This Is What a Boom Looks Like

About half an hour ago, I was in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. (For my fellow natives of the Philadelphia area, Canonsburg is southwest of Pittsburgh, where they say “younse” instead of “youse” for the plural of “you.”) And while unlike my colleagues Nate Benefield and Katrina Currie, who could regale you with gory details of tax policy and road bonding, I have an area of expertise that is too seldom heard in the debate over how we should deal with the Marcellus Shale: convenience stores and fast food.

You see, I spend most of my time traveling our great state meeting with folks who are interested in the Commonwealth Foundation. As a direct result, I am deeply knowledgeable about places like Wawa, Sheetz (which, again, for my fellow Philly natives, is what they have instead of Wawa from Harrisburg on west), McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Dunkin Donuts.

What does this have to do with Marcellus? A great deal. Because Canonsburg is, in many ways, ground zero of the gas boom—and because of my aforementioned area of expertise, I am highly qualified to say that in Canonsburg I saw the absolute fullest Sheetz parking lot I have ever beheld. It was so full I couldn’t even find a good angle for a photo!

And let’s just say we can be sure it wasn’t packed because people were looking for a good bottle of wine.