What do you call the middle of PA?

[LivingMoon]

Originally Posted by The_Outsider

As the guy from Alaska said, this is a pretty funny thread. I too am trying not to take it too seriously and instead am using it for its entertainment value.

But the comments from Living Moon, just not true. Unless she is describing what locals here call "Camps". A "Camp" is not designed to be a full time dwelling.

I know what a camp is, but that is not what I mean. There are older homes that were built before indoor plumbing or central heat, and some people by choice have not updated them...for generations. They have fireplaces or wood stove for heat, outhouse, and a pitcher pump in the yard. Well, some do. In Juniata County there are people who send the kids down to the river with buckets. I'm not saying a lot of people live this way, but some do. I was an antiques dealer when I lived there, so I had a chance to see some very old dwellings and their contents at public auctions. Saw farms which had outhouses in the back yard, and a single pitcher pump in the kitchen for water. Never had seen that before. There are family farms in NJ with older farmhouses, but they have central heat and modern plumbing.

Originally Posted by The_Outsider

I have never seen a home w/o plumbing here. Lack of central heating? ok maybe, but I have never seen a home here without some sort of heating system.

Missionaries? hardships? you lost me there.

I haven't lived in Juniata for a decade, but when I did there was very little 'separation between church and state' in the public school system. Religious groups were welcomed in to pass out Bibles and give school assembly presentations that were essentially preaching sessions. Juniata County had 'release time' where high school students whose parents chose the option were transported to a church for religious instruction in lieu of regular subjects for part of the day each week. And there were many more door-to-door missionaries of various sects ringing my bell in suburban Mifflintown than there have been in suburban Harrisburg. There were so many times when I could barely restrain myself from giving one a good scare by telling them I was 'a black magician' and giving them a demo of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram!

Central PA is one of the underserved areas of the country in terms of doctors per capita. Juniata County had more physicians in actual numbers at the start of the 20th Century than in its last decade.

[marcomucho]

I am thinking, when I was growing up in the Philadelphia area, they called it "up-state." Having moved to Huntingdon (as Central, Pa as you can get) at age 11, I think they call it, "just stay away if you're not from here." Having said that, it is a very safe and protected place to be from but not a safe and protected place to go if you are not from there. If you are from Huntingdon, you can be gay, liberal, Democrat, hell even a Nazi if you wanna be, and you will be taken in and protected. If you are from outside, you basically don't have a chance. No matter what you are you are an outsider and not trusted. I have not lived there for 30 years but I tell you I could go back there today and be welcomed like the prodigal son I am. It is a beautiful and disturbing thing.

[CupofJoePA]

I feel that the Harrisburg, Hershey, York area of PA is the middles of the state as far as being a population center. But by geography I guess from the areas below route 80 and above the turnpike and in between Reading and Johnstown would be the geographic area of the state.

[kdalters]

I lived in Pleasant Gap, (Centre County) for 38 years. I moved to the South Carolina Lowcountry for the next 15 years. Recently, I have moved to Northwest Arkansas, smack dab in the middle of The Ozarks. I wouldn't want any other lifestyle than what I have lived since the day I was born. You couldn't pay me enough to live in a highly populated area such as Philadelphia or Pittsburg. My grandparents ( from Tyrone) always used the term "pennsyltuckey" for as long as I can remember.I always enjoy my trips back "home" for the Centre County Grange Fair (look it up- my wife's family has had a tent there for decades) to visit with family & friends. To all those that dismiss Central Pennsylvania as nothing but rubes & mountain folk, you need to spend a week or two here to see the beauty & wonders that make this area od the state so nice, instead of driving through it & passing judgement at speed. Stop & smell the roses sometime!

[PAblackbear]

Do you find living in the Ozarks to be much different from PA? Better or worse?