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Interesting observations. One thing I am very curious about is how upstate New Yorkers identify themselves. If they say "I am a New Yorker" while it is true (as in state) many will assume they are a resident of New York City. Does the term "New Yorker" apply to upstaters in the eyes of NYC residents? Do people living in larger cities upstate identify with their cities such as Buffalo which has some identity to distinguish themselves from NYC? I imagine when most people in the rural south or midwest see a New York license plate or driver's license they automatically assume "big city person" when they might be just as rural as they are.
The term "New Yorker" does not apply to Upstate residents when used in the context of a Downstate resident. When used nationally, "New Yorker" generally refers to people in the New York side of the New York metro area, city and suburbs.
Upstate New Yorkers generally tend to refer to themselves as being from New York State outside of the state and Upstate inside of the state. If they live in a larger city like Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, etc then they'll identify more with that city both in and out of the state. They also use the term "Downstate New Yorkers" to distinguish between southeast New York and the rest of the state; thus the term "New Yorker" is not used at all Upstate. The terms Upstate and Downstate are not really used outside of New York State.
Within the NEw England i identify with my City/Town, outside New England I identify with my state, outside the country but inside the Continent its the state, ouside our continent its country.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Originally Posted by TheSpecimen
i think the only states that are NOT identified by their states as much but their cities/city is New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland and Kentucky
try traveling and telling people that you are from any of those states and they will assume that you are from nyc, philly, pittsburgh, atl, nola, chi, st. louis, dc, baltimore, or louiville...it could get offensive for those who live in smaller cities in those particular states
Disagree. I live in Louisville and during a visit back to Virginia a couple of weeks ago, I said to an old friend that I was living in LOUISVILLE, he comes up with where is that? I say Kentucky.
Kentucky definitely does not fit in that classification. Half of the US could not pick out Louisville on a map.
i think the only states that are NOT identified by their states as much but their cities/city is New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland and Kentucky
try traveling and telling people that you are from any of those states and they will assume that you are from nyc, philly, pittsburgh, atl, nola, chi, st. louis, dc, baltimore, or louiville...it could get offensive for those who live in smaller cities in those particular states
I feel like you picked some weird states and missed some obvious ones. I wouldn't have chosen Missouri or Kentucky or Louisiana as examples, but I would have picked states like Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Arizona etc.
I'm originally from California and still identify strongly with that state, even though I haven't lived there in 20 years. Because of that, my post-California affiliations have focused on cities: I live in the Milwaukee metro now, and that's usually where I say I'm from (though I still invoke California from time to time) or where I live.
Sometimes when talking to foreigners, Milwaukee and Wisconsin have no resonance, so I just say that I live near Chicago.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Originally Posted by Maintainschaos
I feel like you picked some weird states and missed some obvious ones. I wouldn't have chosen Missouri or Kentucky or Louisiana as examples, but I would have picked states like Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Arizona etc.
Missouri is definitely a good choice...so is it's neighbor, Illinois. Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago really are not like their states at all...the urban culture and rural culture contrast sharply.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Originally Posted by stlouisan
Missouri is definitely a good choice...so is it's neighbor, Illinois. Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago really are not like their states at all...the urban culture and rural culture contrast sharply.
Same with New York. Downstate (NYC sphere) is drastically different from upstate.
Upstate New York has Appalachian cultures, Midwestern Cultures, and even New England cultures, and it's vastly rural.
In both cases, I identify more with my city than my state but it's much more pronounced for me in Miami Beach than it is in Raleigh. I hardly identify with Florida at all since much of it is so different from where I live in Miami Beach. In Raleigh, the distinction is more subtle...though I do identify with Raleigh more than much of the state.
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