Hacker News Reader

Comment by rpmisms | Hacker News Reader

>"Upstate" New York

The area is called Western New York.

It's called Western New York to people who live in the upper New York. It's called upstate New York to anyone who isn't aware that New York has more than just NYC in it.

Anything from Mount Vernon to Canada is upstate. Except Buffalo, which is over near Chicago.

I thought it was anything north of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Edit: yes it’s a joke.

You’re just trolling or you need a map. The Brooklyn bridge is south of the most populated part of Manhattan.

Tappan Zee [sic] bridge maybe (that’s at least one arguable line).

Upstate and Western New York are overlapping regions. In addition to "upstate" being extremely vague and huge.

Kind of. To locals, it's pretty clearly defined:

WNY is Utica westward, the Adirondacks are North of Utica, and we don't talk about the rest of it.

Yes, I'm speaking with tongue in cheek, but I'm representing the cultural lines as best I can.

It’s the Finger Lakes Region now.

Like Google Maps clipping off minor towns as you zoom out, there's a level of detail filter being applied. Within my town, I'll give my neighborhood. Within my state, I'll give my town. Outside that, it'll be "Boston". Farther afield, it might just be "the Northeast [US]".

I'd say Rochester is quite distinct from the Finger Lakes and "Western NY" is far easier to grasp. From this New Englander's perspective, I'm not sure everyone here could place the Finger Lakes on a map.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com