@@bobtorn1955 The countryside and rural communities are many times better than upstate cities. Upstate cities look like the depths of the 1930's depression, except Albany itself which is made to look good because the capital is there; a lot of state cash floating around. The positive of Upstate is its natural beauty. The negative is incompetent state government.
I go to school in Syracuse and I gotta say this city is growing on me. It is a good sized city with surprisingly one of the largest malls in the country. Also, the Finger Lakes region and the Adirondacks are some of the most beautiful and underrated parts of the East Coast. So many state parks, ski areas, apple orchards, wineries, trails, lakes, rivers, glacial features, even beaches!
I haven't been to the finger lakes very often. On the other hand, I live fairly close to the Adirondack. The mountains are best part of New York state. -KR
You really are opening my eyes to usa . As a european all i see from New York is the metropolitan area. Happy New year to you. Hope to visit some of the place you talk about when the corona is over.
@Ryan D yes you should definitely visit the adirondacks especially the high peaks region you can drive up whiteface (or hike up like me) and you can see everything 360 views
@Kevin McCabe Visted Utica for the first time a couple of years ago (even though I only live in Albany!) Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute is a small gem.
There are a few towns with that _arrogant_ feel. Ithaca was mentioned. There are two others upstate that should be mentioned; Saratoga and Skaneateles.
I'm old enough to remember when Upstate NY was an industrial powerhouse. All the cities you mentioned, including some small ones like Ithaca, had massive industrial infrastructures. I found your presentation spot on. For someone who lived in California, you really got your information correct. If one lives outside of the cities, in the countryside, politics aside, it is a literal paradise. I like it here.
I live 1 hour away from Buffalo on the Canadian side. My dad and I and my son are huge Bills and Sabres fans. My son and I love going to Buffalo. Many Canadians like to go to Buffalo on weekend shopping trips especially during black Friday sales. My parents went to Letchworth for their honeymoon and went there sometimes after. It was one of my dads favourite places to visit. I hope to go sometime. I travel through upstate NY to go to my sisters in PA. The Erie canal is interesting along with its history. I love upstate NY. Thanks for posting this video.
im from the Rochester finger lakes area and i wanted to say this was a good video! You said Irondequoit correctly btw. Im a farmer so i can tell you that ag is a very big part of what goes on in western new york. Also locals call it western new york. one big thing you missed was letchworth state park. its one of our states gems. and yes garbage plates, we love em
Ag is huge in NY, or it was when I lived there. I have flown into Rochester from the south many times with a window seat, you can tell you reached NY when you go from seeing the small mountains to seeing farm fields
@@SuV33358 which suburb? that's important for people from that region. I lived in Chili for 2 years then moved out to Holley west of Brockport ... Moved out of NY as an Adult.
@@johnliberty3647 born and raised in Chili. Married and was in Gates for sometime. Divorced, kids grown and gone, and I'm in Greece now. Possibly going back to Chili in near future. happy new year!
Proud Upstate (Mohawk Valley) New Yorker here! I wish more people from out of state knew just how much the state has to offer outside of NYC. So many beautiful landscapes and some of the best food. Thank you for this video!
Letchworth is pretty amazing. It's this huge, fancy park in the middle of nowhere with amazing scenery and you realize it was created to provide recreation opportunities for wealthy Kodak and IBM executives and their families. And they're gone, but the park is still here...
I've lived in Buffalo for 15 years now (ori8from Yonkers) and Buffalo has really thrived in the last 10 years, especially the downtown/ canalside area. It's really special and one of the only eastern cities where you get to see the sun set over the water. And the food is out of this world!
I live on the west coast and I agree that the foods the best in the Midwest and east coast. The only thing I’ll say the west coast has that’s better is sweets. You can’t mess with the west coast. We got award winning bakeries and pie shops. There phenomenal
I couple of years ago we visited Buffalo and took a Silo City Grain Elevator tour with Explore Buffalo. Highly recommend if/when they start up again post-pandemic. Even my disgruntled teen still talks about it.
I like Buffalo as well😁 Used to travel up to Western NY for work a lot in the early 2000's. Miss those good Beef on Weck sandwiches, cruising the 190 along the Niagara, etc. Buffalo is similar to Cleveland and Toledo in feel, but most interesting than either, one of the more interesting bigger cities.
As someone from NYC with family in the Binghamton area and friends in the finger lakes, I always found upstate to have some of the most underrated places in the east
I'm from Rochester and I wanted to say that this is mostly accurate (although as someone else mentioned, locals distinguish between Western NY and Upstate/Northern NY). Also, while Kodak and Xerox are no longer headquartered here, they do still have manufacturing facilities here. Kodak, especially, is much diminished from what it used to be, though. Yes, the Rochester metro is a bit rough, but there is much to be said for the area as a whole. There are plenty of outdoor activities in both summer and winter. Letchworth is just amazing. There are a number of good universities and hospitals here (U of R and RIT). There are a lot of fun festivals in the summer months. And if you have kids, the Museum of Play is world renowned. I'm not a native Rochesterian. I came here for college and ended up staying and putting down roots and the area has grown on me.
Also Syracuse is considered CNY. But to be honest it's all Upstate whether the Catskills, 'Dacks, CNY, WNY, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, Hudson & Mohawk Valleys, etc...
@@301rs I grew up in NYC and we considered anything north of Yonkers Upstate. Hehehe. What always amazes me is the beauty of the state and the fact so many people from other parts of the country are totally unaware of it. My parents had a small log cabin in the Adirondacks and I've spent a good portion of my almost 62 years here. After Dad retired in the mid-80s they moved here and when I got the chance to work from home 100% I relocated here several years back. I'm about 25 miles north of the village of Lake George and about a dozen miles west of the lake and nestled between Loon, Brant and Friends Lakes. It's Paradise. :-)
@@justasimpleguy7211 . I envy you. I would love to get a summer home on a lake in the Adirondacks. Not too far off the beaten path though. Lol. I always joke with my kids and refer to upstate New York as “God’s Country.” But I am sorta serious...ya know? I would go to Boy Scout camp near long lake New York as a kid and I miss the call of the loons. Upstate NY even smells different and better. I was truly blessed to have experienced it.
