[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Yes, they are similar. I went to MSU for a few years and I have family in the Detroit area. They both have somewhat of a Canadian influence as well.

I will say that you will find that people in Western NY say Pop instead of Soda like folks for MI.

I think the vibes of parts of Upstate NY and MI are similar to some degree. Landscapes and attitudes vary some in terms of small towns in Upstate NY can vary from being pretty "liberal" to pretty conservative.

[BoomRShine]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

What's interesting is that the Syracuse metro sometimes includes a county of about 80,000 people, that was not included in this census for some reason. If it was, the metros would be neck and neck.

What is even more interesting, in past MSAs designations, Ottawa County, with a population 264,000, was included in the Grand Rapids MSA. As of 2003, when the new MSA designations took effect, it no longer was, despite that fact the eastern border of Ottawa County is just six miles from the city limits of Grand Rapids and includes a large Grand Rapids suburban population. Allegan County, with a population of 111,000, was also included in the Grand Rapids MSA, but no longer is. So, right there is 375,000 people, which easily puts the Grand Rapids MSA over 1,000,000. Even Muskegon County, although it is a futher away than Ottawa and Allegan counties, used to be part of the Grand Rapids MSA. It has an additional 172,000 people.

Note that the Grand Rapids CSA has population of 1,321,557, and the Syracuse CSA has a population of just 742,603.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I will say that you will find that people in Western NY say Pop instead of Soda like folks for MI.

I think the vibes of parts of Upstate NY and MI are similar to some degree. Landscapes and attitudes vary some in terms of small towns in Upstate NY can vary from being pretty "liberal" to pretty conservative.

I usually associate most small to mid-size MI towns are being pretty conservative. Which always surprises me that MI remains a solidly 'blue' state every federal election.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by BoomRShine

What is even more interesting, in past MSAs designations, Ottawa County, with a population 264,000, was included in the Grand Rapids MSA. As of 2003, when the new MSA designations took effect, it no longer was, despite that fact the eastern border of Ottawa County is just six miles from the city limits of Grand Rapids and includes a large Grand Rapids suburban population. Allegan County, with a population of 111,000, was also included in the Grand Rapids MSA, but no longer is. So, right there is 375,000 people, which easily puts the Grand Rapids MSA over 1,000,000. Even Muskegon County, although it is a futher away than Ottawa and Allegan counties, used to be part of the Grand Rapids MSA. It has an additional 172,000 people.

Note that the Grand Rapids CSA has population of 1,321,557, and the Syracuse CSA has a population of just 742,603.

That's because another adjacent county isn't included in either the MSA or CSA and Utica-Rome, which is close by is a metro of 300,000. Here is information on the region that Syracuse is the center of: Central New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All of these places are within an hour or so.

[magellan]

Grand Rapids, Syracuse, Albany metro areas are all very similarly sized.

[BoomRShine]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

That's because another adjacent county isn't included in either the MSA or CSA and Utica-Rome, which is close by is a metro of 300,000. Here is information on the region that Syracuse is the center of: Central New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All of these places are within an hour or so.

Okay, the nine counties covering Central New York (according to your link) cover 7,669 square miles and contain a population of 1,225,259.

Contrast this to the four counties covering the old Grand Rapids MSA definition - Kent Co., Ottawa Co., Muskegon Co., and Allegan Co. These four counties cover just 2,679 square miles (nearly three times smaller than Central New York) and contain a population of 1,115,019 (just 8% smaller than all of Central New York).

The eight counties that comprise the new Grand Rapids CSA have area cover just 5,437 square miles (still much smaller than Central New York) and have a population of 1,358,899 (9% larger than Central New York).

It seems clear that comparing Central New York with the Grand Rapids metro area is like comparing apples with oranges.

[Reelcheeper]

Originally Posted by montydean

rural ny and rural michigan are probably similiar. As a whole not so much. Upstate has 2 city centers in alb and cuse, and western ny has buff and roch. Beside detroit, no michigan city has much of a metro area.

Agreed with the accents, as the further west you go in ny the more it gets into a midwestern accent.

overall, it you go solely by "rural" areas than there is no that much different between michigan and just about any other state. For example, rural new jersey has hills, predominately white people, blue collar, etc...

What I mean is that rural NY and MI seem to be more similar to each other than they are to the rural parts of most other states. NJ, for example, has a higher average income (more upper-middle class than lower) even in small towns, a larger Italian population, more expensive housing, and it can be very hard to find real rural areas in NJ that can compare to those of NY or MI.

Also, I should probably add these to the list of similarities:
-in the "rust belt", not much industry anymore
-lots of people with northern European ancestry--German, Scandinavian, Polish, some English and Irish

[montydean]

Originally Posted by Reelcheeper

What I mean is that rural NY and MI seem to be more similar to each other than they are to the rural parts of most other states. NJ, for example, has a higher average income (more upper-middle class than lower) even in small towns, a larger Italian population, more expensive housing, and it can be very hard to find real rural areas in NJ that can compare to those of NY or MI.

Also, I should probably add these to the list of similarities:
-in the "rust belt", not much industry anymore
-lots of people with northern European ancestry--German, Scandinavian, Polish, some English and Irish

I assure you. Syracuse is very italian. I agree with you on some of your points but you group too much into "upstate." wny is what you are probably thinking of. Upstate ( alb cuse Hudson Val) is more east coast than wny.

[GraniteStater]

A good comparison for population and income would be Utica/Rome, NY and Saginaw, MI

[Zoggin]

NY and MI are complete opposites. NY State is east coast accents (think Long Island-NYC-Robert Deniro-Archie Bunker) while MI is the heart of the Midwest. I live in an area that has transplanted people from all over (Raleigh, NC) and have met many folks from both NY and the Midwest. I can tell a NYer a mile away by their "Nooo Yaawwwkkk" accent while folks from the Midwest tend to have an accent like most newscasters.

NY State is more like NJ and Philly than anywhere in the Midwest