I’m from Buffalo, in Western New York. When I moved to New York City, no one knew what “Western New York” was. Finally, I gave in and started saying “upstate” when talking about where I am from (for native NYC folks, anything north of Yonkers is “upstate”). As these things tend to go, now I say “upstate” out of habit, even when I am back up in Buffalo, where everyone responds with “UPSTATE? What are you talking about?” I can’t win. :dubious:
Don’t forget my favorite NY State region: The Southern Tier! I just like the sound of it.
The official New York State Tourism Site has some great information about the different regions, although you will notice they use the posh tourism office type names for most of the areas – “Greater Niagara” instead of “Western New York” for example. Never in my life have I heard anyone say “Greater Niagara” in conversation.
Well you could consider western NY to be upstate NY if you live outside the area. A lot of the people in Western NY think of the upstate region to be farther east. No idea why. Monroe county is usually considered the boundry where upstate NY ends and western NY begins. When I think of upstate NY, I think of places like Saratoga Springs and Albany. Western NY is more like Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties in the north. The south western counties are usually considered the Southern Tier.
I was born and raised in Putnam County and always thought of myself as “Downstate.” Then I went to college on Long Island and had to call it “upstate.” Then I lived in Schenectady for 3 years, and had to refer to it as “downstate” again. Now I live right across the border from Putnam County in CT, and when people ask where I’m from, I just point and say “over there.”
Personally I think that Dutchess County and above is “upstate” and if you were to draw a line that extends the easternmost border of Penn. straight north, you would then have the border that starts “western NY.”
Near Niagara Falls, myself. I didn’t grow up here, so I am considered a rank outsider. (Unfairly! I do bathe…) Depending on a lot of things, I probably will move at some point in the next 18 months.
I was amused by the comment made by delphica that
Around here saying “Greater Niagara” would result in barely suppressed laughter. Sadly, Niagara Falls, NY hasn’t been “great” in some years now.
This might be a good place to drop a shamless plug for the next Toronto DopeFest, since y’all live so close. First weekend in July, though, so I imagine if you have July 4th plans, it won’t work out so well.
“Close?” Cerowyn, do you have any idea how long it takes to get to Toronto from here? I’d have to go up to Montreal and down, or out to Niagara and up.
Just curious, how’s the new ferry from Rahchacha** to Toronto? What’s the speed and the cost, compared to using the Thruway? Worth it in terms of gas and time?
** Sorry, but I always found that amusing, but not to the point of overkill.
another former upstater here. Grew up in Schenectady, but escaped to Maryland after college. It’s a great place to grow up, but the economy has been shaky at best for decades. I come back every fall to visit family and friends and admire the foliage. Especially the stretch of I-88 between Binghampton and Albany.
The ferry hasn’t started yet, the first official voyage is set for next week, June 17. Personally I will probably try the ferry once just to see what all the hub-bub is about. But the drive to Toronto from Rochester is only about 3 hours which isn’t too bad. Plus when you drive you can stop in Niagara-On-The-Lake for some fudge or in Buffalo for some wings on the drive home. Can’t do that on the ferry.
Looks like the rates are from $60-$100 per vehicle depending on the length. One-way fares are expected to be $25 to $29 for a walk-on passenger, and $35 to $40 per car, with an additional charge of $15 to $20 per passenger. Discounts for families and traveling during off-peak times also will be offered. Travel time is expected to be less than two and a half hours, depending on the weather.
To me its just as easy to drive. I do think the ferry is a great idea if they use it to build up tourism in and around Rochester, but right now I think the focus is more on the Toronto end of it.
For people traveling to Rochester to “cut across” the Lake on the Ferry it might be worth it. Gives you some down time to relax and have a few drinks and a bite to eat and look out at the water. Guess only time will tell once “The Breeze” finally hits the waves!
Pffft. I’ve driven to NYC, New Brunswick NJ and Allentown PA many times. It’s hardly crossing Ontario[sup]*[/sup] or anything. However, I’ll grant that many of you might find the drive a mite long.
[sup]*[/sup] 1135 miles from Ottawa, Ontario to Kenora, Ontario, according to MapQuest.
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York. The city, not the suburbs.
I now live in Cleveland, Ohio, but I still get home quite often. Cleveland is kinda’ like a watered-down Buffalo, literally - take one part Buffalo, one part typical-rest-of-the-country, and mix.
Oh, I did my student teaching in Elmira (EFA) back in the early 80s. Way early 80s. I saw the Flying Karamozov Brothers performing at the Sam Clemens Center (at least I THINK that was the name of the civic center).
IIRC, the area used to be the home of A&P / Beatrice Foods. And American-La France (the fire engine manufacturers)? Note the word “used to”: are they finally fully gone?
Isn’t the guy who draws the cartoon “Close to Home” from Horseheads or somewhere nearby? I see some references to Chemung County periodically (one cartoon depicts cops jumping out of trees landing on cars, paraphrased “Despite recent budget cuts, Chemung County police try an innovative attempt to control speeders.”
I just graduated from college in Troy, NY (just north of Albany.) So I WAS in upstate NY for four years straight (minus the first summer that I went home.) It’s a nice place, and the people in the Capitol District at least are very friendly, almost to contrast the suppossed “jerk” sterotype from NYC.
I lived in the Binghamton, NY area my entire life until I moved to Charlotte, NC a year and a half ago. Saratoga Springs is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, by the way.
Lived north of Watertown for four years; now I’m in Newport News, Virginia. Of course, the natives in the area did not refer to themselsves as “Upstate”; they always seemed to be talking about being in “the North Country”. My kids are already tired of explaining that they lived in New York, but not in New York City. We were closer to Montreal than to NYC.
If last winter wasn’t that cold up there, my friends must have been wooshing me. My daughter’s school friend told her they actually closed school for two days because it was too cold . That never happened in our four years there.
