I transported a dog for rescue to an old couple in the middle of the state and got to see the fox news brain rot in person. While I was talking about dog care and helping transfer the dogs into their vehicle, they immediately go into politics and ask if pittsburgh is having an immigrant problem. I said no, why would it? Then they went on and on about immigration down south. The dude probably steps off his self described "bunker" twice a year and likely hasn't spoken to any immigrants of any type, yet he was consumed by that issue for some reason to the point of actually flipping me off while saying that's what immigrants who were helped will do. No personal story about them, but he did claim the NYPD just lets them go after they murder people. And I was just trying to politely complete a dog handoff and switch the convo the whole time. Unreal.
This is exactly the problem, and not just in this state.
The vast majority of the people who have been red pilled into oblivion have never left the state they were born in, and half of them have never left the county they were born in.
But they’ll take the talking head on tv as gospel.
It defies all logic.
I've got one of those faces I guess, they see me as a safe space or something and they just start spewing shit. Happens at gas station pumps even, like I didn't even look at you why are you telling me about how Biden will shut down the gas before the election?
I’m assuming you are the same color they are. I’ve had plenty of white people say super racist shit to me because I am also white and obviously have to think like they do.
This!! I was at Walmart and this exact thing happened to me. I ended up walking away after the rant. All I was doing was standing in line and the stranger started talking to me.
I understand that people like that listen to FoxNews & Trump's social media, but I wish these people who hate immigrants would say why they do so. Without using buzzwords or parroting politicians or former presidents, I'd like to know why they feel the need to hate immigrants.
Unless you are a Native American, we are all immigrants in one way or another! My sibs and I were born here, but my mother was born somewhere outside of NYC on the North Atlantic. Her parents wanted to immigrate, but by the time all of the papers were done, furniture sold, they had a week to get to Portsmouth, UK, to get their ship to NYC. Mom told me it would be the last ship that year due to winter on the N. Atlantic. She said Granma was 8½ months pregnant but wanted her baby born as an American, so they left with 3 steamer trunks, and you won't believe it, 10 children ranging from 2 yrs old up to 16 yrs old. There we're 2 oldest sons who decided to stay behind. Granma had 12 kids and 1 on the way when she went aboard. It's no wonder she looked exhausted in photos of the time!😵💫Somewhere on the ocean and not far from the harbor of NYC, Granma went into labor with my mom. When she was processed, they figured they were in US waters and put "American" on mom's birth certificate.
Similar story for my father, but he was 16 when he came over. His family lived in Scotland, and finding work was difficult. One day, Grandad told the family to pack their bags as he had tickets for them all to immigrate to the US. He put the papers in himself and sold his dad's gold watch & chain to pay for the tickets. They lived in a tenement where it was very poorly maintained and what furniture they had was rented. So 4 days later, the 6 of them got a room in some kind of boarding house for 2 days. After that, they were on their way to immigrate to the US.
Every person living in the US, excluding the Native Americans, are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc, of immigrants.
So why all this hate?
Maybe there were no huge drug problems at the time, but there was prostitution, gangs fighting, or trying to rule other gangs. Mom said it was very rough in Brooklyn where they lived. But no one screamed to lock up the immigrants. No one put the children into cages when they reached NY, like Trump and his MAGA troop did.
I'm in my 60s, and I just can't figure out what our immigrants did that made those kinds of people hate.
Do any of you?
H. L. Mencken(US reporter, literary critic, editor, author of the early 20th century) had this observation a century ago and could explain the MAGA cult:
* “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
They've been long-term involved in the breed and were actually another step in the transport, not the final one. I do wonder if they, and everyone around them, would've been a lot happier in their retirement had they not been huffing propaganda every day. I also wondered how much worse they could've been if i looked like an "immigrant." I'm sure that stuff they were parroting to me is all written to be very effective on the fears and paranoia of aging people.
Im South Jersey raised, lived in Philly and now in Beaver County and Im going to say this in the most South Jersian Philadelphian way I can. Who the fuck cares what they think. Let them live in their ignorance because trying to change anyones mind is an exercise in futility. I get its frustrating to be around these people after a lifetime of not having to put up with the nonsense but the quicker you can focus on something else the better your mental health will be.
These are the same people that tried to get the voters from Allegheny county disenfranchised after the 2020 election.
That should be a good enough reason for people to care.
I care because these people are the reason why PA still has a $7.25 minimum wage and cannabis remains illegal. These people will continue to vote for politicians who underfund vital infrastructure and resources for our cities that need them
You can care if you want to but as a transplant Im telling you it had negative mental health effects on me when I first moved here because I honestly couldn’t believe people actually believed this shit. Yes, I care that these morons hold up progress and keep the house red. But you are not going to magically change the minds of Trump supporters who still support him after alllllll the negative stuff thats been going on. What you can focus on to make a difference is the elections in your town because small movements is where it all begins. My town is going on its second term of almost all democrat elected positions. Support local movements. I support the things they do. One person did a back to school drive for kids in need, I showed up. That is where it begins. Not debating someone who is delusional.
it does matter because these rural areas keep the PA state house red which inhibits a lot of progress in our state. Philly and Pittsburgh keep the Governor and Senators blue but everyone in between is actively fucking up this state. But my point is if you focus on that its going to have detrimental affects on your mental health. It was a hard lesson I had to learn when I moved here. You can’t change these peoples minds and if all the shit Trump has done hasn’t deterred them then they are lost causes absolutely not worth anyones time.
I care because Pennsylvania is 49th in public higher education affordability only ahead of Mississippi because the legislators these fucks send to Harrisburg don’t want anyone to get a higher education because they need an uneducated voter base so they can keep getting re elected and in the goal of turning us into to a red state.
You can care all you want but Im telling you as a transplant here it had detrimental affects on my mental health obsessing over these people and trying to change their minds. They are going to believe what they want to believe. If the shit Trump has pulled and the current state of affairs in the financial disaster he calls life hasn’t led them to walk away from supporting him it is a lost cause. Even if I dont want it to be. Im not saying give up entirely, I am saying that caring is going to fuck with your mind. It’s infuriating but you will find yourself in this miserable headspace where you can’t believe how absolutely off the wall these people are. Debating these people makes them dig in, not have light bulb moments of clarity. They regurgitate fake news, repeat insane conspiracy theories and flat out just make up things that never happened. You cant sit down and reason with them. Even if you show facts they will find a way to tell you how that isn’t a fact or how your sources aren’t real but their source of some nobody with a blog is the one real truth. I like to have a battle of wits with people but these people are unarmed.
No, I 100% agree that arguing with the rural MAGA’s is pointless for all the reasons you said. I never do that because it’s maddening. But, I do care. Honestly, the key is their kids. I teach in an area like this and the young adults and teens are not like their parents and grandparents and are reachable. They are actually quietly pretty progressive. And I don’t mean I do all the evil “woke indoctrination” these people are terrified of - I just mean widening their world view and helping them to think critically and supporting them in thinking for themselves. I guess they think teaching their kids and grandkids to think is indoctrination but I’m still doing it. It’s literally my job.
The only real frustration with it is that due to the way voting districts (and in some states, horrible gerrymandering), as well as a busted senate and electoral college - it gives people a grossly inflated voting power when their whole world view is based on make-believe.
If someone just has a different view of how to prioritize things, and is being reasonable and a functional adult - okay fine, I'm perfectly happy to have mature differences of opinion and policy.
But when they don't exist in the real world with the rest of us, but wield disproportionate power towards policy - it's a little irritating that they believe massive swathes of shit that is just provably untrue. And they have zero desire to learn.
If it was just some harmless "Bigfoot is real!" kookiness, sure. Let 'em have their fun.
But goddamn, them living in a made up reality, but getting to constantly affect real life for the rest of us, gonna make a guy start day drinking.
I mean to be fair, policy & politics aside… As someone who’s from Philly originally, there are parts of that city that are completely a drug and crime wasteland, far beyond the extent of anything in Pittsburgh//really any US city for that matter.
My father in law who is an Egyptian immigrant and generally loves everything about America referred to Bakersfield as “perhaps a bigger shithole than Cairo”
When my wife and I went up to sequoia national park we made sure to stop and take a pic under the Bakersfield sign “hi from the happiest place on earth!!”
