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For whatever it’s worth I’m from California and my wife is from NYC so whenever we meet foreigners here in San Diego, and we meet our fair share, or travel abroad we represent both. With that said, when we’ve been in Europe, California gets much more interest than NY from the locals and foreign travelers we meet, and it’s not really that close. I’m sure some of this comes from many of them having more familiarity with NYC through the world news, and a curiosity about California because of movies/tv. I’m sure many may have traveled to NYC and not California adding to this as well. Really not sure as to why, I just know I get more questions and positive feedback.
We can split hairs with the recognizability of California vs NYC abroad all day long, but on the state level it’s no contest. Look at it this way. If you were to ask what state is NYC in you would get New York for sure, but you’d get a lot of “Uh, New York????” along with some “I don’t know”. If you were to ask what state Los Angeles or San Francisco is in you’ll always get California, at least that’s how I see it. Besides that, what else does New York State have that’s really known worldwide? Niagra falls, maybe? But I’m guessing just as many, if not more, associate it with Canada? Besides it’s major cities and Silicon Valley, Napa/Sonoma are known by anyone that has ever drank wine throughout the world. The redwood forest, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and even Death Valley, are also some of the places besides the obvious I’ve gotten plenty of inquiry about. My wife’s questions/comments began and end with NYC.
For whatever it’s worth I’m from California and my wife is from NYC so whenever we meet foreigners here in San Diego, and we meet our fair share, or travel abroad we represent both. With that said, when we’ve been in Europe, California gets much more interest than NY from the locals and foreign travelers we meet, and it’s not really that close. I’m sure some of this comes from many of them having more familiarity with NYC through the world news, and a curiosity about California because of movies/tv. I’m sure many may have traveled to NYC and not California adding to this as well. Really not sure as to why, I just know I get more questions and positive feedback.
We can split hairs with the recognizability of California vs NYC abroad all day long, but on the state level it’s no contest. Look at it this way. If you were to ask what state is NYC in you would get New York for sure, but you’d get a lot of “Uh, New York????” along with some “I don’t know”. If you were to ask what state Los Angeles or San Francisco is in you’ll always get California, at least that’s how I see it. Besides that, what else does New York State have that’s really known worldwide? Niagra falls, maybe? But I’m guessing just as many, if not more, associate it with Canada? Besides it’s major cities and Silicon Valley, Napa/Sonoma are known by anyone that has ever drank wine throughout the world. The redwood forest, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and even Death Valley, are also some of the places besides the obvious I’ve gotten plenty of inquiry about. My wife’s questions/comments began and end with NYC.
Some of the colleges/universities in the state, perhaps the Finger Lakes(which is also a relatively known wine region) and some of the brands that have come out of the state(i.e.-Kodak, Xerox, IBM, etc.) are a few things that come to mind.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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I am a native to upstate NY and I voted that California is in fact far more famous. Allow me to explain.
California is known for being California. Its sweeping mountain vistas, its harsh deserts, its vast wine country, its rich ancient forests, its variety of coastline and beaches, and multiple large cities. Arguably Los Angeles and San Francisco are equally well known both at home and globally.
New York, despite having a grand variety of cultures, terrain, and things to do and see, is only known for New York City. NYC, NYC, NYC, NYC, NYC, it's all NYC.
Sure, you may hear talk about Niagara, Cornell, or the Adirondacks/Catskills now and again, but 95 percent of the time it's all about New York CITY.
Hell, most Americans don't even realize there's hundreds of miles of NY state north of the NYC/Jersey/Connecticut region.
Exactly. That's pretty much all there is to be said. Any reason to further debate beyond this is just trying to complicate something not worth complicating.
A better poll might be which COAST is more popular:
West: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle
East: DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston
I completely agree.
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