Upstate NY

[Jerry Thompson]

I lived in NY state for 6 years. No one could tell me where Upstate NY began relative to NYC. Does anyone know? I think it must start just North of the Port Authority.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I don't know where it starts but when I took my wife on a surprise trip to Cooperstown, I was shocked to find NYC didn't extend all the way there.

[Harold Burrell]

I lived in NY state for 6 years. No one could tell me where Upstate NY began relative to NYC. Does anyone know? I think it must start just North of the Port Authority.

Though I live in PA now...I lived in upstate NY most of my life.

Upstate NY is ANYPLACE that does not consider itself part of NYC. ;)

[Keith Outten]

North of Syracuse.

[John Coloccia]

I grew up in Yonkers. I think we generally considered anything north of Westchester Country (or maybe even just north of White Plains), or west of the Hudson, "upstate". Binghamton...Port Jervis...Albany...Buffalo...Syracuse....all the same to us.

[Sean Troy]

I grew up in Kingston and that was always thought of as upstate. 90 miles north of the city.

[Scott Shepherd]

Anything north of the Mason-Dixon Line :D

[Jerry Thompson]

Keith;
I lived in Fair Haven. That is on Lake Ontario. So now I know.

[Wade Lippman]

Google is your friend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upstate_New_York
I have always heard it is north of Westchester County.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I grew up in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester. Some people called it upstate, but we referred to it as western NY.

[John Coloccia]

Having grown up in Yonkers, this was basically my view of the world before I moved away:

You have the Bronx...that's where you go eat.

You have Long Island...you know someone that lives there, but you've never visited because there's too much traffic this time of day. Any time of day, actually.

You have the rest of New York...you only go there when some friend from out of town makes you. They think you know everything about the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, but you don't because you've never actually been there. As you drive them around, they point out the Brooklyn Bridge and you think to yourself, "THAT old piece of junk?"

A little to the north is White Plains. The only reason you know that is because that's where The Galleria is.

Somewhere on the other side of the George Washington Bridge is Atlantic City.

Down south is Florida.

To the west is California. Between New York and California is Texas and the rest of the Midwest.

To the north is upstate. This generally includes Niagara Falls and Canada.

To the east is Russia.

[Robert Maloney]

John,
You said you grew up in Yonkers and considered anything north of White Plains upstate. I live about 60 miles north of NYC on the Connecticut border and work in NYC. I was talking to a guy at work a couple weeks ago and he said he was upstate for the weekend. I asked him where he went. He said Yonkers. He lives in Brooklyn so I guess Yonkers would be upstate to him.

[John Coloccia]

John,
You said you grew up in Yonkers and considered anything north of White Plains upstate. I live about 60 miles north of NYC on the Connecticut border and work in NYC. I was talking to a guy at work a couple weeks ago and he said he was upstate for the weekend. I asked him where he went. He said Yonkers. He lives in Brooklyn so I guess Yonkers would be upstate to him.

That's funny, though I'm not sure I'd trust the opinion of anyone that goes to Yonkers for the weekend :)

[Robert Maloney]

Especially coming from Brooklyn.

[Paul Hinds]

I agree w/ Harold. It's anywhere that isn't NYC. For people in NYC, there is NYC and everywhere else. They admit to a VERY loose affiliation with the rest of the state (all of which is upstate except the city) and even less with the rest of the world.

A family was driving back from a weekend at a wedding in New Jersey and the daughter asked her Dad, when they stopped to pay the toll on the GW Bridge, why they had to pay money to get from New Jersey back into the city and he just said "Because it's worth it!"

[Harold Burrell]

I agree w/ Harold.

I'm sorry...but I just wanted to quote that so I can look at it again.

I'm married, you know...so I don't hear that much... ;)

[greg Forster]

there is Upstate, Downstate and WNY(Western New York) -where we drink pop, not soda

grew up in Webster, NY(WNY)

Hi Dave!!

[Matt Newby]

Up here in the Adirondacks, we take it a step further and consider ourselves North Country. Would love to see it split into three or four states to more adequately and fairly address each regions political and economic needs, instead of just living with what the city says is good for the rest of us.

