While in East Lib, do check out the Shadow Lounge and Ava, two nighttime destinations (in same building) where you'll find a diverse crowd of creative artists, musicians, dancers, writers, and neighborhood stars assembled for partying, networking and mostly just being free. If you get the late-night munchies, go next door to the Waffle Shop for waffles, more fun and laughs before retiring for the night.
Finally don't leave the city without making a stop at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, which just opened downtown in August to much fanfare. There you can see, hear and read about all of the present and historical cultural offerings black artists have given not only to Pittsburgh but to America.

Much of the first few blocks of the Hill seen as you leave downtown Pittsburgh have been given a face lift thanks to HOPE VI mixed-income housing developments. Even Freedom Corner, the block where civil rights activists met at and marched from, has been given a new shine and monument. Yet it's still relevant; two years ago Kimberly Ellis, Wilson's neice, led a movement to fight off a casino company that wanted to build in the Hill, and most of her successful protest rallies occurred at Freedom Corner.

A few blocks in, as you ride up Centre Avenue past the Hill House, you'll find the New Granada Theater, which in its heyday, was the destination for jazz and cinema greats all over. Built in 1928, it has sat rotting since it's closing in the 1960s. However, renewal efforts from the Hill District's Community Development Corporation, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, and other community leaders will lead to its restoration ten years from now. The history of this building, the Hill District community, and other communities can be viewed in a series of dozens of murals spread throughout the city. Produced by artist Kyle Holbrook's Moving the Lives of Kids …