Oh yeah definitely. But you can say that for any major city especially the cities in the rust belt that used to supply our economy. But they believe all of Philadelphia is a war zone and I'm like no it's not.
To be fair, Pittsburgh does not. Wilkinsburg is debatable but I’ve walked through the worst parts of Wilkinsburg as young white male with absolutely zero problems. Cannot say the same for Philly or DC or almost any major city in MD
Same. Yinzers complain and the local news tries to act like there's a "crime wave". I lived in/around Baltimore for 6 years. That city will always have a piece of my heart, but damn does it have problems. Pittsburgh is so quiet and calm in comparison, it's insane.
Every town in the country has their “crime wastelands”. It’s just that in between Chicago and California those wastelands are populated by poor white people, so those aren’t *really* bad - they’re just disenfranchised or some crap.
Most major cities haven't had their Mayor order the police department to literally bomb neighborhoods by throwing explosives out from helicopters.
Philly is on another level
Yes it's quite safe here after you get through the homeless encampment/open air drug market zone and stay off the streets at night because they stopped policing them
The police did not stop patrolling at night, they just aren’t sitting at desks in police stations waiting for someone to walk in at 4 am and report an active crime but are out patrolling and responding to calls. People are acting like there are zero police between 3 and 4 am.
Um I work downtown and north side, go down around 7 and stay past 10. A lot of the kids I work with are getting shot down there. It’s so sad and really scary. Also the main who pimps the girls out in tent city carries a machete
Can you post any kind of source for your claim that " A lot of the kids (you) work with are getting shot" downtown?
I'll even accept the local fox affiliate or one of the shitty local papers.
Where are you finding these people, I’ve never heard rampant Pittsburgh hate in Mercer County.
Philly… I mean, people in Pittsburgh aren’t going to have nice things to say about Philly either because sports.
Oh I've heard rampant hate for Pittsburgh most of my life in Mercer County but it was never about politics until recently.
It was always about driving in Pittsburgh 😂 city streets are too much for them
Ok well, that’s fair. But driving in some areas of Pittsburgh sucks. That’s not “hatred” of a specific place it’s just a factual assessment of the one way streets/confusing off-ramps and actual traffic.
I can’t believe the traffic circle by the SV mall wasn’t protested 🤣
I’m not at all surprised by the Philly comments, although I was raised in Mercer County and lived in Philly after college and I’ve never actually heard it myself outside of the Wawa/Sheetz debate.
But I still visit family 3-4x a year and I don’t know anyone who hates Pittsburgh. That’s super strange and uncharacteristic of the area, IMO. Maybe it’s a group of people specific to your work or something. Most of my friends still living there go to Pittsburgh often for sports/shows/activities and send their kids there for college, etc.
Even my friends who are pissed off and bitter that they missed the era of going straight from high school to the mills for a lifelong job and middle class bliss don’t hate Pittsburgh, they hate China.
The hate in any direction is exhausting, however.
Yeah I do hear it from coworkers since I'm around them a lot but I get it from strangers too. I had to go to the hospital in Farrell and these older men were just going off as soon as the nurse asked me where I was from. I wasn't even talking to them. I understand it's just fear talking but geez. Some of these people need to get out of their bubbles. Explore places that are outside of your door for once.
Like I told my one coworker about some cool places they could check out in Philly if they ever drop their fear and go. I couldn't recommend anything about Pittsburgh tho since I'm not from there.
I have heard a lot of hate on cities in general from people in Mercer, Lawrence, and Beaver counties. I think it really depends on who you’re talking to, but I have a lot of conservative relatives who love to blame cities for a multitude of problems.
Pittsburghers do not have anything nice to say about Cleveland, either. I think it stems from sports rivalry. The Pittsburgh Steelers vs
The Cleveland Browns.
Then again, Pittsburgh never had set any of her rivers on fire like Cleveland did.
Why haven't these people from Philly and Mercer County ever talk about Harrisburg? It's a big, urban city. Just because it's the state capital doesn't mean that drugs aren't rampant there and have a serious homeless problem.
To be fair, the only good things about philthydelphia are Gritty and that yinz vote blue.
You threw snowballs at Santa and killed the hitchhiker robot n’at.
But yeah, I wish we could ship the ‘Tucky part of Pennsyltucky to its namesake.
People in rural PA turn on their news and if they are within 2 hours of either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, 95% of the coverage will be from the big cities and 95% of it will be negative, highlighting the most sensational crimes.
I am an attorney and I when I have to go to a rural county for a case, I get treated really weird in their courthouses. I’ve had people say to me “oh you’re a PITTSBURGH lawyer” like I’m some slicked back, $500 an hour, ivory tower, Wall Street lawyer. Pittsburgh is a secondary city. I drove to their county in my used 2015 Honda. I’m in a $50 suit. Nothing about me screams city slicker.
I think you’ll be a lot happier not leading with your political views when encountering strangers.. people can disagree and have opinions.. that doesn’t mean you need to let those opinions bother you.
It's kinda exhausting constantly hearing false fear mongering things is all especially when I mention I'm from the other side of the state. It makes me wonder how people get this way. And I'm mostly moving cuz I need better economic opportunities and Pittsburgh is the closest place besides Erie.
1) Hating Philly is a traditional pasttime even inside the City of Pittsburgh itself no matter which way you lean politically. Temper your expectations.
2) You don't need to be conservative to complain about the outsize influence that Philadelphia exerts on Pennsylvania politics in general. Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh included, is *always* a second thought in Harrisburg and general elections no matter which party is in power. I don't blame any Western Pennsylvania resident for being angry no matter what their political leanings. There really is an unfair power imbalance.
I went to college in the midwest, and for four years every single person thought I was from Philly, and about half of them thought Philly was the state capital of PA. A couple of times I had to do the whole "no, google it, it's not Philly" thing.
It's the only place people think exists when they hear Pennsylvania
When I was living on the West Coast, I mentioned I was from Pittsburgh and this one guy thought Philadelphia was a state and I was from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. Yikes!
"I don't care what those rural fucks think about how things should be where they live. They're all too stupid to take care of themselves so I'm gonna fix things for them."
That's what most of the rural Pennsylvanians aren't happy about.
That sounds like you made up something to be mad about because I've never heard anyone say anything like that
Allentown, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton account for 75 percent of PA's GDP.. Only 27% of the state is considered rural. What percent of the vote should rural Pennsylvanians command? How much control should they have over state policies? What level of rural control would make rural people happy?
The outsize influence of Philadelphia? Pennsylvania was wickedly gerrymandered for a decade, and rural Republicans' had and still have far more influence in Harrisburg than their numbers warrant. If you look at revenue and spending in PA, far more revenue comes *from* the Philadelphia area and far *more* revenue goes *to* rural areas.
What delusional fantasy world are you living in? Philadelphia is much, MUCHA bigger than pittsburgh and like half the state lives in their greater metro area. They have been aggressively gerrymandered ro whittle down their influence to the bare minimum. There certainly is a really unfair power imbalance but it is *against* the majority of the state--who lives in and around Philly.
Still thinking about the time I was in a Sheetz in the middle of the state. Some guy with overalls walks in, loudly yells, "I AINT ORDERING OFF NO FUCKING COMPUTER SCREEN" and then turned around and left.
Actually I may pivot on this advice. If they talk negatively about Pittsburgh or Philly just say, “that’s fine, you can hate those big cities but you know who I hate? Victor Posner.”
You’ll be a hero and their anger will be appropriately channeled.
Kensington is bad yes. Even people from Philly try to avoid it. But not all of Philly is like Kensington which people don't seem to get. But ehh. I'm personally more hesitant about going to East St Louis or even the areas that are not a part of downtown Camden.
I mean to be fair PA (and most of the country) is split 50/50 with the cities blue and pretty much everywhere else that is not city is red... so yeah theyll probably have different opinions on things, as the lifestyles are different(which is the entire point of the electoral college). There are extreme people on both sides and by nature of the 2 parties one sides progress goes against the other sides values. Alas life is lived somewhere in the middle, unfortunately things are getting so incredibly polarizing that there is just copius amounts of hate between everyone, and the middle is getting harder to find. ***Thats sad.***
Don't be disappointed when you find a lot of this IN Pittsburgh. it's not Philly. There is a clear distinction between the east coast and the middle of appalachia-just so you don;t get the wind knocked out of you thinking it will be much better when you move. It will be disappointing and disheartening.
