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Old 02-26-2012, 12:46 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,386 posts, read 1,558,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella View Post
False. People who have been to both Boston and Philadelphia have picked up on the similarities between the two.
Can you explain the similiarties then? Having been to both Boston and Mobile Alabama a few times I can't think of what would make Pennsylvania more similar to Boston than to Mobile Alabama when I was there. Both were settled differently, don't use Midland American English, and are quite a bit different in their views when it comes to politics compared to Pennsylvania. You can argue about the weather being more similar in Boston which you would be correct but then again Toronto Canada's weather is similar to Pennsylvania's as well and that is also a different place. You could also use the civil war argument but then again Kentucky ended up fighting for the union and so did other states like Minnesota which is quite a bit different from Pennsylvania as well.

Quote:
And the smaller industrial towns in western and central Pennsylvania feel and behave more similarly to those in upstate New York than they do to those in the Midwest. And while Pennsylvania has a strong Appalachian influence, it's a northern Appalachian influence, which isn't quite the stereotypical "Appalachia" that people know.
I'm not saying that Pennsylvania isn't similar to New York I'm point out that Pennsylvania isn't similar to New England. As far as why western Pennsylvania doesn't match the stereotypical "Appalachia" that most people are familiar with that is due to Pittsburgh.

Quote:
The Adirondack Mountains is when you start to get more of a northern New England vibe, and Richmond, VA is when you know you're in the South. Hell, I'm tempted to include West Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic as well, since much of the state has been influenced by Pennsylvania and Virginia. It's certainly not part of the Midwest.
I'd say after you get north of Bingamton, New York it really starts to lose that Appalachia vibe and become more of a New England vibe.

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Old 02-26-2012, 12:53 PM
 
Location: The City
22,378 posts, read 38,910,924 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwa1984 View Post
Can you explain the similiarties then? Having been to both Boston and Mobile Alabama a few times I can't think of what would make Pennsylvania more similar to Boston than to Mobile Alabama when I was there. Both were settled differently, don't use Midland American English, and are quite a bit different in their views when it comes to politics compared to Pennsylvania. You can argue about the weather being more similar in Boston which you would be correct but then again Toronto Canada's weather is similar to Pennsylvania's as well and that is also a different place. You could also use the civil war argument but then again Kentucky ended up fighting for the union and so did other states like Minnesota which is quite a bit different from Pennsylvania as well.



I'm not saying that Pennsylvania isn't similar to New York I'm point out that Pennsylvania isn't similar to New England. As far as why western Pennsylvania doesn't match the stereotypical "Appalachia" that most people are familiar with that is due to Pittsburgh.



I'd say after you get north of Bingamton, New York it really starts to lose that Appalachia vibe and become more of a New England vibe.
It really depends on what part of PA you are talking about.

The areas in and around Philly will have many similarities to Boston and even NE. Parts of upstate PA have similarities to parts of NY, Many parts will feel quite appalachian as well.

I dont you can make a singular comparison but SE PA especially feels about as Mid Atlantic and Northeastern as it gets. And Philly and Boston are two of the most similar cities in the country in many ways.

PA is a pretty diverse state; from a populous standpoint by far the most concentrated and populous are is right in the NE Corrider


But PA has similarities most pronounced on the whole to me with NJ, DE, MD, WV, and NY

Also just a quick observation from your map. WV is the only state based on this map completely in Appalachia, also interestingly PA has largest land mass covered of any state, two points I would not disagree with; yet I reside in an area that feels nothing like Appalchia and includes 6 million residents in this space in SE PA
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Old 02-26-2012, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,386 posts, read 1,558,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by couldntthinkofaclevername View Post
Personally I think PA is most like New York. You've got the most major city in the south and then the smaller but major cities in other parts, and both states came into being in similar ways with industrial and other urban municipalities popping up all over the state by the 19th Century.
How much Pennsylvania is like New York depends on where you live in Pennsylvania. If you live in or around the Harrisburg Carlisle metropolitan area it has more in common with Maryland. The same goes if your from York, Chambersburg, and Gettysburg PA.
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Old 02-26-2012, 01:35 PM
 
958 posts, read 1,197,574 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwa1984 View Post
How much Pennsylvania is like New York depends on where you live in Pennsylvania. If you live in or around the Harrisburg Carlisle metropolitan area it has more in common with Maryland. The same goes if your from York, Chambersburg, and Gettysburg PA.
I'm referring to the way the states came to be and the way their cities formed and grew. Both states were only partially part of the thirteen colonies prior to the Revolutionary War and it shows in the differences between the parts that were and the parts that weren't. Pennsylvania as a whole is most like New York.

