Is Pittsburgh/SW-PA more like NE-PA or like West Virginia?

[28CarsLater]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I agree with this. I've lived in Pittsburgh for nine years and grew up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area. Pittsburgh is a very provincial city and metro area overall unless you're in a few pockets of affluent transplant-heavy areas (i.e. the East End of the city proper or the outer North Hills suburban areas like Wexford or Cranberry) where people tend to be more transient and are often affiliated with the academic community.

In my office I'm one of only two people who aren't native Pittsburghers. The other colleague grew up in Vermont but has lived in Pittsburgh now for decades. Everything with my colleagues revolves heavily around family and friends they've had since high school. I've made in-roads (somewhat) socially with native Pittsburghers, but by and large there's a limit to how close they'll let you in since they already have extensive built-in social networks and neither need nor want more social connections beyond those long-standing ones. In that sense the parochialism is very much the same as it was where I grew up equidistant from Scranton or Wilkes-Barre along the I-81 corridor where it seemed like everyone knew everyone through someone else (the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", if you will). Is this really any different from any other metropolitan area with limited in-migration, though?

I don't get the "friendly" Pittsburgher thing, either. In my experience native Pittsburghers are of average friendliness---some are "Minnesota Nice" and some are "Seattle Freeze". It's not like native Pittsburghers are uniformly these bubbly extroverted "Welcome Wagon" types like Bree van de Kamp with a muffin basket, and that's because the metro area has been stagnant in terms of population for generations, so the natives (outside of the East End and outer North Hills) generally don't come across transplants that often in their day-to-day lives.

I'm very familiar with Pittsburgh, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (NEPA), and West Virginia (WV). I can't say Greater Pittsburgh more closely aligns with either NEPA or WV, although it does share attributes with both. Both are rugged areas where a lot of people like to spend time outdoors. Greater Pittsburgh leans left politically. WV is hard right politically. NEPA used to be more moderate politically but has definitely turned more to leaning/tilting right since President Trump was elected. A lot of my old friends and family in NEPA who were formerly politically apathetic are now die-hard Trump supporters, and my native Luzerne County, which has over 300,000 people, went hardcore Republican in 2016 for the first time in generations, if ever. On social media I'm seeing more and more people from NEPA posting xenophobic, homophobic/transphobic, and otherwise prejudiced commentary. It's sad, really. Pittsburgh leaves both areas in the dust in terms of socioeconomics, as both NEPA and WV are generally depressed.

I largely agree with what you've said that I can speak to, but I would point out there is a difference between being afraid/fearful of something and simply disagreeing with it/not liking it.

[Knepper3]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Been here for 10 years.
Raised in Lancaster County in a Mennonite culture.
Raised in a different culture, but I've lived here long enough that I feel very comfortable commenting on my perspective of the local culture.

Sometimes outsiders can see a culture more clearly, particularly if the natives haven't lived elsewhere.
Ask a fish to explain water, when its only every lived in a fishbowl. Its all it knows and doesn't have any points of reference. Same thing with Pittsburghers who haven't lived elsewhere.

And sometimes outsiders have no point of reference other than their prior limited lives. Everything is relative, I've been here 12 years and I most likely have more perspective than most on here. I grew up in NJ, Lived in FL for 11 years, and for the 13 years my work took me all over the us spending weeks or months in various city in 28 states. I'm also a listener, so I hear much more than people think.



Anymore it seems everyone is more thin skinned than in the past, I don't feel Pittsburgh is much different than other areas though people here do tend to speak their mind more than some other areas. I dont think people here are superficially friendly, in some more more upscale areas maybe a little but not overall. People here remind me a lot of the south, most are friendly though not quite as polite as the south but both places if they don't care for you they are not going keep you in their circle. I don't think Pittsburgh is hyper localized, but it is a little as many people have a thing about crossing bridges like it's the Mexican border but other than that no.



Are some other areas more welcoming, maybe but I think that is just the nature of any city like Pittsburgh. When we moved here my 2 blocks ordered us dinner the day we moved in and had a welcoming party so we could meet all our neighbors. Overall we have made plenty of friends but maybe not as many close friends as that is harder and takes longer given the area is still more of a generational pittsburgher thing with long established friendship. I think any area that is not meca for transplants would see the same thing.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Knepper3

Overall we have made plenty of friends but maybe not as many close friends as that is harder and takes longer given the area is still more of a generational pittsburgher thing with long established friendship. I think any area that is not meca for transplants would see the same thing.

^ I agree with this. WV, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and MOST of Greater Pittsburgh (outside of the East End and places like Wexford or Cranberry) aren't transplant meccas, and, as such, transplants that do arrive DO need to try harder to make deeper friendships with natives. It seems to be that way in places like Northern New England, too.

I'm not as off-putting or rude in real life as I come across on this sub-forum, so I DO have many nominal/marginal friendships here with native Pittsburghers. I have very few DEEP friendships with native Pittsburghers, though, even after being here almost a decade. Most of my deep friendships are with fellow transplants.

It's out of necessity. As I said if you grew up here and have tons of family and childhood friends here, then you don't "need" any more friends or connections. If you didn't grow up here and have zero friends here, then you DO "need" some friends and have to be more extroverted to make that happen.

Overall I find Pittsburghers to be of average friendliness. I'm guessing these "very friendly Pittsburghers" the natives brag about must be out in the suburbs.

[Knepper3]

I also have a skewed bias growing up in NJ. Between NJ and NY visitors everyone seems more friendly to me. I have a few close friendships with lifelong pittsburghers and many casual friendships but I also take fault in that after 12 years. Many casual might have become closer but my life has been so crazy that I havent had time. I think that is part of the problem for everywhere. We pack our lives with so much stuff it is hard to develop those relationships. 50-60 work weeks, kids that are in a million activities, work on the house, dealing with family health issues, deaths.........

[tstone]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ I agree with this. WV, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and MOST of Greater Pittsburgh (outside of the East End and places like Wexford or Cranberry) aren't transplant meccas, and, as such, transplants that do arrive DO need to try harder to make deeper friendships with natives. It seems to be that way in places like Northern New England, too.

Northern New England is a beautiful but bizzaro world removed from the mainstream, and from my visiting there I feel it may be even worse than the Pittsburgh area if you're a transplant.

The absolute nicest, most down to earth people I met here were all semi-affluent folks from the WV panhandle. But at the end of the day, they go back to WV.

As for Wexford, there are some transplants but I wouldn't call it a mecca. Many folks here went to NA schools, lived in the city for college through age 27ish, got married and moved back. Generally I find them cliquish, superficial and unlikable. We made Zero friends with locals but did make some from the NYC area & eastern PA (who held the same sentiment regarding the locals). And that also filters to the kids & schools... for example NA is excellent academically/professionally but could use a lot of help socially.

[PghYinzer]

I didn’t grow up in Pittsburgh, but moved here 16 years ago. I found when I lived in rentals the reception was different than when I finally bought a house. Heck, I found the friendliness of some of my neighbors to be downright awkward. I couldn’t tell you the amount to times I had to turn down invites to pool parties and bbqs that weren’t even at their house, but at their sisters house up on Mt. Washington or some other neighborhood. Anecdotal for sure, but the friendliness was borderline nebby in some cases.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

Anecdotal for sure, but the friendliness was borderline nubby in some cases.

Ok, nubby? That's a new one to me. Do you mean nebby? Lol. Or is that Brookline slang

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by zalewskimm

Ok, nubby? That's a new one to me. Do you mean nebby? Lol. Or is that Brookline slang

Autocorrect strikes again!!!