From Pittsburgh to Haifa: Steps and Energy

My roots are in the City of Pittsburgh, USA. I currently live in Haifa Israel. Both cities are known for many wonderful things. Pittsburgh was the birthplace of Heinz Ketchup, United States Steel, and of course the mighty Steelers. Haifa is the largest port city in Israel, home and world headquarters of the Bahia faith, Achmadiyya Muslims in Israel and the Technion. One of the schools founders was Albert Einstein. Haifa is also the center of Israel's energy industry. The two cities also share the traits of smog and very hilly terrain. Both have roughly 300,000 residents.

The city of Pittsburgh is located over an unruly terrain of hills, hollows, valleys and three intersecting rivers. Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, when Pittsburgh was growing as a coal and steel town, factory workers built houses in the hills rising above the flat riverbanks that were lined with factories. In order to commute to work. City officials and residents built staircases along the mountainside, originally of wood and later with concrete. Most were built in the 1940s.

Certain sections of the city are so steep and narrow that these neighborhoods are serviced by special fire trucks that are small and have a tighter than normal turning radius. Many of the streets that appear on maps are, in fact, are not streets at all but long staircases that often surprise unsuspecting visitors. Just like real streets, they have names, signs and even house numbers. I remember the days when I drove down cobblestone streets that were thoroughfares to nowhere.

There are a total of 712 public stairways and 44,645 steps in the city, accounting for 24,108 feet of vertical height and 23 miles in distance. Vertigo has been a lifetime problem for me and I often shuddered as I crossed hilly roads and the numerous bridges across the steel cities rivers and streets.

Haifa is a port city built on the side of Mount Carmel where legend has it was the home of Elijah the Prophet. His tomb is one the most venerated visited sites of Haifa. The port but meanders upward through the city Haifa to The Mercaz or center. The world center of the Bhai faith is located on the Mercaz and has its own set of steps leading downward. There is a one hour tour in Hebrew, Russian, and English for those in decent shape.

Some of the sites that hikers can see along include the Wadi Nismas, a predominantly Arab speaking community famous for great food and shopping. There is the Bet Gefin House which is an interfaith youth center. Haifa, which is known as The City of Peaceful Coexistance has a population of Jews, Christians, Muslims,Druze and of course the Bhaia center world famous for their magnificent gardens. which brings visitors from around the world. The steps also pass Hadar the oldest part of Haifa which centered the British administration when this was still Palestine. Your splendid view is dotted with Mosques, Synagogues, and Chuches many of which are hundreds of years old. Your view of the Haifa port includes dozens of freighters and passenger ships from around the world. I even saw the Queen Mary when she docked two years ago. The port will a hub for offshore future energy administration. It is expected that our next step is to become the land of oil and gas rather than milk and honey.