Pittsburgh's Deutschtown

East Ohio Street serves as what could be considered "downtown Deutschtown" and features the fascinating Photo Antiquities Museum of Photographic History, as well as several quaint shops and restaurants. The comfort food offered at Bistro to Go, relaxing ambiance of Arnold's Tea and assortment of gifts at Farmer's Daughter Flowers have all played a part in relatively recent revitalization efforts while The Park House has been open as "Your Neighborhood Bar" since 1933.

The Park House is also one of the venues where it's not uncommon to hear live music filling the room. The same can be said of the James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy, located one block north on the corner of Foreland Street and (obviously) James Street. And if you happen to find yourself in Deutschtown on a Wednesday evening after 8:00, you might want to experience the free sing-a-long known as "Banjo Night" at the Elks Lodge #339.

The neighborhood's reputation as a "music city" is supported each summer at the Deutschtown Music Festival, a free, two-day celebration of sound held both indoors and outdoors with a lineup of entertainment that all ages can enjoy. The event started on a single day in 2013 and featured 40 bands, but that number has since grown to nearly 200 in a short amount of time.

While I've presented several reasons to not want to leave Deutschtown, hungry visitors can be transported across the globe by patronizing a number of the neighborhood's restaurants. Browse the German-themed menu at Max's Allegheny Tavern, and you'll find multiple "wursts," "schnitzels" and "Reubens." The unmistakable aroma of an Italian kitchen greets guests at Legends of the North Shore, and being partially Hungarian, I have made it my mission to experience Huszar in the not-too-distant future.

You can eat, drink, listen to live music, and if you'd like to stay the night, the neighborhood has you covered there as well. A total of 42 guest rooms are inside of The Priory Hotel, once a 19th century home to Benedictine priests now restored to modern-day standards. The adjacent "Grand Hall at the Priory" is routinely named one of the best event spaces (particularly for weddings) in the city.

There may be a lot to see and do within the limits of Deutschtown, but its proximity to so much else is another major selling point. Popular attractions such as The Andy Warhol Museum, the National Aviary, the Mattress Factory, City of Asylum, Rivers Casino, the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center, Nova Place, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium are all easily within walking distance. And that's just what you can get to without crossing a river.

Cody Walters, the Northside Leadership Conference's Main Street Director (and creator of the aforementioned music festival) says residing in the neighborhood gives him the opportunity to "live historically." He has easy access to the bright lights, competitive sports and contemporary technologies that Pittsburgh has become known for but can retreat back to his 1857 home at the end of the day, which was standing while the city played a part in the American Civil War.

Deutschtown...you might still be a little unsure of how to say it, but by now it should be clear that you should definitely want to see it.