Is Pittsburgh A Northeast/Mid Atlantic/Mid West Town? (Erie: beaches, cities)
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As I've said numerous times, there is no such thing as "culturally Midwestern" or even "culturally Northeastern." The South is the only portion of the country which is both a geographic region and a culture. Everything else is just a big melange of not southern, or "northern" if you will, that just blends together.
To the extent there are cultural linkages within the north, they tend to spread across regions, rather than within them. Thus Michigan has more in common with Upstate NY, or even New England, than it does with Central Indiana.
Geographically speaking, there is absolutely no doubt that Pittsburgh, being in a northeastern state, is part of the Northeast. There is zero debate about this.
In terms of its self-identity, it also identifies pretty strongly as being Northeastern - much more so than Buffalo, even though Buffalo is further east. I pin this down to Buffalo - as a "Great Lakes City" having a good deal in common with many upper Midwestern cities (most notably Cleveland, which isn't that far away). In contrast Pittsburgh doesn't share a lot of similarities to Cleveland at all, since it sprung from a totally different settlement pattern. Its closest Midwestern analogue is Cincinnati, but since it's on the far southwestern side of Ohio, the two cities don't actually identify with one another very much.
As I've said numerous times, there is no such thing as "culturally Midwestern" or even "culturally Northeastern." The South is the only portion of the country which is both a geographic region and a culture. Everything else is just a big melange of not southern, or "northern" if you will, that just blends together.
To the extent there are cultural linkages within the north, they tend to spread across regions, rather than within them. Thus Michigan has more in common with Upstate NY, or even New England, than it does with Central Indiana.
Geographically speaking, there is absolutely no doubt that Pittsburgh, being in a northeastern state, is part of the Northeast. There is zero debate about this.
In terms of its self-identity, it also identifies pretty strongly as being Northeastern - much more so than Buffalo, even though Buffalo is further east. I pin this down to Buffalo - as a "Great Lakes City" having a good deal in common with many upper Midwestern cities (most notably Cleveland, which isn't that far away. In contrast Pittsburgh doesn't share a lot of similarities to Cleveland at all, since it sprung from a totally different settlement pattern. Its closest Midwestern analogue is Cincinnati, but since it's on the far southwestern side of Ohio, the two cities don't actually identify with one another very much.
The Great Lakes Region is one of the best examples of a true region in the US. From Milwaukee, over to Buffalo/Rochester, hell, even as far as Syracuse, this is the most similar group of cities in the country, with Chicago being the biggest outlier, due to it's huge size, and even then, Chicago still shares a lot of similarities with the group.
As I've said numerous times, there is no such thing as "culturally Midwestern" or even "culturally Northeastern." The South is the only portion of the country which is both a geographic region and a culture. Everything else is just a big melange of not southern, or "northern" if you will, that just blends together.
To the extent there are cultural linkages within the north, they tend to spread across regions, rather than within them. Thus Michigan has more in common with Upstate NY, or even New England, than it does with Central Indiana.
Geographically speaking, there is absolutely no doubt that Pittsburgh, being in a northeastern state, is part of the Northeast. There is zero debate about this.
In terms of its self-identity, it also identifies pretty strongly as being Northeastern - much more so than Buffalo, even though Buffalo is further east. I pin this down to Buffalo - as a "Great Lakes City" having a good deal in common with many upper Midwestern cities (most notably Cleveland, which isn't that far away). In contrast Pittsburgh doesn't share a lot of similarities to Cleveland at all, since it sprung from a totally different settlement pattern. Its closest Midwestern analogue is Cincinnati, but since it's on the far southwestern side of Ohio, the two cities don't actually identify with one another very much.
Both the Mountain West and the West Coast have their own "cultures". Since this is a Pittsburgh forum, I won't go into it, but suffice it to say, the cultures are "different" from the northeast. I suggest a long visit to Wyoming and another to California.
Re: Pittsburgh and Cleveland, they're 133 miles apart, not much at all. They're both industrial, or I should say now "post-industrial" cities. There are differences, yes, but they are more similar than different.
Michigan, like Pennsylvania, is a fairly large state geographically, so parts of it have commonalities with many states and of course, Canada. The UP is a land of its own, similar to northern Wisconsin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Herodotus
The Great Lakes Region is one of the best examples of a true region in the US. From Milwaukee, over to Buffalo/Rochester, hell, even as far as Syracuse, this is the most similar group of cities in the country, with Chicago being the biggest outlier, due to it's huge size, and even then, Chicago still shares a lot of similarities with the group.
Syracuse is a "Finger Lakes" city, not a Great Lake one.
Pace as far as what? Development or people in a hurry? You think it’s faster in Pittsburgh than Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus? I’d say they are all about the same. Pittsburgh feels like combinations of those cities. I don’t see anything in common with the bos wash corridor or even Philadelphia. It is like a different world. Pittsburgh just happens to be located in the same state as Philadelphia.
The Western half of PA fits in with the Great Lakes and Appalachia region. That’s what I would call it. A combination of Ohio, West Virginia, western mountain Maryland, Michigan, upstate New York and northern Kentucky and eastern Indiana. That is how I would describe the western half of pa. Nothing like bos wash corridor.
