Is Pittsburgh Northeast or Midwest? (settling it once and for all) (Bethlehem: manufacturing, MLS)

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Many consider DC, and even Baltimore, the "south".

If you think this thread is contentious, you ought to read some of the "Baltimore, north or south" ones.

Maryland a southern state
Is Baltimore an Northeastern city?
Is Baltimore a "northern" or "southern" city? - Baltimore Sun talk forum
Do people in Maryland consider themselves North, Southern, or in Between?

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

If you think this thread is contentious, you ought to read some of the "Baltimore, north or south" ones.

Maryland a southern state
Is Baltimore an Northeastern city?
Is Baltimore a "northern" or "southern" city? - Baltimore Sun talk forum
Do people in Maryland consider themselves North, Southern, or in Between?

Oh, I've read some of them.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

Have you ever lived in the Midwest? If not, you really have no basis for comparison. Again, you are saying northeast, when what you really mean is east coast. The east coast is part of the northeast, not the entire northeast.

I'm talking about the people. The geography on the map may show all of PA in the northeast but if you know the people in the area, you'll understand that Pittsburghers are not northeast in any way. Most natives in the northeast don't even know where Pittsburgh is (other than being in PA), and most natives in Pittsburgh don't even know anything east of the Alleghenies even exists. I saw it for myself when I moved here 22 years ago & couldn't understand why.

And yes, I spent 10 out of my 25 years also covering both the midwest and northeast, spending much time in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, & Ohio. I know and understand the regional foods, the fervor for the various pro sports teams, college sports teams, the areas considered regional centers by various areas of those states, and the general outlook of the residents in those area. In short, I had to be in tune with the people in those areas in order to be successful at my job. I put 50,000 miles a year on my company cars and spent long days on the ground covering my territory. Spending my nights in chain hotels near small towns and outside of the larger cities. My customers were primarily rural and it wasn't practical to get to many of them by flying, so it was necessary to drive to see them.

Pittsburgh is far more midwestern in flavor than it is northeast. If you are a midwesterner, you may not see it. As an original north easterner, Pittsburgh sticks out like a sore thumb to me because it is so different from the northeast. I know the northeast well having covered the states of PA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, VT, NH, & ME. Pittsburgh bears no resemblance in terms of culture, regional interests, or attitude. I felt that 22 years ago when I moved hear and I still feel that way.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Wrong, wrong wrong.

There's a fallacy to equate Northeast with East Coast. That's simply wrong. The Northeast is more than the east coast and Pittsburgh falls within that area. Jesus people, this ain't hard stuff to understand.

As for people paying attention to the west and the south? Seriously? I don't know what conversations you have, but my entire life in PA was always eastern focused.

Wow,wow,wow! You sound so absolutely sure about this. Here's the deal, PA may be geographically considered northeast, but culturally & attitudinally, it is not.

Jesus, surely you can understand that. Don't know where you live but if you live in the northeast, you would understand that implicitly, unless that's too hard to understand.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

I'm talking about the people. The geography on the map may show all of PA in the northeast but if you know the people in the area, you'll understand that Pittsburghers are not northeast in any way. Most natives in the northeast don't even know where Pittsburgh is (other than being in PA), and most natives in Pittsburgh don't even know anything east of the Alleghenies even exists. I saw it for myself when I moved here 22 years ago & couldn't understand why.

And yes, I spent 10 out of my 25 years also covering both the midwest and northeast, spending much time in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, & Ohio. I know and understand the regional foods, the fervor for the various pro sports teams, college sports teams, the areas considered regional centers by various areas of those states, and the general outlook of the residents in those area. In short, I had to be in tune with the people in those areas in order to be successful at my job. I put 50,000 miles a year on my company cars and spent long days on the ground covering my territory. Spending my nights in chain hotels near small towns and outside of the larger cities. My customers were primarily rural and it wasn't practical to get to many of them by flying, so it was necessary to drive to see them.

Pittsburgh is far more midwestern in flavor than it is northeast. If you are a midwesterner, you may not see it. As an original north easterner, Pittsburgh sticks out like a sore thumb to me because it is so different from the northeast. I know the northeast well having covered the states of PA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, VT, NH, & ME. Pittsburgh bears no resemblance in terms of culture, regional interests, or attitude. I felt that 22 years ago when I moved hear and I still feel that way.

I've said this a couple of times now, and a midwesterner confirmed this: Most midwesterners don't know WHERE in PA Pittsburgh is. One said he had no idea himself until he moved there just how close Pgh is to Ohio. For at least the third time, midwesterners hear "Pennsylvania" and think "east" or "east coast". Just what "regional" foods do they eat in Illinois, other than "Chicago-style" pizza? Name some regional foods in these other states you noted. So people in different parts of the country root for different teams. Do people in Philly root for the Yankees? Do people in Boston root for the Phillies?

Lutheranism is a dominant religion in midwestern states, in some of them it is THE dominant religion. Yet I remember a kid in Beaver Falls saying "What's that?" when I told her I was a Lutheran, back in my childhood.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Lutheranism is a dominant religion in midwestern states, in some of them it is THE dominant religion. Yet I remember a kid in Beaver Falls saying "What's that?" when I told her I was a Lutheran, back in my childhood.

I think that's true North and West of Illinois. Check out this list:

http://www.thearda.com/ql2010/QL_C_2010_3_13p.asp

You start to see a modest uptick in Lutheran adherents in Ohio, but it's really the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska where Lutheranism is king.

[nei]

Dominant religion where I grew up (Long Island) was Catholicism and Judaism (non-Orthodox).

[escilade18]

In Allegheny county it is 49.5% Roman Catholic, which is something that one would not find in Baptist dominated Appalachia

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

I know and understand the regional foods, the fervor for the various pro sports teams, college sports teams,

Fervor for college sports? Support for college sports is decidedly lukewarm in Pittsburgh. Is the city Steelers crazy? Yeah, but being the most successful team in the most popular sport for 40 years will do that. Boston seems pretty nuts for the Red Sox, to the point where New Englanders poured into Pittsburgh last summer to watch their team. Let's not even talk about sports mad Philly.

[Eugo]

Raymond Gastil put Pittsburgh in a "Pennsylvanian" cultural region that stretches from Western PA to New Jersey and is subdivided into western, central, core, and coastal fringe districts.
(Gastil cultural regions)

One would think that the Yinzers' cornfed wholesomeness would have landed them in the Midwest cultural region, but it didn't quite work out that way.