In Reply to: Almost nobody makes that walk posted by SuperBruinMan on October 30, 2024 at 15:38:11
It's about 4 miles. All city streets, often with no sidewalks) I suspect Pitt has arranged for Port Authority buses to take students to and from the games, but I don't know that for sure.
I knew the Pitt AD well (Steve Pederson) who made the decision to level Pitt Stadium and build a new basketball arena on the site. He also engineered Pitt's move from the Big East to the ACC. I'm sure Pitt would have preferred moving to the Big Ten, but the conference is all about market size/share TV sets. Big Ten already had the Pittsburgh market in the bag with Penn State)
I once asked whether students would follow the team to the North Side, where the Steelers stadium is located. Steve said the team, which was terrible at the time, had to give the students a reason to attend the games. "If we don't win, they (students) won't cross the street to see the game," he said.
Some of the old grads, guys my age (old as dirt), still complain about the demise of Pitt Stadium (the old bowl in the side of a mountain was located atop what was referred to as Cardiac Hill. Unless you had a pass, parking within 4-5 blocks {90% down the hill, btw} was nonexistant) but in hindsight I'd say things worked out okay.
The new basketball arena (Peterson Events Center, along with Pederson's hiring of Ben Howland from Nothern Arizona) brought winning basketball back to Pitt. And, the football team has done okay at its new home. Walt Harris brought Pitt football back from the dead and as a fan I'll just say the Steelers stadium is 100% more comfortable and fan friendly than Pitt Stadium ever was.