78% of Pittsburgh is christian. That's 10% higher than the state of MD. I can't find reliable stats for Columbia, but one website lists us as 41% identifying as religious (I find that hard to believe) - but still, there is a large diversity of religion and definitely a higher percentage of atheists here than in pittsburgh.

Additionally - a lot of houses here have minimal storage. Pittsburgh tends to have more basements and accessible attics, so that just ups the odds someone is willing to store the decorations... right next to your weird toilets.

A lot of the houses here don't have front outside electrical outlets I looked at, which aren't cheap to have put in. Battery operated lights are a pain, dim and for what you get, rather expensive.

Columbia has a lot more people moving from out of state for jobs - serving as a bedroom community for DC and Baltimore, but also hosting some pretty huge employers (APL for instance) - so you're going to see a lot more people leaving the week before Christmas. Why decorate your house if you're not going to be home?

Then there is the fact that some people go absolutely overboard. We stopped by the bowman Bridge display the other day (bring canned goods for the food drive, it is a fundraiser), and that setup is mind blowing. The lights in the park are also really nice (though, the highlight is getting to drive through the stadium seats), and there is the other one in EC. I've driven through quite a few neighborhoods this week to find some pretty cool displays up.

Lastly - isn't the christmas spirit one of charity and giving? I'll consult my bible, but I don't recall anything in there about putting up lights in a consumerist frenzy. As someone, who all week, has been answering the door to people stopping by with Hanukah and Christmas treats for us - I think there's plenty of holiday spirit in this town, enough to warm even this cold atheist's heart.