@@301rs Before I relocated and for the ten years I was in Syracuse and Rochester I was using the house my parents bought when Dad retired as a vacation home. I'd use the bulk of my vacation from Memorial Day to Labor Day, spending a good 30 or so days here. The drive up was always so exciting. I-90 to the Rome exit at Turning Stone. Route 365 to Route 8 and eventually a left turn off Route 8 onto Landon Hill Rd and just a quarter mile to the house. Route 8 through the Southern Adirondacks goes through some of the least populated areas of the 'Dacks and even on the major holidays there's hardly any traffic whatsoever. Just a two lane country highway where I'd put the Silverado on cruise control and not have to hit any pedals for dozens of miles on end. I had a lineup of Rush and Zeppelin CDs I'd crank up during the drive, doing my best to hit the high notes of Plant and Lee. LOL! Before that I was in the Capital District for 17 years and it was a much shorter drive, not much more than an hour. I'd make it up much more often. And yes, "God's Country" isn't that far off the mark!
About ten years ago I was out for a walk and alongside the road a car was parked, the driver was leaning against the fender just staring up at a tree covered hill alongside the road ..... We got to talking and turned out he was from Texas just out on a national road trip and he said he was just stunned that what he was looking at was New York .... like many people his picture of New York was always that of New York City.
Texan here. Even on my first visit as a kid, the outstanding beauty of your state impressed me. We have mountains Out West, but much of Texas is really flat. And every Texas lake was created by damming a river -- nothing like your glacier scoured lakes. Even your towns and small cities have charms although some seem to be having hard times...
One of our local memes are Your from NY: picture of NYC No, I'm from NY: picture of a tractor at walmart or a farm. And i saw one for my hometown that said upstate, like albany and was a Snapchat of a 5miles to canada road sign. We have natural beauty in spades and 2 jokes, that we are not NYC and that we are basically Canadian. 3 if you count "at least we don't have tornadoes/wildfires/earthquakes/hurricanes while shoveling mountains of snow when the air hurts your face"
i am from around syracuse. i worked in a little hardware store in a town neerby and had this sweet texan lady come in and ask me where she could look at the canal. tbh kinda a culture shock as no one as ever asked me before or sence what they could pray for me for lol.
I just want to say thank you for doing upstate NY. I am a newer subscriber and suburb resident of Buffalo. I got giddy when I saw that you knew of the bubble man! I loved your review. I have been impressed thoroughly by your videos and your honesty is accurate.
Your three minute explanation of lake effect snow was fantastic! Growing up in the Rochester media market those three minutes on the local news were effectively the first Christmas special of the year. I can all but smell the mittens drying by my parents’ back door, long ago.
Technically its worse because the mountains force the air up even higher making it even colder and wringing all of the snow out of the lake effect. But yes very good for a very short description on why we have 2 snowbelts where the lakes are just perpetually dumping snow. (At any given time if you check the radar in winter you can probably identify atleast 1 of the snowbelts on an otherwise clear day for the state)
Yes! I'm so happy you made this! I grew up in Albany for 20 years, went to college in Buffalo for 5, and then grad school in Rochester for 2. I love upstate NY and am excited to watch this!! The cities are unique and interesting. They have a shared industrial (with the Erie Canal and its branches and the railroads) and geographic heritage. As cool as the cities are, the landscape of upstate is what I truly miss! Adirondacks, finger lakes, waterfalls, picturesque towns and valleys... all gorgeous. If anyone has any questions I'd love to discuss it, but I'm sure you did a great job Geography King!
Overall, I felt he did a excellent job, especially as an introductory video! For the cities I've lived in and places I'm familiar with, I felt he hit all the major points and has some great unique facts/places. Sure I could nitpick (a tad bit hard on Rochester and no mention of High Falls or the abandoned subway...I think that's super unique! Also needed to talk more about the Erie Canal!)... but I don't think I've ever seen such an excellent, concise summary of each place, focusing on unique aspects of them. Well said about the scenery too! I'm tired of explaining to people that I'm going to New York (to visit my cabin in the mountains and I'm HUNDREDS of miles from Times Square). Fantastic video!
@@ruddelluddel2062 depends on what you like to do. A lot of us are outdoorsy, so we love to hike, ski, boat, mountain bike, etc. But in the cities, there are some really exciting restaurants, shops, and breweries downtown and in some neighborhoods. Especially Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Ithaca, and Saratoga. I loved the relatively tons of festivals in Buffalo and Rochester when I lived there. Each area has their own sports teams they like to root for/ cry with. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I had to make a few cuts in editing like Lake Champlain and Erie Canal. But I didn't even know about the Rochester subway. I've seen a few comments on that and I like learning things through the comments.
I heard a rumour that the remnant subway in Rochester was going to be destroyed soon for development. That made me very sad. Anyone from Rochester know if this is true?
Rochester, NY. I love my city. There's a lot of things you could have mentioned but I'm assuming you aren't aware of them. We have an amazing museum and gallery culture. Also a great music scene.
@@MirzaAhmed89 Seriously; to anyone from the Albany area, do they actually call hamburgers "steamed hams" there? In Connecticut (where most of my family is from) there are actually a few diners that cook cheeseburgers by steaming them.
I’m from Rochester, born and raised. I was going to be disappointed if our garbage plate wasn’t mentioned but I’m so glad you had a chance to try it! It’s really a game changer. Great video! Go Bills!
I am from Queens and have spent some time in various upstate towns and areas. Your video hit the nail on the head,some of the cities are nice and have nice areas but the natural beauty of upstate is very underrated. My wife and I went to Lake Seneca last year and it was amazing. The natural beauty of Watkins Glen and the lake, a ton of wineries and some nice local restaurants. A must visit if you live nearby.
I’ve lived somewhere in NY my whole life and I learned a lot from this video! But if you haven’t been to the catskill mountain region, I’d highly recommend going there.
Although I'm from NYC and I've been upstate a few times since a kid, I recently learned that some people don't consider it upstate until you pass what's considered the Hudson Valley, which could be as far north as Kingston or Albany, depending who you ask (or as far north as the Metro North goes). I feel he was going by this definition.
Thanks for this video, I’m a downstate native but attended school in Oneonta and have family and friends throughout upstate ny. As others have said it’s definitely one of the most forgotten but beautiful regions of the US.
I lived in upstate all my life. You gave a very fair and honest opinions of life here without the jokes and snide remarks that other narrators have. I live in a rural area near Buffalo. The people here are great, a good place to raise children. Life here is more in common with rural Pennsylvania or Michigan than downstate.
Being from the Adirondacks I'm happy you did this my whole life people think if you're from new york your from nyc not 5 hours north so thanks for this
Yes! As someone from the Rochester area I was waiting for this video. I think you did a good job assessing the area and you pronounced Irondequoit pretty well for someone from out of state. I will mention that after moving to central Connecticut, I've noticed that Rochester has a lot more good coffee shops downtown than where I live now.
great video. informative reminder of how grand NY is. I was born and raised in the Hudson Valley but always loved the Adirondaks and Finger Lake region. Miss it up there
Also forgot that Thousand Island dressing is from the 1000 Islands. LOL. Can't forget that. And Potato chips were invented at Moon's Lake House on Saratoga Lake.
