The Evolution of The South Side

A few months, a friend, C, and I were reflecting on our summer spent in Pittsburgh. With the coming colder weather and likely slow down of Pittsburgh's night life, we took stock in our summer fun and noticed that we spent far less time bar hopping on Carson Street (which incidentally has roughly 100 drinking establishments between 14th st and 25th st). We also realized that, on those nights we did go South Side this summer, something was missing; the street itself somehow lacked the same energy.

South Side was the place to go to socialize last year. The street composed (and still does) an assortment of small, intimate bars, ranging from the darkest, dirtiest dive bars to quiet cafes to upscale, try-hard wine bars, each with its own character, nuance, and atmosphere. Everyone came here specifically to avoid the loud, isolating club experience, to meet and interact with humanity, and to see if the cosmos might deliver us to our soulmate (or a one night stand). When one bar got boring, we moved on to the next... and so did everyone else. The result was that the street itself became its own venue, flowing with drunken, social groups of people moving from one bar to next, welcoming conversation, warily avoiding each other, or occasionally breaking into a fight along the way. It was crazy, it was chaotic, ...it was fun. And what fueled this torrent, what gave life to the street every weekend was, like all night life, ...women. Every weekend, women would be taking shots from the midget at Casey's, selecting songs from the shitty jukebox thing at Jack's, or yelling out of their car windows as they drove by.

But the scene was already changing by then (when I first started going out here). Midway through last summer, Diesel and The Town Tavern opened, introducing the spacious, flashing lights, loud music, and cover charging element into the mix of our small, intimate bars. I'm told these places are just newer renditions of failures that previously occupied their space, but their success now dominates the street with a gravity unlike any other. The chaotic, charismatic flow of streetlight people is now the line waiting to get in. And, without the girls, the small, intimate dive bar is... well... a hole in the wall with a bunch of dudes.

Not that I'm complaining. Diesel may arguably have the best crowd in Pittsburgh now, and, if they could master a little nuance with that massive sound system, I might get to talk to them for more than an hour. haha. Our nights in the South Side inevitably end at Diesel or Town Tavern anymore. Try as we might to bar hop, the energy, the essense, the life of the street is now centered around the loudest music we can find.

All things changes. We adapt. But I'm glad to I got to witness a bit of perfection while it lasted.