What is Pittsburgh?
- Thread starter BLH2P
- Start date
The answer is neither. We are the largest town in Appalachia, and a sort of hybrid of Philadelphia and Columbus. We are unique, and a little more tied to the East Coast than the Midwest logistically.
Also consider, when Pittsburghgers have time out, they usually head East or South.
A
anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
Guest
I have been in sales and sales management for years and the Pittsburgh territory has always been unique. It is flipped flopped back and forth between the Midwest Zone or Central and the East. The people are more of a Midwest town but I agree we are unique and kind of on our own when it comes to identifying to a specific region.
Absolutely correct. Pittsburgh is inland northeast, as opposed to East Coast though. Pittsburgh is loathe to embrace it's Appalachian location, due to the reputation of our neighbors to the south😆, but Pittsburgh is absolutely in the northern part of Appalachia, as are both State College, and Morgantown. That said, while there is a strong relationship with Cleveland, and eastern Ohio, it drops off west of that. Our location in Pennsylvania tends to draw us into the northeast, as so many things tend to be grouped by state. Buffalo is very similar. They're probably more Midwestern in feel than we are, but being in NY results in them usually being regarded as part of the East. The people who argue this frequently use the "pop" argument to put us in the Midwest, while those in favor of the east use the "rowhouse" argument, as rowhouses tend to be a northeast (especially Mid Atlantic) thing, and Pittsburgh, while obviously not covered with rows like Philly, is the westernmost city (outside of San Fran), to have certain neighborhoods dominated by them.
Pittsburgh is very unique. Its a little East Coast, a little midwest, and even a little "southern" especially when you get into Washington, Fayette, Greene Co.
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Cleveland
Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Philadelphia
Not even close. We are far more midwestern than we are northeastern.
We just happen to be situated in Pennsylvania, so people mistakenly believe we are a Northeastern metro area.
Let me put it this way.
If you make 75K in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati you are doing just fine.
You make 75K in NYC or Boston you are looking to move out.
Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Philadelphia
Not even close. We are far more midwestern than we are northeastern.
We just happen to be situated in Pennsylvania, so people mistakenly believe we are a Northeastern metro area.
Let me put it this way.
If you make 75K in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati you are doing just fine.
You make 75K in NYC or Boston you are looking to move out.
You're comparing big cities to smaller ones. Of course they don't match. Chicago doesn't match either. Baltimore fits very nicely into the first group, as does Buffalo. The Midwest is a poorly defined area. All of those places you listed are Great Lakes cities, and that is a much better definition. The Great Lakes cities are the most homogeneous group in the country, stretching from Rochester, to Milwaukee, with only Chicago being substantially different, due to it's great size. They all look, and feel like each other. I've always considered Indy to be the quintessential Midwest city. It's not a lot like those towns, and it's about as different from Pittsburgh as any city within 500 miles, and that includes Chicago, and Philly. Cleveland, and Cincy are both in Ohio, and they are really nothing alike, as different from each other as Philly is from Pittsburgh. In my travels, of large cities, only Cincy physically resembles Pittsburgh, and the vibe there is totally different. Actually, the places I've been to that most remind me of Pittsburgh are a handful of small cities. I've always felt that you could drop Johnstown, Cumberland, and Hagerstown into Pittsburgh, and each would fit rather seamlessly into the city. Kind of reinforces the Appalachian thing, as of course, all of those are in the Appalachian region. As much as Cleveland is compared to Pittsburgh, I can't think of a single part of Cleveland, that physically reminds me of any section of Pittsburgh.
This “tied” to the east coast is a good way to put. I think we relate more to being on the east coast, in part because our state goes that way as well. We are also further East than most of Fla.
But clearly there is a Midwest flair in there too. Certainly more friendly as a whole. The population here is also more spread out, and the landscape makes it more of a collection of towns than a typical I95 type city. Very unique
The collection of surrounding towns that held industry makes this place unique. The only place I can think of that was set up even remotely similarly is Boston, which like Pittsburgh, was surrounded by industrial towns. in most of the other industrial cities, industry was concentrated in the city proper. It's a reason why Pittsburgh isn't filled with the industrial wastelands that cities like Cleveland, and especially Detroit have. What industry we did have inside the city tended to be along the rivers, valuable real estate that was quickly redeveloped when the mills went away. Pittsburgh is relatively friendly, but the Scots-Irish mentality is still present. The town is notoriously thin skinned. insult the city, and the grudge will be held longer than the Hatfields and McCoys. Other cities aren't like that. Other cities wouldn't have had the orgasm of self congratulation that Pittsburgh did after being named the most livable city. Cincy got this honor later, and the reaction there was much more subdued than in Pittsburgh. Cincy was the football player that spikes the ball after a touchdown, while Pittsburgh was the player that does 5 back flips, and then dances all over the end zone.
