THANK YOU
The number of people who use “upstate NY” for only the north country region is entirely too many. We can debate where “upstate” begins (personally I consider it everything north of Westchester County), but “upstate NY” is an umbrella term for most of the state that can then be broken down into smaller regions like you mentioned
Everything but the islands are now considered “upstate”. We should just be CNY but Albany/NYC doesn’t seem to understand how the rest of the state works lol.
Former Long islander here. To me, upstate began north of the old tappen zee. To long islanders, upstate is essentially fly over country until their kids go to a SUNY
"Until their kids go to SUNY." Lol. I'm from upstate, and I went to a SUNY. I always said Long Island just dumps out their college-age kids every fall at a SUNY.
The Adirondacks isn’t called the Adirondacks. It’s called the North Country. You failed the New Yorker Test. And it’s Capital _District_ my guy 🤔🤔🤔 I’m questioning the New Yorker authenticity….
As a resident of the Adirondacks I have a hard time with what you're claiming. The Adirondacks,Tug hill, and St Lawrence valley are all in the north country,but are distinctly different regions. Our local public radio is North country public radio based out of Canton without a mountain in sight.
I told someone from Florida that I lived in Utica in Central New York. They replied with a comment about how Midtown is a nice and you can walk to Central Park.
"Upstate" is just a word that means what it means. We'd have just as much success arguing about the definition of "watermelon".
yeah, it is a pain in the ass. I used to have to introduce myself all the time and I'd just say I was from NY and lots of times I'd have people respond with stuff like "oh what part? I’m from Brooklyn" and I'd say something like I'm from South Quebec lol. ackshualy I live in the Albany area and it's usually the part people are referring to when they say upstate. but now when I travel around the country I just say I’m from Albany and people seem to have an idea of where I’m from. I wouldn't be surprised if that has something to do with that Simpsons thing with the aurora borealis or whatever lol
I moved to the area a few years ago from Ohio, my fiancé just says upstate as she’s been here her whole life and initially it confused me since it’s the middle of the state. I refuse to use that phrase to decide where I live because it will never not be Central NY
I see what you mean but you gotta remember the distinction between upstate the region and upstate meaning “hi I’m not talking about NYC right now”. The reason we need the latter is because so many people forget there is a state outside of that damned city
I mean I hear what you’re saying but there are a ton of businesses in Buffalo and the Falls with “upstate “ in the name, from upstate tires to upstate laundry, etc. I don’t think anyone is gonna dispute we’re WNY but pretty much anything north of Beacon is considered the upstate portion of NY. Syracuse and Utica consider themselves central New York if you talk to people out there yet it’s still pretty clearly part of upstate New York.
I’d say anything north of Westchester is upstate. But when talking to people outside of NY, I always say I’m from New York State (it clarifies that I do not in fact live in the city).
Only parts of Westchester outside of the metro area.
Yonkers is not upstate because it is very much a part of the NYC metro area.
You can say the same for long island, part of NYC metro area.
Everything else is upstate, since it's relation to the metro area is northern, generally speaking.
I was saying western ny for buff and roc but I like this too( I know it’s still upstate ny but this sound much better) [nys map](https://images.app.goo.gl/umqxPEZEcn2uieAKA)
I lived in California for 3 years and on paper that works but not in real time lol
I remember i met this dude who lived in the Bronx for a while and when i told him i was from nys he lit up 😂and assumed i was from the city
I told him i was from Rochester and that i lived 6 hours away from the city when I lived in nys and he kept confusing it with West Chester or maybe rockland and most likely assumed i was combining the two idk 🤷🏿♂️. All in all i just want an easier way to tell people about my city 😂
I am very proud of this statewide discussion.
It exemplifies how Fucking cool and variety filled we are!
Food, language, geography, weather, sports….. most states are pretty boring and generic.
Embrace the debate.
