Quote:
Originally Posted by pj3000
Philadelphia belongs in New Jersey.
It's the very reason for the state of Pennsylvania's existence, but an uninformed visitor to Philadelphia would barely know that it's the primate city of a state that stretches 300 miles to the west. Somewhat akin to the relation of NYC to the rest of New York state on a much smaller scale.
And among the very first attributes of Philadelphia that denizens cite about their city is not even integral to the city itself. Very often, the first thing a Philadelphia-area local mentions when talking about his city is its proximity to New York, followed by the Jersey shore.
I happen to think that Philadelphia is a great city on its own... but it always feels like locals want to almost immediately tout that NYC is 2 hours away or the shore is 60 miles away. It's clear that, at least subconsicously, they want to be part of Jersey.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pj3000
Philadelphia feels much more tied to New Jersey than it is tied to the rest of PA, including the Lehigh Valley and south central PA. It really has nothing to do with an "East vs West" divide of Pennsylvania. The fact is that Philly more closely associates with south Jersey and up to NYC than it does with the vast majority of eastern PA even.
Across the Delaware River is Philly suburbs. While sprawl has stretched northward, it would be a very long shot to refer to the Lehigh Valley similarly. To say nothing of trying to make the same association with south central PA... I mean, you really think that Philadelphians think of York, Chambersburg, Shippensburg, etc. the same way they think of south Jersey in relation to their city/region?
And I'm not at all claiming that NJ is homogenous. Philly, due to its geographic location within the state of PA, its history, and its proximity to NYC wtih its massive pull, is just naturally going to be attracted away from the rest of its own state... and that force of attraction pulls it into NJ, way way way more than any notion of a cohesive "Piedmont PA" pulls it in the other direction.
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It's tough because I do both agree and disagree with your statements.
While modern day Philadelphia would probably be far more progressive and better off if it were in the state of New Jersey, and in many ways Pennsylvania holds Philadelphia back, I do think Philadelphia and it's surrounding suburban counties in the state are quintessential Pennsylvania. The reality is that Pennsylvania just needs to show Philadelphia more respect. Philadelphia is quite literally where the state was founded, was the first state capital, is home to a lot of the state's and country's early history, and is the de facto #1 economic region of the state today. The lack of transit funding, highway cleaning and funding, public education funding for the city, lack of common sense business laws and regulations, and lack of common sense gun laws are just some of the ways the state holds Philadelphia (and really all of it's cities) back.
Philadelphia is certainly tied to South Jersey, and Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties are heavily tied to the city.... and the South Jersey shore towns are chock full of beach houses owned by Philadelphian's or residents of the surrounding PA suburban counties... but the undoubted center of the region is Philadelphia, lower Montgomery County, and inner-Delaware County. The city, the airport, places like Media and Upper Darby in Delaware County, the Main Line (the wealthiest and most prestigious suburbs in not only the Philadelphia region, but all of Pennsylvania), King of Prussia, Conshohocken, Willow Grove/Abington/Jenkintown/Glenside area...sort-of everything within the rough circle created by I-476, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and I-295 in South Jersey is the center of the Philadelphia region. The majority of that is within Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, the 6 Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia MSA/CSA are 6 of the 10 largest counties in the state of Pennsylvania. The largest county is the city of Philadelphia. Two more of the largest counties in PA directly abut the Philadelphia Region - Lancaster and Lehigh Counties. That's over 5 Million in total population in the state in those 8 out of 10 largest Pennsylvania counties. That's literally 40% of the states population.
So yes, I would say Philadelphia is absolutely quintessential Pennsylvania and really acts as the center of Pennsylvania. It's the #1 economic hub and the most populous part of the state.
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