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Old 05-12-2018, 10:57 AM
 
Location: Morrison, CO
34,123 posts, read 18,373,255 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl View Post
Answer to your first question: Absolutely not.

First of all, these smaller Western Pennsylvania cities are not "filled with affluent white-collar folks," and second, the residents of the cities of the Northeast megalopolis are not "mostly of Italian descent and/or of Jewish faith." (I'd like to meet these Italian Jews you've heard about.) All of them I'm familiar with save Washington have significant Irish-American, Hispanic and African-American populations. (Washington has the latter but not much in the way of identifiably ethnic whites or Hispanics.) Maybe not in their suburbs (Washington here being the notable exception), but in the core cities definitely you'll find sizable African-American populations. Western Pennsylvania is a good deal whiter than the Northeast megalopolis.

Most of these smaller Pennsylvania cities are a little more down-at-heels economically than Westchester County, and they're more blue-collar in their heritage. (Pennsylvania is becoming somewhat bifurcated economically: the Southeast is the state's economic engine, and Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are on the rise, but most of the rest of the state is at best stagnant, even Harrisburg and the rest of the counties that make up Greater Pittsburgh (Meadville is in one of them, IIRC). Centre County does fine thanks to Penn State, and Lancaster, York and Adams (Gettysburg) counties do benefit from spillover from adjacent economically stronger regions, and Lancaster also benefits from a robust tourist economy and strong agricultural sector, but I wouldn't characterize the rest of the state as healthy.)

Western Pennsylvania residents IMO display a more "Midwestern" attitude than their counterparts on the other side of the Alleghenies to boot.

I don't have enough time to delve into all the ways Western Pennsylvania differs culturally from the New York City region, but I'll start by saying that people in that part of the state are neither rushed nor on the make.
This is pretty much spot on. I grew up as a Suburban Philadelphian, but lived in Harrisburg, and Lancaster for several years, and travelled all over that state for work, and pleasure. They call it Pennsyltucky for a reason, and that's not a bad thing. Much of the state is Appalachia.
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Old 05-12-2018, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Levittown
967 posts, read 1,123,487 times
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I travel across the state about once a month, mostly along the interstates from Philly to Erie. I have worked in places like Lehigh, Scranton/Wilkes Barre and York. Most of the state is mountainous. My s/o's family is all up in Erie and her father in particular comes off as a stereotypical "silent midwesterner" but don't ever say that to the people up in that area. They will insist it is a different world from say Cleveland.

I've been to places like Meadville and Edinboro too, close enough to Erie. This area is worlds apart from even Pittsburgh. I think it has more in common with other Great Lakes cities like Buffalo and Cleveland. It is flat compared to the terrain along 80 and it changes as you travel the 60 miles up 79. 80 seems like it is in the snowbelt while further north it dies down. Which is weird since the place is known for lake effect snow which it a record this year.

I used to say the northern suburbs of Philadelphia - Bucks and Montgomery Counties - were Philly's equal to Long Island since they were developed around the same time (Levittown) though there is no oceanside. As whole counties I would equate Montgomery more to Nassau and Bucks to Suffolk even though the Levittowns are in opposite places. But it is a lot more accessible since there isn't one way in and one way out.

Last edited by NYtoNJtoPA; 05-12-2018 at 11:31 AM..
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Old 05-12-2018, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Erie, PA
3,696 posts, read 2,863,718 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYtoNJtoPA View Post
I travel across the state about once a month, mostly along the interstates from Philly to Erie. I have worked in places like Lehigh, Scranton/Wilkes Barre and York. Most of the state is mountainous. My s/o's family is all up in Erie and her father in particular comes off as a stereotypical "silent midwesterner" but don't ever say that to the people up in that area. They will insist it is a different world from say Cleveland.

I've been to places like Meadville and Edinboro too, close enough to Erie. This area is worlds apart from even Pittsburgh. I think it has more in common with other Great Lakes cities like Buffalo and Cleveland. It is flat compared to the terrain along 80 and it changes as you travel the 60 miles up 79. 80 seems like it is in the snowbelt while further north it dies down. Which is weird since the place is known for lake effect snow which it a record this year.

I used to say the northern suburbs of Philadelphia - Bucks and Montgomery Counties - were Philly's equal to Long Island since they were developed around the same time (Levittown) though there is no oceanside. As whole counties I would equate Montgomery more to Nassau and Bucks to Suffolk even though the Levittowns are in opposite places. But it is a lot more accessible since there isn't one way in and one way out.
^^^ This is definitely spot on from what I've seen the nearly 3.5 years I've lived in and traveled in the state of Pennsylvania. The Erie region is different from Pittsburgh and completely different from Philadelphia area.