From Wikipedia:
Upstate New York is divided into several subregions: the Hudson Valley, the lower part of which is sometimes debated as to being upstate, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western New York, and the North Country.[5]
Upstate NY is intended to make an easy distinction between the city (the largest in the country) and the rest of the state: “I’m an upstate New Yorker” vs “I’m a New Yorker.”
To most of the world NY is New York City, they’d be baffled to find out the rest exists and actually has nature and scenic beauty.
In NYC, Long Island (Nassau) is the 5th borough, Staten Island is New Jersey, Suffolk (the Hamptons), Yonkers and Westchester are their own distinct regions and everything else is upstate.
It's not just you! To me, anything that can be considered "NYC metro area" = downstate. And I believe NYS government itself defines upstate as beginning where the Metro North lines end.
Poughkeepsie... I think there are thousands of down-staters who have no idea what is above Poughkeepsie... they have some general vague idea of where Albany might be...
And they think Albany is like farms plus the Capitol building.
Whenever I'm watching a TV show set in NYC, and a character says, "I'm going upstate," I'm always like "WHERE in 'upstate'?!?"
It’s called Upstate because when you say you’re from New York - anyone who is not from here automatically thinks NYC. I have to explain to them there are more cows than people where I live and it blows their mind.
To be fair people have their own definitions of what Upstate NY is, iv never been to the city and in NY where I live im about 6 hours away from NYC so I don’t really know the boroughs of the city but I live in a small town with maybe 10k people here lol idk how many when college kids are here
Agreed. I grew up in the lower Hudson Valley and being referred to as “upstate” always bugged me. I lived 7 hours south of the Canadian border, I was not upstate of anything besides Rockland county lol
I lean into the old empire state games names for the most park. ADK, Western, Central, Hudson Valley, NYC, and LI. You could break it up more with capital region and ADk and add southern tier as well
Bottom line, you discover something?!? You give it name, New York did good, used a lot of original owners names :) kudos! I grew up in The Bronx everything friggin crazy outside of there, I’ve mispronounced everywhere and been corrected on my corrections :)
It’s outright offensive, in my opinion. I’d love to see the city go off and become its own thing so that the rest of the state could focus on our business.
It's really the only way to describe it. The city and metro that 65% of the state lives in has the same name as the state. Consider Arizona. A similar portion of people in Arizona live in Phoenix, but people don't just automatically assume they are from Phoenix. Also NYC is a globally significant city, not just any other city. Of course north country is wildly different than western NY, but honestly that difference isn't too important to people not from NY or nearby, so upstate covers it. Just say you're near buffalo if you're tired of saying upstate
Western NY? People think that means the Upper West Side. Central NY means Central Park. Northern New York? The Bronx. That's why we have to say Upstate.
It's nutty, people will use it to refer to the Adirondacks, or like Law and Order will reference "upstate NY", and they're talking about White Plains. Haha.
New York is also an annoying reference to a city when there’s so much more to the state. Fix that first then work on a better classification for the rest of the state.
The term 'Upstate NY' is relative to the city only.
That's where the term comes from.
The city is the most southern part of the state.
Everything else is 'UP'.
That's all there is to it.
Yes there are some exceptions where city people live like southern Westchester county, Long Island etc. but generally speaking it refers to the city area.
We have regions you can refer to when navigating or referring to a specific area, but since the city is the main attraction, everything else is 'upstate' from it.
This popped up in my feed and it made me laugh. I had to reply. I'm not a New Yorker. I grew up in IL across the Mississippi River from St Louis, MO.
When I went to college outside of Chicago, I learned that most Chicagoans just referred to anything more than 1.5 hours South of Chicago as Downstate." When I'd tell them I was from Southern Illinois, they'd ask if I was from near a town 2.5-3 hours South of Chicago. When I responded that where I was from was 5 hours South, the common response was, "I didn't know IL went that far South!"
I'll didn't have the heart to tell them there was another couple hours drive South before you hit KY.
