Why so cheap? (Pittsburgh, York, Bethel Park: houses, buying, luxury)

[Drover]

There were a lot of confederate sympathizers in southern Illinois during the war. To look at the Confederate flags on people's trucks down there, I'd say there still is some such sympathy. Illinois is another one of those "transition" states I speak of a few posts up. Those on the Kentucky border may not consider themselves "southerners" proper, but they certainly have more in common culturally with the South than they do with their fellow statesmen from the Chicago area.

[Katiana]

I have seen confederate flags on cars in Beaver Falls. It seemed to me to be a sort of Appalachian thing. After all, W. Pa had the whiskey rebellion. All those rebellious westerners! Anyway, anyone in Illinois who fourght for Illinois in the Civil War fought for the north, whether they lived in Chicago or Cairo. There are times when political boundaries are important. You should look at that thread on General US: "which states do you consider southern?"

[Hopes]

The rebel flags on pick up trucks is not necessarily an indication of sympathizers outside of the south. Many are just proudly displaying their personal rebeliousness toward government. Others are KKK members. (There are KKK members all over the country.) Then there are those who are from the south and simply displaying their affiliation with the region. (Not much different from my girlfriend who is from California sporting an In-n-Out Burger bumper sticker while she lives in Maryland.) It's the rare northerner (midwesterner, or westerner too) displaying the confederate flag in support of the dream that the south will rise again, or merely sympathizing with the south losing the war.

[boardmanite]

Just wanted to throw this in there: If you look at the thread about the populations of Cincinatti and Cleveland, you'll see that many feel that Cleveland is more "North Eastern" culturally than the rest of the midwest. I personally live near Youngstown, on the PA-OH border, which I wouldn't call North Eastern or Mid Western. I think Youngstown just belongs to the Rust Belt... But Pittsburgh doesn't.

[Drover]

Gotta disagree there. Pittsburgh is a classic Rust Belt city. I can think of few other cities that have been hit harder by the decline of heavy industry -- Detroit, maybe Buffalo.

[boardmanite]

Definitely. But it seems like Pittsburgh has recovered, whereas other cities, like Youngstown, haven't. I know Pittsburgh is still losing jobs and population, but the two cities are worlds apart. Something went dreadfully wrong in Youngstown.

Pittsburgh seems to be doing a lot better than other rust belt cities too, like Cleveland or Detroit. (Just the city, not the metro area)

[LadyDeanna]

Originally Posted by birdlady

I have known 2 people personally who had degrees in their respective fields who decided to move back to Pittsburgh. Well they both were unable to find a job and were forced to leave. If you are looking or even considering on moving here, you should have a job lined up BEFORE you get here or you will be packing up your bags in 6 months.

I personally am getting the heck out of this place. I can't stand it here.

Also I would look into the cost of taxes, utilities, and food before saying how cheap Pittsburgh is. There are a lot of hidden "taxes" in this place. Yes your house may be cheap compared to other markets, but it has to be for a reason.

because county real estate taxes, school taxes, gas & electic are more than your mortage note. I pay $1,000 a year in taxes and my sister who lives in Glenn Burnie, MD pays $2,000 for her home that cost 98,000. My homes cost me $47,000.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by boardmanite

Definitely. But it seems like Pittsburgh has recovered, whereas other cities, like Youngstown, haven't. I know Pittsburgh is still losing jobs and population, but the two cities are worlds apart. Something went dreadfully wrong in Youngstown.

I don't know any specifics about Youngstown, but I think what went "wrong" is just the difference in sheer size of the respective metro areas. Even though Pittsburgh for a city of its size was heavily dependent on one industry (or maybe a couple of inter-related industries), its size meant there were also other industries there in support: legal, capital/financial, transportation, insurance, consulting, and the like. Those were all in place by the time the steel industry collapsed. That collapse certainly took its toll on the supporting industries too, but by then there was enough "critical mass" of other people and businesses that needed those industries that the collapse did not bring the entire economy down with it. Generally, the smaller the city, the less economic diversification it has and the less able it is to absorb the decline of its signature industry.

[garryfromPIT]