It is neither good or bad; it just depends on what you are looking for in a place and what you can get used to. I am very happy here.

I grew up in Upstate NY and this area of Pennsylvania has a similar feel to Upstate NY but also has kind of a Great Lakes/Upper Midwest feel as well.

The snowbelt here is kind of strange as you noted. We have localized snow band areas that get heavier amounts of snow and not all of them are necessarily close to Lake Erie.
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Old 05-13-2018, 06:19 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
13,961 posts, read 8,832,436 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYtoNJtoPA View Post
I travel across the state about once a month, mostly along the interstates from Philly to Erie. I have worked in places like Lehigh, Scranton/Wilkes Barre and York. Most of the state is mountainous. My s/o's family is all up in Erie and her father in particular comes off as a stereotypical "silent midwesterner" but don't ever say that to the people up in that area. They will insist it is a different world from say Cleveland.

I've been to places like Meadville and Edinboro too, close enough to Erie. This area is worlds apart from even Pittsburgh. I think it has more in common with other Great Lakes cities like Buffalo and Cleveland. It is flat compared to the terrain along 80 and it changes as you travel the 60 miles up 79. 80 seems like it is in the snowbelt while further north it dies down. Which is weird since the place is known for lake effect snow which it a record this year.

I used to say the northern suburbs of Philadelphia - Bucks and Montgomery Counties - were Philly's equal to Long Island since they were developed around the same time (Levittown) though there is no oceanside. As whole counties I would equate Montgomery more to Nassau and Bucks to Suffolk even though the Levittowns are in opposite places. But it is a lot more accessible since there isn't one way in and one way out.
Interesting perspectives all.

I remember helping a friend move to an apartment in the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree. The morning after we got there, I went to get a coffee from a Starbucks not far away. When the guy mowing the grass in the municipal park said "Hello" to me as I walked by, I thought to myself, "I've landed in the Midwest again."

The Long Island parallel with the two counties to Philly's north (and northwest, in the case of Montgomery) is quite apt IMO. Both Nassau and Suffolk counties have vast swaths of tract houses for Everyman and sprawling estates, with some farming areas remaining in Suffolk, IIRC. Montgomery County doesn't really have a Levittown-style suburb in it, while Bucks, as you point out, has the actual Levittown, but there are some older more working-class communities in it (e.g. Lansdale and the part of Cheltenham Township that goes by the name Cheltenham) along with the palatial estates on the Main Line and elsewhere in Cheltenham and Springfield Townships. Bucks has the picturesque 18th- and 19th-century farmhouses with actual farmland (active or not) attached. New Hope is our Fire Island, but where are our Hamptons? I wouldn't call Doylestown an exact parallel, and Villanova, Wayne and Devon aren't resort-y enough.
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Old 05-13-2018, 06:44 AM
 
Location: Levittown
967 posts, read 1,123,487 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl View Post
Interesting perspectives all.

I remember helping a friend move to an apartment in the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree. The morning after we got there, I went to get a coffee from a Starbucks not far away. When the guy mowing the grass in the municipal park said "Hello" to me as I walked by, I thought to myself, "I've landed in the Midwest again."

The Long Island parallel with the two counties to Philly's north (and northwest, in the case of Montgomery) is quite apt IMO. Both Nassau and Suffolk counties have vast swaths of tract houses for Everyman and sprawling estates, with some farming areas remaining in Suffolk, IIRC. Montgomery County doesn't really have a Levittown-style suburb in it, while Bucks, as you point out, has the actual Levittown, but there are some older more working-class communities in it (e.g. Lansdale and the part of Cheltenham Township that goes by the name Cheltenham) along with the palatial estates on the Main Line and elsewhere in Cheltenham and Springfield Townships. Bucks has the picturesque 18th- and 19th-century farmhouses with actual farmland (active or not) attached. New Hope is our Fire Island, but where are our Hamptons? I wouldn't call Doylestown an exact parallel, and Villanova, Wayne and Devon aren't resort-y enough.
That is true. I don't know what area north of the city you would equate to the Hamptons. And I guess you really can't have a Hamptons being landlocked. I actually never made the connection between New Hope and Fire Island.

I also think in the same way too that Hempstead was the pre-war downtown of Nassau, Norristown was the sort of pre-war downtown of Montco, and they both now have seen better days having been killed off by malls and decentralization.
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