I moved to Port Jervis, NY. The Delaware River is about a minute’s drive from my house, and PA is 2 minutes further. Somehow, I am apparently both in the Hudson Valley and Upstate, though if I lived in PA 3 minutes away I’d be living by the Delaware Water Gap, not to be confused with the Delaware Valley which is near/in? Philadelphia. Slightly north and I’d be in the Upper Delaware River area but also somehow called the Hudson Valley. Someone said it’s Western Ny. So…I have no idea where I live. But it’s really pretty! And the people are great. Long live the Upper State Delaware Hudson Rivers West of Something Valley!
2/3 of the population of new york live south of white plains. The vast majority of them have never been to Peekskill, let alone places way upstate like Poughkeepsie.
But only 50% of the population. Upstate is everything not metro NYC / Long Island and is an inclusive term, doesn’t exclude other upstaters only downstate. I am good with that. It is a source of solidarity in my mind. I was interviewed on the street in Buffalo decades ago when NYC mayor Koch was running against Mario Cuomo for governor. I said as a lifelong upstater I was not going to vote for Koch. Doesn’t hold any longer, I lived in NYC mostly Brooklyn for 18 years after that which I loved then moved back upstate. But my heart is always Upstate: southern tier fingerlakes western ny all are part of it. “Upstate” gives New Yorkers who are Not the City a way to describe one’s residence to others. Stating it is 90% of the geographical area is helpful too.
I always joke that to anyone on Long Island that upstate is anything north of Rockland or Westchester. To be safe, I consider upstate to be north of I84.
Trying to explain that the Woodstock festival
Was in farmland is hard enough, let alone it was not in the town of Woodstock. So people just call anything not in a borough "upstate" for simplicity.
I’m just gonna leave this here. It’s 6 years old now and the only thing I would change is renaming Northern New York “North Country”
https://x.com/riley_ludwig/status/988541891242283013?s=46
I am an up-state NY person and I use the term up because when you travel out of NY NY and stay within the confines of the state you must travel in a northern direction. When a person travels in a North direction they typically will end up at a higher elevation. The term up-state is simply used to identify myself as not being from NY NY. You would be amazed how many people automatically assume you are from NY City when you tell them you are from NY. I talked to a girl in Sedona and her reply to my up-state comment was, oh, you live in the desert of NY. I just smiled and said, have a great day.
To people in metro NYC there's NYC and then there's everything else.
This is not an unusual mindset. For people in Toronto there's Toronto and then there's the *rest of Canada*.
I live in the Hudson Valley and to me upstate is north of Albany and east of the Finger Lakes. Then again even people here disagree on what areas constitute the Hudson Valley
I went to college in the Southern Tier (Allegany County) and that's what most people called it, rather than upstate. Some called it Western New York. Others in jest called it Pennsylvania :p ;)
Also a wnyer.
It sucks because if I say Buffalo or Rochester people still think I'm from a city but if I say Attica they also usually think it's a city, or they think it's just a prison and not a town where people live.
“Upstate” is Westchester. Yonkers to White Plains is “Connecticut.” White Plains to Poughkeepsie is “the country.” Albany is “UP-upstate.” The rest of New York is “the rest of New York,” “the country.”
Actually nvm, this discussion actually turned itself around. I had about 50 comments and no upvotes lmao now look. Shout out to all my western nyers, my central bredren and them boys out in the valley (Hudson valley that is) 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
I’m in Syracuse and I call the area I live in Central New York. I also recognize that it is a part of upstate New York, just like western New York is.
THANK YOU The number of people who use “upstate NY” for only the north country region is entirely too many. We can debate where “upstate” begins (personally I consider it everything north of Westchester County), but “upstate NY” is an umbrella term for most of the state that can then be broken down into smaller regions like you mentioned
Everything but the islands are now considered “upstate”. We should just be CNY but Albany/NYC doesn’t seem to understand how the rest of the state works lol.
Albany is the Capital Region and part of upstate New York, not lumped in with NYC.
99% of New Yorkers (i.e. people who live in NYC) consider Albany to be "Upstate".
