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[deleted] t1_j36wdc7 wrote

Most of the country is like that.

102

Yinzerman1992 t1_j36zjpc wrote

If you go to the midwest particularly states like Indiana, or Illinois it is even more pronounced there. PA is not unique in that regards.

I've driven on interstate 70 and 74 countless times and I'll be driving for miles seeing fields of corn and soybeans and them BAM I'm in Indianapolis.

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[deleted] t1_j370ozk wrote

Almost everywhere I’ve been, with exception of the largest metros is like that.

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tempestveil t1_j371u5x wrote

Texarkana slapped me in the face at night driving down i30 a few yrs back. Was just Dark. Dark. Dark. Then.. BRIGHTLY LIT EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE.

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ell0bo t1_j372ina wrote

76 at the right hours you can go on a hell of a trip. I can start in Philly on 76, dead of the city. If I leave around 10, I can get to KOP in 30 minutes. In another 30 minutes I can be in lancaster / lebanon driving by farms. Another 30 minutes you're in Harrisburg. Another 30, Appalachia.

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billstrash t1_j372lwh wrote

Congratulations, you live in the United States of America.

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vintageideals t1_j373382 wrote

I live in front of a sprawling farm field so large I can’t even see their house from my backyard.

Meanwhile, out front, I can barely pull out of my driveway at different points each day, especially making a left hand turn, because of the traffic. It’s like I live in farm country out back and bustling mega suburb out front.

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KutyaKombucha t1_j373fzr wrote

Even within Philly you can be deep in a forest and then grabbing a beer and a cheese steak with a slow 15 minute walk

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visualbang t1_j375caj wrote

Replying to Willing_Category1331 (#1,295,127)

Welcome to one of the beautiful things about Pennsylvania and Bucks County! I love living in farm country but also driving 15 minutes to go to any store we could possibly need. I can also drive an hour to Philadelphia for shows or a night out. I drive an hour the other way and it’s nature wonderland. Enjoy!!!

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gggg500 t1_j375cli wrote

Replying to ashfye29 (#1,295,292)

SC goes full urban to full rural so fast. I lived only 2 miles exactly from downtown and there were cows mooing outside my window at night.

Same can be said for any of PA’s small cities - Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Allentown, Erie, Scranton. You can be in the woods or the middle of a cornfield within a couple miles of each downtown.

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lehigh_larry t1_j376aca wrote

That’s the best thing about PA as far as I’m concerned. This extends to politics as well, which I like.

Living in an echo chamber isn’t good for society. It’s great that half of my friends are Trumptacular and the other half are rainbow emblazoned “allies”.

I don’t think other states offer such diversity of thinking in close proximity. My best friend is a devout Obama Bro, but his wife has a Trump tattoo. It sounds wild, but it totally works.

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DonBoy30 t1_j377fxl wrote

Lol I live in the Scranton/Wilkes barre/hazelton ecosystem, and I swear there are generations of people who are like “wtf there’s mountains here?”

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passthegrass4201 t1_j378bua wrote

I grew up in Pittsburgh and now live in Lancaster. You can imagine the drastic environment change for me as well haha. One thing that shocked me about Lancaster....the traffic. I thought coming from a bigger city, traffic would be better. I am learning though that I need to leave significantly earlier to get to my destination because I have never seen a population of slower drivers. It's arguably more annoying than Pittsburgh.

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jralll234 t1_j37adc0 wrote

That’s the majority of places I’ve been. Some cities have more suburbs but that’s about the only difference I’ve seen.

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Allemaengel t1_j37al5x wrote

To me Blue Mountain serves as a real boundary of sorts. I go through the Lehigh Tunnel from home north of it to work down in Bucks County and the difference really something.

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sutisuc t1_j37c1d6 wrote

You’d be shocked by how common this is in most of the country

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OhioJeeper t1_j37cq6s wrote

Replying to ell0bo (#1,295,363)

More like Cleveland (or Youngstown/Warren if you want to get really precise). Pittsburgh still has too much in common with Appalachia to be considered the midwest IMO. Most maps I've seen have it starting in Ohio, but even the south eastern part of that state is more Appalachia than midwest if you're looking at the area's history/economy/culture.

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Excelius t1_j37dmf8 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,295,280)

What they're really observing is where suburbia gives way to rural areas. In the bigger metros suburbia is just much bigger, so it might be a longer drive to get to "downtown", but that transition will always exist.

In LA you can drive an hour and basically never leave suburbia, but you'll still get to the juncture eventually. Go to the Los Angeles area in Google Maps and search for Tractor Supply Co and you'll see they start popping up in the "inland empire" at the edge of San Bernadino. Because that's roughly where suburbia starts to give way to farmland.

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IrresponsibleScience t1_j37eb3q wrote

Isn’t it amazing? It feels nice to know I’m 30 minutes from a good hike and 30 minutes to a nice downtown.

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kronus87 t1_j37egq7 wrote

Whaaaat a difference between rural and urban areas. . . How odd and unique this place is. . . .

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SheikYerbeef t1_j37fq3o wrote

Many cities in PA are within a 10 minute driving distance of rural areas, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Allentown, Bethlehem all come to mind.

