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Baltimore and DC are both part of the northeast corridor although they are part of the Mid-Atlantic just like Boston and Hartford are part of it but also part of New England. This debate has been done to death on here.
Try telling that to someone north of Delaware. Most up here feel the south starts at Maryland. Anything Virginia and south is the "Deep South."
Try telling that to someone north of Delaware. Most up here feel the south starts at Maryland. Anything Virginia and south is the "Deep South."
I'm originally from eastern Pennsylvania and lived for nearly 8 years in south central PA, and the urban parts of Maryland and northern Virginia don't feel like the South to me. (Actually with Maryland, the more rural parts of the state north and/or west of Baltimore and Washington aren't like the South either.)
I think it's funny how defensive people get about Pittsburgh not being labeled "Midwest". There's an underlying suggestion that there's something inferior about that label.
That said, there's no way Pittsburgh is Northeast. It's a completely different culture. Somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania the Midwest begins. Perhaps being in Appalachia it's not completely St. Louis-Detroit-Chicago Midwest, but it's well on it's way. I've driven that route alot from Washington, DC to Detroit. When I stop in Pittsburgh for gas and to eat, let's just say it's always a culture shock to remember what middle America is like. Seriously - it's like I've entered another country after being immersed in DC.
The argument that quaint Victorian brownstones make Pittsburgh Northeast would therefore make Chicago Northeast as well. Obviously, it's not.
Cleveland is fully entrenched in the Midwest - geographically, economically. culturally. I can't believe how many votes it got. Must be from people out West who don't know the region very well.
Baltimore's always been that East Coast city holding down the industrial Midwest vibe. The Chesapeake Bay serves as a sort of mini Great Lake in the way the Great Lakes built so many Midwestern cities in the U.S. and Canada. Baltimore's fate has been very similar to the Midwestern cities - with extravagantly wealthy suburbs to the north and an extravagantly impoverished city. But, by location alone, it can't be denied. People can say what they want, but there is a strong cultural line south of DC that begins the South. DC and Baltimore are fully connected to the Northeast. Baltimore for its industrial history and DC for its government power structure that creates a far stronger link to New York than any Southern city.
Try telling that to someone north of Delaware. Most up here feel the south starts at Maryland. Anything Virginia and south is the "Deep South."
Virginia is not the Deep South, are you kidding me? The Deep South defines those states which seceded immediately upon the Dred Scott case. that would include Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina are usually defined as the Upper South, along with Kentucky, which even though it was a border state during the Civil War, is unmistakably Southern today.
I quoted John Kennedy earlier, I'll have to just paraphrase now.
"Washington, DC has all the charm a northern city and all the efficiency of a southern city". Even that long ago, it had its feet planted in both camps.
And Bluefly, the fact that Pittsburgh's culture is different from that of Boston is no different than Boston's being different from Philadelphia's. Of course each city has a different culture. As you said of Baltimore I will say of Pittsburgh: "by its location it cannot be denied". It's in Pennsylvania.
I think it's funny how defensive people get about Pittsburgh not being labeled "Midwest". There's an underlying suggestion that there's something inferior about that label.
That said, there's no way Pittsburgh is Northeast. It's a completely different culture. Somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania the Midwest begins. Perhaps being in Appalachia it's not completely St. Louis-Detroit-Chicago Midwest, but it's well on it's way. I've driven that route alot from Washington, DC to Detroit. When I stop in Pittsburgh for gas and to eat, let's just say it's always a culture shock to remember what middle America is like. Seriously - it's like I've entered another country after being immersed in DC.
The argument that quaint Victorian brownstones make Pittsburgh Northeast would therefore make Chicago Northeast as well. Obviously, it's not.
Cleveland is fully entrenched in the Midwest - geographically, economically. culturally. I can't believe how many votes it got. Must be from people out West who don't know the region very well.
Baltimore's always been that East Coast city holding down the industrial Midwest vibe. The Chesapeake Bay serves as a sort of mini Great Lake in the way the Great Lakes built so many Midwestern cities in the U.S. and Canada. Baltimore's fate has been very similar to the Midwestern cities - with extravagantly wealthy suburbs to the north and an extravagantly impoverished city. But, by location alone, it can't be denied. People can say what they want, but there is a strong cultural line south of DC that begins the South. DC and Baltimore are fully connected to the Northeast. Baltimore for its industrial history and DC for its government power structure that creates a far stronger link to New York than any Southern city.
If Balto & DC are Northeastern, then they are the *least* Northeastern, if you look at their cultural history. Both were strictly segregated racially up to only 40-50 years ago. Unlike the other NE'n cities, they bought into Jim Crow.
state boundaries are insignificant. You can't just say Pittsburgh has to be northeastern because it's in PA.
That being said the first 5 on the list are unquestionably northeast. I often like to claim that Staten Island isn't really the northeast but clearly it is, and so is Jersey and Philly.
Baltimore is the next one to be questioned, along with DC. I'd say it ISN'T the northeast but I see where the arguments are.
Pittsburgh is definitely less northeast than Baltimore or DC even. Sure if you look at a map it's in the northeast quadrant of the country but we all know that is meaningless. Pittsburgh seems to be much more tied to Ohio cities and cities like Buffalo and Rochester than to Philly or NYC.
Boston and Philly have more in common than Boston and Pittsburgh. I think that's a weird comparsion. If you wanted to make a point it'd make a whole lot more sense to compare Philadelphia to both.
Another point I feel compelled to make is the intense discussion of Pittsburgh on this website. I'll plead ignorance because before going on this website my knowledge or Pittsburgh consisted of it's sports teams and that it has something to do with steel. But based on it's sports teams and that something to do with steel it sounds a lot like it might as well be in Ohio. Along with Houston and North Carolina, Pittsburgh is a pretty random place that gets a ton of hype on this website. Someday I'd love to go there because it must be a pretty cool place but until then I'll just stay in the northeast.
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