One food you missed ... found only in the Binghamton area: Spiedes (pronounced speedies) are marinated cubes of meat cooked on a skewer and typically served up in a long roll. They're delicious. Imported as a delicacy from Italy, it's widely believed that spiedies are strictly a Greater Binghamton phenomenon. It's widely known that they are a phenomenal meaty treat.
I grew up 30 minutes from Syracuse and never heard of a spiedies until I moved to the Binghamton area 20+ years ago. I love them. In addition to spiedies, he could add Cornell chicken, and salt potatoes. Also, IBM as a company that started here and pretty much gone.
Born and raised (until 22) in Rochester and I've never heard of those! I did like flying planes into BGM though. On a little plateau (like Seattle) and always a fun trip when the foliage was peaking! I'd usually just take a plane up on my own or with a passenger or two and fly around a bit aimlessly around the southern tier and Finger Lakes. I'm not sure I've spent any time in Binghamton but it wasn't much if I did.
Albany born, wife from Binghamton. I know people from all over NYS. This is good primer for people who are not from the area. Sure there are legitimate omissions, but this is very good starting point. For someone who is from California, and lives in Tennessee, this is solid work. I had been watching GK videos for months. This one clinched it. My first subscription. Keep up the good work Kyle.
You did a good job describing upstate NY. I went to grad school at Syracuse eons ago (1972-76) and met my lovely spouse (who hails from the Central Valley of CA, by the way). We survived those 4 years of some of the snowiest and coldest weather we’ve ever experienced but we also spent our summers camping in the Adirondacks and southern Ontario and Quebec. Looking back it was pretty amazing and I have mostly fond memories of those years. Except for the Carrier Dome, the campus looks much the same but the city has lost so many manufacturing jobs, it is quite depressing. One side note, more recently my daughter worked for a genetics professor at what was SUNY Buffalo (now University of Buffalo) one summer and we made a couple trips to visit her. I was surprised that the city was pretty cool and how beautiful the architecture of the city was during its heyday (1880-1920). Not all has survived but what has is very impressive.
@@rhoetusochten4211 yes, the winter of 1975-76 was particularly brutal. However, the worst snowstorm I’ve experienced was in the DC suburbs of Maryland in February 1979. 30+ inches plus enormous car-burying drifts.
@@robertcoren7318 I lived in the Syracuse area for 5 years (B'Ville) and during the winter of 2010-2011 it was hit with 195". It was insane and I think a couple inches from its all-time snowfall record. I also live in the Capital District for 17 years and I forget the exact year but it was in the early 90s and we got one storm that was epic. 29" of snow, temperature near zero and wind gusts over 30 MPH. It was a true blizzard in all respects.
It's really important to emphasize the whole state is based on two corridors - the Hudson/Champlain corridor to Upper Canada and the Mohawk Valley corridor to lake Erie. So much history is based on this, especially concerning my (favorite?) North American War: the French/Indian War of 1758-1765.
I think what most of the country would find most unexpected about upstate is how rural it is. I live in the Binghamton area and for me to go the slightly over an hour up to Syracuse (because of the mall) the interstate I travel up (81) has hardly any towns along it. Of the companies that left upstate, the major you left out is IBM, founded in the Binghamton area, though it didn’t leave the state, it just left upstate.
I thought the same thing. The state is very separated, and its weirdly not uncomment to travel from anchor city to anchor city. I grew up just north of Corning and commonly drive to Bing for cars, etc. The economy is weird because of this. You'll find yourself wondering how the people who live between the cities can even afford to, then I remember I commute 45 minutes for work and it makes sense lol.
Excellent video! One could argue that the Adirondacks offer some of the best true wilderness areas in the country: Five Ponds Wilderness, Siamese Ponds Wilderness, McKenzie Mt. Wilderness, High Peaks Wilderness, Boreas Ponds Tract and the William C. Whitney Wilderness. In 1900, Theodore Roosevelt was off on the summit of Mt Marcy when President McKinley was shot, and it took a runner to deliver the message that he was now the President. When the twin towers fell on 9/11, I was canoeing 10 miles from any civilization, and only heard the news 3 days later. I imagine there's much research that goes into your videos. You are to be commended!
Always shocked me that New York never split into 2 different states. The difference from just the White Plains to NYC is insane! Awesome content as usual!
I hope that you subscribe to the channel. You will really find everything you like about nature and travel 🥺❤️❤️, and I hope you will not disappoint me🥺
@@UserName-ts3sp Can upstate survive without the tax revenues generated by greater NYC? I doubt that the NYC burbs will want to join a state that doesn't include the city.
@@UserName-ts3sp actually it's the opposite New York City metro alone practically makes up 90%+ of the New York state budget. If New York state was to split then all of upstate New York's taxes will increase dramatically. People do not really understand how much big cities are subsidizing rural communities. NYC budget was $88 billion. NYS $177 billion. Mind you the city tax rate is a way smaller percentage compared to the state tax rate and yet New York city's budget is literally half of New York state budget. The fact is upstate New York will be a third world country if wasn't for New York City
I miss New York. I miss walking down Main St. and seeing mountains and lakes and green everywhere. Whenever I hear the USA-USA chant at a sporting event, I know the original held more gravity. The videos of yours I've seen have always been informative and thorough. Thanks.
I see Rick James down there!! Excellent touch! As a traveler of 5 years (who happens to be from Upstate New York), I LOVE your videos! You have an incredible amount of knowledge which really sets these apart from similar videos. Keep it up!
You mentioned ALL of my favorite things about Buffalo! Thank you! I'm from Syracuse and I go to school there and I would 1000% choose to live in Buffalo any day over my hometown (though I plan on leaving upstate behind entirely)
Grew up in Albany/Schenectady area and I’ll always be an advocate of the 518 and upstate. I know this isn’t where I’ll spend the rest of my life, but I couldn’t imagine growing up in a better area. Being only 2.5 hours from NYC, and a few hours from the Adirondacks, you get to experience EVERYTHING. The college towns are an amazing experience (Oswego 💚💛) and I love all the other SUNY school towns that I’ve visited. The snow is a lot but you can have so much fun with it (snow days!). Very surprised Kyle didn’t mention Saratoga, however. Arguably the nicest tourist area of the 518... BUT he did mention garbage plates which are even better than advertised!!! 😋
I lived in both Elmira/Corning/Finger Lakes area & Rochester for a good period of my life. Few things I recommend: 1. Check out Letchworth state park 2. Other AMAZING regional cuisines: Chicken Spiedies (originally from Binghampton area,), chiavetta's sauce (from Buffalo), and chicken French aka Chicken Française (from Rochester area). Of these three, spiedie sauce is my absolute mouthwatering favorite! Definitely get the beef on weck once you get a chance! With the craft beer boom a lot of the smaller towns have found some revitalization, but I left the area for the same lack of opportunities most did after high school & college.