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d0s4gw t1_j37frzd wrote

Replying to OhioJeeper (#1,295,819)

What would you say are the fundamental cultural differences between the Midwest and Appalachia, specifically between Cleveland and Pittsburgh? I agree the geography is different but culturally they feel roughly identical.

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sharkbanger t1_j37gxk2 wrote

You should check out the smaller cities in the middle of the state. We keep our feed stores directly in our urban sprawl 'round here.

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Odd-Emergency5839 t1_j37h3yn wrote

A lot of the world is like that. When I was in the Netherlands a 15 min bike ride takes you from a bustling city center to a wide open farm with cows walking around.

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IWantAStorm t1_j37lki2 wrote

Replying to visualbang (#1,295,480)

Come on up north. Less than two hours to NYC, turnpike to Philly. Good medical care...........and 10 minutes from a dairy. Massive history and a big river. PA can be backward at times but the landscape is fantastic.

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phoenixredbush t1_j37npjx wrote

Im not in Bucks but my town is exactly like this. I live near goat farms, on a mountain top. I go 15 down the mountain and I’m in a shopping center, museums, etc. I love it bc I get all of the privacy, peace and quiet without having to travel an hr to the next grocery store.

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Subliminal87 t1_j37ph7x wrote

Replying to Excelius (#1,295,866)

Driving that area is honestly amazing. Sure the traffic sucks during the daytime depending on where you area. At night it’s not too terrible and everything is lit up.

But it’s so interesting to be up in the hills or the mountains and pop down into the city. I’d 10000% would pack my shit and move out there today if I could.

You can do so much out there. Literally everything is interesting to me out there. And options to go check out the scenery would always be available.

My quality of life would be an improvement just from that alone.

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Uneekest t1_j37ur9f wrote

I live in Mckees Rocks. I have city Deer that visit my tiny backyard

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Curious_Coconut_4005 t1_j37w0tp wrote

Replying to Excelius (#1,295,866)

Way back in the day, my father was an Army recruiter based out of an office in Torrance. For some reason, his region included all of San Berdoo County. As many people who lived in that part of California, the Army just didn't think it was important to have more recruiting offices.

This was during 1979-1982. We lived on Beach BLVD at the time.

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Puzzleheaded_Rub858 t1_j37wg75 wrote

Yeah, I live in Lower Bucks. It is pretty wild that the drive from city to farm can be so short

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Curious_Coconut_4005 t1_j37xq60 wrote

Replying to passthegrass4201 (#1,295,611)

My parents are from Lancaster County. The road planning folks had zero future thoughts of population growth. In the early 2000s, Rt 30 underwent a complete redo in the area closest to Lancaster City. Balfour Beatty fucked it up badly and was kicked off (paraphrasing that part).

Fun anecdote about the Pennsylvania Autobahn (Rt 222)....

When that part of 222 was brand new my mom got lost on it. We had been living in California, where my father was posted in the Army, and had come home to visit family. The highway portion being brand new caught my mom off guard, and we ended up in the Reading area and not going towards Millersville. Basically, we arrived late due to taking the scenic route. 😂😂 My mother's version of "oopsy" was something like, "Well, that was interesting."

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Mijbr090490 t1_j37yre3 wrote

Harrisburg area is like this. Pennsyltucky is a short drive in any direction. I enjoy it. When I want to fuck off to enjoy solitude in the middle of the woods I don't need to go far. And when I need food and house stuff, Im a short trip.

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[deleted] t1_j37ysl7 wrote

Nothing new. Cities eventually have to fade to suburbs and rural areas. I live 20 min from Pittsburgh and 20 from the sticks of WV.

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OhioJeeper t1_j387ka7 wrote

Replying to ell0bo (#1,296,648)

Not maybe, Pittsburgh is 100% for sure built in the Apalachian foothills. Look at a topo map of western PA (minus the far NW part where Erie is) compared to the Midwest and the terrain differences are fairly obvious.

Pittsburgh has steep hills that basically limit how and where things can be built, you don't really see that in other Midwestern cities.

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carrigan_quinn t1_j38ar5m wrote

Exactly why I can't explain the culture of half of Chester County xD

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ell0bo t1_j38hb2y wrote

Replying to OhioJeeper (#1,297,200)

So you're talking physically and not culturally? Sure, topographically it's Appalachian, but culturally it's the beginning of the Midwest. Where does the Midwest begin to you?

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ktappe t1_j38jrt9 wrote

Replying to fillosofer (#1,297,645)

I agree. 30 minutes west of King of Prussia is just Coatesville. I live in Exton and it takes me 50 minutes to get to Ephrata. People always underestimate how large Chester County is.

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OhioJeeper t1_j38l1tm wrote

Replying to ell0bo (#1,297,604)

>So you're talking physically and not culturally?

I was talking both because the two aren't unrelated, but responding to your comment saying that it's not part of "Appalachia proper" based on topography alone.

>but culturally it's the beginning of the Midwest.

In what way? Have you ever been to a midwest city like Indianapolis, Columbus, or Chicago?

