of the typical college green? I'm curious if there are parts of the campus we missed on the standard tour or if students at Pitt are just comfortable with the campus as it laid out. Pitt is definitely still on D's list.</p>

2

<p>Loads of green areas:</p>

<p>–Soldiers and Sailors lawn (<a href=“http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/pitt/graphics/auto/Soldiers060711-L.jpg[/url]”>http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/pitt/graphics/auto/Soldiers060711-L.jpg&lt;/a&gt;), typically used for soaking up sun, napping, and reading.
–Cathedral Lawn (<a href=“http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/pitt/graphics/auto/Volleyball060811-L.jpg):%5B/url%5D”>http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/pitt/graphics/auto/Volleyball060811-L.jpg):</a> Lots of sports practice here, also lots of frisbee tossing
–Schenley Plaza (<a href=“http://old.post-gazette.com/images4/20060912jbschenleyplaza_450.jpg):%5B/url%5D”>http://old.post-gazette.com/images4/20060912jbschenleyplaza_450.jpg):</a> Lots of lounging around or tossing a football
–Frick Fine Arts Fountain and Park (<a href=“http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S5DlSu9He-8/ThsWG1Pc_FI/AAAAAAAAAM4/gNGWZuVNaD0/100_1960%25255B6%25255D.jpg):%5B/url%5D”>http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S5DlSu9He-8/ThsWG1Pc_FI/AAAAAAAAAM4/gNGWZuVNaD0/100_1960%25255B6%25255D.jpg):</a> A nice fountain to sit near with a small baseball/softball field in the back
–Schenley Park (<a href=“schenley park disc golf | schenley park. pittsburgh.PA | Flickr):%5B/url%5D”>schenley park disc golf | schenley park. pittsburgh.PA | Flickr):</a> HUGE park with trails, frisbee golf, tennis courts, an outdoor track, etc.</p>

3

<p>Pitt’s “quad” is the Cathedral of Learning lawn between the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Chapel. It is actually quite large, but doesn’t seem that way because Forbes and Fifth Avenues border it, but it is actually larger than most college “greens”. </p>

<p>Because Awesome’s links don’t seem to work for me, here are others.</p>

<p>Cathedral Lawn:
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/PITT_grass.JPG/800px-PITT_grass.JPG[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/PITT_grass.JPG/800px-PITT_grass.JPG&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/CathedralLawn1.jpg/448px-CathedralLawn1.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/CathedralLawn1.jpg/448px-CathedralLawn1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/CathedralofLearningatPitt_fromLawn.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/CathedralofLearningatPitt_fromLawn.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A traditional surrogate lawn is Soldier’s and Sailors, this is across the street from Pitt’s largest concentration of dorms.
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Soldiers_and_Sailors_Memorial_Hall_aerial_view.JPG/581px-Soldiers_and_Sailors_Memorial_Hall_aerial_view.JPG[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Soldiers_and_Sailors_Memorial_Hall_aerial_view.JPG/581px-Soldiers_and_Sailors_Memorial_Hall_aerial_view.JPG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Across the street from the Cathedral of Learning and between Pitt’s library and the city’s main library is Shenley Plaza. It is a large wi-fy enabled lawn and serves as the gateway to Schenley Park (one of the country’s largest urban parks). It often hosts concerts or other events.
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Schenley_PlazaPano.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Schenley_PlazaPano.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
[SchenleyPlaza.jpg[/url</a>]
<a href=“http://www.pittsburghparks.org/schenleyplaza[/url]”>http://www.pittsburghparks.org/schenleyplaza](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SchenleyPlaza.jpg]SchenleyPlaza.jpg[/url”>File:SchenleyPlaza.jpg - Wikipedia)</a></p>

<p>On the upper campus next to the basketball arena there is also a “green”
<a href=“http://www.facmgmt.pitt.edu/sustainability/greening/pete.jpg[/url]”>http://www.facmgmt.pitt.edu/sustainability/greening/pete.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/PetersonEventsBACK.jpg/800px-PetersonEventsBACK.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/PetersonEventsBACK.jpg/800px-PetersonEventsBACK.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are other smaller green spaces, including around the union, behind the Art Building (<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Frick_Fine_Arts_Building_-_back.JPG/800px-Frick_Fine_Arts_Building_-_back.JPG[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Frick_Fine_Arts_Building_-_back.JPG/800px-Frick_Fine_Arts_Building_-_back.JPG&lt;/a&gt;), between Bouquet Gardens buildings (<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/BouquetGardensPitt.jpg/768px-BouquetGardensPitt.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/BouquetGardensPitt.jpg/768px-BouquetGardensPitt.jpg&lt;/a&gt;), and a quiet, somewhat wooded area on the hill behind the Chevron Science Center (<a href=“http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/48625942.jpg[/url]”>http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/48625942.jpg&lt;/a&gt;).</p>

<p>But what you said is dead accurate: Pitt is a “college city”. That is good, I might steal that! But if you want to get away, just cross into Schenley Park which is adjacent to campus and is a large, wooded urban park with many trails and activities.
<a href=“http://www.articlesweb.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/schenley-park-in-oakland/schenley-park-in-oakland-07.jpg[/url]”>http://www.articlesweb.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/schenley-park-in-oakland/schenley-park-in-oakland-07.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/08/SchenleyPark_Bridge_Pittsburgh.jpg/800px-SchenleyPark_Bridge_Pittsburgh.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/08/SchenleyPark_Bridge_Pittsburgh.jpg/800px-SchenleyPark_Bridge_Pittsburgh.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://s3.amazonaws.com/trazzler-images/af/43269/ace_race_01-1.jpg[/url]”>http://s3.amazonaws.com/trazzler-images/af/43269/ace_race_01-1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://c4241337.r37.cf2.rackcdn.com/2012/187/211/schenley-park_original.jpg[/url]”>http://c4241337.r37.cf2.rackcdn.com/2012/187/211/schenley-park_original.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/SchenleyPark.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/SchenleyPark.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks for the replys. D is starting to work on her applications. She wants to narrow it to six. I have to admit that Pitt has a life to it that I haven’ felt at other campuses. Even in summer without a lot of students on campus there was an energy present. Most campuses we visited over the summer seemed asleep, Pittsburgh seemed like it couldn’t wait for things to start happening. I’m not sure where my D stands. I know she liked everything about the school except that it was not what she traditionally thought of as a university campus. That didn’t so much put her off as made her think. We’ll see.</p>