Grew up outside of Corning (in Beaver Dams) and you're absolutely right with the end of your comment. Somewhat not mentioned in this video is how "dissected" the land is due to the hilly terrain. There's an abundance of small "towns" that are not self sufficient and require residents to commute/ travel 20-40 minutes commonly. These towns connect most of the Cities mentioned in the video, albeit in some regions it is somewhat puzzling to think about what would happen if you broke your leg lol (two hour ambulance ride?) I lucked out with a job at Nucor, but it is a 45 minute commute.
There are plenty of other things to go over, but then he'd be making an hour-long video. Saratoga? Glens Falls? Lake George? The whole lower Hudson Valley? The Adirondack Park deserves more attention, too.
Syracuse guy here, loved the video and learned some stuff I was unaware of. Keep up the great work! (Also don’t forget the voice actor of Spongebob went to grade school in Syracuse!)
As a Rochester native and a big geography geek I really enjoy your videos and this one in particular- although the state of affairs in upstate is very sad. I do want to mention that Rochester was/is well known for it’s horticultural roots and is fortunate to have three county parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture. I live in NC now for economic reasons, but Rochester will always be home. Thanks also for highlighting our gastronomic achievement of “the Garbage Plate” as disgusting as it looks they are DELICIOUS-my version is home fries, mac salad, cheeseburgers and hot sauce!! Yuuummm!!
I’m from Altamont a little village near Albany. You did a great job with this. A shout out should also go to Lake George, which is one of the most beautiful in the country. BTW the Adirondacks which you covered are truly spectacular, as is the Finger Lake region and the Catskills mountains (which you didn’t mention), have much to offer. There is more to life than the money, and upstate New York has a high quality of life in that regard. From Albany we can get to NYC, Boston and Montreal easily.
Altamont! My family moved to Altamont when I was about four or five ('59/60). It was a wonderful place to grow up. Access to mountain, lake, fields, streams, and open air ... it was, and is a real community. Though I no longer live there, friends still do ... visit frequently enough, but, must admit I miss the Helderbergs.
i grew up in Fonda Home of theTrack of Champions big dirt car racing fan an upstate has so many dirt speedways, did you know that Lee Wallard who won the 1951 Indianapolis 500 was from Altamont, i lived in Guilderland center for a while, upstate n.y is beautiful that's why i stay!
I live in upstate and love hearing about the parts of ny that aren't the city. I've been to a lot of the places you named I've been and loved it. Thanks for making the video! Go Bills!
'k - Syracuse native here - stood the snow for 30 years and bugged out to Dallas. I agree with almost everything you said; I was really saddened to hear that Syracuse has sunk to 140k population. I was in 7th grade in 1959, when we learned that the city population was 221k. I guess everybody moved to the sun belt or followed their jobs to Mexico. so sad. I know that you can only cover just so much in 21 minutes; it pains me greatly that small towns have cratered so badly, and if ever you need a project, research the former Borscht Belt, a thriving entertainment center in the Catskills *which no longer exists*. I was wrecked. points to you for pronouncing Irondequoit correctly! food interests are Colosse cheese and Croghan bologna. and my last fillip - Upstate is defined by me as being above the 42nd parallel!
I don't think the population decrease is as bad as it sounds. Family size is much smaller than it was 60 years ago, so density isn't what it used to be.
hi, i’m an albany native! crime is pretty bad in some parts of the tri-cities, but there definitely are many nice areas too. i wish you had mentioned saratoga springs, which has some great historical/cultural value. also the reason why counties in our area are one of the few to see population growth is because of our growing nanotechnology industry, which i thought would’ve be good to mention as well. overall, i think you did a great job summarizing the region. love your videos, keep up the great work!
Thank you! I had to make a few cuts for the video and Saratoga Springs was one of them, along with Lake Champlain and Erie Canal. I wasn't aware of the nanotechnology sector but I do appreciate learning new things in comments. It seems to go along with the whole "state capitals that are college towns are doing the best economically" thing that is going on throughout the US.
@@GeographyKing Hi Kyle! 👋I'm also a native upstate New Yorker, hailing from just outside the Albany area. I really appreciate you shining some spotlight on the most overlooked parts of the state. Anytime I travel somewhere and I get asked where I'm from, I always feel the need to specify my place of origin as "upstate NY" because anyone not from here automatically thinks of NYC. And on top of that, it truly feels like a different culture upstate versus being in NYC/Long Island. I wanted to mention Saratoga Springs and Lake George, like some of the other commenters have. If you're planning a trip to upstate NY again, I highly recommend visiting Saratoga over the summer during track season and Lake George is a nice spot in the summer as well. I drive for Uber and I cover primarily the 4 counties of the capital region. I will say Troy and Schenectady are definitely NOT nicer than Albany. I'm not saying crime or poverty are any worse in those cities, but after spending more than 3 years familiarizing myself with those areas, they simply don't have as much to offer as Albany
Thank you for this video. I am considering moving to Rochester, NY to be near my family and, more importantly, to get my son, who is autistic, the kinds of services he can't get almost anywhere else. The services there are arguably the best of the country and people move there from more "attractive" places for that reason.
I would suggest avoiding pittsford even though it is the nicest suburb and on paper has the best schools but if your son is autistic the district SpEd is not (coming from a pittsford sutherland senior with asperger's) they are very hesitant at times on support and the support is awful in elementary especially (I had to leave for a specialist private 5th grade because they were not doing a good job and I had enough) though middle and high schools are great and much better with SpEd once you get fully into the SpEd system which can be rough at times. Overall the area is great (though it's all I've known) and the resources outside of school fairly plentiful for special development.
@@smarkwick7814 Thanks. My son has “aged out,” so he would not be attending school. It’s more about other services and work. I am in contact with the Golisano Center and Rochester really is a model for people in our position. And as I mentioned I have family there.
Great video as always. But some exclusions: the Adirondack chair and baseball bat. Lake George, ausable chasm, cooperstown( baseball HOF), the Catskills region, Hudson River area. Saratoga Springs and racetrack.
