Chef Jim Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Something that has bugged me for a long time is a misuse of Upstate New York to describe a region. When I tell people I'm from Buffalo they so "oh, Upstate NY." No I tell them, I'm from Western New York. I finally blew my top while I was reading an article in Wine Spectator about the enology school at Cornell. Great little blurb about how Cornell wants to become one of the top enology schools in the country specializing in wine making in cool climates and to compete with UC Davis. Then they quoted one of the horticulture professors who has been at Cornell for 25 years: Our niche is definitely cool-climate grapegrowing and winemaking. To make good wine in a cool climate like upstate New York's, you probably need to be an even better winemaker than most others." Sorry man, but the wine region of NY is Central New York or better the Finger Lakes Region. To me Upstate New York is the Adirondack region. So here's my question. What do you folks consider Upstate New York? And if you're from NYC it's anything 25 up the Hudson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Sorry man, but the wine region of NY is Central New York or better the Finger Lakes Region. To me Upstate New York is the Adirondack region. So here's my question. What do you folks consider Upstate New York? Anything north of Yankee Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 pretty much....it all stems from the nyc area....i am central ny(liverpool), areas south of albany are downstate, albany is capital region, along binghamton to elmira is souther tier, buffalo is western ny....rochester is always a tough one...they get lumped into western ny, much like utica gets lumped into cny... Anything north of Yankee Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandemonium Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 East of Oswego and North of the Thruway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammered a Lot Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Anything north of Yankee Stadium. Second that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I worked with a guy from Long Island, he said anything north of the Tappen Zee was Canada to them. I do agree with Poojers descriptions with these additions... North of Utica is the Adirondack region Watertown is Northern Tier. Utica and the surrounding area is the Mohawk Valley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Yes many of us are sensitive to this term, as it is nearly useless in indicating where a place is in New York State. As noted, it is a New York City-centric term, and only has value in indicating a place is outside the greater NYC area (and Long Island). I have this fight/conversation on a regular basis. Sometimes I get through, when the other person realizes "Upstate New York" has very limited communicative value. But just as often, the person is from the NYC area and only cares that Upstate isn't in that area. They don't care enough about where you are from...just that you aren't from NYC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Anything outside THE CITY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 i live in NYC and use the term upstate as a general descriptor. doesn't bother me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 i live in NYC and use the term upstate as a general descriptor. doesn't bother me. Why would it bother you if you live in NYC? It's just silly as a "general descriptor". Referring to what has to be about 90% or more of the state as "Upstate" is not only relatively useless, it is arrogant as well. At best it is just lazy. Can you imagine referring to the entire state of California north of San Diego as "Upstate" or "Northern California"? How about calling the entire state of Florida north of Miami "Upstate"? It is preposterous as it has almost no communicative value. It says almost nothing about where the area you are referring to actually is within the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Or, calling a university in Tampa The University of South Florida.......Oh, wait - they did that. Upstate as it's used is fine. It's like everything else - you can get more and more descriptive and this is just one way. We live in the West. We're in the North of the US. Upstate NY. Western New York. Buffalo The Southtowns. Works for me - Why do you think Upstate Medical Center is in Syracuse and Downstate MC is in Brooklyn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Why would it bother you if you live in NYC? It's just silly as a "general descriptor". Referring to what has to be about 90% or more of the state as "Upstate" is not only relatively useless, it is arrogant as well. At best it is just lazy. Can you imagine referring to the entire state of California north of San Diego as "Upstate" or "Northern California"? How about calling the entire state of Florida north of Miami "Upstate"? It is preposterous as it has almost no communicative value. It says almost nothing about where the area you are referring to actually is within the state. It's ridiculous that it would bother anyone no matter where they lived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Or, calling a university in Tampa The University of South Florida.......Oh, wait - they did that. Upstate as it's used is fine. It's like everything else - you can get more and more descriptive and this is just one way. We live in the West. We're in the North of the US. Upstate NY. Western New York. Buffalo The Southtowns. Works for me - Why do you think Upstate Medical Center is in Syracuse and Downstate MC is in Brooklyn? The problem isn't that is A descriptor, it is that is THE descriptor for anything outside the NYC area. Upstate New York is used as the default designation for Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Watertown, Jamestown, Elmira, Glens Falls, etc. Jamestown is "Upstate New York"? Really? How useful is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Referring to Buffalo as Upstate is just as inaccurate as referring to Albany as WNY. I'm not personally offended by the term, but it's just dumb. In its loosest definition, shouldn't "Upstate" refer to, at the very most, the top HALF of the state? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Referring to Buffalo as Upstate is just as inaccurate as referring to Albany as WNY. I'm not personally offended by the term, but it's just dumb. In its loosest definition, shouldn't "Upstate" refer to, at the very most, the top HALF of the state? Precisely. It doesn't "bother" me. That is, I don't get upset, or lose sleep over it. But I figure the person using it is likely ignorant, arrogant and/or stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I've lived in 3 different parts of the state: NYC-LI, WNY, Capital Region. Each area likes to define themselves as unique. In NYC they define themselves by their borough. Don't tell someone from Brooklyn that they live in NYC, they're from Brooklyn, not "The City" which is Manhattan. There are a ton of people in the NYC metro area that have no clue about the state's geography. That's why it's easy to refer to everything as "Upstate". People in WNY don't like to be grouped with the rest of the state as "Upstate" they prefer "Western New York". Downstate, many don't realize the state is big enough to go that far west, the same people wouldn't know the distance from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. I currently live in the suburbs of Albany and work in the City of Albany. Although the natives prefer Capital Region or Capital District, here there is not a problem with the term "Upstate" like there is in WNY. That might be because we're basically due north of NYC. Here's another take. I work at a State agency that has to use economics to determine different cost/price levels of real estate. When we divide the state economically in order to get the right costs on certain properties, including various utilities that use a cost approach to valuation, before getting area specific, we break it down into 2 groupings: Downstate, which consists of the NYC metro area & LI and "Rest of State". Many people call what we refer to economically as Rest of State, "Upstate NY". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cåblelady Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Sorry man, but the wine region of NY is Central New York or better the Finger Lakes Region. To me Upstate New York is the Adirondack region. So here's my question. What do you folks consider Upstate New York? You, sir, are correct. (spoken by someone in the Southern Tier) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 "Rest of State" should secede. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cåblelady Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 "Rest of State" should secede. Always wished NYC would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Something that has bugged me for a long time is a misuse of Upstate New York to describe a region. When I tell people I'm from Buffalo they so "oh, Upstate NY." No I tell them, I'm from Western New York. I finally blew my top while I was reading an article in Wine Spectator about the enology school at Cornell. Great little blurb about how Cornell wants to become one of the top enology schools in the country specializing in wine making in cool climates and to compete with UC Davis. Then they quoted one of the horticulture professors who has been at Cornell for 25 years: Sorry man, but the wine region of NY is Central New York or better the Finger Lakes Region. To me Upstate New York is the Adirondack region. So here's my question. What do you folks consider Upstate New York? And if you're from NYC it's anything 25 up the Hudson. It's ridiculous that it would bother anyone no matter where they lived. This really bothers people that much?! Geez, I have bigger fish to fry in my life. I live in Penfield but I tell everyone from outside the state that I live in Rochester. I guess I don't understand the big deal. When describing New York do you say the upper east of the country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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