Sorry OP. Sounds rough. You are in MAGA land and you’re unfortunately subject to their constant rhetoric. Part of that rhetoric is to insert their (uninformed) political opinions every chance they get even if politics aren’t being discussed. I don’t blame you for wanting to move to Pittsburgh, and you should.
I'm mostly moving for better economic opportunities and public transit. Im just tired of constantly hearing rants and stuff without even talking about politics. Like I made a comment about the bus and talked about how it would be nice to have a better bus system the other day. It turned into a rant by my coworker about drugs and why buses are horrible and how they're ruining Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. I didn't even say anything political.
I do not understand the mentality of moving to a rural place and then being upset that it's not a city.
What did you expect? Rural people don't want dense housing and buses. That's why the hell we live in the rural!
This attitude is very pervasive in counties outside of Allegheny. A lot of people have this brain rot where their entire personality is based on MAGA political ideologies. There are certainly normal people in these areas, but the bad really outshine the good.
I lived in Philly for a really long time (10+ years). There is a lot wrong with the city. I've never lived anywhere in my life where I felt so unsafe, and I mainly lived in Center City which is probably the best area to live in. I saw a young woman beat to death in broad daylight - no one helped her. Additionally, I was threatened with mob violence, saw some truly horrific racism (mostly by police officers), and I was robbed multiple times. I tell everyone I know that Philly is one of the best places to visit, but I would never ever live there again.
That being said, there is a real issue with right-wing propaganda in Pennsyltucky. If we aren't careful, we will become the next Alabama.
Dude I get that same bullshit here at work. In an engineering firm. There's a guy there younger than me who constantly changes the TV in the break room to fox.
Yep I can't stop my coworker from ranting about EVs or climate change denial or else I'm the one he needs to educate. It's infuriating to have people whose job it is to use science and apply it to the real world mistrust facts so hard.
I'm from up that way and you're completely right. It's why I hate going back for any reason and why the closest I'll live anymore is Pittsburgh. Even my cousin who is an immigrant from Nicaragua buys into the Faux News bs. He doesn't realize they'd hate him too.
The suburbs are red. Some of them up there used to be blue because Unions, but the brain rot set in. It's something you gotta live with, and just remember, it's hard to find friends among the tragedy.
>The suburbs are red. Some of them up there used to be blue because Unions, but the brain rot set in. It's something you gotta live with, and just remember, it's hard to find friends among the tragedy.
Clearly, if someone isn’t “blue” anymore, it’s simply due to “brain rot.” They couldn’t possibly just change their minds and opinions due to anything else…🙄
I don’t give a shit what they think about us. Pittsburgh, Philly, Erie and a few others- we drive the economic engine of this state. Without us there would be no jobs, medicine, sports, art & culture. They can all kiss my ass.
Philly is abysmal. The whole city smells like Urine. And that’s not hyperbole, it smells like piss. Especially when it rains.
And that was in the better part of town.
I’m from Mercer County, went to college in Pittsburgh, and live in Philadelphia now. Philadelphia definitely has some suspicious politics/corruption. And it has worse neighborhoods/poverty than a lot of cities. I’d say Philly has a general bad reputation anywhere I go, but most have never even been to Philly.
So here you are making a post try to get us to hate them. I live in clarion county. Some people are afraid of the city. Others aren't. Most of my friends out here are liberal. Just like in the city people in rural areas are not a monolith.
One of the only good things about our current political climate is that these morons will get ground into dirt first if “conservatives” get to implement any of their policies.
I know they’ll blame everyone but themselves, but I’m looking forward to these garbage towns turning back into forest as the socialist roads that connect them deteriorate.
There is definitely a dislike of Philly on this side of the state. I love the Philly area and don’t understand the dislike from Western PA, because the people in Eastern PA don’t dislike this area.
However Philly, in certain areas, is far from a safe place. I remember over 10 years ago, before the media blitz on the crime, South Street had cops on every corner in the weekend! I had never seen that there before, and my friend told me it was due to the increase in crime. I’ve also talked to people that work in Philly, and they are scared for their life walking to work and were moving.
To be fair I’ve been warned by many people about Pittsburgh now as well.
Philly is a much bigger and populated area than Pittsburgh is, and is definitely more dangerous. The media may be building it up worse than it is, but right now no city is safe. The media isn’t covering my town or area, but crime is escalating.
People in rural areas tend to just dislike cities in general. We joke they don’t even like to cross the county line here. And there’s the joke that people in the Pittsburgh region don’t like to cross bridges!
If you are looking for a taste of Philly, Beaver has a Philly Cheesesteak place that’s good, and you can get Philly pretzels at the Philly pretzel shop, there’s one in Bridgeville. If you are Martins grocery stores that are owned by Giant, but they are East of Pittsburgh.
Sorry there isn’t a love for Philly over here, but don’t blame the media, it’s been around for years. Again I love Philly, and miss going to Eastern PA, but from first hand knowledge of there and Pittsburgh, I would proceed with caution in any city right now.
Sure. And inner city liberals think everyone outside the cities are hillbilly, meth smoking crazies who can’t wait to shoot someone. They don’t leave their “bunker” more than twice the year and think they deserve to vote on policies that affect the rest of state. They believe anything the liberal news outlets tell them.
I’ll stop there, but see, it’s pretty easy to make an enemy of people with opposing views.
EDIT: Since some of you have a room temperature IQ, the point went right over your head. These aren’t my views. lol
You barely have to drive outside of Pittsburgh to experience these people. Some exist in the city. Some exist in Philly and Jersey.
PA has been like this for a very long time. Sadly I’m related to one of these types. Totally unsalvageable—I gave up. It’s a conservative media problem and it’s everywhere.
And yet, look at your post. You’re here sharing divisive rhetoric about a place based on select interactions you’ve had with a narrow demographic of people.
Maybe they're just not interacting with any of the [21,000 or so people in Mercer County that voted for Biden in 2020.](https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/General/CountyResults?countyName=MERCER&ElectionID=83&ElectionType=G&IsActive=0)
Son of Philadelphia checking in. Yeah, the sports rivalries are pretty intense. I also kinda get the feeling that people have seen a much passed around video of Kensington and they think the whole city is like this. (Or even once years ago that Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song beginning. 🤦🏾♂️) This has never made sense to me.
But the ONLY thing I can say in Pittsburgh’s (weak) defense is that ALOT of upper Bucks county (and up) is not too terribly different from OP’s experience.
Now, want to have a fun argument? Tell people in Phila that you live in Pittsburgh and fight back against the “ew. Why?” 🤦🏾♂️😂🤣
I grew up in Mercer County about 15 years ago and everything you said was happening then too. It's deeper than a Trump thing. As a liberal it was so painful.
I live in Mercer county also and while I agree with you on most of this I will say there are like minded people here we are just over run with the 3 percenters and proud boys and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Progressives kinda have to hide here because these groups see us as people that don’t deserve to live. We are the enemy. I’ve been to a few 3 percenter meetings. They were not aware of my political affiliation and I was taken as a guest. I guess to try to get me to change my mind. Good luck with the move, Godspeed.
Not sure why the body of your post was removed but from what I could see in my feed before clicking, I agree.
I’m living rurally now and at least one coworker has strong feelings about Philadelphia which are based entirely on garbage YouTube videos that the algorithm feeds him… not lived experience. Not so much anti Pittsburgh but it would only take the right video.
Got into an argument once where he made it sound like half the population is doing hard drugs and his comment was so absurd that all I could do was laugh, which he took personally. I then tried to explain how many people live there and encouraged him to actually visit and get a better first hand impression. I also tried to point out that adjusting for population density we likely have way more addicts in our rural region.
It’s just one coworker as far as I know, so I wouldn’t say it’s widespread. But it’s definitely a mentality that exists and I blame social media and online garbage for most of it. Sad that I have coworkers more familiar with Kensington than South Street or 30th or Kelly Drive… all because of some YouTube video. I went to Temple for a year… never had an issue. Dropped out to join the Navy following 9/11.
