Don't think PA is hillbillyish? Think again. (Pittsburgh, Altoona: real estate, home)

[Pureblood]

I have no complaint of PA. I love it here, I love the people here. As some people may know last summer in Claysburg, PA there was a bear in town and the police shot it causing an up roar.

What are you thoughts on it?

Here is original article in the paper
Residents growling over bear’s demise - AltoonaMirror.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - The Altoona Mirror

Here are a variety of views on the topic:
Officers were in wrong - AltoonaMirror.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - The Altoona Mirror
Bear facts: Police panicked - AltoonaMirror.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - The Altoona Mirror
Official claims police justified in killing bear - AltoonaMirror.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - The Altoona Mirror

[scottrpriester]

That was very sad. There was no reason for that shooting at all.

But back to your topic. We went to the Pirates home opener today. We live on the east side of the City of Pittsburgh. Our neighborhood is predominately settled by employees of the major universities and more well to do citizens like ourselves. Its not hard to pick out those that live outside of the city limits, those that are uncultured and "hillbillyish".

[danwxman]

PA has "hillbilly" areas, suburbs and inner city grit. That's what makes it such a great and diverse state.

[pinetar10]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

That was very sad. There was no reason for that shooting at all.

But back to your topic. We went to the Pirates home opener today. We live on the east side of the City of Pittsburgh. Our neighborhood is predominately settled by employees of the major universities and more well to do citizens like ourselves. Its not hard to pick out those that live outside of the city limits, those that are uncultured and "hillbillyish".

isn't that just a tad of an egotistical statement?

[mdb06]

Egotistical, insulting, demeaning and a blatant lack of respect and compassion for those who are different or less fortunate than oneself.

[CortlandGirl79]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

That was very sad. There was no reason for that shooting at all.

But back to your topic. We went to the Pirates home opener today. We live on the east side of the City of Pittsburgh. Our neighborhood is predominately settled by employees of the major universities and more well to do citizens like ourselves. Its not hard to pick out those that live outside of the city limits, those that are uncultured and "hillbillyish".

Scott, you sound like a Howland snob!

[truemuck]

Originally Posted by danwxman

PA has "hillbilly" areas, suburbs and inner city grit. That's what makes it such a great and diverse state.

Exactly. Let me use this analogy.

We have in a cabin in Cook Forest and seems like most people have some sort of old Chevy truck or SUV. I have a Jeep, which is also a popular brand up that way.

But I can go down near Pittsburgh and I see a ton of Volvos.

[BackToTheCityMouse]

Every state has people who are highly educated, or into the 'arts' (whatever that means to you), and people who prefer to keep to their own traditional ways, pretty nearly living off the grid. Along with the majority of suburban John and Mary Publics.

We had our own version of hillbillys in New Jersey; they're called Pineys or PineHawkers.

They never bothered me, and I would never have dreamed of bothering them. Just because I don't want their lifestyle for myself doesn't mean I think less of them because they don't want to embrace my lifestyle.

Now the children of the yupsters who used to go up to NYC for the weekend and leave their teens unsupervised to set each other's cars on fire in the mall parking lot...they bothered me. We were paying $8K a year in real estate taxes there in 1987, and too much of it was going to process these out of control kids thru the legal system.

[Pureblood]

I didn't mean hillbilly as in bad way. When I think of a hillbilly i usually think of good, hard working, blue collar American.
Most of the hillbillys i know really aren't that uneducated, they may not be book smart but they are street smart.
I just wanted to know what your thoughts were to the peoples reaction of the police shooting the bear.

[BackToTheCityMouse]

Well, I agree with those who said it didn't need to be shot.

We had small bears in our yard occasionally in Juniata County. Since we kept our trash bagged in the cold room and took it down to the corner for paid pick-up once a week, we didn't have a burn pit with any kind of food scraps to make them interested in staying. They were just passing thru.

If you are going to live away from metro areas, you have to respect wildlife. That doesn't make you a hllbilly, though, in my opinion.

A blue collar American is not the same as a hillbilly. My dad worked in a factory (he was a tool and die maker for GM), but he drove foreign cars and our local supermarket sold live lobsters and frog's legs on the seafood counter. Our across the street neighbor was a truffle importer, and my parents got to sample a bit. This was during the 50s. Blue collar isn't such a big deal in other places. People get judged as likeable or not before you find out what they do for a living. I have to wonder if the Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves at the thought of Pennsylvanians trying so hard to build a British style class system in America.