WI: Language reticence among American immigrants

Philly was kind of implied, given its placement relative to NJ and NYC. Once again Baltimore surprises me, so apparently I need to brush up there.

Just a bit of friendly advice from a Baltimore native who's lived 38 years near Philadelphia: never, never, never conflate Philadelphia with New York: light years apart in attitude, culture, and outlook. Philadelphia largely has no use for New York; at best there's a grudging love/hate (emphasis on the latter) relation. (Of course, New York looks down its nose at everyone who's not from New York.) And only conflate Philadelphia with southern NJ. There's a pretty clear line of demarcation across Mercer and Ocean Counties, with not much of a no-man's-land. Princeton and Trenton are about the only significant communities that switch-hit. You're pretty much in the New York orbit by the time you get to New Brunswick. New Jersey is pretty much two states in all practical respects but one: government, which is skewed badly in bias toward northern NJ.
 
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