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Penn is more like Ohio than Maryland in my opinion. Pretty boring to me.
I really can't imagine how anyone could find PA "boring" in any way shape or form or on any level.
We have beautiful mountains, lakes and rivers that afford four seasons of recreation. We have history from the battlefields of Gettysburg to the the rich history associated with anthracite coal mining.
We have two large and vibrant cities - Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and several smaller urban areas all of which afford an amazing array of cultural activities and night life.
We are a diverse state and we are home to Quakers, Jews, Protestants, Eastern Othodox, Catholics, Muslims and Mennonites. At out local farmers market along side the vegetables and fruits that our fertile valleys yeild, one can find Pennsylvania Dutch pickles and preserves, Eastern European Poppy rolls and pirogies, pizza and felafel from the Middle East.
I can't see how anyone could ever find PA "boring."
In response to the OP's question, PA is not really similar to either OH or MD.
It's mountainous and possessed of it's own Grand Canyon, so it does not lave the flat terrain that characteristics either the mid west or coastal Maryland; both of which are lovely states in their own right but not very much like PA.
Buffalo is pretty close. Pittsburgh isn't THAT much bigger. There are also a few other 1 million+ metros in New York.
There are three MSAs with 1,000,000+ population in New York (New York, Buffalo, Rochester), and two in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh). And the Pittsburgh MSA (2,356,285) is much larger than the Buffalo MSA (1,135,509). In fact, it's larger than the Buffalo and Rochester MSAs combined (2,189,832).
The similarities are uncanny, though, with each state having the largest MSA and most of the population in the southeastern part, and a decent-sized cluster in the western part. For that matter, each state also has a deceivingly large MSA in the east-central part: Albany (870,716) and Allentown/Bethlehem (821,173).
To elaborate on what I said earlier, I believe the tangible of Pennsylvania most closely resembles Maryland, while the intangible most closely resembles New York. What I mean by "tangible" is that which we can see, like architecture, built environment, development patterns and infrastructure, and what I mean by "intangible" is that which is less obvious, like the economy, government, culture and attitudes.
Then you must agree that Northeastern Ohio has some strong influences from Pennsylvania and upstate New York, even some southern Ontario in there.
Northeastern Ohio is Midwest/Great Lakes culture with some southern New England influences. Southwestern Pennsylvania is Northeast/Mid-Atlantic culture with some Appalachian influences. There are some similarities between the two cities, but there are also several differences that are too often understated, and sharing a heavy industrial past and using the term "pop" for carbonated soft drinks doesn't eliminate those differences either.
Northeastern Ohio is Midwest/Great Lakes culture with some southern New England influences. Southwestern Pennsylvania is Northeast/Mid-Atlantic culture with some Appalachian influences. There are some similarities between the two cities, but there are also several differences that are too often understated, and sharing a heavy industrial past and using the term "pop" for carbonated soft drinks doesn't eliminate those differences either.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Southwestern PA does use the term pop according to a carbonated beverage regional map.
Im not sure I would exactly say that because Baltimore lacks a large a large Italian, Puerto Rican and Dominican population like you will find in the true northeastern cities like New York, Philly and Boston. Now would I call Baltimore southern? Of course not because there are definitely some northern traits.
Baltimore does have Italian and Puerto Rican populations present, though it isnt as large as in Philly, NYC, or Boston... Now DC, on the other hand doesntdoesnt have any viable Italian or PR populations at all. Maybe a few here and there, but definently not enough to call it a population.
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