@@derhak727 same with our family. Dad had an aunt in Schenectady. We stayed there. Shot up route 50. Fort William Henry, Gaslight Village, steamboat ride on Minnie ha ha. Good times
As a native downstater, Lake George is where my family would vacation once every year for a week in the summer. It’s my home away from home and my favorite place on earth.
As a former upstater from Binghamton, I think you did a fantastic job in describing upstate. You were truthful yet complimentary. Only thing I would recommend when you talked about food you didn’t mention speidies , a marinated Italian sandwich, from the Binghamton area. Delicious!!!
You forgot Saratoga. One of the nicest areas of the state. Between Albany and Saratoga is growing because of High Tech. It has the best winter weather and best recreation in the state, with Lake George. You could do a whole video on the area.
Great video! What you said at the end was exactly how I came into this video.. Easy to forget that there are other cities in a state with such a dynamic city like New York City!
Your candor on the economies of regions is appreciated. I’ve seen numerous “educational” videos about the Appalachians. Every one of them baffled me because the videos always portrayed the Appalachians as the best place to live and vacation. I feel sorry for anyone that believed the videos and travelled there expecting a wonderful vacation place with unique mountain music and cuisine, only to find narcotics, illiteracy, and unemployment. You, sir, don’t blatantly omit the problems of a region like mainstream travel shows (although I understand they have financial reasons for not wanting to offend whole regions). However, in my humble opinion, presentations that are overly positive, to the point of being unrealistic, are vacuous fluff with no inherent education value and do nothing to make the world a better place through education. So, thank you again, sir.
@@corrigan0543 Agree. I’ve heard some areas of the Appalachians are nice but I never had the chance to visit them. I lived in one of the poorest regions for years. I think the people of the area would benefit greatly if they acknowledged their problems, confronted them head-on, and said “yes, we have oxycodone and fentanyl coming out of our ears and our children start smoking at age 12-14. And none of that is good”. But instead, people ignore these problems and get offended if someone mentions them...and so it continues.
@@corrigan0543 But WV IS also beautiful. One of Anthony Bourdain's last shows was on WV. A friend who is a folklorist at WVU said it was a pretty good representation of WV food and culture, and great views.
This is so interesting as someone who only know of NYC New York. It reminds me of Chicago and the rest of Illinois. Nobody really knows much about Illinois outside of Chicago, and the state is rather diverse and a lot different than some would think. Maybe you could make a video If you’re ever out of ideas...I’d watch. :). Keep up the good work. Thanks for the awesome content.
Thanks for a great video about upstate from this downstate woman. One of my favorite museums is the Corning Glass museum (North of Emira). I have a growing list of places to visit. I recently learned that Seneca Falls has an "It's a Wonderful Life Museum" as that town seems to have been the inspiration for Bedford Falls in the movie. Seneca Falls was also host to the first convention for women's suffrage.
I'm from SC but have lived in the Finger Lakes for the last 5 years and I think you did a great job capturing the zeitgeist of upstate. Some notes: The Southern Tier (areas bordering PA) is in many ways part of Appalachia. Driving through there feels like eastern KY. Rochester had Kodak and Xerox--which were crushed by the internet age. Letchworth is a must see. NY state pours a lot of money into ag research, which gives farmers a competitive edge. There's a lot of research happening in emerging crops like biofuel willow and industrial hemp. From SC, I'm astonished by the number of confederate flag I see in upstate. Why?!? Obligatory "I went to Cornell and we're not *all* snobby" comment :) Thanks for making such fun and informative videos, King!
Glad water was discussed! The long term economic prospect of Upstate, NY is positive thanks to abundant water! It is a resource that needs to be cherished and protected, especially as other parts of the country run dry...
It's now the start of 2022. I've been a City and LI resident for most of my life. However my wife studied nursing at D'Youville College and so kept in touch with classmates in upstate NY. We visited Buffalo and the St. Lawrence areas frequently. While she would hang out with her girlfriends, I would go out exploring. As such I got to take the free tour of Buffalo City Hall, wander Tifft Preserve, take a boat ride and stroll along the Erie Canal, sail on the Miss Buffalo, walk under Peace Bridge, explore the Buffalo Naval Park, get cactus barbs stuck to me in the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. cross the river to watch the Siege of Fort Erie, see the falls from both sides, tour Fort Niagara, take the Uncle Sam's 1000 Island boat, ride, tour Singer Island , and tour Boldt Castle. Of course I consider anything above Westchester County "upstate" LOL. Yes Upstate NY is beautiful. And I enjoyed being a tourist in my own state. As a fellow UA-camr I posted many of these explorations. I am not monetized and my audience is nowhere near yours, but for me I enjoyed the number of views I got of my tour of Singer Island. I made sure to add a "like" to this video.
My family lived just outside Utica for a few years when I was in the first 3 years of elementary school. I remember looking forward, in the fall, to driving into the mountains to get fresh apple cider, and making snow tunnels in our fronts yards in the winter, and exploring the woods near our home for hours on end. It was beautiful there.
I couldn’t agree more. I did all those things as a kid an more. I am a native of New Hartford. One hell of a nice small town! Unfortunately, like much of upstate it has declined as well. A damn shame.
Also upstate shout outs to Cooperstown NY (baseball HOF), Fort Ticonderoga (Lake Champlain region), Saratoga Springs (horse country), & The Erie Canal.
Speaking of Albany, there is an inland pine barrens area in Albany and Schenectady Counties, called the Pine Bush. That's one of my bucket list areas to visit, since I live in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Regarding the Adirondack Park, you didn't mention the Catskill Park, which is a smaller version of it, covering 700,000 acres. I have spent time in both the Adirondacks and the Catskills, and both are amazing places. Regarding wine, we have many wineries here in the southern counties of NJ. I live near Egg Harbor City, which was once known as the Wine City. 20:43 - That "Garbage Plate" sounds really good! I've always had an interest in New York City and State. Thanks for the overview.
GREAT show. My favorite so far. I am a clevelander who doesn't identify as an ohioan. My favorite STATE is New York. I lived in central NY for a bit and fell in love. I know you know this but it's only UPSTATE to the city. There are 6 distinct regions.
I lived in the Syracuse area (Baldwinsville) for 5 years and one aspect that was particularly fun was a meetup group I joined called Syracuse Outdoor Adventure Club. It was a very large and active meetup group mostly doing hikes, canoeing and kayaking but we'd also do fun stuff like a Wine & Falls tour every year in the Finger Lakes and a Halloween Spooky Walk through Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse. There's a lot of outdoor opportunities in and around Syracuse and we'd also range to the Finger Lakes, Tug Hill and the Adirondacks. Anyone in the Syracuse area looking for a really great group of people to enjoy the great outdoors with should check them out.
niagara falls on the american side is so amazing. you must have a large respect for the sheer power of the falls and just how beautiful but dangerous it is. i’ve had countless nightmares when i was a kid of going over the falls. the us side is extremely underrated.
