Are the Italians in Philly like the ones in NYC? (Philadelphia: living in, zip codes)

[RWSWJ]

I know they make cheesesteaks instead of pizza but how else are they different?

[bursitis]

Originally Posted by RWSWJ

I know they make cheesesteaks instead of pizza but how else are they different?

They make Italian hoagies.

[FKD19124]

they make pizza too.

Originally Posted by RWSWJ

I know they make cheesesteaks instead of pizza but how else are they different?

[Pilot1]

There are a lot of similarities between NYC and Phila Italian Americans. However, those Italian idiosyncrasies are fading quickly with the latter generations.

[BajanYankee]

The two big differences.

1. Many more people in the NYC area report Italian as their sole ethnic identity. In Philadelphia, it is much more common for people to report Italian as one of multiple identities (Irish/Italian, German/Italian, etc.). It is far less likely for anyone claiming "Italian" in Philly to have four grandparents that were born in Italy or claim Italian as their sole ethnicity. Anecdotally, I see more people who have a look more similar to Kathrine Narducci or Annabella Sciorra (meaning dark hair and skin, not their actual looks) than I do in Philly.

2. New York had a second wave of Italian immigration starting in the 1960s. There are over 118,000 people in metro NYC that were born in Italy. As a result, you see a few more flashes of "old world" Italian-ness from time to time and especially around big holidays.

[BajanYankee]

Here is the total by metro of individuals claiming Italian as their sole ancestry.

New York - 1,227,605
Philadelphia - 305,651
Boston - 228,761
Miami - 146,947
Los Angeles - 130,398
Pittsburgh - 130,159
Providence - 90,742
New Haven - 84,373
Washington - 76,193
San Francisco - 74,503
Buffalo - 70,581
Cleveland - 70,187
Baltimore - 64,659

[Flyers Girl]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

The two big differences.

1. Many more people in the NYC area report Italian as their sole ethnic identity. In Philadelphia, it is much more common for people to report Italian as one of multiple identities (Irish/Italian, German/Italian, etc.). It is far less likely for anyone claiming "Italian" in Philly to have four grandparents that were born in Italy or claim Italian as their sole ethnicity. Anecdotally, I see more people who have a look more similar to Kathrine Narducci or Annabella Sciorra (meaning dark hair and skin, not their actual looks) than I do in Philly.

2. New York had a second wave of Italian immigration starting in the 1960s. There are over 118,000 people in metro NYC that were born in Italy. As a result, you see a few more flashes of "old world" Italian-ness from time to time and especially around big holidays.

I'll agree with #2 above, but as a second-generation (on my father's side) and a third-generation (on my mother's side) Italian-American, I have to disagree with the first. Or rather, your first point should be qualified to indicate that it depends on the generation. Gen Z (the iGen) and kids being born today? Yes, they're likely going to be more inter-mixed. But there are lots of us in the slightly older generations (I'm Gen X, born in 1974) who come from two 100% ethnically Italian parents. My mom grew up in South Philly and my dad grew up in Port Richmond. Interestingly, even though South Philly is/was considered the Italian section of Philly, it's my father's parents who emigrated here (in 1908 and 1919, respectively) and settled in Port Richmond.

As to the OP, the cheesesteak is not an Italian thing. It's a Philly thing.

[Leps12]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Here is the total by metro of individuals claiming Italian as their sole ancestry.

New York - 1,227,605
Philadelphia - 305,651
Boston - 228,761
Miami - 146,947
Los Angeles - 130,398
Pittsburgh - 130,159
Providence - 90,742
New Haven - 84,373
Washington - 76,193
San Francisco - 74,503
Buffalo - 70,581
Cleveland - 70,187
Baltimore - 64,659

Is that so? Where is Chicago?

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

I'll agree with #2 above, but as a second-generation (on my father's side) and a third-generation (on my mother's side) Italian-American, I have to disagree with the first. Or rather, your first point should be qualified to indicate that it depends on the generation. Gen Z (the iGen) and kids being born today? Yes, they're likely going to be more inter-mixed. But there are lots of us in the slightly older generations (I'm Gen X, born in 1974) who come from two 100% ethnically Italian parents. My mom grew up in South Philly and my dad grew up in Port Richmond. Interestingly, even though South Philly is/was considered the Italian section of Philly, it's my father's parents who emigrated here (in 1908 and 1919, respectively) and settled in Port Richmond.

No. Of all people reporting any Italian ancestry, Miami and New York have the most reporting Italian as their sole ancestry (Miami is really just an extension of NYC anyway for these purposes).

Miami - 47.6%
New York - 47.5%
New Haven - 46.2%
Providence - 39.0%
Buffalo - 38.1%
Philadelphia - 37.4%
Baltimore - 37.1%
Boston - 35.0%
Pittsburgh - 34.5%
Cleveland - 34.4%
Los Angeles - 33.4%
San Francisco - 32.0%
Chicago - 31.9%
Washington - 28.4%

This is likely because Italian is the largest Non-Hispanic White ancestry in the NYC area, Miami and New Haven while Italian is only the third largest in the Philadelphia are behind Irish and German. Because Italians are a plurality in so many towns in the New York metro, they are going to be less likely to intermarry than an Italian living in a town that is predominantly Irish or German.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

This is likely because Italian is the largest Non-Hispanic White ancestry in the NYC area, Miami and New Haven while Italian is only the third largest in the Philadelphia are behind Irish and German. Because Italians are a plurality in so many towns in the New York metro, they are going to be less likely to intermarry than an Italian living in a town that is predominantly Irish or German.

Staten Island is probably the best example of this. Here is the Italian share of the Non-Hispanic White population as a whole.

Staten Island - 48.7%
S. Philly (19148) - 44.1%
Nassau (NY) - 31.9%
Essex (NJ) - 30.4%
Camden (NJ) - 27.7%
Delaware (PA) - 24.7%
Montgomery (PA) - 19.8%

Now here is the percentage of Italians who claim Italian as their sole ancestry.

S. Philly (19148) - 60.2%
Staten Island - 58.6%
Essex (NJ) - 56.0%
Nassau (NY) - 50.2%
Delaware (PA) - 39.4%
Camden (NJ) - 38.5%
Montgomery (PA) - 34.9%

South Philly is clearly one of the most "Italian" parts of the Philadelphia metro (part of it anyway), but its Italian-ness is comparable to the Italian-ness throughout the NYC metro as a whole. If we went through and cherry-picked S.I. zip codes, I'm sure we could easily find ones where the %s are much, much higher.