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jaredrun t1_j36x6je wrote

Bucks Co?

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Willing_Category1331 OP t1_j36x9or wrote

Yup that's it

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visualbang t1_j375caj wrote

Welcome to one of the beautiful things about Pennsylvania and Bucks County! I love living in farm country but also driving 15 minutes to go to any store we could possibly need. I can also drive an hour to Philadelphia for shows or a night out. I drive an hour the other way and it’s nature wonderland. Enjoy!!!

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IWantAStorm t1_j37lki2 wrote

Come on up north. Less than two hours to NYC, turnpike to Philly. Good medical care...........and 10 minutes from a dairy. Massive history and a big river. PA can be backward at times but the landscape is fantastic.

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enn_sixty_four t1_j38s4rc wrote

Where's the good medical care up North? I assumed you meant Canada at first

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aust_b t1_j3glfc1 wrote

Geisinger and UPMC are battling it out for control right now. Geisigner just put in a new hospital in Muncy PA, literally 3 mins down the road from UPMC muncy.

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Space_Ranger-420 t1_j37a988 wrote

I’ve got 25 acres and I’m 15 minutes from all the food and shops in my area!

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MrSchaudenfreude t1_j37j0kg wrote

The land of NIMBY. 202, 611, what joys those roads are.

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Willing_Category1331 OP t1_j37j6wt wrote

Ever been on 206 in NJ?

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aj1337h t1_j3a2wr3 wrote

309 is cool until you hit either end of it or end up in the zone where it's always under constro

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MrSchaudenfreude t1_j37knjt wrote

I wanted to say no, but I had to look on a map. Oh God yes, once in the summer. It's was awful. At least jersey has highways, I think the only high way in bucks is 476

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drimmie t1_j38rn01 wrote

Words cannot express how much I hate 476. At least they're finally widening it 🤷‍♂️

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eMPereb t1_j39ac12 wrote

Bingo! Where NJ drivers perfect their skills

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ashleyorelse t1_j38d3kc wrote

At least you are close to a city.

I'm in a small town. If I drive 15 minutes, I'm in a smaller town or more like the countryside or woods.

If I want city, I need to drive 1.5 hours.

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Hike_it_Out52 t1_j38wr7f wrote

I'd have guessed either near Pittsburgh or Wilkes-Barre. Both surrounded by game lands and mtns relatively close.

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-GhostMode t1_j39nbsf wrote

Imagine living in Jersey… I’m in Trenton area so not far from you… one way is NY, the other is Philly, and then you’ve got the Shore.

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[deleted] t1_j36wdc7 wrote

Most of the country is like that.

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Yinzerman1992 t1_j36zjpc wrote

If you go to the midwest particularly states like Indiana, or Illinois it is even more pronounced there. PA is not unique in that regards.

I've driven on interstate 70 and 74 countless times and I'll be driving for miles seeing fields of corn and soybeans and them BAM I'm in Indianapolis.

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RoyalEagle0408 t1_j36zsza wrote

As a PA native who now lives in Indiana, can confirm the Midwest is like that.

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ell0bo t1_j372odj wrote

The midwest basically starts in pittsburgh

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OhioJeeper t1_j37cq6s wrote

More like Cleveland (or Youngstown/Warren if you want to get really precise). Pittsburgh still has too much in common with Appalachia to be considered the midwest IMO. Most maps I've seen have it starting in Ohio, but even the south eastern part of that state is more Appalachia than midwest if you're looking at the area's history/economy/culture.

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d0s4gw t1_j37frzd wrote

What would you say are the fundamental cultural differences between the Midwest and Appalachia, specifically between Cleveland and Pittsburgh? I agree the geography is different but culturally they feel roughly identical.

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CherikeeRed t1_j37l1qz wrote

How egregiously your whiskey production was in opposition to the federal government maybe? Idk that's a toughie

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OhioJeeper t1_j387p4u wrote

It's harder to find good pepperoni rolls in the Midwest than it is Appalachia.

