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You can pick up WAMC FM just about everywhere in eastern NY as they have a bunch of satellite transmitters. From the map of the coverage area, it appears that their main signal 90.3 comes from an antenna located on Mt. Greylock in MA.
Upstate can be wherever you want it to be. People here in NJ just know that you're not talking about Long Island or NYC.
"I'm going camping this weekend"
Where?
"Upstate"
Where Upstate?
"Harriman State Park."
Crazy as that sounds, you probably won't get an argument from anyone here. If you said that to someone in St. Lawrence County, they'd definitely look at you weird. So, I'd say it depends where you live.
In a nutshell, to NYC metro people, Upstate is anywhere north of the city where people go to get back to nature / unwind / relax / do country activities.
I was just joking of course. But I like that part of Mass. I used to go skiing up there sometimes when Hunter was too crowded, and Great Barrington has a nice little downtown business district with some cool shops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VintageSunlight
Upstate can be wherever you want it to be. People here in NJ just know that you're not talking about Long Island or NYC.
"I'm going camping this weekend"
Where?
"Upstate"
Where Upstate?
"Harriman State Park."
Crazy as that sounds, you probably won't get an argument from anyone here. If you said that to someone in St. Lawrence County, they'd definitely look at you weird. So, I'd say it depends where you live.
In a nutshell, to NYC metro people, Upstate is anywhere north of the city where people go to get back to nature / unwind / relax / do country activities.
Quoted for truth.
I have my own definition based on my own impressions combined with numerous arguments with people from Levittown to Watertown, but as long as the usage makes sense within the context of the person using it, there is no sense in getting drawn into an argument over semantics.
I mean if someone from Beacon calls Poughkeepsie 'upstate', or someone from Schroon Lake calls Schenectady 'downstate', I will either assume they are trolling or gatekeeping, but if someone from from NYC calls Orange County Upstate, or someone from Plattsburgh calls Ulster County 'downstate', I know where they are coming from, even if I technically disagree.
Upstate can be wherever you want it to be. People here in NJ just know that you're not talking about Long Island or NYC.
"I'm going camping this weekend"
Where?
"Upstate"
Where Upstate?
"Harriman State Park."
Crazy as that sounds, you probably won't get an argument from anyone here. If you said that to someone in St. Lawrence County, they'd definitely look at you weird. So, I'd say it depends where you live.
In a nutshell, to NYC metro people, Upstate is anywhere north of the city where people go to get back to nature / unwind / relax / do country activities.
It is not as crazy as it sounds because alot of our traditions go back generations or even hundreds of years.
I am guessing but Upstate/Downstate probably comes from going up and down the Hudson River, a river which goes almost exactly North/South from NYC to Albany or vice-versa. So originally it was a directional term. In other words someone in New York City was literally going upstate to go to Newburgh or downstate from Newburgh to Manhattan. It did not have the urban/suburban/rural divide that many people think of it today.
Just like almost every other word/phrase in the English language, its meaning can be subtlety different, or even wildly different, depending on context. For instance, no serious person would ever say that Westchester and Rockland are outside of Metro NY. But within the context of Metro NY, we don't have a short conversational phrase to define Westchester/Rockland (and Orange and Putnam if you add such to the mix). The closest we have is "upstate". Contrast this with Long Island, for which we have the simple phrase "Long Island". No one says "yeah, I'm going to Westchester tomorrow", just like no one says "yeah, I'm going to Suffolk tomorrow." "Upstate" has become the word used in conversation to define that part of the Metro area that is north of NYC.
The use of the word "upstate" in this context does not mean the speaker thinks Yonkers, or White Plains, or Pearl River, or Yorktown are more rural than Suffolk County. It's just the phrase that is used. "Hudson Valley" or "Lower Hudson Valley" has never caught on. Nor has other non-existent phrases like Metro North, or Northtowns, or whatever.
Of course, the word "upstate", used in different contexts, also refers to that portion of the state which is outside of NYC's orbit. I think this is where people get confused. But its no different than a million other words that have differing meanings depending on context.
Also, people seem to want this to be an exact science. It is not. For instance, every person I have ever known from Queens refers to Manhattan as "the city". As in, "I'll be getting to the city at about 8 tonight." This is not incorrect simply because such person is already in NYC when they say it.
Just like almost every other word/phrase in the English language, its meaning can be subtlety different, or even wildly different, depending on context. For instance, no serious person would ever say that Westchester and Rockland are outside of Metro NY. But within the context of Metro NY, we don't have a short conversational phrase to define Westchester/Rockland (and Orange and Putnam if you add such to the mix). The closest we have is "upstate". Contrast this with Long Island, for which we have the simple phrase "Long Island". No one says "yeah, I'm going to Westchester tomorrow", just like no one says "yeah, I'm going to Suffolk tomorrow." "Upstate" has become the word used in conversation to define that part of the Metro area that is north of NYC.
If you are going from Manhattan to someplace in Westchester, you can just say the name of the city or village. Or you can say Westchester. People from the city used to say "Up in Rockland." and "I'm moving to Westchester because I need a yard.", etc., all the time.
That's my impression from Manhattan and the Bronx. Maybe Brooklynites and Queens are weird about calling Westchester and Rockland by their names, I don't know.
If you are upstate, you could also describe Westchester/Rockland/Putnam/Orange as "Downstate", as in, "Where is Croton?" "It's downstate, near Peekskill."
Another option is to call the region north of the city the "Lower Hudson Valley". That is more or less the official designation of the region up to Dutchess when you hit the "Middle Hudson Valley".
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try this..