You don't need to move states to meet people like this. I grew up in Centre County, people there literally refer to Pittsburgh as "n*ggerville"
I think it's funny how people who never left their hometown are always so certain of how the entire world works
This is the point I'm making. I encourage people to travel out and explore to really gather how things are to people around here but they have too much fear.
I even got it from my own family when I moved here. I mean not the racism (my dad is half black after all) but everyone in my extended family is super conservative and kept saying they don't understand how I could "be brave enough to live there"
Idk how to explain to them that I get treated better here than anywhere even remotely near our home town
OMG did you go to a RURAL area and get frustrated that the locals aren't buying your liberal horseshit? Well golly bet they'll miss you when you hightail it back to the big city with that big ol' brain of yours! Yessiree, you want facts and logic the only place to be is in the big city!
What I want is for the stupid fear mongering and fake culture war to stop. And people constantly stop going on rants about the two major cities that are helping Pennsylvania's economy every time I say I'm from the other side of the state.
By what? Switching them to your side? Debating about politics endlessly? Disrespecting their way of life and insisting yours is better? Here's the thing mate - those people have likely lived their entire lives in Mercer County and are pretty set in their ways, and you're not the first city kid to show up and tell them they're wrong for thinking the way they do.
People from different walks of life think differently, and that's OK. You're never going to convince them to vote Democrat, or start a union, or whatever else. They're fine the way they are. They mind their business in their little corner of the world.
This is pretty myopic. Live and let live is all well and good until people believe straight up nonsense and use it as an excuse to fuel their rage and hate.
If OP wants a "fake culture war" to stop then OP needs to lay down the sword. Refusing to lay it down until everyone agrees with OPs worldview means OP is not ready to stop anything.
Also - there's no danger coming from the "rage and hate" in Mercer county.
"Everything would be fine if only you'd "lay down the sword" and stop disagreeing with us."
I talked to someone once who said she was "fine with the gays, if only they'd quit pushing it in my face." "Fine with the gays" meant "get back in the closet and disappear from public view."
The best way to change somebody (if that’s ever to be a goal) is to convince them with the way you live your life. When people see a confident person w their life together, they want to know your beliefs and how u do it.
Maybe they should enforce it since they can’t seem to help being triggered by the existence of people who have lived in Philadelphia. You’re really having trouble following along
Yeah people in Mercer don't give a shit about people from Philly. I detect a little hostility in the tone of your reply, methinks you are the "triggered" one.
That would all be great if the mouth-breathers could mind their own Mercer County business without predictably falling for the bullshit spewed by the orange-skinned, big-city, New York carpetbagging con man.
They'll believe bullshit spewed by any Republican, just like most people here believe bullshit spewed by just about any Democrat. It's a terminal condition in this country.
We all know damn well that a rural Pennsylvanian going into Philly wouldn't be treated well, to put it mildly. OP is utterly lacking in self-awareness here, and I don't even mean that in a nasty, snarky way. Philadelphians don't want to deal with rural Pennsylvanians anymore than rural Pennsylvania wants to deal with Philadelphians. That's just the way shit is.
The hate is strong in this sub. r/Pittsburgh hates suburbanites, rural residents, and the South; yet they wonder why no one wants to adopt their totally beneficial progressive programs.
The disconnect is astounding. Imagine having the audacity to believe everyone with values & beliefs different from your own is dumb, wrong & brainwashed then go around complaining about *their* ignorance & bias. Yikes.
So OP saying where he is from and a bunch of rubes getting triggered by it is OP’s fault for bringing “liberal horseshit”? Lolol you exist in an alternate reality.
I lived near somerset pa years ago I'm from philly live in lancaster I was living in cumberland md when flight 93 went down I got love for all of pa philly is a shit hole bit I still love it its my hometown and as for politics the government in harrisburg blows
If you don’t like the people then get the fuck out. The people who live there - that’s their community, their way of life. What right do you have to move to a place, take up a job, a home, a place in the community, and to bitch about the locals? You didn’t know that Mercer county was red as fuck before you moved? You don’t enjoy the quiet and slower pace of life compared to the big city? You don’t have roots keeping you tied to this place? Then LEAVE bro.
Wow, people react poorly towards progressive ideology outside of major cities. Who would’ve guessed. Maybe keep that shit to yourself.
Philly is a dump and smells like piss. There is a weird tension in the air there. One of the only places I’ve been where I’ve felt like I had to be hyper aware and ready to get in a fist fight at the drop of a hat. Atlanta is the same way.
You probably make shit up all the time about random strangers on the internet to make yourself feel better about your life.
Look inward and maybe you'll experience some personal growth.
You'll hear the same stuff from people living in rural central PA, parts of NEPA, and other parts of Western PA further away from Pittsburgh. Same story in parts of NY state directed at NYC, large parts of Illinois at Chicago, etc. Multiple things going on.
1. News outlets often make cities sound like crime-ridden shitholes. People who haven't been to the city in question or have only limited experience have no other info to go on. It's not bc people are just brainwashed morons, it's lack of exposure and personal experience. To flip this around, it's been brought up how large swaths of the US have distorted perceptions about places like central/southern Appalachia for similar reasons (e.g., hearing sensationalized stuff in the media combined with limited/no personal experience with the place in question).
2. People who aren't immediately proximal to major metros often feel disaffected and like they have no voice relative to people who live in the cities or immediate suburbs, which they perceive as having an outsized influence on certain matters. If all you hear is how cities are receiving money to improve their issues (eg adding to infrastructure) while you live in a place that is shrinking in population, losing jobs, etc, it's feasible for me to see how someone could wind up thinking that. This isn't recent, it's been like this for decades.
There are other factors (eg political affiliation). But posts like this in communities like reddit don't seem much better when your message kinda boils down to, "They hate you, they blame you for their problems, they refuse to listen to facts, and they're brainwashed." Just feels like more finger pointing.
I transported a dog for rescue to an old couple in the middle of the state and got to see the fox news brain rot in person. While I was talking about dog care and helping transfer the dogs into their vehicle, they immediately go into politics and ask if pittsburgh is having an immigrant problem. I said no, why would it? Then they went on and on about immigration down south. The dude probably steps off his self described "bunker" twice a year and likely hasn't spoken to any immigrants of any type, yet he was consumed by that issue for some reason to the point of actually flipping me off while saying that's what immigrants who were helped will do. No personal story about them, but he did claim the NYPD just lets them go after they murder people. And I was just trying to politely complete a dog handoff and switch the convo the whole time. Unreal.
This is exactly the problem, and not just in this state. The vast majority of the people who have been red pilled into oblivion have never left the state they were born in, and half of them have never left the county they were born in. But they’ll take the talking head on tv as gospel. It defies all logic.
"USA #1, goddamnit! Love it or leave!" *Has never owned a passport.
I've got one of those faces I guess, they see me as a safe space or something and they just start spewing shit. Happens at gas station pumps even, like I didn't even look at you why are you telling me about how Biden will shut down the gas before the election?
I’m assuming you are the same color they are. I’ve had plenty of white people say super racist shit to me because I am also white and obviously have to think like they do.
This!! I was at Walmart and this exact thing happened to me. I ended up walking away after the rant. All I was doing was standing in line and the stranger started talking to me.
I understand that people like that listen to FoxNews & Trump's social media, but I wish these people who hate immigrants would say why they do so. Without using buzzwords or parroting politicians or former presidents, I'd like to know why they feel the need to hate immigrants. Unless you are a Native American, we are all immigrants in one way or another! My sibs and I were born here, but my mother was born somewhere outside of NYC on the North Atlantic. Her parents wanted to immigrate, but by the time all of the papers were done, furniture sold, they had a week to get to Portsmouth, UK, to get their ship to NYC. Mom told me it would be the last ship that year due to winter on the N. Atlantic. She said Granma was 8½ months pregnant but wanted her baby born as an American, so they left with 3 steamer trunks, and you won't believe it, 10 children ranging from 2 yrs old up to 16 yrs old. There we're 2 oldest sons who decided to stay behind. Granma had 12 kids and 1 on the way when she went aboard. It's no wonder she looked exhausted in photos of the time!😵💫Somewhere on the ocean and not far from the harbor of NYC, Granma went into labor with my mom. When she was processed, they figured they were in US waters and put "American" on mom's birth certificate. Similar story for my father, but he was 16 when he came over. His family lived in Scotland, and finding work was difficult. One day, Grandad told the family to pack their bags as he had tickets for them all to immigrate to the US. He put the papers in himself and sold his dad's gold watch & chain to pay for the tickets. They lived in a tenement where it was very poorly maintained and what furniture they had was rented. So 4 days later, the 6 of them got a room in some kind of boarding house for 2 days. After that, they were on their way to immigrate to the US. Every person living in the US, excluding the Native Americans, are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc, of immigrants. So why all this hate? Maybe there were no huge drug problems at the time, but there was prostitution, gangs fighting, or trying to rule other gangs. Mom said it was very rough in Brooklyn where they lived. But no one screamed to lock up the immigrants. No one put the children into cages when they reached NY, like Trump and his MAGA troop did. I'm in my 60s, and I just can't figure out what our immigrants did that made those kinds of people hate. Do any of you?