As a native of the Adirondack/Lake Champlain region, I have several comments. Adding to Albany's appeal is its relative proximity (no more than a half day's drive) to three major metro areas: NYC (about 150 miles to the south), Boston (about 170 miles to the east) and Montreal (about 225 miles to the north). It's also only about 30 miles south of Saratoga, which is an appealing summer vacation area. Albany also is within relatively easy driving distance from ski resorts in southern Vermont (e.g., Killington and Stratton) and about 2.5 hours from Whiteface Mountain (near Lake Placid) in NY. Next, a little known fact: Hamilton County, in the heart of the Adirondacks, has the lowest population density of any county east of the Mississippi. It has all of about 5,100 residents in an area almost as large as the state of Delaware. The comment about Utica "struggling a little economically" is an understatement. An industrial center from the days of the Erie Canal, it has been reeling from the closure of many factories (silverware and cutlery principal among them). Couple that with the closure of the Griffiss Air Force Base in nearby Rome several years ago and it's been one depressed (and depressing) area. Finally, I am pleased that Buffalo is making a comeback. As property values in other areas of the country become increasingly unaffordable, I suspect more people will consider the Buffalo area as a place to live.
I’m one of those from the Capital Region who fled south. I wish I hadn’t had to, but I’d been frostbitten as a child and, moving back in 2002, I found that the destroyed blood vessels in my fingers and toes made me unable to go outside when the temperature is 20 degrees or below. If you have poor circulation (unrecognized in children in the early 1960s), don’t move to any snow belt cities unless you plan to snowbird. I consider the Capital Region one of the (if not THE) cultural capital of the U.S. in the summer. North, south, east, west - within a 90-minute driving radius is world-class music and theatre, plus great museums.
@@jessepinkman801 I understand why there may be differences of opinion on what is "upstate" and "downstate." There are certainly towns in the Catskills that have New York transplants and summer residents who are downstaters. But there are many towns in the Catskills that are quite rural and removed from downstate influence. Perhaps one reason why people north of the Catskills don't got there is they think it is more downstate than it is. There are NYC transplants in the Adirondacks, Berkshires and Capital Region too. And some people confuse the Catskills with the more southern Borscht Belt/ Shawangunk region. Anyway, I find the Catskills more interesting and enjoyable than the Adirondacks.
Ha! The pic at the end of Scott Norwood🦵🏈 😭 with his arms raised victoriously. Nice touch👍 I was crying over my Beef-on-Weck that cold January day back in 1991. I remember thinking to myself... Theres always next year. Boy was I in for a surprise 🏈
I was born in Utica in 1969 but my parents left for the Boston area when I was 2. These days when we drive out to Rochester area to visit my wife's parents, I always feel a little nostalgic although I don't know why. Beautiful areas upstate though. Thanks for the video!
I grew up in Binghamton. It’s surrounding cities are Endicott, Vestal, and Johnson City. IBM had their manufacturing center in Endicott but everything moved to China in the 1980’s. It was a wonderful place to grow up but like you mentioned the economics of Upstate is a hard fought battle with “down” state (nobody calls it that btw, just me right now) well done review. Buffalo looks prettier covered in Snow
I have family in Rochester and you're right it is quite rough around the edges. Hopefully you can make a video about Long Island, NY, where I'm from, one day
Great video and commentary Kyle. It’s nice to hear a substantial amount of info on what I think is largely a neglected part of the country. The food looked delicious esp the garbage plate from Rochester. Look forward to the next one.
I live in Albany. I think "Albany really isn't that bad" is our motto.
I too live in Albany and can confirm this message
Lol same here
@@jroyggz Smallbany.
It isn't that good what a shithole upstate is unfortunately I live in Schenectady can't wait to retire and leave this place
@@bobtorn1955 The countryside and rural communities are many times better than upstate cities. Upstate cities look like the depths of the 1930's depression, except Albany itself which is made to look good because the capital is there; a lot of state cash floating around. The positive of Upstate is its natural beauty. The negative is incompetent state government.
I go to school in Syracuse and I gotta say this city is growing on me. It is a good sized city with surprisingly one of the largest malls in the country. Also, the Finger Lakes region and the Adirondacks are some of the most beautiful and underrated parts of the East Coast. So many state parks, ski areas, apple orchards, wineries, trails, lakes, rivers, glacial features, even beaches!
That mall is insane!
I love upstate NY
Wayyyyy more than ANY part of L.I.
I live in Brooklyn 💪🏾💯
when salt city market opens, it is OVER! i can't wait
I graduated from Cuse' in 18' - loved every second of it!
I haven't been to the finger lakes very often. On the other hand, I live fairly close to the Adirondack. The mountains are best part of New York state.
-KR
You really are opening my eyes to usa . As a european all i see from New York is the metropolitan area. Happy New year to you. Hope to visit some of the place you talk about when the corona is over.
@Ryan D yes you should definitely visit the adirondacks especially the high peaks region you can drive up whiteface (or hike up like me) and you can see everything 360 views
@Kevin McCabe Utica greens are awesome!
@Kevin McCabe. I grew up near Utica and the local food is awesome!
@Kevin McCabe your very correct there is a lot here
@Kevin McCabe Visted Utica for the first time a couple of years ago (even though I only live in Albany!) Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute is a small gem.
SARATOGA SPRINGS needed to be mentioned. The food, the racetrack, and SPAC.
Saratoga sucks!
@@mrgooglethegreat you’ve either never been there or you grew up there and still live there and haven’t seen what’s crap is out there
Im from Rochester. Ive been living in Brooklyn for a decade. Ive lived all over NYS tho. If u like it there then i love it. No worries! 👍
A hole is in my soul since he didn't mention Plattsburgh. Really disappointed.
There are a few towns with that _arrogant_ feel. Ithaca was mentioned. There are two others upstate that should be mentioned; Saratoga and Skaneateles.
I'm old enough to remember when Upstate NY was an industrial powerhouse. All the cities you mentioned, including some small ones like Ithaca, had massive industrial infrastructures. I found your presentation spot on. For someone who lived in California, you really got your information correct. If one lives outside of the cities, in the countryside, politics aside, it is a literal paradise. I like it here.
The upstate economic downturn really keeps the cost of homes cheap and affordable.