Last edited:
Additionally, in response to the "tied to the east" thing, think about it, Pitt always played an eastern schedule, and was eligible for the Lambert Trophy. Also, with regard to Pitt, I believe many more students come from other parts of the northeast, as opposed to the Midwest. The heavy number of students from the Philly area plays a large role, but also the fact that Midwest students heavily gravitate to the classic Big 10 schools, with the MAC schools serving as safety schools. They tend not to look east, while Pitt is seen as one of the eastern publics, and will be on the radar of students in the east. WVU is an interesting situation, being in a state that truly doesn't belong to any region. WVU has been a southern school, as well as a northeastern one. They are totally an outlier now. I bet they wish they hadn't pushed so hard to beat Louisville out for that spot in the Big 12.
A major international city. Pittsburgh has an Opera company and a good one at that. Pittsburgh is really unique is what corporate wealth did for the city. I remember reading that the Pittsburgh region has the most college students anywhere in the country. I can tell you every college grad from a Pittsburgh school that is from the DC area wants to stay in Pittsburgh.
What's funny is that this is a common thread on various boards, and is a common subject for a bunch of cities that sit near a regional border. DC and Baltimore, north or south? Buffalo, east or Midwest? Louisville, south or Midwest? Is the Great Plains the Midwest? Should the Great Lakes be it's own region? Many arguments about what region cities like Denver, and Oklahoma City belong too. It can get heated sometimes. There is a test that I call "the white pages test", which shows how a city perceives itself. The telephone white pages lists businesses alphabetically, unlike the yellow pages, which organizes businesses by category. If you go to the listings for a city, and look for the various geographical names that businesses sometimes take, you get an idea of how a city sees itself. Indy, which is squarely in the Midwest, has hundreds of businesses listed as Midwest ------. They have a strong perception of themselves as Midwestern. I compared them with Cleveland. While there were many listings in Cleveland with Midwest in the title, Great Lakes was much more common. North Coast was common as well. This shows that Cleveland sees itself more as a Great Lakes city, with the Midwest being a secondary identity. On the other hand, there was one listing in the Pittsburgh pages for Midwest. There were a few for East Coast, and more for Mid-Atlantic, but the bulk of the signifiers were more or less local. Keystone, Allegheny, Monongahela, and Three Rivers were all common identifiers. What it basically shows is that Pittsburgh doesn't see itself as Midwestern at all, and loosely sees itself as a part of the east. Mostly, Pittsburgh's self identity is strongly local, and nearby regional, much more so than a place like Indy.
Pittsburgh is an eastern city, and region, if for no other reason that it's in Pennsylvania.
I've never considered it anything else.
I've never considered it anything else.
Just as St Louis Is the Gateway to the West, I’ve always considered Pittsburgh the “Gateway to the MidWest”. Pittsburgh is more MidWest in personality than it is East. After living in Delaware for 18 years and frequent trips to Philly, Baltimore and NYC I definitely think The ‘Burgh is MidWest.
of course with all that said in SoCal I usually tell people I’m from back East! Haha
of course with all that said in SoCal I usually tell people I’m from back East! Haha
Depends on where you’re from. I grew up in the DC/Baltimore area and never thought Pittsburgh felt “East coast”. Neither did the Philly or NYC kids. But it’s not really Midwest either. It’s got its own thing going on, like others have said. But it works and it’s a great city.
Where are you in SoCal? I’m about 30 minutes north of San Diego. It’s possible that I’ve asked you this before, apologies if so. Lol
Used to live in Carlsbad, but bought a house in O’side. Commute to Torrey Pines Science Park. Pre-COVID commute was about 50min then It dropped to 35min. Starting to get longer again. Bummer. Still not pre-COVID times yet and hope it stays that way for awhile!