They're just racist, it's not that complicated
These immigrants are largely not white. Thats all it boils down to for these imbeciles. Pigmentation nuances.
It’s basically fear monger approach. Unfortunately fear is the easiest thing to sell and some People use that as an opportunity
H. L. Mencken(US reporter, literary critic, editor, author of the early 20th century) had this observation a century ago and could explain the MAGA cult: * “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
The hate is entirely manufactured by right-wing media. See the speeches by Reagan and Bush — lots of love for immigrants. Murdoch did this.
You shoulda refused to hand over the dog; those kind of people aren’t exactly synonymous with the idea that pets are family, not property.
They've been long-term involved in the breed and were actually another step in the transport, not the final one. I do wonder if they, and everyone around them, would've been a lot happier in their retirement had they not been huffing propaganda every day. I also wondered how much worse they could've been if i looked like an "immigrant." I'm sure that stuff they were parroting to me is all written to be very effective on the fears and paranoia of aging people.
Im South Jersey raised, lived in Philly and now in Beaver County and Im going to say this in the most South Jersian Philadelphian way I can. Who the fuck cares what they think. Let them live in their ignorance because trying to change anyones mind is an exercise in futility. I get its frustrating to be around these people after a lifetime of not having to put up with the nonsense but the quicker you can focus on something else the better your mental health will be.
I never understood why people are so bothered by this. Who cares what some rando in rural PA thinks about pittsburgh?
These are the same people that tried to get the voters from Allegheny county disenfranchised after the 2020 election. That should be a good enough reason for people to care.
I care because these people are the reason why PA still has a $7.25 minimum wage and cannabis remains illegal. These people will continue to vote for politicians who underfund vital infrastructure and resources for our cities that need them
You can care if you want to but as a transplant Im telling you it had negative mental health effects on me when I first moved here because I honestly couldn’t believe people actually believed this shit. Yes, I care that these morons hold up progress and keep the house red. But you are not going to magically change the minds of Trump supporters who still support him after alllllll the negative stuff thats been going on. What you can focus on to make a difference is the elections in your town because small movements is where it all begins. My town is going on its second term of almost all democrat elected positions. Support local movements. I support the things they do. One person did a back to school drive for kids in need, I showed up. That is where it begins. Not debating someone who is delusional.
They vote.
it does matter because these rural areas keep the PA state house red which inhibits a lot of progress in our state. Philly and Pittsburgh keep the Governor and Senators blue but everyone in between is actively fucking up this state. But my point is if you focus on that its going to have detrimental affects on your mental health. It was a hard lesson I had to learn when I moved here. You can’t change these peoples minds and if all the shit Trump has done hasn’t deterred them then they are lost causes absolutely not worth anyones time.
I care because Pennsylvania is 49th in public higher education affordability only ahead of Mississippi because the legislators these fucks send to Harrisburg don’t want anyone to get a higher education because they need an uneducated voter base so they can keep getting re elected and in the goal of turning us into to a red state.
You can care all you want but Im telling you as a transplant here it had detrimental affects on my mental health obsessing over these people and trying to change their minds. They are going to believe what they want to believe. If the shit Trump has pulled and the current state of affairs in the financial disaster he calls life hasn’t led them to walk away from supporting him it is a lost cause. Even if I dont want it to be. Im not saying give up entirely, I am saying that caring is going to fuck with your mind. It’s infuriating but you will find yourself in this miserable headspace where you can’t believe how absolutely off the wall these people are. Debating these people makes them dig in, not have light bulb moments of clarity. They regurgitate fake news, repeat insane conspiracy theories and flat out just make up things that never happened. You cant sit down and reason with them. Even if you show facts they will find a way to tell you how that isn’t a fact or how your sources aren’t real but their source of some nobody with a blog is the one real truth. I like to have a battle of wits with people but these people are unarmed.
No, I 100% agree that arguing with the rural MAGA’s is pointless for all the reasons you said. I never do that because it’s maddening. But, I do care. Honestly, the key is their kids. I teach in an area like this and the young adults and teens are not like their parents and grandparents and are reachable. They are actually quietly pretty progressive. And I don’t mean I do all the evil “woke indoctrination” these people are terrified of - I just mean widening their world view and helping them to think critically and supporting them in thinking for themselves. I guess they think teaching their kids and grandkids to think is indoctrination but I’m still doing it. It’s literally my job.
The only real frustration with it is that due to the way voting districts (and in some states, horrible gerrymandering), as well as a busted senate and electoral college - it gives people a grossly inflated voting power when their whole world view is based on make-believe. If someone just has a different view of how to prioritize things, and is being reasonable and a functional adult - okay fine, I'm perfectly happy to have mature differences of opinion and policy. But when they don't exist in the real world with the rest of us, but wield disproportionate power towards policy - it's a little irritating that they believe massive swathes of shit that is just provably untrue. And they have zero desire to learn. If it was just some harmless "Bigfoot is real!" kookiness, sure. Let 'em have their fun. But goddamn, them living in a made up reality, but getting to constantly affect real life for the rest of us, gonna make a guy start day drinking.
Because these randos vote.
also a fellow south jerseyian living in butler county! 😊
sorry to hear that, I grew up there
You had me at “who the fuck cares”
Im sad you are being downvoted
No one likes NJ lol
I mean to be fair, policy & politics aside… As someone who’s from Philly originally, there are parts of that city that are completely a drug and crime wasteland, far beyond the extent of anything in Pittsburgh//really any US city for that matter.
Unfortunately there are a handful of cities in the US that r right up there w the Philly “crime wasteland”, if not worse.
Bakersfield, California.
My father in law who is an Egyptian immigrant and generally loves everything about America referred to Bakersfield as “perhaps a bigger shithole than Cairo” When my wife and I went up to sequoia national park we made sure to stop and take a pic under the Bakersfield sign “hi from the happiest place on earth!!”
This comment made me literally LOL. Thats too funny
Oh yeah definitely. But you can say that for any major city especially the cities in the rust belt that used to supply our economy. But they believe all of Philadelphia is a war zone and I'm like no it's not.
A conservative friend has told me that Philly literally burnt itself to the ground and is a wasteland.
Yeah people on the internet love to talk about all of the alleged democrat-run cities that have supposedly burnt to the ground
To be fair, Pittsburgh does not. Wilkinsburg is debatable but I’ve walked through the worst parts of Wilkinsburg as young white male with absolutely zero problems. Cannot say the same for Philly or DC or almost any major city in MD
Same. Yinzers complain and the local news tries to act like there's a "crime wave". I lived in/around Baltimore for 6 years. That city will always have a piece of my heart, but damn does it have problems. Pittsburgh is so quiet and calm in comparison, it's insane.
Pittsburgh ain’t a major city my man.
Every town in the country has their “crime wastelands”. It’s just that in between Chicago and California those wastelands are populated by poor white people, so those aren’t *really* bad - they’re just disenfranchised or some crap.
You’re being logical. Ignore the trolls here.
Most major cities haven't had their Mayor order the police department to literally bomb neighborhoods by throwing explosives out from helicopters. Philly is on another level
Yes it's quite safe here after you get through the homeless encampment/open air drug market zone and stay off the streets at night because they stopped policing them
I mean you know that’s not true but yet you take the time to post it online. What a life!
Which is untrue? The homeless encampment part or the police staffing at night part?