Pittsburgh is closer to Covington Kentucky than it is Philadelphia.
I'm not sure why you chose Philadelphia and not DC in that comparison. Pittsburgh (or western half of PA) is closer to Washington DC than Covington, Kentucky. And Washington DC is a huge metropolitan area. Easily driveable to Pittsburgh to DC in a day. The Wash side of the Bos-Wash corridor includes the western mountain area of Maryland, WV and Virginia. While not Bos Wash corridor, western half of PA is clearly in the East (Northeast or Mid-Atlantic), much like western NY and western MD, northern areas of WV and Virginia.
Syracuse is a "Finger Lakes" city, not a Great Lake one.
Speaking out for the Orange Nation . . . . having lived in that region for almost 15 years, no one I knew from Syracuse would call it either a Great Lakes or a Finger Lakes city. Onondaga Lake really is it's own body of water: some Finger Lakes "expansionists" like to cite it, but the peeps in Syracuse really don't see it that way. The one firm connection between Syracuse and the Finger Lakes is the town and lake called Skaneateles. It is the "go to" Finger Lake for most central New Yorkers (which is what the region considers itself to be, incidentally) and the source of public drinking water for the City of Syracuse.
Has anyone read the OP's question??? It says "what KIND of town" is Pittsburgh. Not "what region". Having been around a little, I would say it is the place where the northeast meets the mid-west. I am not into making lists ad infinitum/nauseum, but, experientially, I think it has features of both in my daily interactions with folks.
Last edited by Charley Barker; 07-25-2019 at 10:00 AM..
Reason: Typo
I grew up in Pittsburgh and never, ever heard the city referred to as the Midwest. In fact, I've never heard it referred to as the Midwest *anywhere* until I started reading these forums. Pittsburgh is the second largest city in a major Northeastern state. I understand that the city is close to the border with the state of Ohio, a Midwest state, but that does not mean that Pittsburgh is a Midwestern city. This seems fairly obvious to me, and I suspect anyone with eyeballs and an unbiased opinion.
In my opinion "Pittsburgh is the Midwest" has been used here by snobby people on the East Coast or jealous people in the Midwest to keep Pittsburghers ego's in check.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and never, ever heard the city referred to as the Midwest. In fact, I've never heard it referred to as the Midwest *anywhere* until I started reading these forums. Pittsburgh is the second largest city in a major Northeastern state. I understand that the city is close to the border with the state of Ohio, a Midwest state, but that does not mean that Pittsburgh is a Midwestern city. This seems fairly obvious to me, and I suspect anyone with eyeballs and an unbiased opinion.
In my opinion "Pittsburgh is the Midwest" has been used here by snobby people on the East Coast or jealous people in the Midwest to keep Pittsburghers ego's in check.
I have a hard time believing that anyone from the coast, no matter how snobby they might be, is going to call a city in Pennsylvania "the Midwest." I'm going to say its a combination of your second hypothesis combined with self-loathing natives to the city who have left (or had to leave during darker times) for what they perceived as greener pastures. Or people born in Western PA who never actually lived in the city or even Allegheny County to begin with, and definitely don't have a clue of how what it's like to live in the city during the past decade or so and think Midwest is a pejorative term rather than a geographic term. We often have several of those types of posters on this very board!
I have a hard time believing that anyone from the coast, no matter how snobby they might be, is going to call a city in Pennsylvania "the Midwest." I'm going to say its a combination of your second hypothesis combined with self-loathing natives to the city who have left (or had to leave during darker times) for what they perceived as greener pastures. Or people born in Western PA who never actually lived in the city or even Allegheny County to begin with, and definitely don't have a clue of how what it's like to live in the city during the past decade or so and think Midwest is a pejorative term rather than a geographic term. We often have several of those types of posters on this very board!
I was born and raised in rural Western Pa into a family that has been in Western PA for close to 150 years, who came from Philadelphia area originally...everyone, even in our far out rural area, considered Pittsburgh, and all of PA northeastern (That is if anyone actually ever had to think about it outside of these forums). I think there is a healthy dose of this misconstrued idea that Pittsburgh is full of hookie “real Americans” that makes it Midwestern, like any other place is not real America.
I'm not sure why you chose Philadelphia and not DC in that comparison. Pittsburgh (or western half of PA) is closer to Washington DC than Covington, Kentucky. And Washington DC is a huge metropolitan area. Easily driveable to Pittsburgh to DC in a day. The Wash side of the Bos-Wash corridor includes the western mountain area of Maryland, WV and Virginia. While not Bos Wash corridor, western half of PA is clearly in the East (Northeast or Mid-Atlantic), much like western NY and western MD, northern areas of WV and Virginia.
Pittsburgh is also closer to Michigan than Washington DC. You can be past Toledo and In Michigan quicker than you can be in DC.
Pittsburgh just doesn’t have much in common with DC, Baltimore and philly. Pittsburgh is like a mixture of Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh is also closer to Michigan than Washington DC. You can be past Toledo and In Michigan quicker than you can be in DC.
Pittsburgh just doesn’t have much in common with DC, Baltimore and philly. Pittsburgh is like a mixture of Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Well DC and Baltimore aren’t in the Northeast, so....
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