In steel country’s river towns, a rising spirit of recovery
Cruising down McKean Avenue, a main drag of this blue-collar river town in southwestern Pennsylvania, Charleroi presents two faces.
One is Equitable Heating and Air Conditioning, decked out in a white and powder-blue motif from a bygone era of prosperity, which now stands vacant, like many storefronts in town.
The other is the Perked Up Cafe, a three-year-old venture that draws couples and families and the local movers and shakers, who bump into each other while ordering the restaurant’s special blend of coffee.
Which one represents the future of Charleroi (pronounced SHARL-uh-roy) and the other communities here along the Monongahela River, which locals call the mid Mon Valley?