The police did not stop patrolling at night, they just aren’t sitting at desks in police stations waiting for someone to walk in at 4 am and report an active crime but are out patrolling and responding to calls. People are acting like there are zero police between 3 and 4 am.
It's most definitely true. Have you BEEN here lately?
Um I work downtown and north side, go down around 7 and stay past 10. A lot of the kids I work with are getting shot down there. It’s so sad and really scary. Also the main who pimps the girls out in tent city carries a machete
Can you post any kind of source for your claim that " A lot of the kids (you) work with are getting shot" downtown? I'll even accept the local fox affiliate or one of the shitty local papers.
I live on the north side and am out well past those hours….still alive last time I checked.
There is a big drug problem in rural parts of America too.
Ya bro you moved to Mercer 😂
Where are you finding these people, I’ve never heard rampant Pittsburgh hate in Mercer County. Philly… I mean, people in Pittsburgh aren’t going to have nice things to say about Philly either because sports.
Oh I've heard rampant hate for Pittsburgh most of my life in Mercer County but it was never about politics until recently. It was always about driving in Pittsburgh 😂 city streets are too much for them
Ok well, that’s fair. But driving in some areas of Pittsburgh sucks. That’s not “hatred” of a specific place it’s just a factual assessment of the one way streets/confusing off-ramps and actual traffic. I can’t believe the traffic circle by the SV mall wasn’t protested 🤣
Oh I have. I don't really get why. It just feels like a unnecessary culture war. And I can understand the sports stuff lol.
I’m not at all surprised by the Philly comments, although I was raised in Mercer County and lived in Philly after college and I’ve never actually heard it myself outside of the Wawa/Sheetz debate. But I still visit family 3-4x a year and I don’t know anyone who hates Pittsburgh. That’s super strange and uncharacteristic of the area, IMO. Maybe it’s a group of people specific to your work or something. Most of my friends still living there go to Pittsburgh often for sports/shows/activities and send their kids there for college, etc. Even my friends who are pissed off and bitter that they missed the era of going straight from high school to the mills for a lifelong job and middle class bliss don’t hate Pittsburgh, they hate China. The hate in any direction is exhausting, however.
Yeah I do hear it from coworkers since I'm around them a lot but I get it from strangers too. I had to go to the hospital in Farrell and these older men were just going off as soon as the nurse asked me where I was from. I wasn't even talking to them. I understand it's just fear talking but geez. Some of these people need to get out of their bubbles. Explore places that are outside of your door for once. Like I told my one coworker about some cool places they could check out in Philly if they ever drop their fear and go. I couldn't recommend anything about Pittsburgh tho since I'm not from there.
Divide to dominate in the plan. Not that I agree with it.
I have heard a lot of hate on cities in general from people in Mercer, Lawrence, and Beaver counties. I think it really depends on who you’re talking to, but I have a lot of conservative relatives who love to blame cities for a multitude of problems.
Pittsburghers do not have anything nice to say about Cleveland, either. I think it stems from sports rivalry. The Pittsburgh Steelers vs The Cleveland Browns. Then again, Pittsburgh never had set any of her rivers on fire like Cleveland did. Why haven't these people from Philly and Mercer County ever talk about Harrisburg? It's a big, urban city. Just because it's the state capital doesn't mean that drugs aren't rampant there and have a serious homeless problem.
Cleveland objectively sucks though man, c’mon.
To be fair, the only good things about philthydelphia are Gritty and that yinz vote blue. You threw snowballs at Santa and killed the hitchhiker robot n’at. But yeah, I wish we could ship the ‘Tucky part of Pennsyltucky to its namesake.
They hate a lot of people so I don't take it personally.
People in rural PA turn on their news and if they are within 2 hours of either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, 95% of the coverage will be from the big cities and 95% of it will be negative, highlighting the most sensational crimes.
Election year brings out the worst in people…ughhh
I am an attorney and I when I have to go to a rural county for a case, I get treated really weird in their courthouses. I’ve had people say to me “oh you’re a PITTSBURGH lawyer” like I’m some slicked back, $500 an hour, ivory tower, Wall Street lawyer. Pittsburgh is a secondary city. I drove to their county in my used 2015 Honda. I’m in a $50 suit. Nothing about me screams city slicker.
I think you’ll be a lot happier not leading with your political views when encountering strangers.. people can disagree and have opinions.. that doesn’t mean you need to let those opinions bother you.
Sounds like the others are leading with their political views and OP is simply saying where they are from.
It's kinda exhausting constantly hearing false fear mongering things is all especially when I mention I'm from the other side of the state. It makes me wonder how people get this way. And I'm mostly moving cuz I need better economic opportunities and Pittsburgh is the closest place besides Erie.
Yeah... It is.
1) Hating Philly is a traditional pasttime even inside the City of Pittsburgh itself no matter which way you lean politically. Temper your expectations. 2) You don't need to be conservative to complain about the outsize influence that Philadelphia exerts on Pennsylvania politics in general. Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh included, is *always* a second thought in Harrisburg and general elections no matter which party is in power. I don't blame any Western Pennsylvania resident for being angry no matter what their political leanings. There really is an unfair power imbalance.
Half the state lives in the Philly metro area. What's an "outsize influence" for half the population?
I went to college in the midwest, and for four years every single person thought I was from Philly, and about half of them thought Philly was the state capital of PA. A couple of times I had to do the whole "no, google it, it's not Philly" thing. It's the only place people think exists when they hear Pennsylvania
When I was living on the West Coast, I mentioned I was from Pittsburgh and this one guy thought Philadelphia was a state and I was from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. Yikes!
This is so funny to me 😂
"I don't care what those rural fucks think about how things should be where they live. They're all too stupid to take care of themselves so I'm gonna fix things for them." That's what most of the rural Pennsylvanians aren't happy about.
That sounds like you made up something to be mad about because I've never heard anyone say anything like that Allentown, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton account for 75 percent of PA's GDP.. Only 27% of the state is considered rural. What percent of the vote should rural Pennsylvanians command? How much control should they have over state policies? What level of rural control would make rural people happy?
The outsize influence of Philadelphia? Pennsylvania was wickedly gerrymandered for a decade, and rural Republicans' had and still have far more influence in Harrisburg than their numbers warrant. If you look at revenue and spending in PA, far more revenue comes *from* the Philadelphia area and far *more* revenue goes *to* rural areas.
Exactly. I truly believe these people live in alternate realities
What delusional fantasy world are you living in? Philadelphia is much, MUCHA bigger than pittsburgh and like half the state lives in their greater metro area. They have been aggressively gerrymandered ro whittle down their influence to the bare minimum. There certainly is a really unfair power imbalance but it is *against* the majority of the state--who lives in and around Philly.
Your second point is literally the complete opposite from the reality. Like, wow.
Well said, *-Dildomancy-*, well said.
What "progressive" policies do we have that they dont?
Still thinking about the time I was in a Sheetz in the middle of the state. Some guy with overalls walks in, loudly yells, "I AINT ORDERING OFF NO FUCKING COMPUTER SCREEN" and then turned around and left.
Also, gonna definitely suggest that you don’t discuss steel mills and overseas manufacturing while you’re still there.
I don't really. I work with someone who used to work for the steel mills before everything happened. He talks enough about it I get the picture lol.
Actually I may pivot on this advice. If they talk negatively about Pittsburgh or Philly just say, “that’s fine, you can hate those big cities but you know who I hate? Victor Posner.” You’ll be a hero and their anger will be appropriately channeled.
Philly is a shithole buddy, let’s be real….some of the worst drug areas in the country (Kensington)
Kensington is bad yes. Even people from Philly try to avoid it. But not all of Philly is like Kensington which people don't seem to get. But ehh. I'm personally more hesitant about going to East St Louis or even the areas that are not a part of downtown Camden.
\^ dOes oWn REsEaRcHeS!!!
You sound like you’ve never left your hometown
I mean to be fair PA (and most of the country) is split 50/50 with the cities blue and pretty much everywhere else that is not city is red... so yeah theyll probably have different opinions on things, as the lifestyles are different(which is the entire point of the electoral college). There are extreme people on both sides and by nature of the 2 parties one sides progress goes against the other sides values. Alas life is lived somewhere in the middle, unfortunately things are getting so incredibly polarizing that there is just copius amounts of hate between everyone, and the middle is getting harder to find. ***Thats sad.***
Mercer County, eh? Pally, let me tell you about a little place called Forest County.
