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Old 03-03-2012, 06:59 PM
 
Location: Leesburg
799 posts, read 1,284,015 times
Reputation: 237

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Pittsburgh's topography creates the same cultural geography you will find in other Appalachian cities, such as Chattanooga. The hills and hollows create small, isolated neighborhoods that don't exits in the open Midwest and certainly don't exist east of the mountain barrier. Pittsburgh has much more in common with Cincinnati than Philadelphia. Both cities have unique cuisines and a large number of distinct neighborhoods. You know you aren't in the Northeast for sure.

Pittsburgh is flyover country. Boston, New York, DC, and Philadelphia are not. But Pittsburgh and the rest of Appalachia are cultural different than the other parts of flyover (e.g. Cleveland). All the examples linking Pittsburgh with Northeastern cities could be said about ANY city in flyover country.

Pittsburghese is part of the Scots-Irish dialects found in the rest of Appalachia. It's the same vernacular area that isn't Southern nor is it Midwestern (i.e. Midland). Appalachian culture is isolated, like an island in a sea of more diffuse cultures. People from Appalachia stick out in other regions, just like Pittsburghers do. You'll find the same blue collar cuisine up and down the Appalachians, like packing an entire meal between two pieces of bread.

There is no Atlantic Coast influence west of the ridges and valleys. You can see that starkly in the pop-soda divide that splits PA. The orientation is towards the rivers flowing into the Gulf, not the ocean dotted with seaports. The coastal culture definitely doesn't influence Appalachian culture. The same divide exists in Maryland and Virginia.

 
Old 03-03-2012, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
1,392 posts, read 1,549,319 times
Reputation: 946
Quote:
Originally Posted by faeryedark View Post
So true, I live in Chambersburg and there's really not much difference between here and say Hagerstown in attitude. In fact Hagerstown has a Penn Dutch market, and they do an Oktoberfest every year
I'm from the Harrisburg Carlisle Metro and even going into Virginia down 1-81 feels the same as being where I live. I've stated before on here that people who believe the Mason Dixon line is an actual cultural barrier of some sorts haven't lived within a hundred miles of it.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 07:10 PM
 
Location: Leesburg
799 posts, read 1,284,015 times
Reputation: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212 View Post
Since when does Cleveland matter in the opinion of Pittsburgh...btw....1 opinion of Pittsburgh from a Clevelander that could be applied to many East Coast Cities.

Tightening the Rust Belt: How a Clevelander fell in love with Pittsburgh | Grist
It matters since migrants from Appalachia are mocked in the same way Midwesterners mock people from Pittsburgh. Outsiders view Pittsburgh and Appalachia as culturally similar.

And I love your link. It bolsters my argument:

I posited that Pittsburgh might have been saved, in part, by its topography: Bland, big-box redevelopment is much more difficult without flatlands, and the hilly, river-intersected natural environment might serve to protect the urban, built one.

The steep hills rising up from the rivers, the dramatic topography. That doesn't describe any East Coast city (or Midwest for that matter). But Pittsburgh is a dime a dozen in Appalachia.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 07:46 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh PA
1,125 posts, read 2,335,980 times
Reputation: 585
I will likely get hate for saying this, but I personally perceive Appalachian as being a mixture of Poor and Southern Cultures revolving around "guns, Jesus, and meth." I know that is not true, but it unfortunately is the idea that many get when they hear "appalachian culture." I would be hard pressed to say that Pittsburgh is closer in Culture to Kentucky or Tennessee than to Eastern PA. To be honest, I am sure that Allegheny county loves being in the region, given that they are given federal funding to help fight "appalachian poverty." About Greene and Fayette counties, they are noticeably from nearly anywhere in Allegheny county (or even the suburbs in places such as Washington or Westmoreland county.) I would say that yes, there is a small hint of appalachian culture around the metro, but I would also think that it takes back seat to that of Northeast and Midwest. Also, dragging an insult from Cleveland into it, really ...............
Also one more fact, both San Francisco and Los Angeles are extremely hilly, why are they not "appalachian culture"?
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:12 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,871,363 times
Reputation: 2910
Quote:
Originally Posted by globalburgh View Post
in the same way Midwesterners mock people from Pittsburgh.
I'm from Detroit and we never mocked people from Pittsburgh.

Edit: Incidentally, "hillbillies" were a thing, with a negative connotation. But we wouldn't have associated Pittsburgh with hillbillies.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:18 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,871,363 times
Reputation: 2910
Quote:
Originally Posted by faeryedark View Post
What nobody calls it a creek? I didn't see 'creek" on that list or as we pronounce it "crick"
Actually there's a "Branch Creek " around here too.
You have to blow it up and read the fine print, but it says river and creek are the most common names in the US and are marked in gray.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:22 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,314 posts, read 12,905,441 times
Reputation: 6162
Quote:
Originally Posted by escilade18 View Post
Also one more fact, both San Francisco and Los Angeles are extremely hilly, why are they not "appalachian culture"?
Are you serious?
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:24 PM
 
Location: Leesburg
799 posts, read 1,284,015 times
Reputation: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by escilade18 View Post
Also one more fact, both San Francisco and Los Angeles are extremely hilly, why are they not "appalachian culture"?
For one, they are major port cities. There are some similarities and some obvious differences. San Francisco and Pittsburgh do share a topographical drama.

Being on either coast provides a certain cultural influence that you won't find in the interior. Away from the coasts, Appalachia is quite distinctive. It's not Midwestern, neither Southern nor Northeastern. The rivers and the hills help forge the culture. The term redneck comes from Scots-Irish who settled in the mountains with the Cherokee. A Yinzer is a Redneck, a Pittsburgh hillbilly.

What is Appalachian English?

For over a century, researchers have studied the music, folklore, and speech of communities in the Appalachian Mountain region, which stretches from Mississippi to New York State. The group of related dialects known as Appalachian English are spoken primarily by communities in the central and southern portions of historical Appalachia, stretching from northern Alabama to southern Pennsylvania.

Redd up you'uns. Car needs washed.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Leesburg
799 posts, read 1,284,015 times
Reputation: 237
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
I'm from Detroit and we never mocked people from Pittsburgh.

Edit: Incidentally, "hillbillies" were a thing, with a negative connotation. But we wouldn't have associated Pittsburgh with hillbillies.
Pittsburgh, like Detroit, was an endpoint on the Hillbilly Highway. In Detroit, you still have an identifiable Hillbilly ghetto. Not in Pittsburgh. Why? Because the Appalachian migrants fit right in. There isn't any history of cultural animosity towards folks from Appalachia like there was in Detroit and Cincinnati.
 
Old 03-03-2012, 08:32 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,871,363 times
Reputation: 2910
Apparently non-ironic use of "Paris of Appalachia":

10 Cheapest Last-Minute Getaways | U.S. News Travel

By the way, Pittsburghese is generally considered part of the Midland family, not the South family.
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