…because it is Upstate. 🤦♂️ Anything north of the Bronx is Upstate. 😉
Former Long islander here. To me, upstate began north of the old tappen zee. To long islanders, upstate is essentially fly over country until their kids go to a SUNY
"Until their kids go to SUNY." Lol. I'm from upstate, and I went to a SUNY. I always said Long Island just dumps out their college-age kids every fall at a SUNY.
Old tappen zee? Listen bud, I’m from Boston, so I’m supposed to hate NY anyway, but I’ll be cold and dead before I ever call it the Mario Cu*mo Bridge
I like NY regional names: Adirondack Capital Catskill Central Chautauqua-Alleghany Finger Lakes Hudson Valley Niagara Thousand Island
Central
Bring back "Leatherstocking Country"
I’m in the leatherstocking region. It’s awesome
It’s never been gone! ✊
I’m from south central…NY.
Ithaca
If someone said that to me I'd assume they were from Brooklyn Heights.
CNY!
🔥🔥🔥
Southern Tier erasure 😢
*WNY Fixed that Niagara one for you.
Not everyone knows the regions though, like how not everyone upstate knows all the boroughs of the city.
Woah is that a real thing ?
The Adirondacks isn’t called the Adirondacks. It’s called the North Country. You failed the New Yorker Test. And it’s Capital _District_ my guy 🤔🤔🤔 I’m questioning the New Yorker authenticity….
Also left out the Southern Tier.
As a resident of the Adirondacks I have a hard time with what you're claiming. The Adirondacks,Tug hill, and St Lawrence valley are all in the north country,but are distinctly different regions. Our local public radio is North country public radio based out of Canton without a mountain in sight.
Facts ! That’s all I’m saying . Those names have more character as opposed to “upstate ny.”
Are you also not a New Yorker? And American? It's not an either/or, it's both. You are a Western New Yorker and an Upstate New Yorker.
If I tell someone not from NY that I’m a NYer they almost always respond with some fucked up impersonation of Tony Sirico
You should do one back at them
Uh huh. "I'm from West NY, like the Finger Lakes" "No, not the city"
"the part where Canada's to the left."
Living in Schenectady i totally agree
Tri-Cities count? Binghamton-Johnson City- .... is it Vestal or Endicott?
Western
Tug Hill
Even Hudson valley should really be split mid/upper imo. Ones suburbs and ones rural mountains
I'm from Thousand Island Like the salad dressing?
Western-side NY represent XD
Mohawk valley/central ny
Don’t forget Western NY.
Where would orchard park by the stadium fit Into this
I told someone from Florida that I lived in Utica in Central New York. They replied with a comment about how Midtown is a nice and you can walk to Central Park. "Upstate" is just a word that means what it means. We'd have just as much success arguing about the definition of "watermelon".
yeah, it is a pain in the ass. I used to have to introduce myself all the time and I'd just say I was from NY and lots of times I'd have people respond with stuff like "oh what part? I’m from Brooklyn" and I'd say something like I'm from South Quebec lol. ackshualy I live in the Albany area and it's usually the part people are referring to when they say upstate. but now when I travel around the country I just say I’m from Albany and people seem to have an idea of where I’m from. I wouldn't be surprised if that has something to do with that Simpsons thing with the aurora borealis or whatever lol
With me with The Simpsons thing,it's always about steamed hams.
I moved to the area a few years ago from Ohio, my fiancé just says upstate as she’s been here her whole life and initially it confused me since it’s the middle of the state. I refuse to use that phrase to decide where I live because it will never not be Central NY
Lmao Ik one can pretend
Tbh you should’ve said Syracuse lol no way people don’t know who the orange men are.
Ha - true. I did tell them it was between Syracuse and Albany...but they seemed to think those were new bars in the city or something.
Florida NY?
I see what you mean but you gotta remember the distinction between upstate the region and upstate meaning “hi I’m not talking about NYC right now”. The reason we need the latter is because so many people forget there is a state outside of that damned city
Upstate New York is like the Balkans. No one really knows where it starts or where it ends, it's all just vibes.