Most original colonies have a lot of similarities to each other so having things in common with Maryland doesn't really mean anything as Maryland was an original colony and is most definitely a part of the Mid-Atlantic.
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Old 02-26-2012, 01:36 PM
 
Location: The canyon (with my pistols and knife)
14,186 posts, read 22,738,907 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwa1984 View Post
How much Pennsylvania is like New York depends on where you live in Pennsylvania. If you live in or around the Harrisburg Carlisle metropolitan area it has more in common with Maryland. The same goes if your from York, Chambersburg, and Gettysburg PA.
OK, so it's not Midwestern as you asserted before. Even western Pennsylvania's status as part of the Midwest is dubious at best when migration networks in Pittsburgh are taken into account.
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Old 02-26-2012, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,386 posts, read 1,558,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly View Post
It really depends on what part of PA you are talking about.

The areas in and around Philly will have many similarities to Boston and even NE. Parts of upstate PA have similarities to parts of NY, Many parts will feel quite appalachian as well.

I dont you can make a singular comparison but SE PA especially feels about as Mid Atlantic and Northeastern as it gets. And Philly and Boston are two of the most similar cities in the country in many ways.
If I had to pick a city closest to feeling like Philadelphia it would be Baltimore. Boston always struck me as quite bit different from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or anywhere else in PA for that matter. Now I live in Central PA have relatives in Chester and Montgomery county PA and have been to Philly several times it doesn't feel like Boston to me at all. Now I've been to Boston several time but I never lived there and don't have relatives there so maybe I would feel different otherwise but Boston always struck me as just being different.

Quote:
Also just a quick observation from your map. WV is the only state based on this map completely in Appalachia, also interestingly PA has largest land mass covered of any state, two points I would not disagree with; yet I reside in an area that feels nothing like Appalchia and includes 6 million residents in this space in SE PA
True Philadelphia doesn't have the Appalachia feeling since its in the Delaware Valley. So I can understand someone from Philadelphia not feeling attached to the area or having any relation to discussing similarities PA has with a state like West Virginia since you don't share those relations.
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Old 02-26-2012, 01:44 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,386 posts, read 1,558,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella View Post
OK, so it's not Midwestern as you asserted before. Even western Pennsylvania's status as part of the Midwest is dubious at best when migration networks in Pittsburgh are taken into account.
I didn't assert PA is Midwestern or even midwestern like. I'm saying certain Midwestern states are more Pennsylvanian and Pennsylvania has more things in common with those states that I showed on two previous maps then New England if that helps clarify matters.
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Old 02-26-2012, 01:49 PM
 
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I really don't see how you can say Boston and Philadelphia aren't similar. Boston just happens to have stayed much closer to its Colonial self than Philadelphia has but the fact is that Boston and Philadelphia are very much alike in a few ways.

You've been to Philadelphia but most of us speaking about it either live there or very close to there. It's got much more in common with New York, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit than Baltimore. The only aspects it has in common with Baltimore are aspects that are found throughout the Delaware Valley.
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Old 02-26-2012, 02:10 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,386 posts, read 1,558,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by couldntthinkofaclevername View Post
I really don't see how you can say Boston and Philadelphia aren't similar. Boston just happens to have stayed much closer to its Colonial self than Philadelphia has but the fact is that Boston and Philadelphia are very much alike in a few ways.
They don't speak midland american english, they were settled differently, and they tend to have different views that are not in touch with Philadelphia and the rest of PA. As far as Boston staying closer to its colonial self I find that comment to be extremely troubling.

Quote:
You've been to Philadelphia but most of us speaking about it either live there or very close to there. It's got much more in common with New York, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit than Baltimore. The only aspects it has in common with Baltimore are aspects that are found throughout the Delaware Valley.
Again, I'd like to see an explanation as to how Philadelphia and Boston or even somewhat like each other. Besides the typical they are in the Northeast or apart of the Megaopolis which really goes past DC into Richmond VA. As far as Baltimore being similar to Philadelphia I can think of several dozen reasons off the top of my head. For Boston I'm drawing a huge blank here. As far as Chicago or Detroit goes I don't know how you can honestly claim Philadelphia has more in common with those cities then Baltimore.
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Old 02-26-2012, 02:26 PM
 
958 posts, read 1,197,574 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwa1984 View Post
They don't speak midland american english, they were settled differently, and they tend to have different views that are not in touch with Philadelphia and the rest of PA. As far as Boston staying closer to its colonial self I find that comment to be extremely troubling.



Again, I'd like to see an explanation as to how Philadelphia and Boston or even somewhat like each other. Besides the typical they are in the Northeast or apart of the Megaopolis which really goes past DC into Richmond VA. As far as Baltimore being similar to Philadelphia I can think of several dozen reasons off the top of my head. For Boston I'm drawing a huge blank here. As far as Chicago or Detroit goes I don't know how you can honestly claim Philadelphia has more in common with those cities then Baltimore.
First of all, they weren't settled differently. Secondly, what exactly does it matter that according to some "expert" they don't talk the same? I really don't think you know much about Philadelphia if you think the entire city thinks a certain way or has certain views. You can find it however you like but that's the truth. Boston has a lot more of Old City to it than Philadelphia does.

I already gave you one. Regardless of what you can think, the fact is that Philadelphia has a lot less in common with Baltimore than those other cities. You don't know how I can claim that except it's my area, not yours. Those cities are a lot alike.
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