Why is the term “upstate” used so often in regards to New York but not as much in other states?

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Why is the term “upstate” used so often in regards to New York but not as much in other states?

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  1. eggs-benedryl Avatar

    The major city in Oregon is along the norther border of the state. In oregon you’ll just say… Washington or Vancouver.

    The major city in NY is in the south of the state. Nearly everything is upstate of NYC where you’ll hear this more. For states where this is the case, upstate is a good shorthand to communicate you mean “outside the city”

  2. Popular-Local8354 Avatar

    The states that also have a single major city dominating their population (Georgia and Atlanta, Oregon with Portland, Washington with Seattle, Chicago with Illinois, etc.) have their major city more towards the north. 

  3. Eastern-Ad-3129 Avatar

    And why do I never hear the term, “downstate”?

  4. Forsaken-Sun5534 Avatar

    The shape of the state becomes a narrow wedge as you get closer to the Atlantic Coast, so New York City and Long Island are quite separated from the upland parts of the state in a way that doesn’t have an equivalent in most states.

    Lots of places do have a similar cultural or economic distinction between one major city and the rest of the state, but without the geographic divide.

  5. Mast-Blee Avatar

    Upper state and lower state are common terms in South Carolina. In this case they refer to elevations with the state divided more at a diagonal. The lower state is the coastal plane, while the upper state is the region of foothills heading up towards the Smokies.

  6. Bad-Moon-Rising Avatar

    The upper left corner of SC, mainly the Greenville/Spartanburg area is referred to as upstate.

  7. anditurnedaround Avatar

    Someone asked me where my husband was from and I said New York and they said where and I told them and they said that’s not New York. 

    I thought it was, and it is, just upstate. I guess you’re suppose to say that upfront. 

    Weird if you ask me. Not being from upstate or NY city myself of course. 

  8. quantumspork Avatar

    Just a thought, but in NY, upstate is almost synonymous with upriver.

    Back in the day, commerce travelled up and down the Hudson, and western NY was almost wilderness so did not matter as much.

    If you live in NYC, there are three regions. Upstate, the city, and Long Island. If you live in manhattan, there are 4 regions because people will refer to the outer boroughs as a separate group than the city.

  9. Rogerdodger1946 Avatar

    In Illinois, Downstate is anything South of I-80, basically South of Chicago.

  10. Own_Active_1310 Avatar

    It’s a NYUORCK thing 

    man why you even looking at our state YOU GOT A PROBLEM OVER THERE OHIO?!?!

    I’m jk we are a lil rough around the edges is all :3

  11. This-Dot4331 Avatar

    We use downstate in Michigan. We say up North instead of upstate.

  12. Bo_Jim Avatar

    It’s a localism. Same reason people in Boston say “wicked” and “pissah (pisser)”. Same reason people in Montana say “Howdy”. Same reason people in California refer to the geographical middle of the state as “Northern California”. (Actually, they just consider anything between Sacramento and the Oregon border to be wasteland.)

    Every part of the country has it’s localisms, and people adopt them so other people won’t think they’re weird.

  13. BigCamp839 Avatar

    It’s used in South Carolina as well, referring to the region near the mountains (Greenville and Spartanburg).

  14. neurospicygogo70 Avatar

    South Carolina is very much the Low Country, Midlands and the Upstate.

  15. Few-Host7094 Avatar

    “New York” can mean New York City or it can mean the entire state. If I tell someone I’m from New York, they automatically assume that I mean “The City,” which is how we refer to NYC. So we say Upstate to differentiate the rest of the state.

  16. LazyDynamite Avatar

    Most states do not have the most populous city in the country that also shares a name with the state and require that distinction as a result.

  17. Significant-Owl-2980 Avatar

    It is because NYC in the southern part of the state is one of the biggest/busiest cities in the world.   

     “Upstate” or northern New York State is rural with small towns.  It is basically 2 completely different vibes within the same state.   

    It is to differentiate between the two 

  18. Ice_Sinks Avatar

    Other states don’t have a large city named after the state. Saying “I’m from New York” everyone’s gonna think you’re from the big apple. But saying “I’m from upstate New York” we all know you don’t mean the city.