[Rick Moyer]

Anything north of the Mason-Dixon Line :D

Southerners...:rolleyes:
Pennsylvania is north of the Mason-Dixon, everything else is New England!:D

[Curt Harms]

Up here in the Adirondacks, we take it a step further and consider ourselves North Country. Would love to see it split into three or four states to more adequately and fairly address each regions political and economic needs, instead of just living with what the city says is good for the rest of us.

And likely has little clue about what IS actually good for you - and do they really give a rat's behind? I've heard Californians with a similar wish; two states, northern & southern.

[Harold Burrell]

Upstate New York: (def.) - The part of the state that pays the bills of NYC.







(Part of the reason why I defected to PA.) ;)

[Scott Shepherd]

Southerners...:rolleyes:
Pennsylvania is north of the Mason-Dixon, everything else is New England!:D

Yeah, we're still not sure about you Pennsylvania people :p We think y'all are okay, but we're watching closely :cool:

[Joe Tilson]

Now we all know what's wrong with the nice people on SMC. They are from NY, boy, am I glad they're spread out all over the country!:D:D They don't seem to know where they live or lived. I am in the upstate of SC north of Columbia, where we draw the line. That's a fact jack!

[Harold Burrell]

Yeah, we're still not sure about you Pennsylvania people :p We think y'all are okay, but we're watching closely :cool:

Yeah, well...don't watch too closely. You might recall what happened to the last bunch of Virginians that gave us a hard time. :p;)

[William Huver]

From a Western NY (a little ways south of Rochester) perspective, Western NY is anything west of Syracuse.

North Country NY is anything North of a line between Syracuse and the Vermont border (basically, the Adirondacks).

Upstate NY is anything between that line and NYC (basically, the Catskills).

NYC is a mystical island city that gives us a lot of headaches, and given its population density, should be a state of it's own... :)

I once met a man in NYC (while someone was touring us past the Empire State Building :rolleyes: ), who told me he'd never been outside the city. When asked why, he said that he was scared to. I told him I would be scared to live in NYC. He looked confused and said, "but there's bears out there aren't there?"

Greg, is there "pop" in the southeast? I'm afraid that the drinking of soda may become a statewide problem here... ;)

Regards,
Bill

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
I once met a man in NYC (while someone was touring us past the Empire State Building :rolleyes: ), who told me he'd never been outside the city. When asked why, he said that he was scared to. I told him I would be scared to live in NYC. He looked confused and said, "but there's bears out there aren't there?"

Did you tell him there's predators a lot more dangerous and less predictable than bears? And there's lots of 'em in NYC?

Greg, is there "pop" in the southeast? I'm afraid that the drinking of soda may become a statewide problem here... ;)

Regards,
Bill

Interesting about the term 'pop'. I didn't know it was used this far east. I grew up in the upper midwest and pop was the only term used. I sorta thought it was limited to the Upper Midwest & I think Northwest.

[Bert Kemp]

Take that family for a ride to upstate NY, stand them on the edge of the Grand Canyon,take them on a Caribbean Cruise take them basically anywhere 200 miles from NYC and see if they ever thinks it worth paying to get back in:rolleyes:


I agree w/ Harold. It's anywhere that isn't NYC. For people in NYC, there is NYC and everywhere else. They admit to a VERY loose affiliation with the rest of the state (all of which is upstate except the city) and even less with the rest of the world.

A family was driving back from a weekend at a wedding in New Jersey and the daughter asked her Dad, when they stopped to pay the toll on the GW Bridge, why they had to pay money to get from New Jersey back into the city and he just said "Because it's worth it!"

[Myk Rian]

Here in Michigan, anything north of Bay City is up nort.

[William Huver]

Curt, I'm not sure that I told the guy my thoughts about having more faith in bears roaming the woods than in other predators roaming the city, other than saying I'd be scared to live there. It took a minute for us to recover from shock, and some chuckling. Most of us in the handful of guys I was with spent our teenage years working on the farm, and at the time we were not long out of our teens. It was a good wake-up call to the differences in perception between urban and rural life!

It is funny how often the debate of "pop" vs. "soda" comes up. In my neck of the woods, we drink pop. The use of the word soda will quiet a room as quick as the start of a western saloon gun fight.

