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I'm in rural PA.
Pennsylvania is a weird state because we have half the population in cities, Philly and Pittsburgh are the big ones, but we've got quite a few smaller cities peppered throughout. The other half live in the middle of nowhere, Amish country and farmers for miles.
The rural is deep red. I can see a Confederate flag from my porch. We can't even claim that as "our heritage" or whatever bullshit the South says to justify it.
Feel free to disparage my area, it's pretty disgusting.
Oh, man. My condolences.
But, seriously: rural PA can be gorgeous. The issue is, as you said: the politics. When we first moved there, a new friend told me: "Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Alabama in between."
Another replier to your comment said they lived outside Allentown - I don't consider that "rural" PA. The suburbs in PA are vast, and while it can look rural, you don't know PA rural until you drive to somewhere like New Berlin: through coal country. I knew people who'd grown up within 3 miles of where their grandmother grew up, lived there their entire lives, and never ventured more than a few dozen miles from the Mainline. Never visited Gettysburg, a mere 4-hour drive.
And you're so right! The Mason-Dixon line is the Southern border of PA, and yet Confederate flags abound. That, and Trump signs; they just never take those down, campaign year or not.
We moved to Minnesota from PA (answering OP's question) and I was surprised at the political similarities. Around The Cities it's fairly liberal, and even through the few-hour drive to Deluth. But once you get off the main commuter thoroughfare, those Trump signs start appearing everywhere. Iron ore is to MN what is coal to PA, and mining is mining. Although, the property around the big Northern lakes is all lake-homes owned by urban families who can't afford lake homes around The Cities, so there are pockets of Blue out there. Anyway, I found the similarities to be surreal. The biggest difference is that the PA coal country is far poorer than MN iron country.
But I'll repeat: the countryside in PA is amazing, especially in the Poconos, but also in the farmland. Just beautiful.
No argument from me on the beauty of the countryside. I had moved to Cleveland for a few years, and came back to hillbilly Town because it was worth having a crick for my kids to play in. That's not a typo, my PA folks get it.
I'm outside Allentown, but half my family is from up near Towanda. It is an odd state due to how we're spread out.
We've got Confederate flags around here as well. Less things plastered with Trump signs lately, but the last few months I've seen businesses with Houck signs all over. He's an anti abortion activist that twice assaulted a 70+ year old man that was a patient escort at a clinic.
All the people I meet from all over the state are usually very kind, but politically what many of them believe just confuses me. I just didn't know what would ever change their voting bloc if things haven't done so by now.