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LMAO Pittsburgh isn't Rust Belt? It is the epitomy of Rust Belt. The steel and other manufacturing industries, the population loss...all screams Rust Belt. If Pittsburgh isn't Rust Belt, there is no Rust Belt.
Well...
1) I live here and wasn't born here so I have a much more objective view of the city.
2) I have lived throughout the East Coast in major cities
3) I have lived outside Buffalo and worked in the city
4) I visit the Rust Belt cities of Ohio and NY constantly
As I said, Pittsburgh is much closer in attitude to DC and Philly than the Ohio or NY cities. Even Youngstown and Pittsburgh are completely opposite in character and they are only a couple hours apart.
Last edited by bluecarebear; 06-22-2016 at 06:46 AM..
Being a Rust Belt city isn't about "attitude" though. Depending on the geographical parameters you wish to use, there are several East Coast cities that could be considered Rust Belt based on their industrial histories such as Baltimore, Camden, Newark, Bridgeport, etc. Even Philly could fit the definition as it has a very palpable post-industrial flavor to it.
Being a Rust Belt city isn't about "attitude" though. Depending on the geographical parameters you wish to use, there are several East Coast cities that could be considered Rust Belt based on their industrial histories such as Baltimore, Camden, Newark, Bridgeport, etc. Even Philly could fit the definition as it has a very palpable post-industrial flavor to it.
In that case, you should add in the industrial cities of Massachusetts.
Well...
1) I live here and wasn't born here so I have a much more objective view of the city.
2) I have lived throughout the East Coast in major cities
3) I have lived outside Buffalo and worked in the city
4) I visit the Rust Belt cities of Ohio and NY constantly
As I said, Pittsburgh is much closer in attitude to DC and Philly than the Ohio or NY cities. Even Youngstown and Pittsburgh are completely opposite in character and they are only a couple hours apart.
Pittsburgh is nothing like D.C. and is really not that similar to Philly. I get it if you don't consider Pittsburgh to be a part of the Midwest but you're really downplaying Pittsburgh's industrial history, hell it's known as Steel City lol.
Philadelphia and Baltimore are also Rust Belts almost as every bit as Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, St Louis, Detroit .. Even Boston has traits of a being a Rust Belt city .... They get overlooked simply because they're in the lavish Acela corridor... And just like many other City-Data exclusive oxymorons, We all know you can't be Rust Belt and have i-95 run through your town.
Rust Belt isn't a name given to formerly heavy industrial cities, it's also based on geography near the lakes.
Chicago-Milwaukee-Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Buffalo are what people are talking about. Not Philly or Trenton or anything.
And Pittsburgh is considerably closer to Cleveland than it is to Philly. Despite the protests of a single poster, most folks recognize that the culture of the I95 cities are more similar to one another than they are to their interior NE cousins.
Agreed. The interior NE actually has more in common with the Midwest than it does with the Bos-Wash corridor.
Rust Belt isn't a name given to formerly heavy industrial cities, it's also based on geography near the lakes.
Chicago-Milwaukee-Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Buffalo are what people are talking about. Not Philly or Trenton or anything.
Pittsburgh isn't really near the Great Lakes though. It's around as far from them as Columbus or Indianapolis is. Locals may go up to Erie once per summer to go to Presque Isle, but they're just as likely to go camping in the woods, or travel to the Jersey Shore or the Outer Banks for vacation.
Rust Belt isn't a name given to formerly heavy industrial cities, it's also based on geography near the lakes.
Chicago-Milwaukee-Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Buffalo are what people are talking about. Not Philly or Trenton or anything.
Not all Rust Belt cities are on the Great Lakes. Pittsburgh and St. Louis aren't for starters and there's no way one could consider these cities to be anything but Rust Belt.
Well...
1) I live here and wasn't born here so I have a much more objective view of the city.
2) I have lived throughout the East Coast in major cities
3) I have lived outside Buffalo and worked in the city
4) I visit the Rust Belt cities of Ohio and NY constantly
As I said, Pittsburgh is much closer in attitude to DC and Philly than the Ohio or NY cities. Even Youngstown and Pittsburgh are completely opposite in character and they are only a couple hours apart.
Pittsburgh is more similar to Cleveland and Buffalo than to DC or Philly in just about every way.
Pittsburgh is more similar to Cleveland and Buffalo than to DC or Philly in just about every way.
I'd actually disagree. Pittsburgh isn't all that similar to Buffalo or Cleveland, despite the cities being relatively close. Different accents, different built vernacular - really nothing in common but a shared industrial heritage. The closest sister city to Pittsburgh in the Midwest is Cincinnati, despite being a longer distance away. Similar architecture, similar accents, similar topography, and the same river setting.
There is not, however, a huge cultural gulf between Philly and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has over a dozen rowhouse neighborhoods which wouldn't look out of place in Philly. And the accents are not incredibly different either. My mother recently moved here. She grew up in Philly, like most of my extended family. She meets individual people with accents so close to Philly she has to remind herself all the time she's not back east. Particularly when you compare the working-class white neighborhoods of the two cities, there just isn't that huge of a difference.
Pittsburgh does have a significant Appalachian influence, which is why it feels somewhat different to someone from the East Coast. People often mistakenly conclude this is Midwestern. I've always said that culturally speaking Pittsburgh is something like 40% Appalachian, 40% East Coast, and 20% Midwestern.
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