Regards,
Bill

[Clarence Martin]

There are several distinct areas of NYS. The Western part of NY is Western New York , or WNY . It is composed of 8 Counties. ERIE, NIAGARA, CHATAUQUA ,CATTARAUGUS, ALLEGHANY, WYOMING, GENESEE, ORLEANS Counties. Then there is Central New York. That region is the Counties just to the East of WNY and they include all of the Finger Lakes Region. Up to I believe Syracuse. To the North, is the Adirondacks Region. More commonly known as Northern New York. Eastern NY would include the Albany area. The Catskill region would be South East NY . Downstate NY is the NYC area , including the Long Island area.

[Harold Burrell]

There are several distinct areas of NYS. The Western part of NY is Western New York , or WNY . It is composed of 8 Counties. ERIE, NIAGARA, CHATAUQUA ,CATTARAUGUS, ALLEGHANY, WYOMING, GENESEE, ORLEANS Counties. Then there is Central New York. That region is the Counties just to the East of WNY and they include all of the Finger Lakes Region. Up to I believe Syracuse. To the North, is the Adirondacks Region. More commonly known as Northern New York. Eastern NY would include the Albany area. The Catskill region would be South East NY . Downstate NY is the NYC area , including the Long Island area.

I am actually kind of surprised that the term "Southern Tier" has not come up yet. All my like I have heard that name in regards to the region that runs along the NY/PA line.

[Wade Lippman]

There are several distinct areas of NYS. The Western part of NY is Western New York , or WNY . It is composed of 8 Counties. ERIE, NIAGARA, CHATAUQUA ,CATTARAUGUS, ALLEGHANY, WYOMING, GENESEE, ORLEANS Counties. Then there is Central New York. That region is the Counties just to the East of WNY and they include all of the Finger Lakes Region. Up to I believe Syracuse. To the North, is the Adirondacks Region. More commonly known as Northern New York. Eastern NY would include the Albany area. The Catskill region would be South East NY . Downstate NY is the NYC area , including the Long Island area.

Monroe County is in Central NY?! That is news to 750,000 people. I expect another 200,000 in Wayne and Ontario county would be surprised also.

[William Huver]

Harold, I'm far enough south of Rochester to be on the edge of the "Southern Tier". But, we try to avoid admitting that. :) Actually, there have been days that moving just over the PA border sounds good. I know a guy who lives in MD that thinks the same, from the southern PA border side. I guess, good and bad, any way you look at it.

I considered the Southern Tier as a subdivision of Western NY and Upstate NY. I also included the "Finger Lakes" region as another subdivision of WNY. Didn't want to get too detailed...

Regards,
Bill

[Robert Payne]

I need to agree with the last two posts (Wade and Bill) that the Rochester/Monroe County/Finger Lakes area are considered western NY by natives. I was born and lived there until my mid-twenties and never heard the area referred to as central NY. But then I moved south for most of the remainder of my 72 years in part to escape the wicked snowy winters. But then I walked out my door in western NC this morning to be greeted with 3" of heavy snow!

[Peter Kelly]

Upstate New York: (def.) - The part of the state that pays the bills of NYC.It's actually the opposite. The city and it's suburbs generate the largest portion of the non-federal revenue for Albany. The western and northern reigons generate a fraction of tax dollars but receive a much higher percentage of spending.

To me "Upstate" equals anywhere directly north of Westchester and Rockland counties but east of Ostego County (which would be Western New York).

[Don Orr]

I finally stumbled across this thread and thought I could give some perspective on the question at hand since I have lived in Upstate New York all my life. To me Upstate is anything above NYC or maybe Westchester/Rockland, no real specific line. If you are form Upstate you just know. Then Upstate is further subdivided into regions such as the Capital Region, Northcountry, Western, Central, Southern Tier. I don't believe any of these really have specific boundaries unless you are talking about tourism organizations. There are also sub-subdivisions such as the Adirondacks, Catskills, Finger Lakes, Niagara Frontier, etc. It's a big, diverse, and very interesting state with much to offer. Everything form history to culture to wilderness and more. There is WAY more to New York State than New York City, even if it is an amazing city. And yes, there are bears up here!:eek: