Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
It's really more upstate NY than New York State. Almost 70% of NYS lives in the NY Metro area.
From downstate, the rest of NYS doesn't have the Rust Belt perception that is often attributed to the rest of the Great Lakes region. Upstate is thought of as the place to go skiing, camping, or to college. You'll almost never hear someone here call Buffalo the "Rust Belt".
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From a NYC perspective, I think there are two "Upstates". The more familiar one is the weekend/second home/vacationland. Hudson Valley, Catskills, Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, etc. These areas are stereotyped as green, hilly, idyllic, waterfalls, hiking, etc.
Then there's the Rust Belt Upstate. The stereotype is obviously depressed, dilapidated, empty factories, etc. Buffalo, probably unfairly, is the most prominent example. But Buffalo is like seven hours from NYC, further than Richmond, VA. It's really freaking far out of the frame of reference. There are smaller Rust Belt towns much closer to NYC, but they're mostly ignored or successfully transformed into second home communities.
From a city perspective, when you talk about Upstate or NY State, the frame of reference is almost always the former.