4 ms·

Public Staircases

138 points by pshaw 5y ago

mmahemoff 5y ago
I thought they might mention the most famous public stairs in recent years - The Joker Stairs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs). They've become a tourist attraction to the inconvenience to locals.
twelvechairs 5y ago
Reminds me of Bernard Rudofskys 'In praise of stairs'. A great piece of writing available in a freely borrowable chapter here https://archive.org/details/streetsforpeople00rudo https://archive.org/details/streetsforpeople00rudo
rexf 5y ago
The stairs as better benches comparison is great. It also mentions the [Los Angeles Loop](https://socalstairclimbers.com/los-angeles-loop/ https://socalstairclimbers.com/los-angeles-loop/) which I had never heard of. Interesting post
- msla 5y ago
  > The stairs as better benches comparison is great. They are until you have a physical disability which makes it hard to pull yourself back up after sitting on a stair.
  - randomdude402 5y ago
    I don't think anybody was suggesting to remove benches and replace them with stairs. The existence of stairs is not an attack on disabled people this time.
dnautics 5y ago
Havens alley in San Francisco is beautiful, if you are ever near the curvy part of lombard street, it's a block away.
- pimlottc 5y ago
  I’m partial to the multiple tiled stairways leading up to Grandview Park in the Sunset.
cafard 5y ago
LA: I remember a notable one on the Silver Lake side of the ridge separating the neighborhoods of Silver Lake and Echo Park. My recollection is that it had no handrail.
delgaudm 5y ago
It's my understanding that Pittsburgh has more public staircases than virtually any other city. There are over 700 staircases, and many are quite long. http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steps.htm http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steps.h...
- myself248 5y ago
  Many years ago, I was in the passenger seat on a road-trip that had a brief stop in Pittsburgh, to get lunch with some friends before we moved on. I absentmindedly commented, as it was summer and many folks were wearing shorts, that a _lot_ of people here _really great legs_. As the thought coalesced in my mind about why that might be the case, the driver responded "Maybe it's from trying to work the clutch pedal on these hills!"
- anodyne33 5y ago
  739 officially documented. Laura Zurowski is on a project to visit them all and pairs lovely prose with her trips on IG. https://mis-steps.com/ https://mis-steps.com/
pixelmonkey 5y ago
If you love public staircases, you should probably spend a few days in Perugia, Italy†. Explained a bit here: https://www.chasingtheunexpected.com/perugia-medieval-city/ https://www.chasingtheunexpected.com/perugia-medieval-city/ †: I lived there for 6 months in 2005. A lovely small Italian college town (small city) that is nothing but hills and medieval staircases, alleys, and arches. It feels like living in an Escherian or Borgesian maze. It's wonderful.
- stemlord 5y ago
  Nice. Lisbon is also notable for its staircases.
- ianbicking 5y ago
  A while ago I was perusing the hillside communities in Lima, Peru on Google Maps [1] It's pretty rough. But it made me wonder if some of these now quaint hillside communities in Italy would have felt more like Lima. Now they've reached a certain mythic quality, but at one time the higher up you were probably the lower class (because access is annoying and difficult), and what is now well maintained may have been more crude and decayed. Another bit of weird hillside architecture [2] [1] https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0647469,-77.001966,3a,75y,136.14h,94.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWyLQyj7-xLX2Zkbkod3Qqg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-US https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0647469,-77.001966,3a,75y,1... [2] https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0658476,-76.9996591,3a,75y,19.86h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKS3BoX20wuqUrJw6Q0EuJA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-US https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0658476,-76.9996591,3a,75y,...
lancebeet 5y ago
The problem with staircases being used for seating is that this robs them of their ability to function as passages. This is generally not a problem with wide outdoor staircases in city centers, but it certainly is when it comes to staircases in or near public transport stations, such as the one shown in the article.
sqs 5y ago
My town (Mill Valley, California) has dozens of public steps and paths (https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/DocumentCenter/View/1565/SLP-Map-for-Website-2017-Sept-15-Final https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/DocumentCenter/View/1565/SL...), including the Dipsea steps (https://stairwayfreedom.weebly.com/mill-valley--sausalito/the-famous-dipsea-steps https://stairwayfreedom.weebly.com/mill-valley--sausalito/th...). My favorite, though, is the Central–Mid-Levels escalators and steps in Hong Kong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_escalator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_esc...).
sheertwitter 5y ago
Stairs are indeed better benches - particularly in cities where purposefully uncomfortable benches are installed (or the benches are simply removed.) At least the stairs, for now, are present.
watersb 5y ago
Some lovely ones in North Berkeley.

