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| - MS has certainly shaped up in recent years. I recall avoiding Market Square as a teenager due to all of the vagrants that tended to congregate in this Downtown Pittsburgh hub, but a few years ago, I attended a rally that was held in the Square and was amazed at its transformation. I thought I had been teleported to London's Hyde Park!
Lately, weather permitting, you're more likely to see someone sitting on a bench reading a book than drinking booze from a bottle shrouded in a paper bag, and that's a positive development.
The most inspiring day of my life culminated here when I participated in the Occupy Pittsburgh march in October of 2011. The scene of drum beats, chants, protest signs, and left-leaning camaraderie in a chilly Saturday afternoon will flash by my eyes as I take my final breaths.
There's still some work to do, and I wasn't crazy for Winghart's (read my review of you dare), but much is happening here. You've got the novel restaurants in NOLA, Diamond Market Grill, and the experimental (?) Bluebird Kitchen (easy five stars from me) that make MS exciting. Conversely, places like Cherries Diner, a Primanti Brothers franchise (they're everywhere now, haters!), and the long-standing and underrated Original Oyster House serve as anchors of tradition, providing simple, economical, and pleasurable food, successfully co-existing with the trendy and exotic.
Don't be afraid to walk down to this American piazza and experience a microcosm of what Pittsburgh has to offer you all.
P.S. I knocked off a star since Lucretiz does have a point about the needless de-greening of the area.
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