Why is Philly not well liked by the rest of PA if at all (Philadelphia: versus, agricultural)

[welder]

Ya baby, that's what I'm talking about!

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

The basic idea is that it would raise the average IQ of both states.

Ha!

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Stephanie P

I also live outside of Houston, which has a somewhat high crime rate, but I am not afraid to go downtown; well, maybe at night....

Philly is not as bad as Houston and our downtown is far nicer.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Keep in mind your map indicates nothing in the way of population distribution. The light-colored counties with relatively low high school graduation rates are coincidently where the least amount of people live. Statewide averages are much more telling.

It's the PERCENTAGE of people graduating. It doesn't matter if you're school has 100 people or 1000 people . . . haha, oh man, i just realized the irony in that. A map showing the paucity of high school grads by percentage in central PA and someone from central PA arguing that the map is not accurate because it doesn't account for population distribution.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by ainulinale

Let's see here...with 5.8 million people in the Philly metro, 4.2 million in PA and a $253 Billion economy...that should be about $187 Billion made for the state. Now, Pittsburgh with it's 2.4 million people makes $100 billion for the state of PA and the rest of the state makes $223 billion....yes, I think you're right....where would we be without Philadelphia! For making that extra $87 billion than Pittsburgh, you deserve all the state's money.

The 5 counties of SE PA are just shy of 3.8 million people.

Take away Philly ($207b/43%) , Pittsburgh ($102b/21%) and the Lehigh Valley ($23b/5%) and you're left with 42% of the population producing 31% of the wealth and most likely a much smaller share of state revenue. People making more money and spending more money mean higher income taxes, more sales tax revenue, more money from real estate transfer taxes, more corporate tax revenue, etc. etc.

We don't get all of the state's money. We get some of our own money back. The rest of it goes to subsidize Appalachia. Do you think for a second that there would be anything resembling a highway outside of the top 5 or 6 metros in the state if it weren't for the gas taxes paid in those top 5 or 6 metros? Your schools, your social services?

You want to complain about $1 billion for SEPTA? That's less than one half of one percent of what we contribute to the state economy. Keep reaching.

[Stephanie P]

Originally Posted by solibs

Philly is not as bad as Houston and our downtown is far nicer.

Thank you, that is reasurring! I am so looking forward to the move. I have never been to PA, but everyone tells me how beautiful it is, and the weather is much nicer than Houston!

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by solibs

It's the PERCENTAGE of people graduating. It doesn't matter if you're school has 100 people or 1000 people . . . haha, oh man, i just realized the irony in that. A map showing the paucity of high school grads by percentage in central PA and someone from central PA arguing that the map is not accurate because it doesn't account for population distribution.

1.) I'm not from Central Pennsylvania. My location clearly notes I'm from the "Philly Area," so I'm not sure where you got that.

2.) I understand it's a percentage of people graduating -- that's not my point. I'm saying it shows the percentage of high school graduates BY COUNTY. Thus, hypothetically, if Montgomery County has a high school graduation rate of 85% and a population of 800,000 people, and Mifflin County has a high school graduation rate of only 75% but only has a population of about 50,000 people, then obviously these percentages are not going to be weighted equally. The number of people living in each county is entirely relevant if you want to deduce an accurate number for a statewide average.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Duderino

1.) I'm not from Central Pennsylvania. My location clearly notes I'm from the "Philly Area," so I'm not sure where you got that.

Where you live and where you are from are not always the same place.

2.) I understand it's a percentage of people graduating -- that's not my point. I'm saying it shows the percentage of high school graduates BY COUNTY. Thus, hypothetically, if Montgomery County has a high school graduation rate of 85% and a population of 800,000 people, and Mifflin County has a high school graduation rate of only 75% but only has a population of about 50,000 people, then obviously these percentages are not going to be weighted equally. The number of people living in each county is entirely relevant if you want to deduce an accurate number for a statewide average.

I have no idea what your point is. The map wasn't trying to show absolute numbers. It's already clear that more people live in the large metros.

So the big metros produce the greatest number of high school grads and they graduate at a higher rate.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by solibs

I have no idea what your point is. The map wasn't trying to show absolute numbers. It's already clear that more people live in the large metros.

So the big metros produce the greatest number of high school grads and they graduate at a higher rate.

Precisely. We're not in disagreement here. You just misunderstood my argument against the poster who originally posted that map. The poster's intent was to try to extrapolate a statewide average compared against other states (i.e., Alabama, Mississippi, etc.) based simply on the prominent "shade" of each state's counties on the map, although the lesser populated counties were the ones with the lower high school grad. rates. Thus, I simply said that's statistically inaccurate since it doesn't take population proportion into account. That's all. :-)

[ainulinale]

Originally Posted by solibs

The 5 counties of SE PA are just shy of 3.8 million people.

Take away Philly ($207b/43%) , Pittsburgh ($102b/21%) and the Lehigh Valley ($23b/5%) and you're left with 42% of the population producing 31% of the wealth and most likely a much smaller share of state revenue. People making more money and spending more money mean higher income taxes, more sales tax revenue, more money from real estate transfer taxes, more corporate tax revenue, etc. etc.

We don't get all of the state's money. We get some of our own money back. The rest of it goes to subsidize Appalachia. Do you think for a second that there would be anything resembling a highway outside of the top 5 or 6 metros in the state if it weren't for the gas taxes paid in those top 5 or 6 metros? Your schools, your social services?

You want to complain about $1 billion for SEPTA? That's less than one half of one percent of what we contribute to the state economy. Keep reaching.

Not sure what you're talking about...complaining about SEPTA? I was arguing about your statement made about Philly paying for the rest of the state, I simply emphasized the fact that Pittsburgh can take care of itself-- Pittsburgh $102 billion= 18% of population making 21% of the money...but I thank my big loving brother on the other side of the state for taking care of us in Pittsburgh with all your financial contributions.

The point is: I have a hard time believing that the state outside of philly gets 60% of the state's money (its fair share).