Who here has been to Upstate NY?

[webny99]

I'm looking for outsiders perspectives. If you have visited upstate, what did you think? Which other areas of the country did it feel culturally similar to?

[hotdogPi]

Ithaca, NY. It felt similar to southern New Hampshire (which includes some places within half an hour of me) (not the places in NH that are business after business after business). I think that most of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and some of western Massachusetts, are similar to upstate New York (excluding Western New York), but I don't have much experience with Vermont and Maine.

[7/8]

Here's my current NY county map.



I'm most familiar with Western NY, since my family has been skiing numerous times at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville. It doesn't feel too different from home (lots of Timmies!), but the Northern Cities Vowel Shift is noticeable.

I would really like to see more of NY state (finger lakes, the Catskills, the Adirondacks again, the Hudson River Valley, Long Island, and the Big Apple of course).

[cl94]

I live there and have clinched the state highway system, so you could say I have been there. 

[hbelkins]

Of course, "upstate" has to be definitively defined, and we never even really settled on that.

[jp the roadgeek]

I've been up the 87 corridor and out to Buffalo.  If you want to talk about the areas north of I-84, the lower and mid-Hudson Valley up to Albany isn't much unlike a mirror image of Connecticut and western MA: kind of like Litchfield and Berkshire County along the borders, and a little bit more like the Connecticut River valley as you move west into the Hudson River valley.  There is a little bit more of a NYC/NJ influence from Poughkeepsie, Kingston, and Middletown south and east.   Albany feels like Hartford or Providence with more of a NYC attitude.  The area north of the Capital District is like an extension of Vermont: mountainous in spots, lakes, and ski areas with some summer resorts.  Western NY is more Midwestern, as soda becomes pop, the accent becomes somewhat like a Michigan accent, and highways are referred to as "The I-xx"  As far as football and hockey allegiances go, the NYC teams dominate the 87 corridor and anything south and east of I-88.  Central NY is more of a crossover zone between NYC and Buffalo, while Buffalo teams tend to dominate Rochester and from the Finger Lakes west.     

[74/171FAN]

Everyone that went to vdeane's Albany Meet in 2016, cl94's Southeast Adirondacks Meet in 2017, etc.

[Roadgeekteen]

I have been on NY 22 when in West MA but have not left the car. I have also been on I-95, does that count?

[hotdogPi]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

[Roadgeekteen]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

This thread is kind of ruined by the fact that there is no defined definition of upstate.

[1995hoo]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

The part north of the Bronx is.

[cl94]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

The part north of the Bronx is.

Westchester isn't Upstate by virtually every definition of the term. I-95 doesn't get north of southern Westchester in New York.

[1995hoo]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

The part north of the Bronx is.

Westchester isn't Upstate by virtually every definition of the term. I-95 doesn't get north of southern Westchester in New York.

I know where I-95 goes.

The majority of my relatives are from Brooklyn. They might well consider the Bronx to be Upstate. I pretty much view everything north of the city as Upstate, though partially as a joke. (Edited to add: Just in case there was any doubt, I've been up both I-81 and I-87 to and across the border on multiple occasions and I've made various other trips to or through other parts of the state, so I'm not one of those people whose only travel in New York is in New York City.)

[webny99]

This thread is kind of ruined by the fact that there is no defined definition of upstate.

Everybody has a pretty good idea. I say anything north of Poughkeepsie qualifies (for this thread). Anything south of there has enough of a downstate character to be irrelevant to what I'm looking for.

[jemacedo9]

I was born and raised in Suburban Philly and live there now...but I lived in Rochester 2007-2016. I love Philly...always have, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Rochester.  Philly has a big city feel and has an east coast attitude (pronounced atty-tood). Life is fast...well, except on the roads. Driving in the Philly area sucks...the highway system is crowded. There is a sense of deep pride, but sometimes defensive and stand-off-ish.

Rochester felt quite the opposite for me. Rochester has a small town feel, but still has a few big city reminders. Life there seemed slower and maybe 5 years behind Philly. People were much friendlier - VERY much so. It took me a few months to get used to.  It took me a few months to get in-used to it too when I moved back to Philly.