  19. BenderFtMcSzechuan Avatar

    I live upstate Arizona

  20. smooshiebear Avatar

    South Carolina uses it all the time – Anderson/Greenville/Spartanburg (plus surrounding counties) are collectively called “The Upstate.”

  21. auglove Avatar

    Local dialect. In Ohio it’s “Along the Lake”, In Michigan it’s “Up North”.

  22. JuggaliciousMemes Avatar

    When you say Texas, nobody thinks “Texas City”

    When you say Wisconsin, nobody thinks “Wisconsin City”

    but when you say New York, everyone and their grandma assumes “New York City” even though NYC is a tiny little place in the tip of the state and most people dont live in NYC so we say upstate to make it clear that no, we dont live in NYC, and that yes indeed there is an entire rest of the state that people live in, and yes we get this every single time we say “New York” and yes its tiring, NYC is its own place with its own culture and its own laws and many of us dont wanna go there because we’re happier living in our own areas in the entire rest of the state.

    sorry for the baggage, i had to get it out.

  23. insecurecharm Avatar

    Hi from upstate SC.

  24. CrimsonRose3773 Avatar

    If you say you’re from New York, everyone automatically thinks NYC. it’s easier to just say update NY.

  25. Lazy_Satisfaction_58 Avatar

    Because New York City is the tail that wags the dog

  26. Puzzleheaded_Tie8077 Avatar

    I think in general when you say “New York” you think of the city but the state is also called “New York”. So upstate means in new you’re state but not the city.

  27. notyetgoingtosleep Avatar

    Wait until you hear about Downeast Maine.

  28. RyouIshtar Avatar

    I live in upstate south carolina. It’s the upper part of the state, however it may also be because we’re close to two other states, and they sometimes talk about events that happens close to that area (NE Georgia, SW North Carolina)

  29. joe_frank Avatar

    Other people have shared really good ideas for why this may be the case, but I also think the question is a little misleading.

    Sure, NY is seemingly the only state that uses “upstate” but many states have something to refer to other areas. I’m from NJ; 99% of people will say “the shore” when they refer to much of the lower part of the state.

    Florida and Oklahoma have “the panhandle.” California has “SoCal.” Hawaii has “the big island.” Michigan splits between “lower peninsula” and “upper peninsula.” Missouri has the “ozarks.”

    Lots of states use some kind of geographic-related or geographic-adjacent terms for different regions

  30. gholmom500 Avatar

    Because North as Up is a connection to all Western Earth Dwellers.

    Oddly, in Illinois they say “Downstate” to note any place that isn’t Chicago.

  31. SuperSpy_4 Avatar

    In Maine, northeastern Maine is called “Down East”.

  32. SnooOnions3369 Avatar

    Live in South Carolina, upstate is used a lot here

  33. watadoo Avatar

    In California we call the northern half, Norcal

  34. BanalCausality Avatar
  35. Correct_Doctor_1502 Avatar

    South Carolina uses upstate all the time

  36. Ladycalla Avatar

    Im from upstate. I’m flying in to visit my family for a few weeks this weekend. The amount of people who think I’m going to Times Square blows my mind

  37. Round_Asparagus4765 Avatar

    It’s used in SC. The lowcountry=coast. The Upstate=mountains

  38. The_Exuberant_Raptor Avatar

    It would be meaningless in Texas. Are you saying you’re from the panhandle? You’re from Dallas? Fort Worth? The small towns around it? It explains less than it helps here. Everyone knows what you mean when you say it in NY.

  39. Choccimilkncookie Avatar

    Language I guess. Upstate California doesnt sound as good as Norcal 🤷‍♀️

    Edit: similarly, Nor New York sounds stupid

  40. LvBorzoi Avatar

    We use it in South Carolina

  41. CojonesRevueltos Avatar

    A relative by marriage was born and raised on a farm in upstate New York but, went to college and lived the rest of his life “in the city”. He had the best explanation I ever heard for explaining New York. He said, “there are only 2 places in the State of New York, New York City and Upstate New York.”

    Everyone that I have told that to from New York says that is the best explanation of the state.

  42. curlyhairweirdo Avatar

    Because if you don’t say upstate everyone will assume your talking about New York City.

  43. Nodak70 Avatar

    When I first moved here, when people would talk about going “down south” I presumed they meant the old South. What they meant was Southern California.

