Quote:
Originally Posted by KDD
If you told me 14 Pennsylvania counties were on the list and Philadelphia wasn't one of them, I wouldn't believe you. The only one that to me is a head scratchier is Elk, I thought it was all German loggers there. Then again, its so small, one big ole Catholic family moving there might make the difference.
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I'm from Philadelphia. While South Philly is for sure the most authentic urban Italian enclave in the country, Philadelphia is a large diverse county with 1.6+MM people. At this point, it's about 35% black, 30% white, 20% Hispanic, and 15ish % Asian. So while Italians probably account for the largest subgroup of whites in the city, the % of the whole won't compare to other smaller, less diverse counties.
Of note, 3 of the 4 first ring suburban counties outside of Philly are on the list (Delaware, Montgomery, Chester). Bucks is the exception. On the Jersey side (of Philadelphia), Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, and Atlantic are there.
Within in the Philadelphia region, there's a well known trope that Washington Twp, NJ (in Gloucester County) is called South South Philadelphia. There's steady migration back and forth between South Philly and Gloucester County. Many couples leave for Gloucester County when their kids reach school age and return to South Philly as soon as the kids fly the coop.
There are entire new neighborhoods in South Philly where the streets are given explicitly Italian names. It's very very very weird to me. Like there is no effort to pretend that anyone other than an Italian family will live there.