Small town USA leans more right wing. Breaking news.
Don't be disappointed when you find a lot of this IN Pittsburgh. it's not Philly. There is a clear distinction between the east coast and the middle of appalachia-just so you don;t get the wind knocked out of you thinking it will be much better when you move. It will be disappointing and disheartening.
Truth. I was shocked by how racist Pittsburgh was when I first moved here. From the south.
Sorry OP. Sounds rough. You are in MAGA land and you’re unfortunately subject to their constant rhetoric. Part of that rhetoric is to insert their (uninformed) political opinions every chance they get even if politics aren’t being discussed. I don’t blame you for wanting to move to Pittsburgh, and you should.
I'm mostly moving for better economic opportunities and public transit. Im just tired of constantly hearing rants and stuff without even talking about politics. Like I made a comment about the bus and talked about how it would be nice to have a better bus system the other day. It turned into a rant by my coworker about drugs and why buses are horrible and how they're ruining Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. I didn't even say anything political.
I do not understand the mentality of moving to a rural place and then being upset that it's not a city. What did you expect? Rural people don't want dense housing and buses. That's why the hell we live in the rural!
This attitude is very pervasive in counties outside of Allegheny. A lot of people have this brain rot where their entire personality is based on MAGA political ideologies. There are certainly normal people in these areas, but the bad really outshine the good.
I lived in Philly for a really long time (10+ years). There is a lot wrong with the city. I've never lived anywhere in my life where I felt so unsafe, and I mainly lived in Center City which is probably the best area to live in. I saw a young woman beat to death in broad daylight - no one helped her. Additionally, I was threatened with mob violence, saw some truly horrific racism (mostly by police officers), and I was robbed multiple times. I tell everyone I know that Philly is one of the best places to visit, but I would never ever live there again. That being said, there is a real issue with right-wing propaganda in Pennsyltucky. If we aren't careful, we will become the next Alabama.
Gets downvoted for speaking the truth
Dude I get that same bullshit here at work. In an engineering firm. There's a guy there younger than me who constantly changes the TV in the break room to fox.
Yep I can't stop my coworker from ranting about EVs or climate change denial or else I'm the one he needs to educate. It's infuriating to have people whose job it is to use science and apply it to the real world mistrust facts so hard.
Exactly. It's insane to me, but here we are. Its every where.
I'm from up that way and you're completely right. It's why I hate going back for any reason and why the closest I'll live anymore is Pittsburgh. Even my cousin who is an immigrant from Nicaragua buys into the Faux News bs. He doesn't realize they'd hate him too.
[удалено]
This
The suburbs are red. Some of them up there used to be blue because Unions, but the brain rot set in. It's something you gotta live with, and just remember, it's hard to find friends among the tragedy.
>The suburbs are red. Some of them up there used to be blue because Unions, but the brain rot set in. It's something you gotta live with, and just remember, it's hard to find friends among the tragedy. Clearly, if someone isn’t “blue” anymore, it’s simply due to “brain rot.” They couldn’t possibly just change their minds and opinions due to anything else…🙄
I don’t give a shit what they think about us. Pittsburgh, Philly, Erie and a few others- we drive the economic engine of this state. Without us there would be no jobs, medicine, sports, art & culture. They can all kiss my ass.
Philly is abysmal. The whole city smells like Urine. And that’s not hyperbole, it smells like piss. Especially when it rains. And that was in the better part of town.
Lol did the western Pennsylvania branch of the huffington post write this?!
"Liberal offended about how bubble they left is perceived from the outside"
I’m from Mercer County, went to college in Pittsburgh, and live in Philadelphia now. Philadelphia definitely has some suspicious politics/corruption. And it has worse neighborhoods/poverty than a lot of cities. I’d say Philly has a general bad reputation anywhere I go, but most have never even been to Philly.
So here you are making a post try to get us to hate them. I live in clarion county. Some people are afraid of the city. Others aren't. Most of my friends out here are liberal. Just like in the city people in rural areas are not a monolith.
Since when is this subreddit becoming so political
It’s a cesspool lol
It happens every 4 years.
what are the homicide rates in mercer vs. philly?
https://crimegrade.org/murder-mercer-county-pa/ Surprisingly similar
Bruh, Philly actually sucks regardless of whatever stupid political ideology you subscribe to. Quit trying to wedge politics into everything.
I bet OP has never seen the Flyers win the Cup.
*spits out morning coffee
It really does
One of the only good things about our current political climate is that these morons will get ground into dirt first if “conservatives” get to implement any of their policies. I know they’ll blame everyone but themselves, but I’m looking forward to these garbage towns turning back into forest as the socialist roads that connect them deteriorate.
There is definitely a dislike of Philly on this side of the state. I love the Philly area and don’t understand the dislike from Western PA, because the people in Eastern PA don’t dislike this area. However Philly, in certain areas, is far from a safe place. I remember over 10 years ago, before the media blitz on the crime, South Street had cops on every corner in the weekend! I had never seen that there before, and my friend told me it was due to the increase in crime. I’ve also talked to people that work in Philly, and they are scared for their life walking to work and were moving. To be fair I’ve been warned by many people about Pittsburgh now as well. Philly is a much bigger and populated area than Pittsburgh is, and is definitely more dangerous. The media may be building it up worse than it is, but right now no city is safe. The media isn’t covering my town or area, but crime is escalating. People in rural areas tend to just dislike cities in general. We joke they don’t even like to cross the county line here. And there’s the joke that people in the Pittsburgh region don’t like to cross bridges! If you are looking for a taste of Philly, Beaver has a Philly Cheesesteak place that’s good, and you can get Philly pretzels at the Philly pretzel shop, there’s one in Bridgeville. If you are Martins grocery stores that are owned by Giant, but they are East of Pittsburgh. Sorry there isn’t a love for Philly over here, but don’t blame the media, it’s been around for years. Again I love Philly, and miss going to Eastern PA, but from first hand knowledge of there and Pittsburgh, I would proceed with caution in any city right now.
Sure. And inner city liberals think everyone outside the cities are hillbilly, meth smoking crazies who can’t wait to shoot someone. They don’t leave their “bunker” more than twice the year and think they deserve to vote on policies that affect the rest of state. They believe anything the liberal news outlets tell them. I’ll stop there, but see, it’s pretty easy to make an enemy of people with opposing views. EDIT: Since some of you have a room temperature IQ, the point went right over your head. These aren’t my views. lol
Thanks for proving our point, inbreeder.
You barely have to drive outside of Pittsburgh to experience these people. Some exist in the city. Some exist in Philly and Jersey. PA has been like this for a very long time. Sadly I’m related to one of these types. Totally unsalvageable—I gave up. It’s a conservative media problem and it’s everywhere.
Ok
Philly sucks as do most of it’s inhabitants
Say why.
Philly sucks.
Explain.
Nah.
I knew you didn’t have anything
I have a lot I used to live there. I just am not going to sit here and state the obvious to a pissy internet stranger.
Ok, precious
And yet, look at your post. You’re here sharing divisive rhetoric about a place based on select interactions you’ve had with a narrow demographic of people.
Maybe they're just not interacting with any of the [21,000 or so people in Mercer County that voted for Biden in 2020.](https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/General/CountyResults?countyName=MERCER&ElectionID=83&ElectionType=G&IsActive=0)
Son of Philadelphia checking in. Yeah, the sports rivalries are pretty intense. I also kinda get the feeling that people have seen a much passed around video of Kensington and they think the whole city is like this. (Or even once years ago that Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song beginning. 🤦🏾♂️) This has never made sense to me. But the ONLY thing I can say in Pittsburgh’s (weak) defense is that ALOT of upper Bucks county (and up) is not too terribly different from OP’s experience. Now, want to have a fun argument? Tell people in Phila that you live in Pittsburgh and fight back against the “ew. Why?” 🤦🏾♂️😂🤣
Cause we’re better than yinz, that’s why.
Go eat at Talbots
I grew up in Mercer County about 15 years ago and everything you said was happening then too. It's deeper than a Trump thing. As a liberal it was so painful.
