Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Buffalo is absolutely NOTHING like NYC ... it is more suburban and sprawling, like midwestern cities.
Suburban and sprawling is a very generic trait. Many cities have that in many regions of the country.
That being said, how do you define suburban and sprawling? Also, what does this culturally have anything to do with whether WNY should be considered Midwestern?
Okay so as a lifelong Buffalonian I would say that Buffalo is pretty much a mix of East Coast and Midwest culturally speaking, an even 50/50 split of each. Also known as the Great Lakes region. Buffalo is a place with the Midwestern pace of life but the East Coast "roughness around the edges" in the personalities of the people (people are kinda friendly but won't hesitate to fight for theirs or cuss you out if you look at them the wrong way on the street-Cleveland and Rochester are also like this). The ethnic communities here are the best example of that (Italians, Puerto Ricans, Irish reminiscent of East Coast, while Germans, Polish, Eastern Europeans reminiscent of Midwest. Politically it's very much Democratic and while it's very liberal (people are open minded-gay ppl are very accepted here for example) it's not exactly progressive (incompetent politicians who don't accomplish much except for very very recently, and racism and segregation are STILL a massive social problem). The city itself is very very old and compact like East coast cities while it's the SUBURBS that sprawl out. Loyalties in Buffalo (especially in sports and many other cultural aspects) tend to be more aligned with NYC/East Coast then Chicago/Midwest. Bear in mind that Buffalo is in a state that LIES ON the East Coast. Overall Western NY has characteristics of both regions, because it is it's OWN region.
Yes but if you notice that Germans extend to the West significantly and are basically the de facto Mid-Atlantic ethnicity, you realize how much singling them out as the defining of Midwest ignores all the other areas they also dominate. I am also aware you didn't claim German = Midwest necessarily. Well, Great Lakes doesn't necessarily = Midwest, either.
It does seem that quintessentially Northeast states aren't heavily German, however. This fits into my narrative of the Great Lakes being a region unto itself and not exactly Northeast or Midwest.
Those claiming that WNY is like the Midwest don't realize how different the Great Lakes is to the rest of the Midwest.
No Germans in the Northeast? Not at all true of the NYC metro area is LOADED with people of German heritage. Yorkville in NYC was the German equivalent of China town or little Italy.Growing up on Long Island, German Delis were plentiful, as were German restaurants. German last names are plentiful in lower NY State. I myself grew up on Long Island and I am 2/3rds German.
No Germans in the Northeast? Not at all true of the NYC metro area is LOADED with people of German heritage. Yorkville in NYC was the German equivalent of China town or little Italy.Growing up on Long Island, German Delis were plentiful, as were German restaurants. German last names are plentiful in lower NY State. I myself grew up on Long Island and I am 2/3rds German.
There are fewer Germans in New England, however.
NYC is less than 3% German. Nothing to really write home about.
From Boston, living in Rochester.
The Northeast is from the Proclamation line of 1763 (excluding the Champlain valley) to the Mason-Dixon line.
Why? because Western NY has Zero Colonial History, the towns popped up in the 1810s.
From Boston, living in Rochester.
The Northeast is from the Proclamation line of 1763 (excluding the Champlain valley) to the Mason-Dixon line.
Why? because Western NY has Zero Colonial History, the towns popped up in the 1810s.
Yea, I agree it creates a noticeable difference in local appearance.
From Boston, living in Rochester.
The Northeast is from the Proclamation line of 1763 (excluding the Champlain valley) to the Mason-Dixon line.
Why? because Western NY has Zero Colonial History, the towns popped up in the 1810s.
I would still say that Western NY is Northeastern. Pittsburgh actually was founded in 1758 and is as far inland as WNY. It also would be west of the Proclamation of 1763 boundary.
There are also some smaller communities in NY west of the Proclamation boundary that were founded/settled in the late 1700's/early 1800's and/or definitely have a similar look to small towns east of the boundary.
Most upstate residents - actually NO upstate residents - think of themselves as "Midwestern". They mostly self identify as being from "upstate NY", as opposed to the Capitol Region or the NYC burbs.
I grew up in Chautauqua County, went to school in the Southern Tier and worked many years in Rochester and no way in h*ll would I call myself a Midwesterner!!! I agree that the Great Lakes Region is distinctly it's own animal. I would more identify with Canada than the Midwest having watched a lot of Canadian (Hamilton, Ont.) TV in my youth and having lived less than an hour away from the Canadian border.
I grew up half way between Buffalo and Erie PA. I don't hear the same "Upstate NY/NYC" mentality being applied to Erie and Philadelphia.
Yesterday I took my first trip to North Adams, MA which is surrounded by the Berkshires and is literally in the middle of nowhere. It's a very much different vibe that of Boston or the Cape. I've never heard of Bostonians wanting to secede from Massachusetts because they've got nothing in common with Western half of the state.
I live outside of Hartford now and many comparisons have be made between that city and Rochester, though to be honest Rochester wins in my book. Hartford suffers from being sandwiched in between Boston and NYC and lacks any sort of identity except for being the "Insurance Capital."
Let's not forget there is so much more to NYS than the regions listed above (see thumbnails) I love NYS precisely because of its diversity. I frequently drive back and forth from CT to WNY and have really come to appreciate the beauty of this state. New Yorkers should be proud to live there--no matter where it is that you hang your hat.v
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Buffalo is a mix of East Coast and Midwest