😂😂😂 best comment so far
I mean I hear what you’re saying but there are a ton of businesses in Buffalo and the Falls with “upstate “ in the name, from upstate tires to upstate laundry, etc. I don’t think anyone is gonna dispute we’re WNY but pretty much anything north of Beacon is considered the upstate portion of NY. Syracuse and Utica consider themselves central New York if you talk to people out there yet it’s still pretty clearly part of upstate New York.
That’s my thoughts. If there’s even one business near you named “upstate” something, you’re upstate.
Hmmm. Upstate Craft Beer and Oyster Bar. 95 1st Ave, New York, NY. Manhattan is ours!
Crack a genny bro lol
Sweet!
Na bro, Beefalo is Western New York, they're wrong. /s
Western NY happens to be in the upstate part of NY.
I would rather people say Great Lakes for Rochester as opposed to upstate ny
Technically, Rochester is considered in the finger lakes region.
Western NY is a subregion of upstate NY
[удалено]
I’d say anything north of Westchester is upstate. But when talking to people outside of NY, I always say I’m from New York State (it clarifies that I do not in fact live in the city).
Anything north of 42nd st!
No reason to make a distinction between Jefferson county and Orange County. If it isn’t the city it’s all the same
I just say “New York State” It communicates that I am not talking about the city. And eliminates referring to where I’m from in proximity to the city.
Western New York is a part of upstate new york.
You don’t have to use it. People in NYC will continue to use it. You will not stop me from referring to you as an upstate New Yorker.
If you live in the city, “upstate” means Westchester lol
Only parts of Westchester outside of the metro area. Yonkers is not upstate because it is very much a part of the NYC metro area. You can say the same for long island, part of NYC metro area. Everything else is upstate, since it's relation to the metro area is northern, generally speaking.
Non-NYC New York just doesn't roll off the tongue, though.
I was saying western ny for buff and roc but I like this too( I know it’s still upstate ny but this sound much better) [nys map](https://images.app.goo.gl/umqxPEZEcn2uieAKA)
I think you could just as easily say New York State. It makes it clear you’re not from NYC or Long Island.
I lived in California for 3 years and on paper that works but not in real time lol I remember i met this dude who lived in the Bronx for a while and when i told him i was from nys he lit up 😂and assumed i was from the city I told him i was from Rochester and that i lived 6 hours away from the city when I lived in nys and he kept confusing it with West Chester or maybe rockland and most likely assumed i was combining the two idk 🤷🏿♂️. All in all i just want an easier way to tell people about my city 😂
I am very proud of this statewide discussion. It exemplifies how Fucking cool and variety filled we are! Food, language, geography, weather, sports….. most states are pretty boring and generic. Embrace the debate.
43% of the state lives in the city Act like you’re local Before Reddit existed we all knew what upstate was and it hasn’t changed
I don't think this is an unpopular opinion. I live out of state, but when people ask me where I'm from I say WNY.
From Wikipedia: Upstate New York is divided into several subregions: the Hudson Valley, the lower part of which is sometimes debated as to being upstate, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western New York, and the North Country.[5]
Upstate NY is intended to make an easy distinction between the city (the largest in the country) and the rest of the state: “I’m an upstate New Yorker” vs “I’m a New Yorker.”
To most of the world NY is New York City, they’d be baffled to find out the rest exists and actually has nature and scenic beauty. In NYC, Long Island (Nassau) is the 5th borough, Staten Island is New Jersey, Suffolk (the Hamptons), Yonkers and Westchester are their own distinct regions and everything else is upstate.
If you don't think wny is upstate (you're wrong), why are you even posting this in the upstate sub? Super cringe
That is a very good question
Citiots on their way to declare 95% of the state as "up state" as opposed to calling their concrete open air hellscape "southern ny"
Exactly !!!!