Cool. I work in Carlsbad but live in Encinitas. There used to be a Pitt bar in OB but they need to have one up here. Cheers man, H2P
See, the issue with this you're strictly comparing the Burgh to the Coast. It would mean more if you had also lived in Indy for a while, and still felt that way. My guess is that if you had lived in Indy for 18 years instead of Delaware, Pittsburgh would feel very eastern to you. Pittsburgh is really it's own thing, and it doesn't really fit with either region.
Pittsburgh's location in the Rust Belt and low immigration from Mexico and Latin American may lead people to think it's more Ohio than New Jersey. Certainly the Republicans like to think of it that way as they haven't done well in Eastern cities. When I was growing up, we never thought of going west, not even to Ohio. We traveled East and thought of ourselves as Easterners. Much like driving 70 miles south puts you in the South with backwards West Virginia and going 100 west puts you in Midwestern Ohio, Pittsburgh is and will always be a Mid-Atlantic state and part of the Eastern region of the U.S. It may be the East's border city with the Midwest.
I too lived in Vista for years, back in Pittsburgh area now...
Here's my problem with "midwestern". Midwestern is Kansas City, St Louis, Indianapolis, even Columbus. Pittsburgh is more Great Lakes like with Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland in many ways. I think why Pittsburgh also gets lumped in with the Northeastern cities is our major roots and expansion came on the heels of mostly Catholic immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Germany and Eastern European, much like Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore. So we had alot of the same politics.
One thing I like about Pittsburgh, is its CBD (downtown) actually LOOKS like a city, whereas many other cities, look like a collection of mid size building with absolutely no character.
Geography or Topography, only one other city can compare, and that is Cincinnati.
One thing I like about Pittsburgh, is its CBD (downtown) actually LOOKS like a city, whereas many other cities, look like a collection of mid size building with absolutely no character.
Geography or Topography, only one other city can compare, and that is Cincinnati.
We seem more east coast to me, I can relate to Philly, Baltimore or NY more than Indy or Minnesota. We have more grease ball people, like Italians, Eastern Euros, Syrians and those damn Greeks and less white bread people and look more like the east coast. Grease Ball? It's like the N-word, since I AM A GOD DAMNED GREEK, I'll say it.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Pittsburgh is probably neither. It has long been a city -- and part of a region -- that has always been a major player in the prosperity of the country but has seen little reward for its efforts.
When this Mon Valley kid showed up on the Temple campus, the first question I was asked was "Where are you from?" I responded "Pittsburgh". Next question was "What's it like living in the Midwest?". I was like "Midwest my @$$!"
It was a fairly influential "city" that until the 1980's was home to more Fortune 500 companies than all cities except New York and Chicago.
Additionally, Pittsburgh . . . and Pennsylvania are not really northeast or midwest. Pennsylvania is part of the middle atlantic region comprised of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Virginia and West Virginia.
You are correct. All Pennsylvania is considered part of the middle atlantic region comprised of NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, DC & WV.
Pittsburgh is a tad bit northeastern, a good part midwestern, and another good part Upper South Appalachian. Pittsburgh is unique.
Pittsburgh is in the Rust Belt along with Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit along with smaller cities like Erie, Youngstown and Toledo. I never understood why Ohio was lumped in with the Mid-West since Cleveland and the industrial eastern part of the state don’t fit that mold and Cincinnati seems way more southern and might as well be in Alabama. Also the Metro Detroit area is similar to Pittsburgh in some ways but has a southern backwardness thanks to all of the hillbillies who moved into the area in the 1920’s.
I have family that grew up in Pittsburgh, but now live in Northeastern Ohio. In contrast, work normally always pulls me east or south. Based on my travels, I feel like people from the Cleveland area have a similar vibe to Pittsburgh, more so than the big cities east (and that's not counting the Pittsburgh transplants I interact with in NE Ohio).
Pittsburgh is not “southern” even a little bit. Neither is Uniontown, Waynesburg, etc.
Politicaaly, at least in presidential politics, Pittsburgh is Democratic BUT it, and the entire Western PA region is growing more and more Republican. It is the Western part of the state that gave PA to Trump last election. Culturalky, Pittsburgh identifies more with Midwestern cities than with cities like New York, Boston Philadelphia.
Similar threads
