Capital Of Appalachia
Pretty much my whole life, I have lived on the east coast, mainly in NY, a little in Boston with vacations in New Hampshire and a few early years in Reading,PA. Knowing the east pretty well, I can say for sure that, culturally– Pittsburgh is not the east coast. So I assumed it would be like the midwest, but it doesn’t quite feel like the places I know there either, I think partly because most of the midwest is flat.
Then, I came accross this post a while back from someone who say’s Pittsburgh is really an Appalachian city and to me that seems to ring very true. I want to define my terms here– Appalachian people are not really fully connected to the dark history of the south. They are mountain people. I am looking for some feedback on this.
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Thats a good story, I track alot of Pittsburgh Blogs (since I blog for a living). Its funny though I read that exact story at another Pittsburgh Blog called leavingpittsburgh written by a long time resident and artist in lawrenceville. Then I checked and I saw you run a gallery in lawrenceville. Do you know about this site? Everyone should read this version and compare:
http://leavingpittsburgh.com/2007/04/30/some-people-make-apple-pie-when-they-find-themselves-in-appalacia/
What are the odds two people in lawrenceville would have the same concept, I think leaving pittsburgh’s was a couple of days before yours. Not sure. Check it out!
I kind of hope that you are not hinting at some kind of plagarism issue. I had not read that blog post, but I will admit to hearing Pittsburgh being referred to as the capital of Appalachia or as urban Apallachia before and I did read the post I refered to way back and chatted with people in my gallery about the title.
Anyway, the idea is not new and I am not claiming authorship. I was just wondering whether other people feel that it rings true.
I’m from Irwin(a little east) originally, and it has always seemed to me that the little towns around Pitt as well as the city itself feel much like most of West Virginia. It’s the kind of feeling that lets me know when I’m finally home, and usually starts in Wheeling or Charleston. I’m guessing you could call that Appalachian, though I don’t get the feeling of regionality from kentucky or north carolina. I guess you could say that Pittsburgh is in the north appalacia and includes the parts of ohio, maryland, virginia, west virginia, and only a small portion of easternmost kentucky. Forget the new york portion, and the rest is the bluegrass or south appalacia.
Just a feeling from extensive travel and MHO
That pretty much fits my experience but i am still very unsure since i have done very little traveling in West Virginia.
By, the way– West Virginia is really the chunk of Virginia that supported the union in the civil war. Southern armies also found a lot of trouble waiting for them in eastern Kentucky.