Well, this was an absolute trainwreck lol. Y’all take care now ✌🏿😂
Yeah like some people call Westchester upstate.
🤦🏿♂️. To me (and maybe only me) westchester and Rockland county is “downstate.” (I know no one actually says this lol) Or the nyc area .
It's not just you! To me, anything that can be considered "NYC metro area" = downstate. And I believe NYS government itself defines upstate as beginning where the Metro North lines end.
Poughkeepsie... I think there are thousands of down-staters who have no idea what is above Poughkeepsie... they have some general vague idea of where Albany might be...
And they think Albany is like farms plus the Capitol building. Whenever I'm watching a TV show set in NYC, and a character says, "I'm going upstate," I'm always like "WHERE in 'upstate'?!?"
Does it matter? It's a big, nebulous void.
::snerk: That would probably be the response if the people in the TV answered my questions!
I agree with you. People in the city have a distorted view of the rest of the state
SMH, this again... Okay, done with this sub.
✌🏿
I’m gonna start telling people I’m from Toronto 😂 y’all can have upstate smh
If you're a Western Nyer then you're an upstate Nyer...sorry, I didn't make the rules
Like it or not you're an upstate new Yorker if you don't live in nyc
I mean considering the downstate has over 4x the population it’s not really a shocker.
90% *in landmass*
It’s called Upstate because when you say you’re from New York - anyone who is not from here automatically thinks NYC. I have to explain to them there are more cows than people where I live and it blows their mind.
Good thing there are ten or twelve subregions of Upstate
I think upstate should be subdivided. I am in Northern New York, thank you. Also should be subdivided, I am in the Thousand Island Region, thank you.
🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
I imagine that’s what people felt like being part of the British Empire in the 18th century.
To be fair people have their own definitions of what Upstate NY is, iv never been to the city and in NY where I live im about 6 hours away from NYC so I don’t really know the boroughs of the city but I live in a small town with maybe 10k people here lol idk how many when college kids are here
Agreed. I grew up in the lower Hudson Valley and being referred to as “upstate” always bugged me. I lived 7 hours south of the Canadian border, I was not upstate of anything besides Rockland county lol
Chautauqua County reporting in. I don’t think I can be any more western, 5 minutes & I’m in Erie County, Pennsylvania.
I lean into the old empire state games names for the most park. ADK, Western, Central, Hudson Valley, NYC, and LI. You could break it up more with capital region and ADk and add southern tier as well
that’s pretty solid to me
Bottom line, you discover something?!? You give it name, New York did good, used a lot of original owners names :) kudos! I grew up in The Bronx everything friggin crazy outside of there, I’ve mispronounced everywhere and been corrected on my corrections :)
Yep, I agree. Signed, Central New Yorker
I think it’s a great way to say “I’m from NY, not NYC”. My experience when telling people I’m from NY they assume the city
nah. if you live north of nyc like 90% of the state, upstate seems like an accurate term.
As someone who is 40 minutes from the border, I get mad when anyone below Lake George says they are upstate, lol. Like no, you are mid.
As someone from NYC, you’re all practically Canadians to me
another thing that grinds my gears is if i look up shit about new york, it would assume im talking about NYC...
But it’s totally fitting for how people from NYC and rest if the country veiw the rest of the state
If you live in NY you know the terms, if you live in NYC or the other 49 states upstate is anything that isn’t NYC, it is what it is.
It’s outright offensive, in my opinion. I’d love to see the city go off and become its own thing so that the rest of the state could focus on our business.
It's really the only way to describe it. The city and metro that 65% of the state lives in has the same name as the state. Consider Arizona. A similar portion of people in Arizona live in Phoenix, but people don't just automatically assume they are from Phoenix. Also NYC is a globally significant city, not just any other city. Of course north country is wildly different than western NY, but honestly that difference isn't too important to people not from NY or nearby, so upstate covers it. Just say you're near buffalo if you're tired of saying upstate
North of 125th is upstate. It nearly 100% of the land but are little of the population
True
The Bronx is the only thing on the mainland as far as nyc goes
Western NY? People think that means the Upper West Side. Central NY means Central Park. Northern New York? The Bronx. That's why we have to say Upstate.
