I always thought "Upstate New York" referred to the northern portion of New York State, but it really refers to just about everything north of New York City, which means most of the state. The map below shows "downstate New York" broken off from the rest of the state. Are all Westerners as clueless as I am?
Therefore, all of the places we visited outside of NYC were "Upstate," even though some of them were within an hour's drive of the city. However, Upstate and Downstate New York are very distinct. The population of the 4,000 square miles that make up Downstate NY is over 12 million, while the population of the 54,500 miles that are Upstate NY is 7 million. The population density is 3,077 people/square mile in Downstate NY and 130 people/square mile in Upstate New York. BIG difference.
We loved driving around in Upstate New York, even though we never made it to Upper Upstate New York. The drive from Albany back to NYC reminds me of West Virginia, hilly and heavily wooded.
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| Map from here |
We loved driving around in Upstate New York, even though we never made it to Upper Upstate New York. The drive from Albany back to NYC reminds me of West Virginia, hilly and heavily wooded.