I know this is an old thread, but I couldn't help but notice the debate about the cultural aspects of the Pittsburgh Metro Area (PMA). I am currently involved in an extensive cultural research project (inspired by an advanced sociology class I took last semester) on the culture in the PMA, particularly the influences of Appalachia on it. Much of my research has indicated that parts this area do conform to many attributes of much of Appalachia. In all technicality, Pittsburgh is the largest metropolitan area in that unique region of Appalachia as formally defined by many classifications. Some researchers even try to chalk the area as falling in that cultural sphere known as the Upper South. I find that latter premise very doubtful, however. The Tri-state PMA is a place of cultural transition, from Dixie to Great Lakes influences. Urban areas show much more cosmopolitan influences. I personally find the City of Pittsburgh proper and the immediately surrounding suburbs to have more of a Midwestern influence. The rural areas west and southwest of the city, especially Beaver and Washington Counties as well as Northern West Virgina and bordering Ohio counties all show more attributes of traditional Appalachia. I personally grew up in Beaver County, about ten minutes from the West Virgina border. Everyone flew a Confederate flag, that distinctive Pittsburgh dialect took on a more drawled presentation versus the distinctive staccato of "Dahntahn" accents, and the politics got A LOT more conservative. We were hillbillies and proud of it! But even so, the tristate area is unique from what many would formally define as deep Appalachia (ie Kentucky, parts of TN) and most certainly the South and the Midwest. For one thing, there's the undeniable facts of geographic location (although some argue that the PMA crosses the Mason-Dixon into extreme Western Maryland). For another, there's politics. Parts of Southwestern PA and WV may be more socially conservative, but they still show a strong labor base and strong moderate to liberal Democratic support. Furthermore, these states choose to fight for the Union cause. Even today that really splits the cultures a lot. Also east, and north of the city, the culture changes A LOT. It takes on more attributes Northeastern culture and to the North, Cleveland.
So what defines the PMA culturally? I like to think that the PMA is its own unique region made up a patchwork quilt of varying regional flavors. After all, I was struck by the classification of Pittsburghese as it's own distinctive dialect region by many of the linguistic studies I consulted. There are only a few cities that share that distinction in the United States, and it really verifies my belief of this area as a unique and very interesting place. I love it here and I'm proud to call myself a Pittsburgher!

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by garryfromPIT

I know this is an old thread, but I couldn't help but notice the debate about the cultural aspects of the Pittsburgh Metro Area (PMA). I am currently involved in an extensive cultural research project (inspired by an advanced sociology class I took last semester) on the culture in the PMA, particularly the influences of Appalachia on it. Much of my research has indicated that parts this area do conform to many attributes of much of Appalachia. In all technicality, Pittsburgh is the largest metropolitan area in that unique region of Appalachia as formally defined by many classifications. Some researchers even try to chalk the area as falling in that cultural sphere known as the Upper South. I find that latter premise very doubtful, however. The Tri-state PMA is a place of cultural transition, from Dixie to Great Lakes influences. Urban areas show much more cosmopolitan influences. I personally find the City of Pittsburgh proper and the immediately surrounding suburbs to have more of a Midwestern influence. The rural areas west and southwest of the city, especially Beaver and Washington Counties as well as Northern West Virgina and bordering Ohio counties all show more attributes of traditional Appalachia. I personally grew up in Beaver County, about ten minutes from the West Virgina border. Everyone flew a Confederate flag, that distinctive Pittsburgh dialect took on a more drawled presentation versus the distinctive staccato of "Dahntahn" accents, and the politics got A LOT more conservative. We were hillbillies and proud of it! But even so, the tristate area is unique from what many would formally define as deep Appalachia (ie Kentucky, parts of TN) and most certainly the South and the Midwest. For one thing, there's the undeniable facts of geographic location (although some argue that the PMA crosses the Mason-Dixon into extreme Western Maryland). For another, there's politics. Parts of Southwestern PA and WV may be more socially conservative, but they still show a strong labor base and strong moderate to liberal Democratic support. Furthermore, these states choose to fight for the Union cause. Even today that really splits the cultures a lot. Also east, and north of the city, the culture changes A LOT. It takes on more attributes Northeastern culture and to the North, Cleveland.
So what defines the PMA culturally? I like to think that the PMA is its own unique region made up a patchwork quilt of varying regional flavors. After all, I was struck by the classification of Pittsburghese as it's own distinctive dialect region by many of the linguistic studies I consulted. There are only a few cities that share that distinction in the United States, and it really verifies my belief of this area as a unique and very interesting place. I love it here and I'm proud to call myself a Pittsburgher!

My mom was born in Cumberland MD, and moved to Hyndman PA, and met my dad who was born and raised in Hyndman. Daddy had a slight drawl, and my parents never had a Pittsburgh accent... so I didn't have a Pittsburgh accent. (I was raised in Cranberry Twp.) My husband was born and raised in Beaver, PA, with his parents being raised there -- his mom was first generation born American of Irish descent, his Dad had his roots in Trumbull County Ohio -- neither one of them had Pittsburgh accents.

Our languages had several differences from each other.... I had to contend with the huge Pennsylvanian Dutch (German Amish/Mennonite) alnguage influence of my parents... so I would close or outen lights, and open them.... and those long colored sugar candy things you toss on ice cream? I called them Jimmies. We had a soft serve stand on Rte 19 for years called Jimmies, and Brent was POSITIVE that's why I called them that -- he called them sprinkles.

Turns out -- my parents called them jimmies and that appears to be from Boston.... so go figure... my mom's family has stayed around the middle of PA and MD for YEARS (9 generations!) .... and my father had far more influence over how we spoke than my mother.

So I have to say your hypothesis is correct -- the area is a whole patchwork quilt of accents.....