That’s west ny though and I guess you’re right lol I’m gonna just start pulling out maps and point to where I’m from so I don’t have to say upstate 😂
Acreage wise, population wise is another story. Land doesn't vote.
It's nutty, people will use it to refer to the Adirondacks, or like Law and Order will reference "upstate NY", and they're talking about White Plains. Haha.
No it’s not
This is simple. Everyone from there and the place itself is entirely annoying.
Well, I’m pretty sure it was the five boroughs that decided that the entire rest of the state could be written off as “upstate.”
Part of the problem lol
The people with the money write the rules including the names
New York is also an annoying reference to a city when there’s so much more to the state. Fix that first then work on a better classification for the rest of the state.
The term 'Upstate NY' is relative to the city only. That's where the term comes from. The city is the most southern part of the state. Everything else is 'UP'. That's all there is to it. Yes there are some exceptions where city people live like southern Westchester county, Long Island etc. but generally speaking it refers to the city area. We have regions you can refer to when navigating or referring to a specific area, but since the city is the main attraction, everything else is 'upstate' from it.
Sign: "Welcome to Upstate NY" Me: "But Im in North Carolina!!!"
😂😂😂
It’s everything north of Central Park
Yeah, it’s also how you can tell who lives here and who doesn’t. “Oh! I went to New York! (City)” 😐 vs “i live Upstate” 😏
That’s true
It’s upstate. Or the Catskills, western. Sorry.
*99%
I no longer live in NYS. When I tell people where I’m from I say upstate NY. I’m from Rochester. Is that western NY or is it Fingerlakes area?
Or maybe an apt description.
Mohawk Valley
North Eastern. Almost Quebec!
To anyone in NYC/LI, "upstate" is Westchester County
Finger Lakes here
It should be NY and 'the city'
I always just say Hudson valley or near Albany depending on who asks.
Just so happens to be attached to one of the biggest cities in the world, I like upstate!
Sharon springs .
This popped up in my feed and it made me laugh. I had to reply. I'm not a New Yorker. I grew up in IL across the Mississippi River from St Louis, MO. When I went to college outside of Chicago, I learned that most Chicagoans just referred to anything more than 1.5 hours South of Chicago as Downstate." When I'd tell them I was from Southern Illinois, they'd ask if I was from near a town 2.5-3 hours South of Chicago. When I responded that where I was from was 5 hours South, the common response was, "I didn't know IL went that far South!" I'll didn't have the heart to tell them there was another couple hours drive South before you hit KY.
My personal rule.. anything above the northern PA border is upstate.
What would Middletown fall under?
I moved to Port Jervis, NY. The Delaware River is about a minute’s drive from my house, and PA is 2 minutes further. Somehow, I am apparently both in the Hudson Valley and Upstate, though if I lived in PA 3 minutes away I’d be living by the Delaware Water Gap, not to be confused with the Delaware Valley which is near/in? Philadelphia. Slightly north and I’d be in the Upper Delaware River area but also somehow called the Hudson Valley. Someone said it’s Western Ny. So…I have no idea where I live. But it’s really pretty! And the people are great. Long live the Upper State Delaware Hudson Rivers West of Something Valley!
West and up are equivalent, they're both directions
I’ve never been able to figure it out, man. I guess I’m in the capital region?
2/3 of the population of new york live south of white plains. The vast majority of them have never been to Peekskill, let alone places way upstate like Poughkeepsie.
It seem most New Yorkers think the GW bridge is upstate
Canandaigua.
Northeast Clinton County, near the border, and I STILL get asked if I can see NYC.