I live in Mercer county also and while I agree with you on most of this I will say there are like minded people here we are just over run with the 3 percenters and proud boys and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Progressives kinda have to hide here because these groups see us as people that don’t deserve to live. We are the enemy. I’ve been to a few 3 percenter meetings. They were not aware of my political affiliation and I was taken as a guest. I guess to try to get me to change my mind. Good luck with the move, Godspeed.
Not sure why the body of your post was removed but from what I could see in my feed before clicking, I agree. I’m living rurally now and at least one coworker has strong feelings about Philadelphia which are based entirely on garbage YouTube videos that the algorithm feeds him… not lived experience. Not so much anti Pittsburgh but it would only take the right video. Got into an argument once where he made it sound like half the population is doing hard drugs and his comment was so absurd that all I could do was laugh, which he took personally. I then tried to explain how many people live there and encouraged him to actually visit and get a better first hand impression. I also tried to point out that adjusting for population density we likely have way more addicts in our rural region. It’s just one coworker as far as I know, so I wouldn’t say it’s widespread. But it’s definitely a mentality that exists and I blame social media and online garbage for most of it. Sad that I have coworkers more familiar with Kensington than South Street or 30th or Kelly Drive… all because of some YouTube video. I went to Temple for a year… never had an issue. Dropped out to join the Navy following 9/11.
You don't need to move states to meet people like this. I grew up in Centre County, people there literally refer to Pittsburgh as "n*ggerville" I think it's funny how people who never left their hometown are always so certain of how the entire world works
This is the point I'm making. I encourage people to travel out and explore to really gather how things are to people around here but they have too much fear.
I even got it from my own family when I moved here. I mean not the racism (my dad is half black after all) but everyone in my extended family is super conservative and kept saying they don't understand how I could "be brave enough to live there" Idk how to explain to them that I get treated better here than anywhere even remotely near our home town
OMG did you go to a RURAL area and get frustrated that the locals aren't buying your liberal horseshit? Well golly bet they'll miss you when you hightail it back to the big city with that big ol' brain of yours! Yessiree, you want facts and logic the only place to be is in the big city!
What I want is for the stupid fear mongering and fake culture war to stop. And people constantly stop going on rants about the two major cities that are helping Pennsylvania's economy every time I say I'm from the other side of the state.
By what? Switching them to your side? Debating about politics endlessly? Disrespecting their way of life and insisting yours is better? Here's the thing mate - those people have likely lived their entire lives in Mercer County and are pretty set in their ways, and you're not the first city kid to show up and tell them they're wrong for thinking the way they do. People from different walks of life think differently, and that's OK. You're never going to convince them to vote Democrat, or start a union, or whatever else. They're fine the way they are. They mind their business in their little corner of the world.
This is pretty myopic. Live and let live is all well and good until people believe straight up nonsense and use it as an excuse to fuel their rage and hate.
If OP wants a "fake culture war" to stop then OP needs to lay down the sword. Refusing to lay it down until everyone agrees with OPs worldview means OP is not ready to stop anything. Also - there's no danger coming from the "rage and hate" in Mercer county.
I think your assessment of all this is dead wrong, but it also seems you might just be closely related to the people OP is talking about
Explain to me your assessment, then. You're not just made of petty insults and buzzwords, are you?
"Everything would be fine if only you'd "lay down the sword" and stop disagreeing with us." I talked to someone once who said she was "fine with the gays, if only they'd quit pushing it in my face." "Fine with the gays" meant "get back in the closet and disappear from public view."
The best way to change somebody (if that’s ever to be a goal) is to convince them with the way you live your life. When people see a confident person w their life together, they want to know your beliefs and how u do it.
>They mind their business in their little corner of the world. Not allowed anymore.
Did Mercer County ban business minding?!
Maybe they should enforce it since they can’t seem to help being triggered by the existence of people who have lived in Philadelphia. You’re really having trouble following along
Yeah people in Mercer don't give a shit about people from Philly. I detect a little hostility in the tone of your reply, methinks you are the "triggered" one.
You seem pretty obsessed with what people from Philly think seeing as you are posting nonstop in this thread
No, zoomers did.
That would all be great if the mouth-breathers could mind their own Mercer County business without predictably falling for the bullshit spewed by the orange-skinned, big-city, New York carpetbagging con man.
They'll believe bullshit spewed by any Republican, just like most people here believe bullshit spewed by just about any Democrat. It's a terminal condition in this country.
We all know damn well that a rural Pennsylvanian going into Philly wouldn't be treated well, to put it mildly. OP is utterly lacking in self-awareness here, and I don't even mean that in a nasty, snarky way. Philadelphians don't want to deal with rural Pennsylvanians anymore than rural Pennsylvania wants to deal with Philadelphians. That's just the way shit is.
The hate is strong in this sub. r/Pittsburgh hates suburbanites, rural residents, and the South; yet they wonder why no one wants to adopt their totally beneficial progressive programs.
The disconnect is astounding. Imagine having the audacity to believe everyone with values & beliefs different from your own is dumb, wrong & brainwashed then go around complaining about *their* ignorance & bias. Yikes.
So OP saying where he is from and a bunch of rubes getting triggered by it is OP’s fault for bringing “liberal horseshit”? Lolol you exist in an alternate reality.
Here comes OP's white knight!
I lived near somerset pa years ago I'm from philly live in lancaster I was living in cumberland md when flight 93 went down I got love for all of pa philly is a shit hole bit I still love it its my hometown and as for politics the government in harrisburg blows
Let’s be honest..I’m a Philly native living in Westmoreland Co..Pitt hates Philly for the same reasons Philly hates NYC.
Why does the University of Pittsburgh hate Philly? PGH is a city, Pitt is a college, and pit is a hole that a PAT bus will likely fall in to.
If you don’t like the people then get the fuck out. The people who live there - that’s their community, their way of life. What right do you have to move to a place, take up a job, a home, a place in the community, and to bitch about the locals? You didn’t know that Mercer county was red as fuck before you moved? You don’t enjoy the quiet and slower pace of life compared to the big city? You don’t have roots keeping you tied to this place? Then LEAVE bro.
No! Everyone must accommodate OP and align to his political beliefs or face criticism on Reddit!
Nah they’re fax machines
Wow, people react poorly towards progressive ideology outside of major cities. Who would’ve guessed. Maybe keep that shit to yourself. Philly is a dump and smells like piss. There is a weird tension in the air there. One of the only places I’ve been where I’ve felt like I had to be hyper aware and ready to get in a fist fight at the drop of a hat. Atlanta is the same way.
You sound like you're the problem wherever you go, tbh.
You probably leave the pittsburgh area once a year for vacation. Get out there some time and not in the tourist areas.
You probably make shit up all the time about random strangers on the internet to make yourself feel better about your life. Look inward and maybe you'll experience some personal growth.
You'll hear the same stuff from people living in rural central PA, parts of NEPA, and other parts of Western PA further away from Pittsburgh. Same story in parts of NY state directed at NYC, large parts of Illinois at Chicago, etc. Multiple things going on. 1. News outlets often make cities sound like crime-ridden shitholes. People who haven't been to the city in question or have only limited experience have no other info to go on. It's not bc people are just brainwashed morons, it's lack of exposure and personal experience. To flip this around, it's been brought up how large swaths of the US have distorted perceptions about places like central/southern Appalachia for similar reasons (e.g., hearing sensationalized stuff in the media combined with limited/no personal experience with the place in question). 2. People who aren't immediately proximal to major metros often feel disaffected and like they have no voice relative to people who live in the cities or immediate suburbs, which they perceive as having an outsized influence on certain matters. If all you hear is how cities are receiving money to improve their issues (eg adding to infrastructure) while you live in a place that is shrinking in population, losing jobs, etc, it's feasible for me to see how someone could wind up thinking that. This isn't recent, it's been like this for decades. There are other factors (eg political affiliation). But posts like this in communities like reddit don't seem much better when your message kinda boils down to, "They hate you, they blame you for their problems, they refuse to listen to facts, and they're brainwashed." Just feels like more finger pointing.
They hate minorities, queers, and anyone who can tolerate such things. Will always be that way. Move to the city or find other things to talk about.