Advertisements

Actually the same kind of thing is true about the so-called liberal educated demographic here. They, too, have a list of pecking order credentials you have to display in order to be accepted.

Truly tolerant areas have a certain fluidity where individuals are not as limited socially (and professionally) by demographics.

The barriers here are artificial, not based on any cultural differences that I can identify anyway. I am looking at homes to buy, and it's so funny to see that homes priced at $140K and $540+K out here basically are decorated in exactly the same style...including some identical bric-a-brac. Sure, there are granite and hardwood, and more/larger windows in the more expensive homes. But the style is the same, the color scheme is the same. The few examples of good design (in my opinion, of course) and interesting decor are pretty much at the lower end of the price range, too.

I think some cool and creative people are moving into the area -- and some have always been here -- but they stay below the radar. Real tolerance has always been viewed as subversive. Even Jesus was considered subversive in his day.

Blah, blah, blah. Thanks for the history lesson...sorry that you didn't see my response as that, too. Just because I said I don't dislike the flag does not mean that I would actually fly it...I realize others do see it as a sign of hatred. So calm down and quit the lecturing.

Funny that I have been accepted here, yet I am college educated, white collar, don't like country/western music, or Nascar. Hmmm. I guess your post is full of stereotypes which just don't fit anymore.

aut0maticXearth can I ask what town you live in? I have lived in 7 different metro areas before moving back here in July. I think you have a distorted perception of the area. There are rural areas here but you have to sit in the car a lot longer to get to those areas now. Fairview Township in northern York County used to be wells and septic and now it has townhouses and quarter lot subdivisions. I personally believe that the "rural" folks are on the retreat and moving to move rural counties and driving insane commutes to work (i.e. Mifflin County).

I have news for you: there are intolerant people in every area. I see this as a micro-big city with the liberals concentrated in the "burg" and adjacent boroughs. This is not different than Chicago or Miami or even DC. The populations there are larger so you drive farther to get to the rural areas.

People here are nice and trustworthy, more than I can say about my experience in NYC or Miami.

Harrisburg has an authenic downtown with a vibrant recreational scene, cultural scene, and downtown employment and resident that is the envy of cities in the Southeast.

I most certainly have been in Central PA recently. The forum topic, I believe, was asking if South Central PA could be considered an intolerant region, NOT "is there any diversity in the metro-Harrisburg area?" Again, I specifically stated above that to make ANY generalizations about a region you can't think in terms of "all or nothing". I'm not saying EVERY town and EVERY person in Central PA is ignorant and/or intolerant. Just because YOUR neighborhood is a pleasant place to live doesn't mean that you can say that the entire region is pleasant by extension.

As far as Obama is concerned, you're totally right, I knocked doors for the Obama campaign in several places and one of the most surprising areas to me was in Central PA. But this surprise was a double-edged sword. Of course I encountered a frusterating amount of "I'm not voting for a Muslim" comments, but the thing that really shocked me was the amount of people who answered the door in a standoff-ish manner until they found out I was with the Obama campaign. MORE than a few people told me that they were afraid to let their neighbors know they were voting for Obama; and this wasn't like 4 or 5 houses, this exact exchange happened at least twice on every street in several towns. To me, that speaks VOLUMES about the climate of the region.

The fact is that - while I do agree the region certainly is NOT static - it is most definitely a fair and accurate observation that South Central PA - on the whole - is LESS tolerant and LESS culturally aware than MANY (not ALLLL) parts of the country, and for somebody coming from another region and/or cultural background there are MANY places which are just as bucolic but offer a much easier transition than would SC PA.

I firmly believe that a bi-racial family from California should consider another region first BEFORE looking at SC PA simply because of the low cost of living.

Now to quickly address the ad hominem argument you made...I am definitely NOT an urbanite. I enjoy the outdoors way too much to ever be totally content in an urban center. I'm in no way afraid of or averse to rural living.

I've lived in New Oxford mostly, but also Littlestown and Gettysburg. I did two semesters at HACC, one at the Gettysburg campus and one at the Harrisburg campus and I will readily and enthusiastically admit it was a world of difference between the two campuses. Nothing I've said applies to the city of Harrisburg besides to point out the Harrisburg is NOT representative of the entire region.

If this thread was about Harrisburg or York, my argument wouldn't be the same. But we're talking about an entire region here. These little bubbles of diversity and culture are SURROUNDED on all sides by a weird melange of rural cultures for miles and miles.

Again, you can't use the "there are intolerant people everywhere" to make generalizations about a region. Yes, it is true there is tolerance everywhere and intolerance everywhere. But this line of thinking sheds NO light on what the "feel" of the area is like.

Saying, "People here are nice and trustworthy, more than I can say about my experience in NYC or Miami." is definitely an over-generalization and hardly accurate of the feel of SC PA. I've definitely found many people who are both nice and trustworthy, but on the whole the culture of the region is cold, intolerant, ignorant, and standoffish.

People who fit in and/or have had a positive experience living in the area are natually going to want to defend their differing experiences and views, but I think it's totally obtuse to deny that MANY types of people from other parts of the country would have difficulties and pains adjusting to the culture. I think it's misleading to paint this picture of south central PA as this warm, friendly, accepting, diverse, picturesque region teeming with bucolic charm. While - of course - it has all these things to a some extent, it's NOT representative NOR accurate to define the region in such a way.

WHAT!?!? Are you kidding me?? You were just posting about loving your rebel flag!!! Your screen name is "fire fighter mom" There's nothing wrong with either or those two things but PUH-LEEEEZ don't try to tell us that because you fit in an work in an office and don't like NASCAR that this is an example of accepting diversity. You're EXACTLY what I think of when I think of SC PA

I have lived in Lancaster, PA (about 45 minutes SE of Harrisburg) all of my life (I am in my mid 50s). As a result of my own personal experiences, I completely agree with these statements.

What about Bedford county and some of the Burroughs? We are also considering a rural area with smaller schools. My children are white and hispanic - any forseen problems?

I think there's a segment of the population in Pennsylvania that severely exaggerates the negative. For example, if these negative people encounter a pair of racist pricks in, say, Altoona, then somehow the entire state is "racist," never mind that that's two out of 12.6 million people. Or, if somebody gets shot in a Pittsburgh neighborhood adjacent to where a negative person lives, then somehow the entire city is "going to hell" even though it could be an aberration.

I know a native of Georgia who moved to Hershey two years ago and loves it there.