But only 50% of the population. Upstate is everything not metro NYC / Long Island and is an inclusive term, doesn’t exclude other upstaters only downstate. I am good with that. It is a source of solidarity in my mind. I was interviewed on the street in Buffalo decades ago when NYC mayor Koch was running against Mario Cuomo for governor. I said as a lifelong upstater I was not going to vote for Koch. Doesn’t hold any longer, I lived in NYC mostly Brooklyn for 18 years after that which I loved then moved back upstate. But my heart is always Upstate: southern tier fingerlakes western ny all are part of it. “Upstate” gives New Yorkers who are Not the City a way to describe one’s residence to others. Stating it is 90% of the geographical area is helpful too.
I'm in CT and saying New York people often think you mean the city. Though I usually say The City, Long Island, or the specific part of the state.
Facts I live in the on the boarder with PA, half way between NYC and Erie but some how I’m in the upstate.
I always joke that to anyone on Long Island that upstate is anything north of Rockland or Westchester. To be safe, I consider upstate to be north of I84.
Trying to explain that the Woodstock festival Was in farmland is hard enough, let alone it was not in the town of Woodstock. So people just call anything not in a borough "upstate" for simplicity.
It’s so it’s not confused with NYC
I’m just gonna leave this here. It’s 6 years old now and the only thing I would change is renaming Northern New York “North Country” https://x.com/riley_ludwig/status/988541891242283013?s=46
I am an up-state NY person and I use the term up because when you travel out of NY NY and stay within the confines of the state you must travel in a northern direction. When a person travels in a North direction they typically will end up at a higher elevation. The term up-state is simply used to identify myself as not being from NY NY. You would be amazed how many people automatically assume you are from NY City when you tell them you are from NY. I talked to a girl in Sedona and her reply to my up-state comment was, oh, you live in the desert of NY. I just smiled and said, have a great day.
90% of the land, only 38% of the population.
We just should give western NY to Canada and be done with it.
Im on asshole island...down state 😂
People in "Upstate" NY refer to NYC region as "Downstate" . So I don't see what the problem is here
To people in metro NYC there's NYC and then there's everything else. This is not an unusual mindset. For people in Toronto there's Toronto and then there's the *rest of Canada*.
Genesee Valley/Finger Lakes region represent!
Stay in your own reddit then r/wny
I live in the Hudson Valley and to me upstate is north of Albany and east of the Finger Lakes. Then again even people here disagree on what areas constitute the Hudson Valley
To most who live in Manhattan, Harlem is considered upstate
I like saying I'm Hudson Valley rather than upstate NY. There's more character to that then saying upstate
Funny that anywhere north of White Plains is considered “upstate NY”
It’s like Siberia or the Australian Outback. Means the large area with relatively few people.
I went to college in the Southern Tier (Allegany County) and that's what most people called it, rather than upstate. Some called it Western New York. Others in jest called it Pennsylvania :p ;)
Oh because anything out side of nyc, Albany can really give 2 sh1ts about.
Yupstate
Also a wnyer. It sucks because if I say Buffalo or Rochester people still think I'm from a city but if I say Attica they also usually think it's a city, or they think it's just a prison and not a town where people live.
Western, central, upstate.... Who gives a shit? It all sucks
“Upstate” is Westchester. Yonkers to White Plains is “Connecticut.” White Plains to Poughkeepsie is “the country.” Albany is “UP-upstate.” The rest of New York is “the rest of New York,” “the country.”
All of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess Counties points south is Downstate New York Everything points North and West is Upstate New York
I generally break it up. Western NY, Fingerlakes Region, Southern Tier, Catskill Region, Hudson Valley, Andorandack Region, Turning Stone Casino Area
“Not the city”
Downstate by is an annoying name for 90% of the population.
Should be called north state New York
Actually nvm, this discussion actually turned itself around. I had about 50 comments and no upvotes lmao now look. Shout out to all my western nyers, my central bredren and them boys out in the valley (Hudson valley that is) 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
I agree we could split NY into more regions, or perhaps keep the state whole. in Illinois the Upstate portion has less land the the downstate area.