Pittsburgh and other Northeastern cities (appraise, safe, areas)

[JoeP]

Anyone from NY, NJ, or Philly who has visited Pittsburgh would laugh at the notion that Pittsburgh is (culturally) a NorthEastern city. If you look at a map, I guess one could argue that Pittsburgh qualifies.......but culturally??

Yes culturally. Not in everyway, but that’s because not every part of the region is the same. NJ, NY and Philly don't = Northeast. They are parts of the Northeast.

[BrianTH]

By the way, to add just a bit of substance to this discussion:

In 1974 the Office of Management and Budget issued Circular A-105, which defined ten "Standard Federal Regions". The idea was to slowly get the various domestic federal agencies to adopt a common regional structure. That never happened, however, and in 1995 the OMB rescinded Circular A-105.

As it turns out, Pittsburgh was in Region III, compromised of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia. New York and New Jersey were in their own region (Region II), and all the states further northeast from New York comprised Region I. There was no higher-level region corresponding with a "Northeast" that would include both Pittsburgh and, say, New York City and Boston.

But I think the important point is that to my knowledge, this was the only recent attempt to define official U.S. regions under federal law--and it failed and was withdrawn. In that sense, there really are no "official" U.S. regions.

[bboy36win]

I'm with Joe; influences aside, Pittsburgh is located in the Northeast.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by bboy36win

I'm with Joe; influences aside, Pittsburgh is located in the Northeast.

And to make sure I am being clear, you and Joe certainly are not alone in that sentiment.

But not everyone agrees with you and Joe, and indeed there are lots of different ways in which people can disagree with Joe's position. So my main point here has been that whether or not Joe thinks there should be a debate about this issue, that debate is in fact happening (and in my experience, certainly not just here).

[ainulinale]

Originally Posted by zip95

Obviously people feel strongly about this issue so I'll just say one thing.

Anyone from NY, NJ, or Philly who has visited Pittsburgh would laugh at the notion that Pittsburgh is (culturally) a NorthEastern city. If you look at a map, I guess one could argue that Pittsburgh qualifies.......but culturally??

I just don't think NY, NJ, Philly, B-More, DC, Bos all have the same culture. Even if they did, that would most likely exclude Pittsburgh as East Coast, or simply affirm what we all know already--that Pittsburgh isn't part of Bos-Wash.
In addition, I don't think "culture" is the only that should be examined in the determination of a city's status as Northeastern or not. BTW, what is East Coast culture anyway?

[ainulinale]

I just wanted to add that I did another poll--this one on skyscraper forum in the Northeast section. According to those in the Northeast section:
6 consider Pittsburgh Northeastern and Appalachian
4 consider Pittsburgh simply Northeastern
2 consider Pittsburgh simply Appalachian
1 considers Pittsburgh Midwestern

I did not vote on this poll.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by ainulinale

In addition, I don't think "culture" is the only that should be examined in the determination of a city's status as Northeastern or not.

I would agree culture is not the only relevant issue when defining meaningful regions. I'd also cite history, physical geography, language, economics, communication and transportation patterns, governmental service areas, and so on. And I think on the basis of almost all the potentially relevant factors, one can meaningfully distinguish the region in question from both the Great Lakes region and the East Coast region.

As an aside, I think it is begging the question a bit to frame the issue as whether or not Pittsburgh is Northeastern, since before we get to that issue, we would have to determine whether or not the "Northeast" was a meaningful region. In other words, if we determine that, say, the region in question is sufficiently distinct from the East Coast that there is little utility in lumping them together in one larger region, then we might well conclude that the term "Northeast" wasn't serving to define a meaningful region.

[PeterRabbit]

Pittsburgh is Northeastern. People who have only lived here part of their lives have opinions that don't count.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by PeterRabbit

Pittsburgh is Northeastern. People who have only lived here part of their lives have opinions that don't count.

For what it is worth, as noted above the first time I had this conversation it was I, the person who was not from Pittsburgh originally, who took the position that Pittsburgh was Eastern, and it was the person who grew up in Monroeville who took the position that Pittsburgh was Midwestern.

[Chuckles1821]

Pittsburgh is Northeastern. People who have only lived here part of their lives have opinions that don't count.

Yeah, says you.
The thing is, we are closer to places that are considered mid-west and south than some places in the Northeast.
I'm not saying that Pittsburgh is one certain thing or another, but I don't necessarily think that it's definitetively Northeast... and I'm not sure why people care so much or are being so bratty about it.