  44. Rabid-kumquat Avatar

    I’m from Syracuse and when I’m out of state people always assume I am from NYC.

  45. Such-awesome-121220 Avatar

    Lol true. Born and raised in CA and you’re either from NorCal, SoCal, the central Valley, central coast… but never hear Upstate CA

  46. lawyerjsd Avatar

    It’s a map thing. Since NYC is in the southeastern corner of New York State, everything outside of NYC that is part of New York State is north, or up, from NYC. Similarly, Chicagoans refer to the parts of Illinois that aren’t in Chicagoland as “downstate,” because most of the state is south of Chicago.

  47. Helpful-Wolverine748 Avatar

    upstate new york’s equivalent in another state would be downstate illinois

  48. notabaddude Avatar

    It’s prominent in South Carolina as well… we have “low country” and “upstate”.

  49. Bubbly_Cockroach8340 Avatar

    Western New York is NOT upstate!

  50. danger-wizard Avatar

    I’m from SC and this is common terminology there. You’re either from upstate, low country, or generally Columbia.

  51. Livueta_Zakalwe Avatar

    Can we talk about the tri-state area?

  52. username7221- Avatar

    Well you’ve got Up State Vermont, NH & Maine. They are “Tall” states 🤗! That wld be my guess.

  53. Moelarrycheeze Avatar

    Illinois has a downstate

  54. DoTheRightThing1953 Avatar

    Never been to South Carolina, have you?

  55. r1ckm4n Avatar

    Oh man when I clicked on this it had 518 upvotes.

  56. Particular-Move-3860 Avatar

    New York State is shaped like a funnel, and much of its early development was northward up the Hudson Valley from its starting point on the tip of Manhattan Island. To go further into the state, you traveled northward up the Hudson.

    The NYC area is hemmed in by the state of New Jersey to the west and the state of Connecticut and the rest of New England to the northeast. The only route into the rest of New York State is by traveling directly north, up the Hudson River.

    Hence, the bulk of New York State is “up” from NYC (with the exception of Long Island, which lies directly east of the city). Even Long Island residents have to first travel back into the City if they want to get to the rest of the state. Access to the Catskills, the Finger Lakes, the Capital District, etc., requires traveling north up the Hudson River corridor.

  57. Particular-Move-3860 Avatar

    New York State is shaped like a funnel, and much of its early development was northward up the Hudson Valley from the original settlement on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. To go further into the state, you traveled northward up the south-flowing Hudson River.

    The NYC portion of NYS is hemmed in by the state of New Jersey to the west and the state of Connecticut and the rest of New England to the northeast. During the colonial era and in the century following independence one traveled up the river valley to get to the rest of New York.

    Hence, the bulk of New York State is “up” from NYC (with the exception of Long Island, which lies directly east of the city). Even Long Island residents have to first travel back into the City if they want to get to the rest of the state.

    Areas of the state, such as the Catskills, the Finger Lakes, the Capital District, etc., are all located upriver from NYC. This led to the common designation of “upstate” to refer to the rest of New York located beyond the outskirts of NYC.

  58. Silly-Resist8306 Avatar

    I grew up in the corn fields of Illinois. We referred to being downstate. This is a difference without a distinction as our big city was north instead of south.

  59. Relaxbro30 Avatar

    It’s an upstate thing.

  60. MayonaiseBaron Avatar

    In Massachusetts “western Mass” is everything more than 45 minutes west of Boston (like 75% of the state). “The Cape” also has a shockingly liberal definition that inches closer and closer to New Bedford each year.

  61. JoeBwanKenobski Avatar

    We have a similar phenomenon in Michigan. Something like 80% of the population lives in the bottom 30% of the state. We use the term Up North to talk about the huge area outside of that 30%.

  62. NewThink Avatar

    It’s worth noting that to New Yorkers from the city or Long Island, anything north of the Bronx is “upstate.” Doesn’t matter if it’s Buffalo, Albany, or Yonkers.

  63. Mountain-Wing-6952 Avatar

    Because when I’m from hick town New York I don’t want people thinking I’m from NYC. So I say upstate and then people realize I’m from the upper part of the state. I don’t live in New York, but that’s the logic in it.