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ell0bo t1_j38r4m9 wrote

Ok, see... I can get behind this definition. lol

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OhioJeeper t1_j38y4vg wrote

I'm not even joking when I say that, this is one of those things that is Appalachian in the sense that people in WV will cling to like it's a key part of their identity, but you can still get them at pretty much any gas station in rural SE Ohio. Beyond that you're either needing to go to Sheetz or you're stuck eating some weird midwest food like spaghetti with shitty chili on it.

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Far-Communication778 t1_j3bg57p wrote

Ya mean that staple food of every University of Cincinnati student that looks like baby diarrhea? I don't know what the rave is or was.

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ell0bo t1_j37ut3d wrote

I'd consider Pittsburgh less Appalachia proper and maybe the foothills of it. So I'd consider it midwest, just will a few more hills.

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OhioJeeper t1_j387ka7 wrote

Not maybe, Pittsburgh is 100% for sure built in the Apalachian foothills. Look at a topo map of western PA (minus the far NW part where Erie is) compared to the Midwest and the terrain differences are fairly obvious.

Pittsburgh has steep hills that basically limit how and where things can be built, you don't really see that in other Midwestern cities.

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ell0bo t1_j38hb2y wrote

So you're talking physically and not culturally? Sure, topographically it's Appalachian, but culturally it's the beginning of the Midwest. Where does the Midwest begin to you?

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OhioJeeper t1_j38l1tm wrote

>So you're talking physically and not culturally?

I was talking both because the two aren't unrelated, but responding to your comment saying that it's not part of "Appalachia proper" based on topography alone.

>but culturally it's the beginning of the Midwest.

In what way? Have you ever been to a midwest city like Indianapolis, Columbus, or Chicago?

>Where does the Midwest begin to you?

Same place it begins for everyone else. "Midwest" is a census term, not something that changes based on our own perceptions and feelings of the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#Culture

Appalachia is a cultural region that's literally defined by the topography, and Pittsburgh is a part of it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia

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ell0bo t1_j38sj29 wrote

You really don't this Pittsburgh feels like a midwest city? Indianapolis, Omaha certainly feel like Pittsburgh, they're just a hell of a lot flatter. People are the same though.

Maybe it's the fact I few up in Appalachia and moved to Philly that I don't see Pittsburgh being Appalachian, but I've always felt it as being the start of midwest culture. That's where people start saying pop.

Now, if you asked me if the surrounding area feels like midwest, no. You drive 20 minutes and you're back in Appalachia, but the city itself feels more like a midwest town. When culturals begin to change, I expect there to be a patch work, so it doesn't phase me to say 'midwest culture' begins there. If you're talking census, it begins at the ohio border, 30 minutes away. I don't think it's a stretch to say that culture begins 30 minutes away from where the physical border is.

Columbus... that place always makes me feel like if you combined state college and Harrisburg. It's a weird outlier.

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OhioJeeper t1_j38v180 wrote

No, I grew up in the midwest. The only parts of PA that I'd consider part of the midwest are north of 80 and west of Meadville.

>People are the same though.

People tend to be the same across the entire US, the world even. Globalization kind of does that. My coworkers in Mexico shop at Costco more often than I do, so if we're going off of what "feels" like the midwest based off of just general US culture we should really be expanding our horizons.

>That's where people start saying pop.

It's not, and that's not uniquely midwest either:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/soda-vs-pop_n_2103764

>Now, if you asked me if the surrounding area feels like midwest, no. You drive 20 minutes and you're back in Appalachia, but the city itself feels more like a midwest town.

Okay now you're just being obtuse. Pittsburgh is the midwest, but places like Cranberry Township that are right outside of the city are back to being Appalachia? I wouldn't even say you're in the midwest if you drove straight across 70 into Ohio, those parts of the state aren't exactly the Midwest culturally, but the census lines aren't that precise.