>Where does the Midwest begin to you?

Same place it begins for everyone else. "Midwest" is a census term, not something that changes based on our own perceptions and feelings of the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#Culture

Appalachia is a cultural region that's literally defined by the topography, and Pittsburgh is a part of it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia

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ell0bo t1_j38p8kq wrote

Replying to fillosofer (#1,297,645)

Lancaster county, not city. That's easily and hour from there.

so it takes be an hour 1:20 to go from Philly to my mom's place (if I time traffic right) in Lebanon. I'd expect Ephrata, an exit earlier to take about 50 minutes or so.

So maybe I'm getting to KOP in 20 and KOP to Ephrata in 40.

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ell0bo t1_j38sj29 wrote

Replying to OhioJeeper (#1,297,768)

You really don't this Pittsburgh feels like a midwest city? Indianapolis, Omaha certainly feel like Pittsburgh, they're just a hell of a lot flatter. People are the same though.

Maybe it's the fact I few up in Appalachia and moved to Philly that I don't see Pittsburgh being Appalachian, but I've always felt it as being the start of midwest culture. That's where people start saying pop.

Now, if you asked me if the surrounding area feels like midwest, no. You drive 20 minutes and you're back in Appalachia, but the city itself feels more like a midwest town. When culturals begin to change, I expect there to be a patch work, so it doesn't phase me to say 'midwest culture' begins there. If you're talking census, it begins at the ohio border, 30 minutes away. I don't think it's a stretch to say that culture begins 30 minutes away from where the physical border is.

Columbus... that place always makes me feel like if you combined state college and Harrisburg. It's a weird outlier.

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OhioJeeper t1_j38v180 wrote

Replying to ell0bo (#1,298,052)

No, I grew up in the midwest. The only parts of PA that I'd consider part of the midwest are north of 80 and west of Meadville.

>People are the same though.

People tend to be the same across the entire US, the world even. Globalization kind of does that. My coworkers in Mexico shop at Costco more often than I do, so if we're going off of what "feels" like the midwest based off of just general US culture we should really be expanding our horizons.

>That's where people start saying pop.

It's not, and that's not uniquely midwest either:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/soda-vs-pop_n_2103764

>Now, if you asked me if the surrounding area feels like midwest, no. You drive 20 minutes and you're back in Appalachia, but the city itself feels more like a midwest town.

Okay now you're just being obtuse. Pittsburgh is the midwest, but places like Cranberry Township that are right outside of the city are back to being Appalachia? I wouldn't even say you're in the midwest if you drove straight across 70 into Ohio, those parts of the state aren't exactly the Midwest culturally, but the census lines aren't that precise.

>Columbus... that place always makes me feel like if you combined state college and Harrisburg. It's a weird outlier.

I mean it's the state capital plus home to one the of the largest universities in the country. The city is kind of split between downtown and where the university is, but I'd argue it's just what the midwest looks like. It's flat, laid out on a grid, culture is just kind of a basic "American" culture that's more tied to agriculture than the steel industry or mining.

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OhioJeeper t1_j38y4vg wrote

Replying to ell0bo (#1,298,008)

I'm not even joking when I say that, this is one of those things that is Appalachian in the sense that people in WV will cling to like it's a key part of their identity, but you can still get them at pretty much any gas station in rural SE Ohio. Beyond that you're either needing to go to Sheetz or you're stuck eating some weird midwest food like spaghetti with shitty chili on it.

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ancrm114d t1_j39w72j wrote

Pittsburgh has a crazy amount of diverse landscapes and architecture. One of the reasons is has a growing film industry.

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jdk0606 t1_j3a1mck wrote

Come to Venango & Forest Counties of you want to see the boonies.

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thisoldbroad t1_j3av2t1 wrote

That's pretty much the way Pennsylvania votes, too.

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Trixiedust2707 t1_j3b1qd2 wrote

Is that a bad thing? Ideal, IMO. One thing I love about PA is all the unspoiled land...but I want to be near civilization as well

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nhattawa t1_j3bqt31 wrote

A lot of people like this about the area but it’s the one thing I despise. It’s like suburban hell. Either give me walkable city/towns or give me countryside. Not this weird mix.. Chester county is replete with these massive burbs on farms and stuff.

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Hazel1928 t1_j3cu1nz wrote

I’m in Coatesville. (Technically south of Coatesville in East Fallowfield.) If I come out of my subdivision and make a left, I feel like I am in the last suburb from Philadelphia. There is an old steel mill, once the largest employer in Coatesville. It’s now only partially operational, and is operated by a company based in India. If I come out of my subdivision and turn right, I will soon be seeing horse farms, a covered bridge, and beautiful Jane Austen scenery, hundreds of years old homes, including some twins. Go a little farther south, and there is an Amish community.

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shewy92 t1_j3vyqb1 wrote

You've never been to Texas or out west in general then. A lot of the cities are built around the interstate, you go 5 miles past them and it's all farmland. Their cities are fairly new and were built around the roads while ours on the east coast was the opposite, cities were built and then the roads connected them

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