<p>Regarding the AC, they did turn on the AC ([Pitt</a> students petition for air conditioning | The Pitt News](<a href=“'Better Call Saul' captures winning feel of 'Bad,' but carves own path - The Pitt News”>'Better Call Saul' captures winning feel of 'Bad,' but carves own path - The Pitt News)), but I think it was an unusual situation.</p>
<p>Pitt is urban. If you don’t like cities, Pitt may not be the school for you. That said, it is one of the nicest urban universities I’ve seen, and I’d say like it better than Penn in Philly which is also one of my favorites. What gives it an advantage over Penn is the bigger lawn spaces and the fact it sits adjacent to one of the largest urban parks in the US. Schenley park has great jogging trails if you run, and exploring it is great…you can find spots in it that you would have no idea you were in the middle of a city. It also is adjacent to one of the nicest museum complexes in country. Both the Carnegie museum of natural history and art are right across from the Cathedral of Learning and free to students (and Phipps botanical gardens is just inside Schenley Park). This is the thing about the city of Pittsburgh, for its size the cultural amenities are spectacular thanks to all the steel magnates spending some of their billions in the early 1900s to show off the town they made on their money in.</p>
<p>I also disagree about the bus system. I walked everywhere (the campus is actually pretty compact, if not hilly), so I didn’t really use the campus shuttles and can’t comment on their reliability really, but the ability to use the city’s public transportation for free was awesome. Buses come quite regularly down the main thoroughfares through campus (Forbes & 5th aves) and you can just hop on an off. You don’t have to wait long at all to catch a bus downtown…its really east, and from there you have easy access to the Northside where more museums and stadiums are located…and can also easily catch a bus to the Shadyside Walnut street shopping area or Squirrel Hill. A majority of the bus system runs through the Oakland campus so you never have to wait long going downtown or coming back from downtown. The thing that is extremely subpar in Pittsburgh, though, is the taxi system. Buses will be the main mode of transport. The small subway doesn’t come up to Oakland either, although there is talk of building a light rail to Oakland.</p>
<p>The negatives about the layout, as were noted above, are that the campus is bisected by two busy streets (5th and Forbes) and sort of breaks up the continuity of the campus. The architecture therefore also isn’t homogenous like some colleges such as Stanford, but it is definitely interesting, ranging from hideous 70s brutalist (which I think you see at a lot of schools), to glass modern to classical to gothic. Honestly though, I’ve seen quite a few campuses, and I have yet to find any individual building even remotely as impressive as the Cathedral of Learning, both inside and out…and the great thing is that it isn’t just an administrative building you never step into. You’ll use it and have classes in it a lot and its just awesome. Honestly, the first time you have a class in a nationality room you just sit there and look at all the cool stuff. It’s funny how you quickly grow accustom to it though…its like having a class in a museum. Seriously, if someone knows of a college facility more impressive than the Cathedral of Learning (and has actually seen the CoL inside and out) I’d like to know what it is. And then there are other great buildings, like the union, Heinz Chapel, the Frick arts building, alumni hall…but as I said, there are buildings with things left to be desired like Posvar Hall and the Towers, but maybe I’m just unfairly comparing them to the other ones. But on average, like I said, it is one of the nicest urban campuses I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Oh, the other great thing about it is the variety of food that is available (and I don’t mean the campus food which is ok), I mean the restaurants down Atwood St, along Forbes Ave, and on South Craig St. There are all types of ethnic fare, and you likely will not have even tried everything by the time you leave. </p>
<p>And I think as someone mentioned above, I can’t say enough about the PittArts program. It is designed to give you free and reduced access to all sorts of cultural amenities and programs all over the city…things like the symphony, plays, museums, etc. And beyond all the stuff that is going on just around the campus, Carnegie-Mellon University is also literally next door too and you can take advantage of things going on there if you want. And of course the sports: Pitt football and basketball, Steelers, Pirates, Penguins. Honestly, whoever commented that there is nothing to do is completely insane. There is too much to do. You have to make sure you don’t get overly distracted.</p>
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