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Albany area Albany - Schenectady - Troy - Saratoga Springs metro area
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Old 04-04-2013, 11:36 AM
 
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I'm not that familiar with upstate New York, but it is interesting as the state does very much link the solid northeast with the midwest/Great Lakes. Many feel that Buffalo has a lot in common with Chicago-Detroit-Cleveland. Right not there is a debate going on in a thread on the Chicago forum between upstate New York natives about this.

Someone mentioned that the Albany-Schenectady/Mohawk valley is similar to New England and looking at a map, it seems like there would be a strong association. Do you guys feel strongly associated with New England?

Do you feel you region is most similar to the NYC tri state area, Massachusetts, or Buffalo-Rochester, or just none of the above? Maybe using your insight I will direct them to you guys.
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Old 04-04-2013, 11:54 AM
 
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Having worked extensively in all major upstate cities you will find very very little difference culturally between the cities. Albany has some row homes.... Other than that, the culture is the same.
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Old 04-04-2013, 02:31 PM
 
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Pretty much this side of upstate New York is more New England-ish, New York City suburb-ish than the rest of upstate.
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Old 04-04-2013, 04:04 PM
 
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I agree that there isn't too much of a difference, but there may be a leaning in terms of influences from outside of those areas of Upstate NY.
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Old 04-05-2013, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Palm Springs, CA
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Albany is more like a hybrid of western New England and NYC. It has the earthy, non-pretensious traits of the former, and the attitude and bad habits (littering, graffiti) of the latter. Anything from, say, Rochester and west is more midwestern.

Point a link to that Chicago board discussion, if you would.
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Old 04-05-2013, 01:22 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Plantweed View Post
Albany is more like a hybrid of western New England and NYC. It has the earthy, non-pretensious traits of the former, and the attitude and bad habits (littering, graffiti) of the latter. Anything from, say, Rochester and west is more midwestern.

Point a link to that Chicago board discussion, if you would.
I fail to see anything NYC like in Albany. NYC is an animal of it's own and no place remotely compares. I do see some western NE traits though. Albany is most like the other upstate cities before anything else.
I saw a link to that Chicago thread and the posts were so off base it was ridiculous.
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Old 04-08-2013, 08:19 AM
 
Location: Palm Springs, CA
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Just for the fact that there are so many downstate transplants, many of low income, Albany shares some NYC cultural traits. There's also architecture, the influence of the powerful downstate legislators, cuisine, etc.
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Old 04-08-2013, 08:48 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Plantweed View Post
Just for the fact that there are so many downstate transplants, many of low income, Albany shares some NYC cultural traits. There's also architecture, the influence of the powerful downstate legislators, cuisine, etc.
I see low income transplants from NYC in all upstate cities. None, to include Albany really make a difference in the culture. I don't see the architecture traits. Albany has some older architecture.. There are many cities all over the northeast and midwest that have the same architecture. The influence on politics is seen in all upstate cities. Aside from Italian cuisine, which is found in all upstate cities, it really doesn't share much with NYC.
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Old 04-08-2013, 09:38 AM
 
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Originally Posted by garmin239 View Post
I see low income transplants from NYC in all upstate cities. None, to include Albany really make a difference in the culture. I don't see the architecture traits. Albany has some older architecture.. There are many cities all over the northeast and midwest that have the same architecture. The influence on politics is seen in all upstate cities. Aside from Italian cuisine, which is found in all upstate cities, it really doesn't share much with NYC.
Well if we're going to talk about architecture, your point isn't entirely valid. Albany and NYC are both around the same age and both are therefore much older than Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. Influence of Dutch architure can be seen throughout NYC, the Hudson valley and albany. The other upstate cities have no equivalent. Furthermore, colonial architecture, which NYC and albany have some examples, is almost absent in the other upstate cities. Syracuse was incorporated around 1840. Albany was incorporated in 1686 that's almost 200 years apart which is a big deal in architecture.

I'd also point out the similar Dutch heritage that both cities have that makes them similar. Albany and NYC share a bunch of historical connections. There's almost to many to list, but believe me, I could go on and on.
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Old 04-08-2013, 12:33 PM
 
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Originally Posted by hock41 View Post
Well if we're going to talk about architecture, your point isn't entirely valid. Albany and NYC are both around the same age and both are therefore much older than Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. Influence of Dutch architure can be seen throughout NYC, the Hudson valley and albany. The other upstate cities have no equivalent. Furthermore, colonial architecture, which NYC and albany have some examples, is almost absent in the other upstate cities. Syracuse was incorporated around 1840. Albany was incorporated in 1686 that's almost 200 years apart which is a big deal in architecture.

I'd also point out the similar Dutch heritage that both cities have that makes them similar. Albany and NYC share a bunch of historical connections. There's almost to many to list, but believe me, I could go on and on.
My point about the architecture was more about Albany coming up at a certain time, so it will have similar architecture to any other city coming up around that time which includes much more than NYC. If those styles were limited to the two cities, I could see the point.
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