The state of Pennsylvania should be cut in half. The right side of the state, which encompasses Pittsburgh metropolitan area can best be described as "Midwestern Values with the pull of an East Coast Big City". In fact, the rust-belt and steel-belt areas strongly encompass Pittsburgh. These two areas are sometimes refereed to as Appalachia which is the region spanning from Kentucky to New York. Pittsburgh is one of the few post-industrial cities to rebuild from the collapse of the steel industry. The interesting part of this rebuild is that it only spanned one generation. My parents were very much part of the generation whose economic opportunity changed when the steel mills closed down. I am very much part of the generation who saw the rebirth of the city.
The left side of the state, which encompasses Philadelphia is in such contrast to Pittsburgh. Getting lost in Pittsburgh, and you ask for directions, you are greeted with help. Philadelphia is very cold in terms of culture and neighborly values. So much for the City of Brotherly Love. The interesting piece of both cities--and probably where I would say that the similarities end--is that they both embrace a blue-collar worker. I would argue that Pittsburgh probably has a "relentless" nature to a lot of what they do--I mean, how can you recover from an economic collapse without some nature of dedication? Philadelphia and it's big-city nature really haven't had to experience much of anything post-industrial.
How Do You Adapt to A Culture Where Values Are So Different?
Well, you don't really. I've struggled significantly with understanding the culture of "self" that is so prevalent in Eastern PA. If I had to pick two words that describe Pittsburgh culture, it would be "neighbor" and "pride". The two words I would pick for Philly would be "self" and "crass". I find a lot of that "big city" cultural influence to be, well, crass.
Berks County is not in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, but a lot of the culture here is drawn off what I would expect to be somewhat of a transient immigrant population.
If you have ever driven through Downtown Reading, you will see what I mean. Never in my life have I seen people so lazy, disrespectful, and illiterate as I have driving through Downtown Reading. They double park, stop in the middle of the road to let people out, cut you off.
This is a city with probably at most, a population of 80,000. Like, this is barely a city when you think of "city". There is no reason to drive in the manner that they do.
So you can't really adapt in an area like Berks County. If my life had taken me to Philly adaption would be easy--keep to myself and move on. But Berks County isn't Philly. The city damn near shuts down with any snowfall, because the systems in place to provide public services are inefficient. The highway infrastructure isn't built to accommodate growth. The pride in the city/area are virtually non-existent. Have you ever attempted to run/walk/bike along the Reading section of the Schuylkill River Trail?
I actually stole this image from a Google search, but rest assured that this "plastic bottle dam" is still there. And this is 100% indicative of the culture in Berks County. Joking about Pittsburgh River pollution because lack of environmental regulations is pretty bad. But this? This is another level where people individually and collectively completely disregard the environment. This is not a bunch of highschool kids throwing their junk because they are lazy.
The first time I saw this was on a bike ride along this trail. It was pre-Lindy so it must have been a month or two after I moved out here. I never returned to this trail. My impression of this area has been shaped by this. How does one portage around a bottle dam? I never had an interest in kayaking this waterway.
Accepting Defeat
Yup, I raised my white flag to Berks County a long time ago. I am fortunate enough to have developed meaningful friendships with a small group of people. Key word being small. I find that a lot of what drives me--that "hometown" cultural/value system, coupled with my age (too busy to be that "social butterfly") just haven't provided me the opportunity to develop the same system of friendship that I had in Pittsburgh. Granted, I grew up in Pittsburgh so I've encountered a lot more people in my 30+ years there, compared to my 3 years here, but I am very happy with where I am in Berks County.
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