Upstate NY Forum launch - what the heck is Upstate?

Question

Thanks y'all for jumping into the UpState Forum!  Lot's of people use the term UpState, and since I've got my BP alerts set up... it isn't solely used by New York Upstaters... apparently lots of different states like to throw around 'upstate'  Anyway, I digress.

SOOO, all you Upstate NY peeps.  How do we define ourselves geographically?  I know a lot of people interpreting "upstate NY" think of areas north of NYC....  In fact I had a friend in college (RIT) that came to Rochester (upstate) thinking he would be close to NYC.... WOW!!  He should have looked at a map first....

Upstate is a huge and somewhat ambiguous term for areas in NY.

How are we going to effectively use this forum?

Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany...  I don't necessarily want to talk to all these groups if I'm digging into my local markets.

Paul Mendel · Answer

Maybe because I'm from Albany I'm bias but..

Albany/Troy/Schenectady = Upstate

Kingston/New Paltz = Downstate

Plattsburg = North Country

Binghamton = Southern tier

Syracuse = Central

Buffalo = Western

Rochester = would likely fall into central  but could be western

Bradley Noble · Answer

Having a Western NY forum could help seperate the confusion of the term "Upstate NY". Western NY could include Rochester and Buffalo and all the smaller markets surrounding those areas.

Alex Halimou · Answer

I think a separation based on real estate market characteristics is more useful than a geographical one. For example, the areas economically influenced by NYC commuters: Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam behave very differently than areas influenced by NY State employees from Albany, or farmers from (not sure?). Some groupings may not even be geographically attached, like NY college towns.

Any other suggestions on economically similar areas in NY?

Barry Cohen · Answer

Being from the NYC area, Anything north of Westchester county would be upstate. For us downstaters, Upstate is a large area. I would classify Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo as western NY.

Mark Elliott · Answer

i agree bryan. but anything that is not new york city is considered upstate. i would rather it be divided into a little more detail

Ahmad H. · Answer

I agree with Lukas and Paul that Upstate=Albany/Troy/Schenectady.

Preston Garcia · Answer

Hey, based on my experience, most parts of Rochester has a better ROI. Feel free to message me for more information!

Aharon Zvi Kagan · Answer

Hey,

I live in the State of Israel, and I am interested in purchasing my first investment property in Upstate New York. I was considering whether to invest in Rochester, New York or Syracuse, New York.

1. Is it better to invest in Rochester New York or Syracuse, New York?

2. If I invest in Rochester, New York, which areas are good and which are bad? If you could direct me by zip code within Rochester, NY.

Many thanks in advance

Stephanie Jacobson · Answer

Although I believe @Joseph R. Smith posted the correct answer, I would still argue that "upstate" is everything north/west of Albany. Everything else is downstate. The places I've never been by Watertown are "North Country". Western New York is all the places where people speak like they're from Minnesota.

Source: grew up in Rochester, totally unbiased.

PS- By Joseph's map my territory includes Central NY, the Southern Tier, and the Finger Lakes. I would not call Rochester part of the Finger Lakes region, though.

Joseph R. Smith · Answer

In in "North Country" (Watertown). We call Syracuse and Utica "Central NY"

Upstate NY Forum launch - what the heck is Upstate?

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