One Pennsylvania

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Map Man

My best recommendation would be to build a high speed rail with 3 stops: Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philly. As it stands now it's a 5 hour drive from Philly to Pittsburgh which is just too long. Not going to happen due to cost, but it would be a game changer in those 3 areas were better connected.

A Philly-to-Pittsburgh Hyperloop Just Got One Tiny Step Closer to Reality | Philadelphia Magazine

I still think the technology is closer to fantasy than reality, but:

• the hyperloop is actually at base a souped-up version of the first subway in America, Alfred Ely Beach's 1870 pneumatic-tube demonstration project under Broadway in New York
  
• people are pouring serious money into developing this technology, so the odds of its becoming reality increase with each passing month

[Fireshaker]

The topic of this thread, originally, was "One Pennsylvania" and how we can bridge the gap between urban-suburban-rural areas.

Part of the gap is, to put it mildly, strong ideological and legislative differences in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. And politics becomes somewhat relevant when in the last election, Pennsylvania went for a candidate whose rhetoric has been often openly hostile to non-white groups. Maybe not every person who voted for Trump actually believes and wants those things, but at the very least, it signals an implicit support for some very hateful positions. If I'm gay, or trans, or POC, it is absolutely not out of bounds to question whether bridging the gap with some of those people is even possible given what has been said about them. It shouldn't become the focus of this conversation, but merely mentioning it is not some terrible faux pas.

[Flyers Girl]

Unless you're talking about a fairly small state (think the size of Delaware or Rhode Island), I can't think of any state in the union that has bridged the gap on its culture and economics. And really, why would someone want that level of homogeny anyway? It's be pretty boring if we were all the same, don't you think?


I know that I am simplifying the issue and that the OP is actually looking at how the state as a whole is doing, but I honestly don't see how what he's proposing can happen, especially in a state the size of PA.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Often enough, the places where they really don't want you have other, subtler ways of sending that message.

I have a tendency to ignore them.

The lack of awareness of still extant homophobia is pretty breathtaking, isn't it? But, yes, ignoring it, as best we can, does work for our peace of mind.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

Because you chose to bring politics into a non-political forum by bashing Trump and Trump supporters. So I called you out on it. Don't worry, you're not "famous". Lol!

P1, it was part of what the thread is about. The political divide in the state and the president is part of that conversation. It can't be avoided.

Let me be clear, we disagree about many things but you are not my enemy. The Russian moles /spys/assets who are surely embedded within the Philadelphia Russian community are my enemies.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Flyers Girl

Unless you're talking about a fairly small state (think the size of Delaware or Rhode Island), I can't think of any state in the union that has bridged the gap on its culture and economics. And really, why would someone want that level of homogeny anyway? It's be pretty boring if we were all the same, don't you think?


I know that I am simplifying the issue and that the OP is actually looking at how the state as a whole is doing, but I honestly don't see how what he's proposing can happen, especially in a state the size of PA.

Agreed. People seem to forget how big PA is. It takes about as much time to cross it to Ohio as it does to drive to Boston.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Fireshaker

While generally I agree on keeping political stuff out of most conversations, unfortunately, it's not that simple in this case. The topic of this thread, originally, was "One Pennsylvania" and how we can bridge the gap between urban-suburban-rural areas.

Part of the gap is, to put it mildly, strong ideological and legislative differences in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. And politics becomes somewhat relevant when in the last election, Pennsylvania went for a candidate whose rhetoric has been often openly hostile to non-white groups. Maybe not every person who voted for Trump actually believes and wants those things, but at the very least, it signals an implicit support for some very hateful positions. If I'm gay, or trans, or POC, it is absolutely not out of bounds to question whether bridging the gap with some of those people is even possible given what has been said about them. It shouldn't become the focus of this conversation, but merely mentioning it is not some terrible faux pas.

Stop feeling attacked because someone brought up Trump. No one attacked you personally, so chill out.

Thank you. Just +1'd this.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

Rebranding Philadelphia into a more Pennsylvania centric mindset would 100% benefit both the city and the state, as there is an unfortunate lingering mentality that Philadelphia is still lost and burning by many in Harrisburg and other people throughout the state.

Even our metro area is called the Delaware Valley, (which was not coined until the 1960s) which just reinforces this lack of cohesion of branding and economics to empower both Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.

Before this, it was always. Greater Philadelphia. And there was definitely a pride by all to be from PA and therefore resources were aligned appropriately.

My question is. How can we bridge Philadelphia + Pittsburgh + Harrisburg.

3 strong performing metros. Which all (as with all of the state) think entirely independently of each other and therefore end up fighting each other, rather than working together.

Thoughts. Ideas. Insights.

The goal is to create a One Pennsylvania mindset that builds acknowledgment of opportunities, resources and value to start investing smarter statewide, which obviously includes a more positive connotation of Philadelphia and Southeast Pennsylvania.

I'm opening this thread back up after deleting some off topic/rude/gay bashing posts. Going forward, I would really appreciate it if everyone would report rude posts instead of responding to them. My clumsy editing is from trying to remove posts that were against the terms of service or orphaned because I removed the post they were referring to but try to keep comments that addressed the op. I agree that it's hard to separate local politics from National ones, but its important that we do so because I've found that once you start talking about Trump, the topic goes totally out of the local discussion and posters from other forums jump in just to get in on the action. I'm a volunteer and I am NOT going to moderate that.