I don’t think Chicago is Rust Belt, it remained a thriving city despite the loss of manufacturing. I’d say Rust Belt cities had to reinvent themselves or are still down somewhat. I’d say Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Buffalo, Utica, and maybe Cinci? I guess you can argue for North Jersey and the Philly area, but I’d argue they are more in line with Chicago than the rest of the Rust Belt in terms of transitioning pretty quickly and staying relatively up economically.
Fine, Gary Indiana is the western border of the rust belt since we’ve decided that to be rust belt you have to actually be rusting in real time.
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I feel like Chicago has enough going for it to be its own thing, but fair enough.
Cinci is nice, Dayton is Rust Belt.
I heard Dayton was pretty nice these days, but the people telling me it’s nice are from Ohio. I know me and the trucking companies of greater Dayton have been feuding for 10 years at this point. Not quite as bad as the truckers of Bowling Green, KY but close.
Is the Rust Belt contiguous? Or is it more like Swiss cheese?
Purgatory.
Pittsburgh is a mere two hours’ drive from Cleveland. Detroit less than three. All are quintessential Midwest cities.
Pittsburgh is not a three hour drive from Detroit—Lake Erie is in the way. I’ll have to come up with some reasons why you and this guy are wrong
I’m thinking part of the reason Pittsburgh is not Midwestern is that it is older than most Midwestern cities.
Detroit less than three from Cleveland, not Pittsburgh, if that wasn’t clear.
Pittsburgh is rust belt but culturally closer to Appalachia than Midwest IMO. As someone who grew up in western PA, and had family in Cleveland I would argue the following points about it
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Cleveland accent is much more midwestern than Pittsburgh accent which is much more Appalachian influenced. When I think of midwestern accent I tend to think of how people sound in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and some of that carries into Ohio but not PA.
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Ohio is basically all flat but the area around Pittsburgh is very hilly and feels geographically more like an extension of West Virginia than Ohio
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Pittsburgh’s culture, economy, and politics is influenced by coal mining industry in a way that the midwest is not
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If one were to draw a map with each major city in the US and their sphere of influence (defined as the area where that city is the most important city culturally and economically), Pittsburgh’s sphere would likely extend south covering most of WV, and east to Harrisburg, but in the west and north west directions you wouldn’t go very far until you are in the sphere of Cleveland or Columbus (maybe edges out at Steubenville and Youngstown). Basically all the area in Pittsburgh’s sphere is hill / mountain country and not flatland.
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I have always felt Pittsburgh wasn’t Midwest despite not having a lot of good arguments for my side. Those are good ones!
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Someone with a sense of humor probably. The real Kennedy supporters have more bumper stickers that are significantly more unhinged.
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Is that an RFK Jr sticker or a JFK Jr sticker?
Van Halen sticker and parking in a compact space is more entitled asshole than repressed nutbag, so I’d guess RFK Jr.
Damn who has a Van Halen sticker in 2023
a badass
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He looked like a psycho, we parked at the same time and I made sure he was well clear before I took the photo. Ace Hardware FWIW.
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Listen you NPC pedo, not only is JFK Jr still alive, but JFK Sr is too. Trump is president and the storm is coming!