138 points by pshaw 5y ago

I thought they might mention the most famous public stairs in recent years - The Joker Stairs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_Stairs). They've become a tourist attraction to the inconvenience to locals.

twelvechairs 5y ago

Reminds me of Bernard Rudofskys 'In praise of stairs'. A great piece of writing available in a freely borrowable chapter here https://archive.org/details/streetsforpeople00rudo https://archive.org/details/streetsforpeople00rudo

rexf 5y ago

The stairs as better benches comparison is great. It also mentions the [Los Angeles Loop](https://socalstairclimbers.com/los-angeles-loop/ https://socalstairclimbers.com/los-angeles-loop/) which I had never heard of. Interesting post

msla 5y ago
> The stairs as better benches comparison is great. They are until you have a physical disability which makes it hard to pull yourself back up after sitting on a stair.
- randomdude402 5y ago
  I don't think anybody was suggesting to remove benches and replace them with stairs. The existence of stairs is not an attack on disabled people this time.

dnautics 5y ago

Havens alley in San Francisco is beautiful, if you are ever near the curvy part of lombard street, it's a block away.

pimlottc 5y ago
I’m partial to the multiple tiled stairways leading up to Grandview Park in the Sunset.

cafard 5y ago

LA: I remember a notable one on the Silver Lake side of the ridge separating the neighborhoods of Silver Lake and Echo Park. My recollection is that it had no handrail.

delgaudm 5y ago

It's my understanding that Pittsburgh has more public staircases than virtually any other city. There are over 700 staircases, and many are quite long. http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steps.htm http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks2/towns/pgh_steps.h...

myself248 5y ago
Many years ago, I was in the passenger seat on a road-trip that had a brief stop in Pittsburgh, to get lunch with some friends before we moved on. I absentmindedly commented, as it was summer and many folks were wearing shorts, that a _lot_ of people here _really great legs_. As the thought coalesced in my mind about why that might be the case, the driver responded "Maybe it's from trying to work the clutch pedal on these hills!"
anodyne33 5y ago
739 officially documented. Laura Zurowski is on a project to visit them all and pairs lovely prose with her trips on IG. https://mis-steps.com/ https://mis-steps.com/

pixelmonkey 5y ago

If you love public staircases, you should probably spend a few days in Perugia, Italy†. Explained a bit here: https://www.chasingtheunexpected.com/perugia-medieval-city/ https://www.chasingtheunexpected.com/perugia-medieval-city/ †: I lived there for 6 months in 2005. A lovely small Italian college town (small city) that is nothing but hills and medieval staircases, alleys, and arches. It feels like living in an Escherian or Borgesian maze. It's wonderful.

stemlord 5y ago
Nice. Lisbon is also notable for its staircases.
ianbicking 5y ago
A while ago I was perusing the hillside communities in Lima, Peru on Google Maps [1] It's pretty rough. But it made me wonder if some of these now quaint hillside communities in Italy would have felt more like Lima. Now they've reached a certain mythic quality, but at one time the higher up you were probably the lower class (because access is annoying and difficult), and what is now well maintained may have been more crude and decayed. Another bit of weird hillside architecture [2] [1] https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0647469,-77.001966,3a,75y,136.14h,94.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWyLQyj7-xLX2Zkbkod3Qqg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-US https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0647469,-77.001966,3a,75y,1... [2] https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0658476,-76.9996591,3a,75y,19.86h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKS3BoX20wuqUrJw6Q0EuJA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-US https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0658476,-76.9996591,3a,75y,...

lancebeet 5y ago

The problem with staircases being used for seating is that this robs them of their ability to function as passages. This is generally not a problem with wide outdoor staircases in city centers, but it certainly is when it comes to staircases in or near public transport stations, such as the one shown in the article.

sqs 5y ago

My town (Mill Valley, California) has dozens of public steps and paths (https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/DocumentCenter/View/1565/SLP-Map-for-Website-2017-Sept-15-Final https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/DocumentCenter/View/1565/SL...), including the Dipsea steps (https://stairwayfreedom.weebly.com/mill-valley--sausalito/the-famous-dipsea-steps https://stairwayfreedom.weebly.com/mill-valley--sausalito/th...). My favorite, though, is the Central–Mid-Levels escalators and steps in Hong Kong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_escalator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_esc...).

sheertwitter 5y ago

Stairs are indeed better benches - particularly in cities where purposefully uncomfortable benches are installed (or the benches are simply removed.) At least the stairs, for now, are present.

watersb 5y ago

Some lovely ones in North Berkeley.