{"id":1356,"date":"2013-09-27T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:32:43","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:32:43","slug":"the-strip-districts-character-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/27\/the-strip-districts-character-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strip District\u2019s character remains"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Penn <\/a>
Penn Avenue in the Strip District on a Saturday morning, August 1991. (Callie Shell\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Marie-Claire <\/a>
Marie-Claire de Cazotte, former Parisienne now living Downtown, enjoys a shopping trip to the Strip, March 1985. (Thomas Ondrey\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Omar <\/a>
Omar Anbari, 22 months, sleeps peacefully on top of some bags of rice at Anbaris Eastern Foods in the Strip, September 1984. (John Kaplan\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Two <\/a>
Two students enjoy soup and a sandwich outside Benkovitz Seafood in the Strip, December 1979. (Ed Morgan\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Susan <\/a>
Susan Kang dishes up mung bean pancakes at Sam Bok Oriental Foods in the Strip, April 1993. (Bill Levis\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Inside <\/a>
Inside Pennsylvania Macaroni Company in the Strip, March 1987. (John Beale\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mike <\/a>
Mike Hartman cuts Norwegian salmon at Wholeys fish market in the Strip, December 1986. (John Beale\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In a \u201cMorning File\u201d column in 2007 for the Post-Gazette, Henry Lenard bemoaned the changes Pittsburgh had undergone in the past several decades \u2014 specifically, the shuttering of beloved landmarks such as West View amusement park and the Sears in Allegheny Center.<\/p>\n

But the one place, he wrote, had remained virtually unchanged was the Strip District.<\/p>\n

“My son can still go with me to a place that hasn\u2019t evolved all that much from my childhood. We will pick some fresh fruit from a sidewalk display, buy a pair of chocolate bars at Fort Pitt Candy and also drop in Hermanowski\u2019s.”<\/p>\n

Of course, there have been some changes to the Strip over the years. Abandoned warehouses, produce terminals and even churches have been repurposed into loft apartments, specialty shops, trendy bars and restaurants, and performance venues.<\/p>\n

Still, the area feels most lively on sunny weekend mornings, when people pack the streets in search of fresh fish, meat, produce and other wares at affordable prices. The scenes resemble those of the 1980s, when Pittsburgh Press columnist Phil Musick described the Strip as \u201c18 blocks of fascination along Penn Avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote of the neighborhood\u2019s many offerings, especially when it comes to food \u2014 from longtime staples such as Wholey\u2019s and Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. to newcomers like Anbari\u2019s Eastern Foods.<\/p>\n

“Between 22nd and 17th, food of every imaginable type is king. Produce, all greens and reds, snatches at your eyes.”<\/p>\n

In the same piece, Musick summed up the Strip\u2019s ability to change without really changing.<\/p>\n

“The Strip flourishes, peeling paint and weathered signs never quite dominating because, here and there, a Penn Animal Hospital or a Boulevard Glass & Metal, with its blinking red neon sign, are housed behind tony, multicolored brick.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One place that remains virtually unchanged in Pittsburgh is the Strip District.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe Strip District\u2019s character remains<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[964,974,996,998,1003,1006,1007,1021,1033,1157],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mtrcf9qTFj1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C762&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":729,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/25\/the-long-view-of-the-produce-terminal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1356,"position":0},"title":"The long view of the Produce Terminal","date":"April 25, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Often, a visit to the Strip District also means paying for parking on the southern side of the Produce Terminal.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n4jzrm3YhR1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1000%2C774&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9416,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/04\/24\/pittsburghs-past-vs-present-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1356,"position":1},"title":"Pittsburgh’s Past vs Present – Part Two","date":"April 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Using photographs from the Pittsburgh City Photographer archive, compare Pittsburgh's decades-long transition from an early-20th century industrial city to its modern day culture.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/schenley_then.jpg?fit=1200%2C882&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1832,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/01\/pittsburghs-liberty-avenue\/","url_meta":{"origin":1356,"position":2},"title":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Liberty Avenue","date":"May 1, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In Amsterdam, it\u2019s called De Wallen. 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