PIT to Oakland / University Area

Home to University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Carnegie Museums, and Phipps Conservatory.

Oakland is Pittsburgh's academic and medical powerhouse, home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system. The neighborhood is dominated by the Cathedral of Learning — a stunning 42-story Gothic Revival skyscraper that serves as Pitt's main classroom building and houses 31 Nationality Rooms decorated in the styles of different countries.

The Oakland cultural corridor rivals many larger cities. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Carnegie Museum of Art share a massive Beaux-Arts building, housing everything from dinosaur skeletons to Impressionist paintings. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a Victorian glasshouse complex in Schenley Park, displays tropical plants and award-winning seasonal flower shows. The Frick Art and Historical Center in adjacent Point Breeze showcases the Gilded Age art collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick.

Schenley Park, bordering Oakland to the south, offers 456 acres of wooded trails, a public golf course, Panther Hollow Lake, and the Schenley Park Café & Visitor Center. The vibrant student population keeps Oakland lively with affordable restaurants, bars, bookshops, and coffee houses concentrated along Forbes Avenue and Craig Street, giving the area an energetic academic village atmosphere.