>Columbus... that place always makes me feel like if you combined state college and Harrisburg. It's a weird outlier.

I mean it's the state capital plus home to one the of the largest universities in the country. The city is kind of split between downtown and where the university is, but I'd argue it's just what the midwest looks like. It's flat, laid out on a grid, culture is just kind of a basic "American" culture that's more tied to agriculture than the steel industry or mining.

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sutisuc t1_j37c7ou wrote

Hell even NYS outside of the NYC metro.

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jralll234 t1_j37ajzn wrote

Indianapolis was the first place I thought of when reading this.

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billstrash t1_j372lwh wrote

Congratulations, you live in the United States of America.

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[deleted] t1_j370ozk wrote

Almost everywhere I’ve been, with exception of the largest metros is like that.

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Excelius t1_j37dmf8 wrote

What they're really observing is where suburbia gives way to rural areas. In the bigger metros suburbia is just much bigger, so it might be a longer drive to get to "downtown", but that transition will always exist.

In LA you can drive an hour and basically never leave suburbia, but you'll still get to the juncture eventually. Go to the Los Angeles area in Google Maps and search for Tractor Supply Co and you'll see they start popping up in the "inland empire" at the edge of San Bernadino. Because that's roughly where suburbia starts to give way to farmland.

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Subliminal87 t1_j37ph7x wrote

Driving that area is honestly amazing. Sure the traffic sucks during the daytime depending on where you area. At night it’s not too terrible and everything is lit up.

But it’s so interesting to be up in the hills or the mountains and pop down into the city. I’d 10000% would pack my shit and move out there today if I could.

You can do so much out there. Literally everything is interesting to me out there. And options to go check out the scenery would always be available.

My quality of life would be an improvement just from that alone.

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Curious_Coconut_4005 t1_j37w0tp wrote

Way back in the day, my father was an Army recruiter based out of an office in Torrance. For some reason, his region included all of San Berdoo County. As many people who lived in that part of California, the Army just didn't think it was important to have more recruiting offices.

This was during 1979-1982. We lived on Beach BLVD at the time.

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KutyaKombucha t1_j373fzr wrote

Even within Philly you can be deep in a forest and then grabbing a beer and a cheese steak with a slow 15 minute walk

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SamuelLCompassion t1_j370kek wrote

York County fits this description.

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C4bl3Fl4m3 t1_j3a3mfy wrote

I was thinking parts of (neighboring) Cumberland County myself.

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ashfye29 t1_j370xd6 wrote

State College be like

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gggg500 t1_j375cli wrote

SC goes full urban to full rural so fast. I lived only 2 miles exactly from downtown and there were cows mooing outside my window at night.

Same can be said for any of PA’s small cities - Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Allentown, Erie, Scranton. You can be in the woods or the middle of a cornfield within a couple miles of each downtown.

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passthegrass4201 t1_j378bua wrote

I grew up in Pittsburgh and now live in Lancaster. You can imagine the drastic environment change for me as well haha. One thing that shocked me about Lancaster....the traffic. I thought coming from a bigger city, traffic would be better. I am learning though that I need to leave significantly earlier to get to my destination because I have never seen a population of slower drivers. It's arguably more annoying than Pittsburgh.

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Like_The_General t1_j37myzz wrote

I'm over in York, and I cannot believe how horrible traffic is. It's a nightmare, and it keeps getting worse because they continue to add huge warehouses around here. And of course there is an accident on 83 everyday.

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CherikeeRed t1_j37l8tj wrote

Good thing they didn't build that one Chik-Fil-A or yinz would've hit the traffic tipping point lol

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Curious_Coconut_4005 t1_j37xq60 wrote

My parents are from Lancaster County. The road planning folks had zero future thoughts of population growth. In the early 2000s, Rt 30 underwent a complete redo in the area closest to Lancaster City. Balfour Beatty fucked it up badly and was kicked off (paraphrasing that part).

