Planet Pittsburgh

2024

Having the task of editing an entire magazine my last semester of college sounded a little daunting at first.

But when Dr. Dillon presented me with the idea, I ran with it.

After endless email exchanges due to Dr. Dillon being in Rome during this task and dozens of missing photos, I made this project work.

Though I cut it extremely close to graduation, I’m so thankful I had this opportunity as I learned more about InDesign and pestering writers and photographers for photos.

I loved reading and editing the environmental themed stories and designing the pages as well.

The writers in this edition showed the true colors of Pittsburgh’s past and present and did a wonderful job doing so.

This semester-long task taught me patience and time management as I’d come to edit after second rowing practices of my day or even after an 8:40 p.m. night class just to make sure I had more pages done.

Though I was a writer for the last Off the Bluff magazine, I loved seeing the other side and being able to help with journalists’ work.

I’m so glad I took on this task and look forward to what this magazine looks like in print.

– Bella Abbott, Editor

Alternative Pittsburgh

2023

This semester we took a look at the stories and photos our writers and photographers worked diligently on the semester prior. Together we edited and transformed these stories to bring you a special edition of Off the Bluff that we’ve taken to calling Alt the Bluff, an alternative tour of Pittsburgh that you may not have gotten the opportunity to see. This was an amazing opportunity to learn and grow, and we are so excited by what we accomplished. As a photographer (Emily) and journalism student (Mary), we were able to bring the visual aspect to the storytelling process. Thank you and happy reading.

– Emily Brozeski & Mary Flavin, Editors

Pandemic Pittsburgh

2021

A born and bred procrastinator, big projects and me never usually work well — something concerning, given the fact that media curriculum basically only consists of large-scale assignments.

So, when Dr. Dillon offered me the position as editor-in-chief for the 2021 edition of Off the Bluff, I knew I was jumping into a challenge way outside of my comfort zone; one that would test my time management skills more than any other college assignment.

I’ve never had to do a capstone project, but in a way, I view this magazine as the culmination of all I’ve learned as a journalism major at Duquesne. From fact-checking to photo editing, to InDesign layout and follow-ups with sources, this issue is the climax of four years of night classes, hour-long interviews and incessant emailing.

The pandemic added quite a unique twist to the journalist grind, and the stories printed on these pages present one-of-a-kind experiences of the people living in this city.

These words share the hardships, joy, loss and hope of workers, parents, students, family and friends that all experienced the last year in vastly different ways.

In a sense, journalists are historians — we play an active role in recording history for future generations. This is the only place where these specific stories are recorded, and it’s an honor to have been a storyteller during this unique moment in history.

– Katia Faroun, Editor

Postcards Pittsburgh

2020

Before I even enrolled as a student at Duquesne, I knew I wanted to take Dr. Dillon’s Magazine Journalism course. Once I got the chance in my penultimate semester of graduate school, I knew I wanted to be the Editor-in-Chief and in charge of pulling this publication together. However, what I didn’t know – and never could have predicted – was the situation I would find myself in during my last semester: spring of 2020.

There was no way anyone could have prepared for a pandemic outbreak that would shift classes online and completely disrupt our way of life. In a way, this edition of Off the Bluff became one of the most significant. A magazine that has served as a glimpse into the lives of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods suddenly became the last portrait of our Pittsburgh as we always knew it but aren’t likely to return to anytime soon.

Producing this magazine was no easy task. Tracking down photography credits, fact-checking story details and structuring the publication itself – all remotely and all while coming to terms with the fact that life as I knew it was rapidly changing – was an interesting challenge. However, some small part of me knew how important this edition was, even if I didn’t realize it at first.

Despite everything, I felt a quiet motivation to edit and lay out pages; the stress of choosing a good font overpowered my sense of hopelessness at the idea of graduating in the middle of a pandemic-induced recession.

What started as a portfolio piece became a daily ritual that kept me sane: make coffee, light a candle, sit down and get to work. I found the monotony of checking spacing and spelling a small comfort in a difficult time. I got lost, not only in the editing, but in the stories themselves. They reminded me of something important that I almost forgot in the mayhem of adjusting to the new normal: Pittsburgh isn’t defined solely because of its buildings and bridges – the city is a by-product of all of us who live here. Pittsburgh is family restaurants sharing a taste of home and local, small businesses who know customers’ pets by name. It’s pierogi and pickles and always having a neighbor when you need one.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have served as the Editor-in-Chief of Off the Bluff and honored to produce this edition. It gave me hope in a very strange time and reminds me that the Pittsburgh we know, and love will still be waiting for us when this is all over.

– Emily Fitzgerald, Editor

Oakland

2017

Oakland is one of those neighborhoods that’s easy to stereotype. Sure enough, when the Fall 2016 magazine journalism class was told to produce an entire issue of Off the Bluff about Oakland — without focusing too much on universities, museums or hospitals — many were skeptical. What else was there to write about?

As would soon be clear, more than anybody could imagine.