Yeah but the crime terrible I live in Albany, it is a shame that these once integral cities are now forgotten
Yeah but the crime terrible I live in Albany, it is a shame that these once integral cities are now forgotten
I live 1 hour away from Buffalo on the Canadian side. My dad and I and my son are huge Bills and Sabres fans. My son and I love going to Buffalo. Many Canadians like to go to Buffalo on weekend shopping trips especially during black Friday sales. My parents went to Letchworth for their honeymoon and went there sometimes after. It was one of my dads favourite places to visit. I hope to go sometime. I travel through upstate NY to go to my sisters in PA. The Erie canal is interesting along with its history. I love upstate NY. Thanks for posting this video.
im from the Rochester finger lakes area and i wanted to say this was a good video! You said Irondequoit correctly btw. Im a farmer so i can tell you that ag is a very big part of what goes on in western new york. Also locals call it western new york. one big thing you missed was letchworth state park. its one of our states gems. and yes garbage plates, we love em
Ag is huge in NY, or it was when I lived there. I have flown into Rochester from the south many times with a window seat, you can tell you reached NY when you go from seeing the small mountains to seeing farm fields
Hi from a suburban Rochester girl 👋🏼
@@SuV33358 which suburb? that's important for people from that region. I lived in Chili for 2 years then moved out to Holley west of Brockport ... Moved out of NY as an Adult.
@@johnliberty3647 born and raised in Chili. Married and was in Gates for sometime. Divorced, kids grown and gone, and I'm in Greece now. Possibly going back to Chili in near future. happy new year!
He also didn't mention any of the local beaches like Sunset, Ontario State beach, Woodlawn, etc.
Proud Upstate (Mohawk Valley) New Yorker here! I wish more people from out of state knew just how much the state has to offer outside of NYC. So many beautiful landscapes and some of the best food. Thank you for this video!
I've been to many other states and I always miss the food here in NYS.
I hope they don't. I love upstate New York, but call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye. Look what happened to California.
Letchworth State Park is often considered one of the best state parks in the country, located between Rochester and Buffalo, and to the south a bit.
And it’s still not the best in the state- ‘dacks obviously A1
@@Nick_J_ I live in the 'Dacks and concur! It's an outdoorsman's dream!
Letchworth is pretty amazing. It's this huge, fancy park in the middle of nowhere with amazing scenery and you realize it was created to provide recreation opportunities for wealthy Kodak and IBM executives and their families. And they're gone, but the park is still here...
Going to college in the area. Thats incredible to hear!
NY has very good state parks, I like that they are state parks it keeps the tourists down
I've lived in Buffalo for 15 years now (ori8from Yonkers) and Buffalo has really thrived in the last 10 years, especially the downtown/ canalside area. It's really special and one of the only eastern cities where you get to see the sun set over the water. And the food is out of this world!
I live on the west coast and I agree that the foods the best in the Midwest and east coast. The only thing I’ll say the west coast has that’s better is sweets. You can’t mess with the west coast. We got award winning bakeries and pie shops. There phenomenal
I couple of years ago we visited Buffalo and took a Silo City Grain Elevator tour with Explore Buffalo. Highly recommend if/when they start up again post-pandemic. Even my disgruntled teen still talks about it.
I live in Buffalo I agree
I like Buffalo as well😁 Used to travel up to Western NY for work a lot in the early 2000's. Miss those good Beef on Weck sandwiches, cruising the 190 along the Niagara, etc. Buffalo is similar to Cleveland and Toledo in feel, but most interesting than either, one of the more interesting bigger cities.
I confused. I live in coastal Massachusetts. Every day I watch the sun set over the water.
As someone from NYC with family in the Binghamton area and friends in the finger lakes, I always found upstate to have some of the most underrated places in the east
🎯🎯🎯💪🏾💯
And we hate the NYC tourists
periodt
Lmao ive lived in Binghamton my whole life and its terrible
@@ericschuldt5553. I went to school at SUNY B and didn’t think Bingo was too bad. Of course a lot has probably changed since I graduated in ‘84.
I'm from Rochester and I wanted to say that this is mostly accurate (although as someone else mentioned, locals distinguish between Western NY and Upstate/Northern NY). Also, while Kodak and Xerox are no longer headquartered here, they do still have manufacturing facilities here. Kodak, especially, is much diminished from what it used to be, though. Yes, the Rochester metro is a bit rough, but there is much to be said for the area as a whole. There are plenty of outdoor activities in both summer and winter. Letchworth is just amazing. There are a number of good universities and hospitals here (U of R and RIT). There are a lot of fun festivals in the summer months. And if you have kids, the Museum of Play is world renowned. I'm not a native Rochesterian. I came here for college and ended up staying and putting down roots and the area has grown on me.
Also Syracuse is considered CNY. But to be honest it's all Upstate whether the Catskills, 'Dacks, CNY, WNY, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, Hudson & Mohawk Valleys, etc...
@@justasimpleguy7211 . Yes. what you said is 100% accurate. I grew up in “central New York” but it is located in upstate New York.
@@301rs I grew up in NYC and we considered anything north of Yonkers Upstate. Hehehe.
What always amazes me is the beauty of the state and the fact so many people from other parts of the country are totally unaware of it.
My parents had a small log cabin in the Adirondacks and I've spent a good portion of my almost 62 years here. After Dad retired in the mid-80s they moved here and when I got the chance to work from home 100% I relocated here several years back.
I'm about 25 miles north of the village of Lake George and about a dozen miles west of the lake and nestled between Loon, Brant and Friends Lakes. It's Paradise. :-)
@@justasimpleguy7211 . I envy you. I would love to get a summer home on a lake in the Adirondacks. Not too far off the beaten path though. Lol. I always joke with my kids and refer to upstate New York as “God’s Country.” But I am sorta serious...ya know? I would go to Boy Scout camp near long lake New York as a kid and I miss the call of the loons. Upstate NY even smells different and better. I was truly blessed to have experienced it.
@@301rs Before I relocated and for the ten years I was in Syracuse and Rochester I was using the house my parents bought when Dad retired as a vacation home. I'd use the bulk of my vacation from Memorial Day to Labor Day, spending a good 30 or so days here.
The drive up was always so exciting. I-90 to the Rome exit at Turning Stone. Route 365 to Route 8 and eventually a left turn off Route 8 onto Landon Hill Rd and just a quarter mile to the house. Route 8 through the Southern Adirondacks goes through some of the least populated areas of the 'Dacks and even on the major holidays there's hardly any traffic whatsoever. Just a two lane country highway where I'd put the Silverado on cruise control and not have to hit any pedals for dozens of miles on end.
I had a lineup of Rush and Zeppelin CDs I'd crank up during the drive, doing my best to hit the high notes of Plant and Lee. LOL!
