Pittsburgh, the Capital of Allegheny State (Philadelphia, Harrisburg: homes, neighborhoods, construction)

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by ctoocheck

That, and just making the popular vote what really counts for electing the president on a national scale, getting rid of the whole Electoral College thing altogether. In any case, all states, I think, should have the same procedures. Or something.

I think the Electoral College was a smarter idea than was originally envisioned. Thanks to the Electoral College, power is not concentrated in high population areas of the country. It still is to some extent but it gives the smaller states more say in how things are done. As a result, presidential candidates won't ignore Iowa and Kansas.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Well, I never felt that East and West PA belonged together. Philly might as well be in another state as I never felt any connection to it at all (and the rest of Eastern PA for that matter). You really could cut PA in half and Pittsburgh's influence does extend westward and southward across the borders and down the Ohio River. My impression is that State College is more in Pittsburgh's influence than Philly. They both share that connection to the mountains. And being a state capital would raise Pittsburgh importance. Harrisburg is way more important than it should be.

I disagree. While there are fair number of striking differences between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there are a lot more subtle similarities.

[pman]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

I disagree. While there are fair number of striking differences between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there are a lot more subtle similarities.

i tend to agree with you on this. theu really arent as different as he implies.
i also wonder how easy transit funding will be to come by in his new state of west virginia.
mathman-scranton is the same geographically.
i could see city states but thats not this map nor is it going to happen. like it or not pittsburgh has very strong connections to the east.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by pman

i suspect this is more about a strange hatred of philly.

Most Pittsburghers have no opinion about Philly whatsoever. They've never been to Philly. They don't hear about Philly in news for conversation. Heck, they don't even have a football team rivalry with Philly. That was reserved for Cleveland.

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

I grew up in Eastern Ohio, and we definitely related more with Pittsburgh than Columbus or Cleveland.

That's interesting. I wonder which city Western Ohio associates with the most.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by pman

i tend to agree with you on this. theu really arent as different as he implies.
i also wonder how easy transit funding will be to come by in his new state of west virginia.
mathman-scranton is the same geographically.
i could see city states but thats not this map nor is it going to happen. like it or not pittsburgh has very strong connections to the east.

"Allegheny" would be a very poor state with only Pittsburgh for a large metro. I'll agree that Pittsburgh needs Philly. There's a lot of wealth in the Philly metro. It only benefits Pittsburgh to stay in the same state with Philly. If Philly were smart, Philly would want to dump Pittsburgh like a hot potato.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Most Pittsburghers have no opinion about Philly whatsoever. They've never been to Philly. They don't hear about Philly in news for conversation. Heck, they don't even have a football team rivalry with Philly. That was reserved for Cleveland.


That's interesting. I wonder which city Western Ohio associates with the most.

I don't think much of Ohio really identifies in simple East/West terms like in PA. It works in PA because the only large cities are situated at the extreme ends of the state. Before moving to Pittsburgh I lived in Toledo and it is thought of in terms of "Northwest Ohio", and there is almost zero connection to Cincy, Columbus, or Dayton. Detroit and Cleveland would be the two cities that Toledoans identify with, or even Chicago, but I think most people in Toledo tend to merely identify with Toledo. I assume at least places like Cleveland, Cincy, Columbus, and Datyon identify as their own place. It's not until you get into places like Akron, Canton, or Youngstown that they start to identify more with nearby cities.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by pman

i tend to agree with you on this. theu really arent as different as he implies.

We are nothing alike. Far more different than similar. Might as well say we've got things in common with Atlanta.

i also wonder how easy transit funding will be to come by in his new state of west virginia.

Well, it certainly ain't easy with our friend Philadelphia in the same state.

mathman-scranton is the same geographically.

They are way over nearer to NYC. NYC is more meaningful to Scranton than Pittsburgh.

i could see city states but thats not this map nor is it going to happen. like it or not pittsburgh has very strong connections to the east.

What connections? We've got an entire mountain range separating us. Amtrak makes frequent daily runs to Harrisburg and Philly but not to Pittsburgh. Philadelphia is about as important to Pittsburgh as Boston.

[Katarina Witt]

I think this is just a "think-tank" project. As someone upthread stated, these new combined states would have to enact new sets of laws. Actually, new state constitutions would have to be written. Oh, vey! That would take up everyone's time for a few decades. Now in this state of Ogalalla, how is Colorado's new amendment to its constitution, legalizing marijuana, going to fly in the former Wyoming? Just one of many potential problems. K-12 schools wouldn't be too affected, unless state lines were crossed, but state university systems would be thrown into chaos.

And what happens when population is no longer equal in these created states? Do we re-draw state lines every few years?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

And what happens when population is no longer equal in these created states? Do we re-draw state lines every few years?

I was thinking the same thing when I looked at Shiprock. That area will gain more population as California jumps the borders. Most eastern "states" will gain population quickly. Do they just get made smaller and smaller until they are the size of Rhode Island? Redrawing state lines is a downright silly concept, and that's why the current system assigns representatives based on population. Someone had fun doing it. Maybe you and I should create some crazy map. We'll get on Yahoo news, Katiana!

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I was thinking the same thing when I looked at Shiprock. That area will gain more population as California jumps the borders. Most eastern "states" will gain population quickly. Do they just get made smaller and smaller until they are the size of Rhode Island? Redrawing state lines is a downright silly concept, and that's why the current system assigns representatives based on population. Someone had fun doing it. Maybe you and I should create some crazy map. We'll get on Yahoo news, Katiana!

We could probably do as well!