Fun anecdote about the Pennsylvania Autobahn (Rt 222)....

When that part of 222 was brand new my mom got lost on it. We had been living in California, where my father was posted in the Army, and had come home to visit family. The highway portion being brand new caught my mom off guard, and we ended up in the Reading area and not going towards Millersville. Basically, we arrived late due to taking the scenic route. 😂😂 My mother's version of "oopsy" was something like, "Well, that was interesting."

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DonBoy30 t1_j377fxl wrote

Lol I live in the Scranton/Wilkes barre/hazelton ecosystem, and I swear there are generations of people who are like “wtf there’s mountains here?”

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sutisuc t1_j37c1d6 wrote

You’d be shocked by how common this is in most of the country

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tempestveil t1_j371u5x wrote

Texarkana slapped me in the face at night driving down i30 a few yrs back. Was just Dark. Dark. Dark. Then.. BRIGHTLY LIT EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE.

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cpr4life8 t1_j36ziom wrote

Welcome to Wisconsin!

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ell0bo t1_j372ina wrote

76 at the right hours you can go on a hell of a trip. I can start in Philly on 76, dead of the city. If I leave around 10, I can get to KOP in 30 minutes. In another 30 minutes I can be in lancaster / lebanon driving by farms. Another 30 minutes you're in Harrisburg. Another 30, Appalachia.

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fillosofer t1_j38ig2i wrote

There is absolutely zero chance you can get from KOP to Lancaster in 30 mins. I live basically smack dab in between the two and it's about 30 mins each way.

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ktappe t1_j38jrt9 wrote

I agree. 30 minutes west of King of Prussia is just Coatesville. I live in Exton and it takes me 50 minutes to get to Ephrata. People always underestimate how large Chester County is.

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ell0bo t1_j38p8kq wrote

Lancaster county, not city. That's easily and hour from there.

so it takes be an hour 1:20 to go from Philly to my mom's place (if I time traffic right) in Lebanon. I'd expect Ephrata, an exit earlier to take about 50 minutes or so.

So maybe I'm getting to KOP in 20 and KOP to Ephrata in 40.

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vintageideals t1_j373382 wrote

I live in front of a sprawling farm field so large I can’t even see their house from my backyard.

Meanwhile, out front, I can barely pull out of my driveway at different points each day, especially making a left hand turn, because of the traffic. It’s like I live in farm country out back and bustling mega suburb out front.

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FlamingoGram t1_j379wjh wrote

The best of both worlds at your fingertips.

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jralll234 t1_j37adc0 wrote

That’s the majority of places I’ve been. Some cities have more suburbs but that’s about the only difference I’ve seen.

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SheikYerbeef t1_j37fq3o wrote

Many cities in PA are within a 10 minute driving distance of rural areas, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Allentown, Bethlehem all come to mind.

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Odd-Emergency5839 t1_j37h3yn wrote

A lot of the world is like that. When I was in the Netherlands a 15 min bike ride takes you from a bustling city center to a wide open farm with cows walking around.

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Mijbr090490 t1_j37yre3 wrote

Harrisburg area is like this. Pennsyltucky is a short drive in any direction. I enjoy it. When I want to fuck off to enjoy solitude in the middle of the woods I don't need to go far. And when I need food and house stuff, Im a short trip.

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lehigh_larry t1_j376aca wrote

That’s the best thing about PA as far as I’m concerned. This extends to politics as well, which I like.

Living in an echo chamber isn’t good for society. It’s great that half of my friends are Trumptacular and the other half are rainbow emblazoned “allies”.

I don’t think other states offer such diversity of thinking in close proximity. My best friend is a devout Obama Bro, but his wife has a Trump tattoo. It sounds wild, but it totally works.

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Allemaengel t1_j37al5x wrote

To me Blue Mountain serves as a real boundary of sorts. I go through the Lehigh Tunnel from home north of it to work down in Bucks County and the difference really something.

