What is Upstate??? (New York, Buffalo, Rochester: house, tax, to live)

[I'minformed2]

ugh...that's another misconception....everything north of the NYC suburbs is not "country". Upstate has it's own cities with their own suburbs as well! Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and to a lesser degree, Albany; are all urban areas with surrounding suburban towns. They also have the bulk of the upstate population It isn't all corn fields and dairy farms north of the NYC burbs, and we aren't all hick farmers and hunters who live in isolation from society!

[terryclinker]

To me, Interstate 84 is the line.

Above I-84 = Upstate

Below I-84 = Downstate

[Joe Bama!]

Anything above The Bronx.

[StylesC12]

I live in Southern Westchester, next to Yonkers and where I live is certainly not upstate. There is nothing upstate that is anything close to resembling where i live. I went to school in the bronx, and have been to manhattan more times than people in staten island have. Yonkers and Mount Vernon are pretty much an extension of the Bronx into westchester. with this said tho my definition for upstate is northern westchester and above. i have never been anywhere in northern westchester excevpt when passsing trhough. Also, rockland is definatly upstate.

[Viralmd]

Originally Posted by StylesC12

Also, rockland is definatly upstate.

Sorry, Rockland County is NOT upstate. Not even remotely. There are areas of Rockland that are closer to NYC than some areas of Westchester, which is also NOT upstate.

[Jeromeville]

Quick definition of Upstate: People from NYC do not (a) commute from there, (b) have second homes there, or (c) get their water supply from there. Counties that are not Upstate: Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Westchester. Only people in NYC think those are "Upstate." The rest of us just laugh.

[Viralmd]

Originally Posted by Jeromeville

Only people in NYC think those are "Upstate." The rest of us just laugh.

I'm from NYC, born in Manhattan and have lived there my whole life. There's no way I'd ever consider Westchester, Rockland or Dutchess 'upstate.' Even upstate people seem to have misperceptions about NYC residents....

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by Jeromeville

Quick definition of Upstate: People from NYC do not (a) commute from there, (b) have second homes there, or (c) get their water supply from there. Counties that are not Upstate: Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Westchester. Only people in NYC think those are "Upstate." The rest of us just laugh.

Perfectly stated!

Except some people from NYC or downstate DO own second homes in the Adirondacks which is Upstate.

Also add Orange County to that "not included in upstate" group.

[Jeromeville]

Yeah, I forgot Orange, sorry.

And yes, the Adirondacks sort of don't count for the purposes of my definition, although clearly they're upstate. That's because the Adirondacks were originally settled, in good measure, by the super-rich from NYC back in the 19th century.

Another definition of "Upstate" could be "anywhere in New York where you don't hear very many downstate accents in everyday conversation."

Viralmd, no offense meant, I was imprecise in my statement: I meant "only someone from NYC WOULD think that" - not that ALL people from NYC think that.

But I can't help feeling that people from Upstate have a better working knowledge of NYC - geography, issues, history - than people from NYC have a working knowledge of Upstate's geography, issues, and history. People from NYC pride themselves on being worldly wise, yet they know so very little about their own state. Strange.

[Gaffer]

I tend to agree I84 is the split between down and upstate although I like to think it is something north of that.
That said I'd like to see the state split into two states whith I84 being the deviding line. Downstaters can keep the name New York. Upstate can be Adirondak (the friendly 51st state) or some other named arrived at through a contest.
Yes, that would present many problems and opportunities for solutions.