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The northeastern US is characterized and defined by the following:
Large, compact, walkable cities with extensive public transportation, a high population density, a highly educated populace, high incomes especially from white-collar jobs, high cost of living, liberal politics, a strong historical connection to the founding of the United States, a distinct 4-season climate and east coast location, of course.
That pretty much sums it up.
A good chunk of this applies to the west coast as well.
Demographically, Buffalo and Pittsburgh are pretty distinct from Midwestern cities, and still resemble cities on the Coast a bit more. These numbers are for the Italian/Irish/Polish/Jewish population for the 10 largest metros in the Northeast plus a few additional non-NE metros. All of the highest metros are in the Northeast.
Buffalo - 38.61% of MSA (48.57% of NHW population)
Boston - 36.45% of MSA (49.38% of NHW population)
New Haven - 36.07% of MSA (55.09% of NHW population)
Philadelphia - 33.03% of MSA (51.26% of NHW population)
Hartford - 32.86% of MSA (47.21% of NHW population)
New York - 32.26% of MSA (66.94% of NHW population)
Pittsburgh - 31.80% of MSA (36.55% of NHW population)
Worcester - 30.13% of MSA (37.27% of NHW population)
Rochester - 30.12% of MSA (38.57% of NHW population)
Providence - 27.72% of MSA (34.83% of NHW population)
Cleveland - 26.69% of MSA (37.01% of NHW population)
Chicago - 22.81% of MSA (41.78% of NHW population)
Detroit - 21.19% of MSA (31.16% of NHW population)
Baltimore - 19.98% of MSA (33.78% of NHW population)
Washington - 14.25% of MSA (30.42% of NHW population)
Hampton Roads - 13.25% of MSA (23.16% of non-Hispanic Whites)
Richmond - 12.07% of MSA (20.07% of non-Hispanic Whites)
Buffalo and Pittsburgh linguistically and culturally are more Midwestern than Northeastern. Demographics only tell a third of the story.
Buffalo and Pittsburgh linguistically and culturally are more Midwestern than Northeastern. Demographics only tell a third of the story.
I don't live in Buffalo, but I've been in Pittsburgh for ten years, and I'm originally from the East Coast. I can't see any reason why someone would call it Midwestern, honestly. Appalachian, yes, but not Midwestern.
If you or anyone else has some reasons, I'm all ears.
I don't live in Buffalo, but I've been in Pittsburgh for ten years, and I'm originally from the East Coast. I can't see any reason why someone would call it Midwestern, honestly. Appalachian, yes, but not Midwestern.
If you or anyone else has some reasons, I'm all ears.
I guess because they say pop instead of soda.
There's no such thing as a Northeastern dialect. Nor is there such a thing as Northeastern culture for that matter.
The only other reason to call Pittsburgh or Buffalo the Midwest is because they go against the definition of "Northeast" some people on here are trying to create. And that makes no sense because those cities are every bit as Northeastern as Boston or New York. In what bizzaro reality could Baltimore, a city that has parks and monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, be "Northeastern" but not Buffalo or Pittsburgh?
I'd say there are several Northeasts. There's DC, Baltimore, and Philly, then New Jersey and New York and Connecticut, then New England. Then you have Western New York and Western Pennsylvania which really are more a part of the Midwest than the Northeast.
So, wait...why are these other cities like Buffalo and Pittsburgh part of the Midwest??????
But in Pittsburgh they say it "pawp" unlike the Midwest which says it "pahp". We also call them the Steelers and not the Stillers and we say creek instead of crick, wash instead of warsh, and say down instead of dahn.
I don't live in Buffalo, but I've been in Pittsburgh for ten years, and I'm originally from the East Coast. I can't see any reason why someone would call it Midwestern, honestly. Appalachian, yes, but not Midwestern.
If you or anyone else has some reasons, I'm all ears.
Yeah Pittsburgh is not Midwestern by any stretch of the imagination. In fact my dad, born in Gary, Indiana to a Pittsburgh native (my paternal grandfather) would make it a point to NOT sound like his funny talking parents because people always pointed out how weird they sounded. The Chicago accent is a universe away from the Pittsburgh accent.
Where do you live in Pittsburgh? I spend time in Squirrel Hill visiting my funny talking grandmother from time to time. I go to her hahs and eat chipped ham and drink a bir while watching da Stillers game. Her husband (my late grandfather) used to be an "arn worker" in Pittsburgh before he and her moved to Gary, Indiana to do the same job at US Still (Steel). In fact, there is a Steelers Bar in Northwest Indiana that was opened by Pittsburgh natives who relocated there as well.
Anyway, I love Pittsburgh. I'd live there but it's too hilly for me. I am a flat-lander. Hilly is even an understatement. That place has mountains with roads on them. I wonder how they even do road maintenance without their equipment rolling dahn.
Even the Northeastern wealth thing is blown out of proportion on here. Excluding Maryland, 26 of the richest 100 counties in the U.S. are in the South. 23 are in the Census-designated Northeast.
I think the Northeastern = Wealth thing was more true after the Civil War and during the early part of the 19th Century and early part of the 20th Century when the old money and industrial wealth was disproportionately concentrated here (Carnegie, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, aristocratic Philadelphia and Boston families, etc.). A lot has changed in 100 years or so.
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