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[deleted] t1_j37ysl7 wrote

Nothing new. Cities eventually have to fade to suburbs and rural areas. I live 20 min from Pittsburgh and 20 from the sticks of WV.

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SmokinLiberty t1_j37dtq9 wrote

Must be around beaver county area

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GrizzlyBear52687 t1_j37pmpj wrote

My first thought was Butler county. Which, sadly, is slowly being overrun by housing developments at this point.

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IrresponsibleScience t1_j37eb3q wrote

Isn’t it amazing? It feels nice to know I’m 30 minutes from a good hike and 30 minutes to a nice downtown.

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Willing_Category1331 OP t1_j37u181 wrote

Yup, pretty awesome. Lot of historical sites relatively close too. I'm no more than an hour from Washington crossing

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kronus87 t1_j37egq7 wrote

Whaaaat a difference between rural and urban areas. . . How odd and unique this place is. . . .

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sharkbanger t1_j37gxk2 wrote

You should check out the smaller cities in the middle of the state. We keep our feed stores directly in our urban sprawl 'round here.

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Wuz314159 t1_j37kg3v wrote

15 minutes?
Why so far away?

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phoenixredbush t1_j37npjx wrote

Im not in Bucks but my town is exactly like this. I live near goat farms, on a mountain top. I go 15 down the mountain and I’m in a shopping center, museums, etc. I love it bc I get all of the privacy, peace and quiet without having to travel an hr to the next grocery store.

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vasquca1 t1_j37u84e wrote

Sounds like Lehigh Valley

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Uneekest t1_j37ur9f wrote

I live in Mckees Rocks. I have city Deer that visit my tiny backyard

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kyohrus t1_j37z7ud wrote

i’m out near the lancaster & gap area and we used to have deer in our backyard! we had apple trees and they’d eat the apples that had fallen off the tree

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Puzzleheaded_Rub858 t1_j37wg75 wrote

Yeah, I live in Lower Bucks. It is pretty wild that the drive from city to farm can be so short

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carrigan_quinn t1_j38ar5m wrote

Exactly why I can't explain the culture of half of Chester County xD

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ancrm114d t1_j39w72j wrote

Pittsburgh has a crazy amount of diverse landscapes and architecture. One of the reasons is has a growing film industry.

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sporkishbooking t1_j39z8s7 wrote

I have lived in other states that are the same

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jdk0606 t1_j3a1mck wrote

Come to Venango & Forest Counties of you want to see the boonies.

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l_a_ga t1_j3a6utb wrote

What’s ur point?

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thisoldbroad t1_j3av2t1 wrote

That's pretty much the way Pennsylvania votes, too.

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Trixiedust2707 t1_j3b1qd2 wrote

Is that a bad thing? Ideal, IMO. One thing I love about PA is all the unspoiled land...but I want to be near civilization as well

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nhattawa t1_j3bqt31 wrote

A lot of people like this about the area but it’s the one thing I despise. It’s like suburban hell. Either give me walkable city/towns or give me countryside. Not this weird mix.. Chester county is replete with these massive burbs on farms and stuff.

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Hazel1928 t1_j3cu1nz wrote

I’m in Coatesville. (Technically south of Coatesville in East Fallowfield.) If I come out of my subdivision and make a left, I feel like I am in the last suburb from Philadelphia. There is an old steel mill, once the largest employer in Coatesville. It’s now only partially operational, and is operated by a company based in India. If I come out of my subdivision and turn right, I will soon be seeing horse farms, a covered bridge, and beautiful Jane Austen scenery, hundreds of years old homes, including some twins. Go a little farther south, and there is an Amish community.

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shewy92 t1_j3vyqb1 wrote

You've never been to Texas or out west in general then. A lot of the cities are built around the interstate, you go 5 miles past them and it's all farmland. Their cities are fairly new and were built around the roads while ours on the east coast was the opposite, cities were built and then the roads connected them

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