The Strip(s)

this is something i wrote for the pittsburgh semester blog a while ago. however, i thought it was fitting to repost it here upon my return to vegas…

The Strip. It is interesting how the phrase conjures up two very different images in my mind.

On the one hand there is the Las Vegas Strip of my hometown, my childhood. A place that is simply all glamour and glitz. An example of American commerce at either it worst or best depending on who you are talking to. It is fleeting and inconsistent. Sure, the hotels and casinos stay the same (well, at least until they blow them up to bring in something new), but the people do not. A community of the random. A population of individuals simply stopping by for a quick vacation or random weekend.

Across the country there is another type of strip. The Strip District of Pittsburgh. A place also dependent upon exchange and people, but unlike the Vegas Strip, this row of being is not simply a place of transition but a way of life. Elderly men and their sons sit in front of coffee shops conversing about the Steelers and the random events of the week. Italian women pace behind tables full of desserts and set aside the best cannoli for their weekly customers. Young couples stroll up and down the street with cloth bags filled with fresh, locally grown produce.

The Strip district is place where people live not just visit. It has a heart that is rooted in community and celebrates life. One could argue that the Las Vegas Strip celebrates life. But it is a different type of life. It is a life that is dependent upon emotional highs and lows and short-lived pleasure. Instead the Strip District builds up a community that is interwoven and involved. It is about contentment in the ordinary and the beauty of the common.

The Vegas Strip will always have a place in my heart. It is after all the place where I have spent high school homecoming dinners, taken visiting family and friends, and seen white tigers strolling down the street. Truly it is a place of magic and memories. However, it lacks the life of Pittsburgh’s Strip. It fails to capture the satisfaction that can be acquired by simply living and embracing the community around us.