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Pittsburgh - Appalachian city in a Northeastern state (and technically also a Mid-Atlantic state) ... And, gasp, some Midwestern characteristics, regardless of whether people from Pittsburgh want to believe that.
Nobody says that Pittsburgh has no Midwestern characteristics, just that Pittsburgh is not a Midwestern city. It's like how St. Louis has a few Southern characteristics, but it's not a Southern city. Locations near the edges of their regions tend to exhibit a few characteristics of other regions nearby.
Nobody says that Pittsburgh has no Midwestern characteristics, just that Pittsburgh is not a Midwestern city. It's like how St. Louis has a few Southern characteristics, but it's not a Southern city. Locations near the edges of their regions tend to exhibit a few characteristics of other regions nearby.
What are Pittsburgh’s midwestern characteristics? It’s certainly not built environment or overall lifestyle. It’s not the food either.
Once again, I still maintain that there are countless people who conflate ”Rust Belt” with ”Midwest,” whereas they are absolutely NOT synonymous.
I was guilty of conflating "Great Lakes" with "Midwest" in my previous post, which (and I've even argued this) are not one in the same. It's like the Mid-Atlantic or Appalachian in that it's not one of the four defined regions, but a sub-region that overlaps with the U.S.'s defined regions.
A more correct way, IMO, would be:
Buffalo: Great Lakes city in a Northeast State (and a state that technically is also considered Mid-Atlantic). It has very little Midwest characteristics if you don't conflate Great Lakes with Midwest. And would have zero Mid-Atlantic characteristics.
Erie: Same as Buffalo
Pittsburgh: Appalachian city in a Northeast state (and a state that is widely considered Mid-Atlantic). It has some Great Lakes characteristics (specifically the high number of eastern Europeans/Slavs that heavily immigrated to the Great Lakes region). But it otherwise has very little Midwest characteristics. But I think it is fair to say that Pittsburgh is more closely aligned to the Great Lakes than it is to Mid-Atlantic. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but weren't Pittsburgh's steel mills linked to the Mesabi Iron Range via the Great Lakes, with raw materials shipped to Cleveland/Ashtabula/Erie and then transported to the major Steel areas like the Mahoning Valley, Pittsburgh area/SW Pa., Eastern Ohio.
Cleveland: Great Lakes city in a Midwest state (Much of Ohio may have been settled by people from the Mid-Atlantic, but it's definitely not a Mid-Atlantic state ... and Cleveland itself doesn't have any Mid-Atlantic characteristics). Cleveland/NE Ohio does have some Northeast (New England/New York) characteristics along with some "traditional" Midwest characteristics, especially on its western half (southern Lorain County, western Medina County, Wayne County) where it flattens and is farming dominated.
If the definition has to encompass states in their entireties, then it would be:
DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York
(i.e. the states that are Northeastern but not New England).
Pittsburgh: Appalachian city in a Northeast state (and a state that is widely considered Mid-Atlantic). It has some Great Lakes characteristics (specifically the high number of eastern Europeans/Slavs that heavily immigrated to the Great Lakes region). But it otherwise has very little Midwest characteristics. But I think it is fair to say that Pittsburgh is more closely aligned to the Great Lakes than it is to Mid-Atlantic. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but weren't Pittsburgh's steel mills linked to the Mesabi Iron Range via the Great Lakes, with raw materials shipped to Cleveland/Ashtabula/Erie and then transported to the major Steel areas like the Mahoning Valley, Pittsburgh area/SW Pa., Eastern Ohio.
Some things I agree here but the odd statement is Pgh is more aligned with the great lakes because of some trade in a certain short era (I think from about 1920-1950 only 30 years), this is a very weird idea.
Pittsburgh was a colonial settlement and has a long history connected to the other midatlantic areas, way before the auto industry connections to the great lakes ( and it still exists today with other business and familial ties).
the eastern euro statement is also odd though - all big northeastern cities have a significant eastern european component. for example, Philadelphia has several large neighborhoods of them, including Port Richmond (old school Polish hood). NYC has many eastern euros and slavs in many various areas all over the region. Pittsburgh is also the most Italian major metro in the US, another big midatlantic trait. and the large number of historic brick rowhouses in many neighborhoods.
Pittsburgh was a colonial settlement and has a long history connected to the other midatlantic areas, way before the auto industry connections to the great lakes ( and it still exists today with other business and familial ties).
I think people also don't realize how close geographically Pittsburgh is to Washington DC. It's 60-70 miles closer than Pittsburgh is to Philadelphia.
To shake-up this conversation a bit, I don't agree with the assertion that "Appalachia" is a singular region. The mountain range stretches way to far to really be classified into one region. In fact, I would say these are the states in the Mid-Atlantic region: NY/PA/NJ/DE/MD/VA/WVA
What are Pittsburgh’s midwestern characteristics? It’s certainly not built environment or overall lifestyle.
A few cultural ties to Ohio and Detroit, basically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thedirtypirate
I think people also don't realize how close geographically Pittsburgh is to Washington DC. It's 60-70 miles closer than Pittsburgh is to Philadelphia.
In fact, Pittsburgh is closer to Washington D.C., Baltimore and Rochester than it is to Detroit and Cincinnati. It's also closer to Philadelphia than it is to Indianapolis, closer to New York than it is to Chicago, closer to Hartford and Providence than it is to Milwaukee, and closer to Boston than it is to St. Louis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thedirtypirate
To shake-up this conversation a bit, I don't agree with the assertion that "Appalachia" is a singular region. The mountain range stretches way to far to really be classified into one region. In fact, I would say these are the states in the Mid-Atlantic region: NY/PA/NJ/DE/MD/VA/WVA
Honestly, it seems like much of the bundling together of Appalachia is done by New Englanders, New Yorkers, New Jerseyans and Ohioans as a way to put down Pennsylvanians as "hillbillies," "hicks" and "inbreds," as well as an attempt by the politics-obsessed to legitimize James Carville's absurd summary of Pennsylvania politics by creating a loose geographic connection.
Anybody who's actually traveled throughout the Appalachians knows that a) there are as many differences within the mountain range as similarities, b) many of the similarities within the range were put there by Pennsylvania settlers in the first place, and c) the aforementioned New Englanders, New Yorkers, New Jerseyans and Ohioans who partake in Appalachian-based insults are just as parochial as they make Pennsylvanians and other Appalachians out to be.
Random but other things that make me think of a Maryland as Mid Atlantic AND the South- older women here call me “honey” “sweetie” and “baby” …I’m 6’0 255 with a beard. And by older I mean like 40/45
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How would you define the Mid Atlantic region?
