I have wanted so long to be able to say that and have people listen. Born and raised in Upstate New York, and now living in Virginia for the past 4 years, I still get questions about life in ’’The Big City’’.
New York City and Long Island are obviously well known. While NYC has an enormous population, and a million visitors, there is life outside of this area.
Upstate New York is considered to be anything outside of the City. I grew up 3 and a half hours NorthWest of the City, and it was pretty rural. My area is known as the Leatherstocking Region - because Mark Twain was born there, the Baseball and Soccer Halls of Fame are there, and the area is well known for its Indian/Native American heritage. My home town, Oneonta, is a Native American word for ’’City of the Hills’’.
Other areas I am quite familiar with are the Buffalo area and the Finger Lakes area. Buffalo is about as far away from the city as one can get, and sits on the Erie. Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo are all well-known and large cities in this area, with Buffalo being the coldest because of the Lake. Buffalo gets a ton of snow most winters, more so than other areas. The Finger Lakes are located in the center of the state, and are a series of small lakes and relatively rural areas (about an hour below Rochester and Syracuse). I went to a small private college right on one the Lakes, and the area was well known for its wineries. Northern New York borders Canada and also can get cold, though I never had a reason to travel that way.
Like any state, New York has a multitude of interesting events and things to see. There are heavily populated areas, and areas where you will see nothing but farms. You can go to one part of the state and see Broadway shows, another and climb the Adirondack and Catskill mountains. New York is more that just the idea of a big new York City.