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1989throwa t1_j726puw wrote

OP, out of curiosity, how did you choose which municipalities to be included in your quiz? No offense to any redditor from New Castle, but I was a bit surprised it made the cut

Also just so you are aware, something that is interesting about Pennsylvania political geography is that none of our land can be unincorporated and that mergers and consolidations are uncommon. What happens instead is municipalities work together to offer services but do not formally merge. What this means is that you will enter a Pennsylvania city before you enter the legal city limits. Pittsburgh is a great example of this. (Note number 74: the borough of Mt. Oliver.)

But the way the US Census Bureau counts people is normally based on municipality and doesn't quite match what you would assume is part of the city. So instead we call these all of these municipalities "Suburbs" even when they function as a unit with the larger city

This resistance to consolidation and merger might be a holdover from Philadelphia's 1854 consolidation.

Edit: making it clear no land in PA can be UNincorporated

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IamSauerKraut t1_j72eo4o wrote

New Castle was at one point a major industrial center. Home of the hot dog and fireworks, located just across the border from Youngstown. Folks should know it not only for those but also for its historical value and as a center of a robust Amish/agricultural economy.

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1989throwa t1_j72ljqv wrote

And now I will need to move "New Castle" up in my list of Pennsylvania cities to visit

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adgo1 OP t1_j72cj2b wrote

Interesting! As always I struggle a bit which places to include in such a quiz. It is mainly by population and a few famous ones such as Gettysburg. Sometimes I have to drop a place if it is too close to other cities on the map (here e.g. Hershey and Bethlehem). Regarding New Castle no very special reason. I am open to suggestions regarding cities that need to be included.

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1989throwa t1_j72lbyd wrote

Okay! Cool! In that case I suggest maybe Punxsutawney (some world famous eternal marmot lives here but I would hardly call it a "city'), Johnstown (the Johnstown Flood), Williamsport (Home of the Little League world series), and maybe Altoona (railroad history is big here and it is home of the Horseshoe Curve that connects Pittsburgh with Philadelphia by rail).

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adgo1 OP t1_j72s81b wrote

Done, added all the places you recommended!

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HudsonMelvale2910 t1_j76cxd0 wrote

To that point, I’d also suggest Chester, Bethlehem and Easton — the last two are both close to Allentown in that Lehigh Valley corridor. If we’re including just “noteworthy” or famous locations, Jim Thorpe might be worth adding as well.

(I’ll admit that while I’m not as familiar with the west of PA, I don’t think I’ve even heard of New Castle.)

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