Is PA now more like WV and OH than northeast states? (Pittsburgh: home, live in)

[MMS02760]

I am starting to think that PA is not really like the other Northeast states such as all of New England, NY, NJ, DE, and MD. While it shares some traits with these neighboring NE states, it in some respects is closer in character to adjoining West Virginia and OH.

[CookieSkoon]

No, trust me. It's still a lot like the inland northeast.

If you are talking politics you have to remember that states like Maryland and New York are always over-shadowed by their metros cores.

For example, both Maryland and NY state were largely red this election, and usually are. However the major cities are dis-proportionally large by population to the rest of their home states. Even in PA and Ohio, the major metros are blue centric areas.

Most of Upstate NY, Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Maryland are all very very similar places. It's almost a region unto itself.

[aewan68]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

I am starting to think that PA is not really like the other Northeast states such as all of New England, NY, NJ, DE, and MD. While it shares some traits with these neighboring NE states, it in some respects is closer in character to adjoining West Virginia and OH.

I'm assuming you are stating this on the election results, well PA is a big state and it's also very rural, but in reality the split was similar to FL while OH and WV were much more out of balance. That being said it was close in both of those states.

Why Trump won PA.

How Trump took Pennsylvania: Wins everywhere (almost) but the southeast

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

I am starting to think that PA is not really like the other Northeast states such as all of New England, NY, NJ, DE, and MD. While it shares some traits with these neighboring NE states, it in some respects is closer in character to adjoining West Virginia and OH.

Are Wisconsin and Iowa no longer part of the Upper Midwest? Is Nevada no longer part of the Interior West?

[Dequindre]

PA has always been much more traditional socially and economically than other Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states, and I doubt that it will ever change.

[jtab4994]

James Carville and other elites love to put down PA by saying "It's Philly on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle". He kind of has a point about voting patterns although he skips Scranton and Erie which are also big Democrat strongholds.


I live in Monroe County which has been "NYC's 6th borough" for quite a while now, and election results show that during Presidential years though not so much during off-year elections and in local races. We came close to going red this time, but the city people were enough to keep the county light blue.


A lot of people in PA who once would have worked in coal mines now work in the fracking industry and they didn't want to see their jobs taken away. Others hold out hope that some coal mines may re-open now, and they can go back to work as machine operators.

[aewan68]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

James Carville and other elites love to put down PA by saying "It's Philly on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle". He kind of has a point about voting patterns although he skips Scranton and Erie which are also big Democrat strongholds.


I live in Monroe County which has been "NYC's 6th borough" for quite a while now, and election results show that during Presidential years though not so much during off-year elections and in local races. We came close to going red this time, but the city people were enough to keep the county light blue.


A lot of people in PA who once would have worked in coal mines now work in the fracking industry and they didn't want to see their jobs taken away. Others hold out hope that some coal mines may re-open now, and they can go back to work as machine operators.

That is changing though, Centre and Dauphin County went Blue and they fall within the area. The areas that went Red and tend to do for years are rural counties, a lot of people lost their jobs with factories moving out and there is fear what jobs remain could be gone, so Trump appealed to these types of people.

[HappyRider]

I knew it but not to this extent. Montgomery County votes in proportions similar to California; 2 to 1 Democrat. Have lived here most of my life but you'd never know it unless you look it up. How did that happen?

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

I am starting to think that PA is not really like the other Northeast states such as all of New England, NY, NJ, DE, and MD. While it shares some traits with these neighboring NE states, it in some respects is closer in character to adjoining West Virginia and OH.

It's not in the NE. Well, it is, but it's not. It is in the Mid-Atlantic. A lot of PA is like New York, parts of Ohio, and West Virginia. Philly is a different story. Pittsburgh isn't like the the small towns.

[bradjl2009]

Well a district in Maine went for him too and I feel like from looking at the results if Upstate NY was its own state, it would have gone to Trump. A lot of counties that went for Obama went for him this time.