I think I know why Western PA has trended to the right

[Dr. Cynic]

And one of the primary reasons isn't what you might think. Yeah, sure, there are a lot or racists outside of the City of Pittsburgh. I've known them. I grew up around people who would be very comfortable if blacks had never been given the vote. But the trend had begun before Obama.

At one time, Western PA was decidedly supportive of the New Deal and many considered themselves Humphrey Democrats. Hubert Humphrey was nothing if not supportive of civil rights. So, what's with the sudden change?

Well, with the steel industry gone, we've been relying on energy to survive economically. My own family has strip mined on land we own for coal and are working on getting the natural gas as we speak. It was hearing the accents of the people who were working on our land that it hit me... The population that left when steel died has been slowly replaced by southern Republicans coming here for the energy jobs, practically the only decent paying job outside the city is in the energy field and it's being filled by people who are originally from places like Texas and the Gulf Coast. Increasingly around the area, I'm not hearing the yinzer accent, but rather one from down south. The demographics of Western PA have shifted, it wasn't that all of a sudden, everyone became Republicans because they hated the black guy. It was because the population increasingly had been Republican before that.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

A true tragedy.

[old timey villain]

This is often overlooked. Sometimes regions trend over time not because of natives changing their politics, but because of transplants with different politics moving in. Forsyth County, GA for example has become even more Republican, despite becoming less southern and more diverse at the same time. I chalk it up to "blue state refugees" moving in who see the low taxes and suburban sprawl as the promised land.

[Sol]

This is often overlooked. Sometimes regions trend over time not because of natives changing their politics, but because of transplants with different politics moving in. Forsyth County, GA for example has become even more Republican, despite becoming less southern and more diverse at the same time. I chalk it up to "blue state refugees" moving in who see the low taxes and suburban sprawl as the promised land.

I know it's factually true, but referring to Forsyth County as diverse amuses me.

[Dr. Cynic]

A true tragedy.

That it is.

[IceSpear]

Good thing the much better part of the state, Eastern PA, is the part that's gaining population.

[old timey villain]

This is often overlooked. Sometimes regions trend over time not because of natives changing their politics, but because of transplants with different politics moving in. Forsyth County, GA for example has become even more Republican, despite becoming less southern and more diverse at the same time. I chalk it up to "blue state refugees" moving in who see the low taxes and suburban sprawl as the promised land.

I know it's factually true, but referring to Forsyth County as diverse amuses me.

haha, well it can only get MORE diverse when it started out as 100% white

And for the record- it's over 7% Asian now which is very high for a county in the south.

[Dr. Cynic]

Good thing the much better part of the state, Eastern PA, is the part that's gaining population.

Pittsburgh has actually also posted a gain in population for the first time in many years. In fact, it made the news on WTAE.

Pittsburgh is a beautiful city and even though I'm so out of place outside the city in terms of the politics, it's a really nice area. Pittsburgh deserves a higher population. Also consider that unlike Philadelphia, Pittsburgh is not all of Allegheny county.