No, I grew up in the midwest. The only parts of PA that I'd consider part of the midwest are north of 80 and west of Meadville.

>People are the same though.

People tend to be the same across the entire US, the world even. Globalization kind of does that. My coworkers in Mexico shop at Costco more often than I do, so if we're going off of what "feels" like the midwest based off of just general US culture we should really be expanding our horizons.

>That's where people start saying pop.

It's not, and that's not uniquely midwest either:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/soda-vs-pop_n_2103764

>Now, if you asked me if the surrounding area feels like midwest, no. You drive 20 minutes and you're back in Appalachia, but the city itself feels more like a midwest town.

Okay now you're just being obtuse. Pittsburgh is the midwest, but places like Cranberry Township that are right outside of the city are back to being Appalachia? I wouldn't even say you're in the midwest if you drove straight across 70 into Ohio, those parts of the state aren't exactly the Midwest culturally, but the census lines aren't that precise.

>Columbus... that place always makes me feel like if you combined state college and Harrisburg. It's a weird outlier.

I mean it's the state capital plus home to one the of the largest universities in the country. The city is kind of split between downtown and where the university is, but I'd argue it's just what the midwest looks like. It's flat, laid out on a grid, culture is just kind of a basic "American" culture that's more tied to agriculture than the steel industry or mining.