Allow us to introduce ourselves. Sure, we’ve been around the internet for three years, but we mostly stay behind the scenes. So this week, we’re turning the tables and interviewing our small-but-mighty staff.
Today we’ll hear from our storytelling producer Colin. And we’d love to meet you, too, so come by our third birthday party on Oct. 23.
Name
Colin Deppen
Neighborhood
The Mount
Where in town might people run into you?
Walking the family dogs on an endless loop around Whittier Elementary.
What made you decide to join The Incline team?
I wanted to help find a more sustainable business model for local news.
What makes The Incline special?
The Incline is small and scrappy. While we promote our own work, we also promote the good work being done by other local outlets. And, as Rossilynne puts it, “We read to the end of the internet each day,” so you don’t have to. We are user-focused in that sense and looking to build community, not just a media brand. That’s what’s special about The Incline.
What are you celebrating in your life right now?
The Incline’s third birthday and the completion of my Forrest Gump-as-Mister Rogers Halloween costume.
What’s something you’re working on that you could use help with?
Raising a five-year-old with my wife.
What local business do you think deserves a shoutout (and why)?
Cestone’s Pizzeria. Leona’s Ice Cream. love, Pittsburgh.
What’s your perfect Pittsburgh day?
Drive our daughter to school in the morning. Turn onto PJ McArdle from Grandview, get that momentary sense at the top of flying over Downtown.
Drive under the Mon Incline. Make a wish if a cable car passes overhead. Have that wish immediately come true when the light at the bottom of McArdle stays green just long enough for us to squeak through.
Get onto Liberty Bridge. Stare at the sunrise over South Side and the river until it hurts my eyes. Take Bigelow. Sing along to WYEP.
Drop-off complete, head home on Fifth. People watch at a red light in Oakland. Hear the bells ring at St. Paul Cathedral. Stay lost in thought for a minute. Come to in the middle of a green light. Notice that no one behind me is honking.
Come home. Walk the dogs. Stop at the overlook. Meet a stranger with a Myron Cope-level Pittsburgh accent, a pocket full of dog treats, an encyclopedic knowledge of Labrador and retriever breeds, and all the time in the world.
Talk awhile, discover he knows my cousin or something because Pittsburgh. Marvel at the view.
“Most beautiful city on earth,” he says. I nod in agreement.
Hands-down, your favorite restaurant in town?
Onion Maiden because I like my metal heavy and my greens leafy.
If Pittsburgh had ___________, you’d feel complete.
As a native New Yorker, I would appreciate more curbside knish vendors, please.
Finish this sentence: You’re not a true Pittsburgher until you’ve…
Heckled Bob Nutting at a Pirates game.
Fun fact:
I have never tasted “pumpkin spice.”
Also, as a new arrival to Pittsburgh, I misread my GPS and drove through the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel, realizing my mistake halfway through and white-knuckling it to the exit where a police officer was waiting. That was the night I bought a map.
How can we connect with you?
Telepathy or cdeppen@theincline.com.