Peoples thoughts on Pittsburgh's dying connection with the midwest and new connections with some east coast cities (Philadelphia: real estate, attorney)

[Tiger Beer]

Growing up in Michigan, I never thought of Pittsburgh at all. I usually thought of the Midwest in terms of states like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, etc...and Pennsylvania isn't connected to that continuum.

I always associated flatness and cornfields with the Midwest.

Pittsburgh does come to mind when I think 'rust belt' cities though...

[Craziaskowboi]

Pittsburgh will always have a degree of connection with the major cities in Ohio simply due to proximity, but economically, it more resembles the rest of the Northeast these days. New England was the first region of the country to deindustrialize, doing so during the 1950's and 1960's, and then the Mid-Atlantic deindustrialized in the 1970's and 1980's. Only now has the Midwest reached the level of deindustrialization that Pittsburgh dealt with 20 years ago, and it was a more gradual decline due to the presence of the automotive industry. This is why the Midwestern cities are further behind in their recoveries than the Northeastern cities are: they didn't reach their economic crossroads until very recently. Pittsburgh does have a few Midwestern traits, but economically speaking, it's more aligned with the rest of the Northeast these days.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Michigan is actually a very pretty state. The scenery is a lot different than PA. It's not flat and boring like much of Ohio is. The towns are a lot cleaner and more beautifully kept, in my opinion.

But I'd still have to drive through boring Ohio to get there!

[Katarina Witt]

I don't think Pittsburgh's connection to the midwest is dying; I don't think it ever really existed. 40+ years ago, most Pittsburghers looked east, to DC in particular. A number of my classmates from Beaver Falls High School moved to the DC area shortly after graduation in 1967. Many are still there.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't think Pittsburgh's connection to the midwest is dying; I don't think it ever really existed. 40+ years ago, most Pittsburghers looked east, to DC in particular. A number of my classmates from Beaver Falls High School moved to the DC area shortly after graduation in 1967. Many are still there.

I agree. I don't ever recall people ever wanting to move to the midwest as their big dream. I have nothing against the midwest. It has never been on my radar. I do think it has a lot to do with the terrain. People who move to Pittsburgh from the midwest often say that our hills make them feel clausterphobic. The weather too. I don't like the idea of all sunny skies like they have in Kansas. Here I like how the clouds provide some shade from the summer heat. But the midwest transplants feel like the sun never shines here. It seems like a terrain and weather type of clash more than anything else to me. Plus, aside from Chicago, how many super BIG CITIES are in the midwest that rival the likes of NYC or DC?

[LexusNexus]

I am from the Midwest and Pittsburgh has never been associated with the Midwest. It was always an eastern city, a place that was blue-collar but smart, not as dog-eat-dog as the eastern shore cities but full of eastern character and values. I have always known the people of Pittsburgh to be down-to-earth like the people in the Midwest. Good, hard-working, straight-talking, humble people in an honest eastern city. It has little in common with Baltimore IMO.

About Cleveland, I always thought Cleveland was trying to be like Pittsburgh, but is not of the same eastern "pedigree."

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Hopes

But I'd still have to drive through boring Ohio to get there!

I really hate that drive through northern Ohio as well.....

To be fair, Michigan has the same look in the very southern part of the State...

Everything north and west of, say Lansing, is really pretty. Large national forests everywhere, the Great Lakes take on a much larger role....more timber, forestry, etc. The Northern parts of Michigan take on a much more lumber-oriented Pacific Northwest functioning..minus the Rocky Mountains anyways.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I agree. I don't ever recall people ever wanting to move to the midwest as their big dream.

I know a ton of people here in Pittsburgh who dream about moving to Chicago. Just saying.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I know a ton of people here in Pittsburgh who dream about moving to Chicago. Just saying.

I made Chicago an exception in another post.

[BrianTH]

As we have discussed before, I agree Pittsburgh is neither Great Lakes nor East Coast--it is in its own region, what you might call the interior Northeast, Northeast Highlands, or so forth.

Of course Pittsburgh does have ties both ways, including to the west. For example, lots of Pittsburgh companies do business in Ohio or other points west, and there is some population interchange (as all the Michiganders on the Pittsburgh forum can attest).

That said, I do have a sense that Pittsburgh's ties to the east, particularly but not exclusively DC, are strengthening. I have this feeling that the interior Northeast is becoming the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast's California, so Pittsburgh would be the Portland to DC's Bay Area (or something like that).