Entertaining Small Children in Pittsburgh
Having kids isn’t easy. Having kids in a surgical residency…definitely isn’t easy. But when you’re off work, it’s always good to have lots of options in your pocket to get you and your kids out of the house and having fun. Fortunately, Pittsburgh has your back. No matter where you live, you probably will live within walking distance of at least one playground (I have your within a mile walk of mine), and there are several large parks with great walking trails.
If you’re looking for a more active form of outdoor entertainment, beloved local amusement park Kennywood and the Pittsburgh Zoo are great outdoor options for kids to blow off energy when the weather allows and have great fall and winter activities. Phipps Conservatory, National Aviary, Science Center, Children’s Museum and dino-tastic Natural History Museum are all great indoor options for when the winter months hit.
Family memberships to any of the above locations are generally $150 or less, pay for themselves after two visits, and limit the temptation to push the limits of nap time to see absolutely everything. My wife and I like to cycle through 2-3 active memberships per year to keep things fresh and have had memberships to all of the above at some point during residency.
-Roger Klein, PGY-6
Running (slowly) in PGH
Pittsburgh has so many running spots that don’t feel like you are in the middle of a big city! Frick Park, Schenley Park, and Highland Park all have a lot of green space within the city for trail or single-track running. It’s also lovely to street run in Pittsburgh with hill training available at (quite literally) every corner. The Pittsburgh marathon is a program pastime and there are lots of trail ultras scattered throughout Western PA, Ohio, and West Virginia if that’s your thing! You can also reach several state parks within an hour of the city that offer fantastic trail running and hiking (Harrison Hills Park, Ohiopyle, and McConnells Mills are a few of my faves).
-Andie Quinn, PGY-4
Biking around PGH
Do you know what people in western Pennsylvania love? Cars. Beautiful 70-degree Saturday in the Spring and what does seemingly everyone do? Get in their car and drive god-only-knows where probably so they can meet up with other cars and honk at each other and do donuts or something. And, frankly, the infrastructure here reflects as much. There aren’t a lot of bike lanes, the shoulders are sometimes narrow, and the roads are a mosaic of pavements, patched and filled in over and over again to reveal a long history of ineffectuality. Still, there is a thriving and expanding cycling culture here. Over the weekend I attended the annual Millvale Music Festival and the bike racks were overflowing with beaters and mountain bikes and high-end road and gravel bikes. The riding can be challenging (steep, sometimes cobbled climbs) or chill (you can ride for many along the rivers without much effort) and when you get out of the city it is often quite beautiful. Once you know your way (and how to avoid accidental highway merging) it’s a great place to ride with tons of people who will happily welcome you, whether you want to try a favorite local challenge like the Dirty Dozen or just want to do some lazy laps on the mountain bike trails in Frick Park.
-Will Daly, PGY-5
For those of us who aren’t Will Daly pushing 7 watts/kg sustained going up Mount Washington, there are plenty of flat gravel/road trails around the city (Great Allegheny Passage/ river trail) and no shortage of gentle hills as well. Either grab a cheap bike on Facebook marketplace or rent a POGOH bike from the stands located around the city.
-Ben Peticca, PGY-1
Pittsburgh's Thrifting Scene
One of my favorite things to do on my days off is vintage shopping. As I’ve moved to Pittsburgh this summer, thrifting has been a great way to explore the city’s many neighborhoods, and Pittsburgh punches above its weight, especially for the value of the vintage items here. Some of my favorite spots are Heat Check, a vintage designer clothing store/coffee bar in a converted Shadyside loft where I’ve thrifted Burberry and Dior for cheap, Five & Dime, a warm and cozy rowhouse in Upper Lawrenceville with the largest collection of vintage Polo Ralph I’ve seen, and the Pittsburgh Furniture Co., a Butler Street staple that features a curated collection of hard-to-find vintage furniture by MCM designers. If you like thrifting, Pittsburgh has you covered!
-Trevor Fachko, PGY-1
Skiing Around Pittsburgh
There are numerous ski resorts near Pittsburgh and lots of options for day trips. My wife and I did a day trip to Seven Springs (roughly 1 hr drive from Pittsburgh), and it was fantastic for beginners. Lift tickets were reasonable, it wasn’t super crowded, and we were able to park right next to the slopes. There are three resorts within a quick drive: Seven Springs as mentioned above, Hidden Valley (1 hr from Pittsburgh) and Laurel Mountain (1.5 hrs from Pittsburgh. Snowshoe in West Virginia is about a 4-hour drive for those looking to make a weekend trip.
-Chris Owen, PGY-2
Playing Basketball Around Pittsburgh
I had a group of friends who played ball in med school but coming into residency did not expect to have the same type of basketball community. Funny enough when my baby brother came to visit, he went to the local park at the right time, he got added to a WhatsApp group and then got me invited to play with the same group I play with 2 years later. But there’s the University of Pittsburgh gym and many around town that just getting plugged in with a few people opens you to a massive network of games around the city!
-Fola Laditi, PGY-3