Like many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Oakland is a community of change. What was once a thriving residential hub now acts as the home of academia and healthcare. As we found, however, that spark of life is still present, even if it does reside just under the surface. The overwhelming takeaway is that those who live in Oakland love Oakland.

Within the following pages are stories of that lesser-known side of the neighborhood: A community center fostering productive conversation, a birdwatcher with her eyes on the sky, restaurants serving authentic world cuisine, the remnants of a bygone era of baseball and so much more.

Of course, attention was also given to those broadly visible staples of Oakland. No survey of the area is complete without a look at the Cathedral of Learning, the Original Hotdog Shop or the Carnegie Library and museums.

The lesson I, and many of my classmates, learned is that Oakland is a neighborhood far more vibrant and diverse than a first glance might let on. Turn off the main drags, get to talking and dig deep. Social archaeology is fruitful labor in a community like this.

For a decade now, that’s been a common theme of this magazine. Off the Bluff was started in 2005 as the brainchild of Dr. Mike Dillon, the chair of the Duquesne University Media department. Two years later saw the magazine’s evolution into the Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Project, which shines a spotlight on a different neighborhood each academic year.

I’d like to extend my utmost thanks to all of the writers, photographers and editors that made this issue the incredible body of work that it is. And, of course, I’d like to thank Dr. Dillon for this wonderful project he created. It was an honor and a pleasure to see this edition to its completion.

And to you, dear reader, I merely ask a favor. Next time you find yourself in Oakland, look around. Strike up conversations. Take new detours. Feel the pulse of life that binds the community together.

Do so, and you’ll come to love the place — I promise. I know I did.

– Seth Culp-Ressler, Editor

Brookline

2016

Pittsburgh is home to 92 neighborhoods, each of them unique and inspiring in its own way. But very few showcase the unyielding strength and love of community ties quite like Brookline. It’s evident no matter where you go, no matter if you are a friend, a neighbor or a stranger.

From the organization that works to protect and serve immigrants in the basement of a church to the Middle Eastern grocery store that is a staple in the diets of Brookliners to the cannon statue that anchors the Boulevard, it doesn’t matter where you are from. In Brookline, everyone is welcome.

Before working on Off the Bluff, I had never been to Brookline before. But the moment I stepped onto the Boulevard, lined with quaint shops and hometown restaurants, dotted with places of worship, I knew this was a neighborhood not to be forgotten.

This was a town in the heart of the Steel City weathered by over a century of change but never broken by it. Brookline has an inherent resilience that reveals itself again and again, the latest time being the Boulevard revitalization project which stifled businesses and citizens with construction for over a year.

But Brookline survived and thrived, as it will continue to do for years to come. Of that, there is no question. Off the Bluff magazine was introduced by Dr. Mike Dillon of the Duquesne Journalism and Multimedia Arts Department in 2005. In 2007, it took form as the Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Project, which showcases a different neighborhood each academic year.

Last fall, students in Dr. Dillon’s magazine journalism class explored Brookline to discover the narrative of what makes this town truly great. The students took those tales of Brookline’s history, culture, town figures and more and turned them into the stories you will see within these pages.

A huge thank you to Dr. Dillon for his support during these past few months of putting this issue together. Another thank you to all of the writers, photographers and editors who worked tirelessly to create the content within this magazine. Without you all, this never could have happened.

Thank you for taking the time to read this issue of Off the Bluff. I hope you come to love Brookline as much as I do.

– Rebekah Devorak, Editor

East Liberty

2015

Of all the neighborhoods we’ve featured in Off the Bluff, East Liberty is by far the most promising.

Take a look around; you’ll no longer see graffiti-laden buildings, run-down businesses and rampant crime. Instead, you’ll see a revitalized neighborhood that is on the cusp of a new cultural renaissance.

Since the turn of the century, East Liberty’s revival has been well documented by newspapers in Pittsburgh, which point to development and planning as the main instigators for progress.

Though both were vitally important, there’s more to the narrative. The story of East Liberty starts and ends with the people: the father and son who served pizza during the riots in the 1960s, the barber shop owner who prides himself on showing respect to all of his customers and the artist who gives people a canvas to express themselves in the sky, to name a few.

As a student at Duquesne University who grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, I had no idea any of these stories existed before I took over this project more than eight months ago. Actually, I had never stepped foot in East Liberty until then.

But now, I feel like a part of the community, which has been more welcoming to me than I ever could have imagined. When you’re in charge of a magazine, you can expect a few problems along the way, but in East Liberty, it was almost as if the community was part of my staff.

Off the Bluff was created by Dr. Mike Dillon of the Duquesne Journalism and Multimedia Arts Department in 2005. In 2007, it took form as the Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Project, which showcases a different neighborhood each academic year.

In the fall, students in Dillon’s magazine journalism class took to the streets of East Liberty to capture its culture, history and trends. They brought back stories about individual characters, institutions and businesses, which are in the pages of this magazine.

I’d like to thank Dr. Dillon for his unwavering support of this project, as well as the writers, photographers, editors and contributors for making this possible.

Enjoy. See you in East Liberty.

– Julian Routh, Editor