The Rochester are has a GREAT highway system...I used to love when Rochester peeps complained about a commute that took 30 minutes as LONG to get from Downtown to the far reach of the burbs. People in Philly would kill for only a 30 min commute. 

Rochester made me enjoy winter and snow again, since they know how to deal with it.  I hate the Philly panic and chaos that is caused by 4 inches of snow.

The back roads of WNY (I'd say west of I-81 for my standpoint) were GREAT...some nice straight two lane roads with no traffic to open things up, and some nice curvy fast roads in the hills of the Southern Tier to have some fun with.

State Parks?  WONDERFUL.  Watkins Glen, Letchworth, Stony Brook, Chimney Bluffs, Niagara Falls...in all seasons, great.  The Lake Ontario coast is very scenic.  I loved the trips I took to the 1000 Islands.  I took a few trips to the Adirondacks and loved those too.  But I did miss the true big city feel, also...that was probably the only down side to the Rochester area...and there are strides they are making with that, too. I also missed the history of the Philly area.  Rochester has some history and they are doing a pretty good job with that, but it's nothing like the Philly area (and same with the other east coast cities).

[02 Park Ave]

All of New York State is divided into three parts:  (as previously defined) Western New York is everything west of the I-81; Downstate New York is basically Sullivan/Orange/Putnam counties and everywhere south of them; and therefore everywhere else in the state is Upstate.

[hotdogPi]

All of New York State is divided into three parts:  (as previously defined) Western New York is everything west of the I-81; Downstate New York is basically Sullivan/Orange/Putnam counties and everywhere south of them; and therefore everywhere else in the state is Upstate.

I don't think Ithaca is in Western New York.

[kphoger]

I have also been on I-95, does that count?

That's not upstate.

The part north of the Bronx is.

Westchester isn't Upstate by virtually every definition of the term. I-95 doesn't get north of southern Westchester in New York.

I know where I-95 goes.

The majority of my relatives are from Brooklyn. They might well consider the Bronx to be Upstate. I pretty much view everything north of the city as Upstate, though partially as a joke. (Edited to add: Just in case there was any doubt, I've been up both I-81 and I-87 to and across the border on multiple occasions and I've made various other trips to or through other parts of the state, so I'm not one of those people whose only travel in New York is in New York City.)

Yeah, I was thinking "everything north of Yonkers" . . .

[jp the roadgeek]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18122.25

10 pages on what Upstate NY is

[briantroutman]

I've most often seen "Western New York"  used as a reference for greater Buffalo plus its exurbs–sometime specifically excluding greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes.

[jemacedo9]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18122.25

10 pages on what Upstate NY is

THIS.  And the official consensus is that there is no official consensus.  There are no official lines.  Some TV stations and commercials in the Rochester area will use WNY, others will use Upstate. 

[CNGL-Leudimin]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18122

10 pages on what Upstate NY is

Fixed link so it goes to first page instead of second. Someone defined the divide as "On an outline of New York State find the longest straight line. Extend it east. Above = upstate, below = downstate", causing me to claim I was upstate while Zaragoza (a city in Northeastern Spain not far from where I live) was downstate. I'm sure I extended the line too far East.

[sparker]

Have a lot of friends from the specialty audio industry located in and around the Rochester area; not surprising, as RIT has one of the better analog-engineering programs in the country, and enough of its graduates elected to remain in the area and open businesses.  When I was traveling cross-country several times a year in the '80's and '90's -- and the trip du jour went Northeast, that area was almost always worth a "stopover" to at least have lunch with those friends.  Absent the "lake effect" winter weather, I've always found that area to be quite attractive, along with the Finger Lakes region to the southeast. 

[kurumi]

Best memories are a friend's cabin on Long Lake: waterskiing, hiking, watching black bears from a safe distance. Also been to Fort Ticonderoga a few times; high school band exchange concerts with Endicott (Binghamton area). Also went to a relative's wedding at Trinity Grace Church (IIRC) on 97th, which some people consider upstate :-)

[briantroutman]

For those of you who have not yet visited beautiful Upstate New York, perhaps you should acquaint yourself with Rochester - A City of Quality (courtesy of Jam Handy):