Before that I was in the Capital District for 17 years and it was a much shorter drive, not much more than an hour. I'd make it up much more often.
And yes, "God's Country" isn't that far off the mark!
About ten years ago I was out for a walk and alongside the road a car was parked, the driver was leaning against the fender just staring up at a tree covered hill alongside the road ..... We got to talking and turned out he was from Texas just out on a national road trip and he said he was just stunned that what he was looking at was New York .... like many people his picture of New York was always that of New York City.
Texan here. Even on my first visit as a kid, the outstanding beauty of your state impressed me.
We have mountains Out West, but much of Texas is really flat. And every Texas lake was created by damming a river -- nothing like your glacier scoured lakes.
Even your towns and small cities have charms although some seem to be having hard times...
One of our local memes are
Your from NY: picture of NYC
No, I'm from NY: picture of a tractor at walmart or a farm.
And i saw one for my hometown that said upstate, like albany and was a Snapchat of a 5miles to canada road sign.
We have natural beauty in spades and 2 jokes, that we are not NYC and that we are basically Canadian. 3 if you count "at least we don't have tornadoes/wildfires/earthquakes/hurricanes while shoveling mountains of snow when the air hurts your face"
Maybe the locals dont want the secret to get out. Nobody has any idea what's up there.
@@Nick-gk6hj We like it that way
i am from around syracuse. i worked in a little hardware store in a town neerby and had this sweet texan lady come in and ask me where she could look at the canal. tbh kinda a culture shock as no one as ever asked me before or sence what they could pray for me for lol.
I just want to say thank you for doing upstate NY. I am a newer subscriber and suburb resident of Buffalo. I got giddy when I saw that you knew of the bubble man! I loved your review. I have been impressed thoroughly by your videos and your honesty is accurate.
Thank you!
Im a downstate man learning about upstate...I love NY!... Thanks for the input
Your three minute explanation of lake effect snow was fantastic! Growing up in the Rochester media market those three minutes on the local news were effectively the first Christmas special of the year.
I can all but smell the mittens drying by my parents’ back door, long ago.
Technically its worse because the mountains force the air up even higher making it even colder and wringing all of the snow out of the lake effect. But yes very good for a very short description on why we have 2 snowbelts where the lakes are just perpetually dumping snow. (At any given time if you check the radar in winter you can probably identify atleast 1 of the snowbelts on an otherwise clear day for the state)
Same here. I'm from NYC and knew it snowed more upstate but didn't know why until this video.
Yes! I'm so happy you made this! I grew up in Albany for 20 years, went to college in Buffalo for 5, and then grad school in Rochester for 2. I love upstate NY and am excited to watch this!! The cities are unique and interesting. They have a shared industrial (with the Erie Canal and its branches and the railroads) and geographic heritage. As cool as the cities are, the landscape of upstate is what I truly miss! Adirondacks, finger lakes, waterfalls, picturesque towns and valleys... all gorgeous. If anyone has any questions I'd love to discuss it, but I'm sure you did a great job Geography King!
Overall, I felt he did a excellent job, especially as an introductory video! For the cities I've lived in and places I'm familiar with, I felt he hit all the major points and has some great unique facts/places. Sure I could nitpick (a tad bit hard on Rochester and no mention of High Falls or the abandoned subway...I think that's super unique! Also needed to talk more about the Erie Canal!)... but I don't think I've ever seen such an excellent, concise summary of each place, focusing on unique aspects of them. Well said about the scenery too! I'm tired of explaining to people that I'm going to New York (to visit my cabin in the mountains and I'm HUNDREDS of miles from Times Square). Fantastic video!
i´ve heard its a bit boring up there, whats your opinion?
@@ruddelluddel2062 depends on what you like to do. A lot of us are outdoorsy, so we love to hike, ski, boat, mountain bike, etc. But in the cities, there are some really exciting restaurants, shops, and breweries downtown and in some neighborhoods. Especially Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Ithaca, and Saratoga. I loved the relatively tons of festivals in Buffalo and Rochester when I lived there. Each area has their own sports teams they like to root for/ cry with. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I had to make a few cuts in editing like Lake Champlain and Erie Canal. But I didn't even know about the Rochester subway. I've seen a few comments on that and I like learning things through the comments.
I heard a rumour that the remnant subway in Rochester was going to be destroyed soon for development. That made me very sad. Anyone from Rochester know if this is true?
Rochester, NY. I love my city. There's a lot of things you could have mentioned but I'm assuming you aren't aware of them. We have an amazing museum and gallery culture. Also a great music scene.
“Well, I’m from Utica and I never heard anyone use the phrase, ‘steamed hams’”
Oh no, it's an Albany thing.
@@MirzaAhmed89 Seriously; to anyone from the Albany area, do they actually call hamburgers "steamed hams" there? In Connecticut (where most of my family is from) there are actually a few diners that cook cheeseburgers by steaming them.
@@andyjay729 No we don't. It's just a Simpson's joke :)
@@emu5088 you don't YET, the simpsons always predict the future
@@johnthegreat97 that's very true!!
I’m from Rochester, born and raised. I was going to be disappointed if our garbage plate wasn’t mentioned but I’m so glad you had a chance to try it! It’s really a game changer. Great video! Go Bills!
go bills
Finger Lakes guy here to represent! Great job on this video man, I got so excited when I saw the thumbnail 😁
I am from Queens and have spent some time in various upstate towns and areas. Your video hit the nail on the head,some of the cities are nice and have nice areas but the natural beauty of upstate is very underrated. My wife and I went to Lake Seneca last year and it was amazing. The natural beauty of Watkins Glen and the lake, a ton of wineries and some nice local restaurants. A must visit if you live nearby.
I’ve lived somewhere in NY my whole life and I learned a lot from this video! But if you haven’t been to the catskill mountain region, I’d highly recommend going there.
My comment as well.
Although I'm from NYC and I've been upstate a few times since a kid, I recently learned that some people don't consider it upstate until you pass what's considered the Hudson Valley, which could be as far north as Kingston or Albany, depending who you ask (or as far north as the Metro North goes). I feel he was going by this definition.
Love the Rick James album in the background. A Buffalo hero.
As an upstate New Yorker I'm glad someone noticed us ;-;
Thanks for this video, I’m a downstate native but attended school in Oneonta and have family and friends throughout upstate ny. As others have said it’s definitely one of the most forgotten but beautiful regions of the US.
We shop in Oneonta because we're in the Catskills and there's not much here.
I lived in upstate all my life. You gave a very fair and honest opinions of life here without the jokes and snide remarks that other narrators have. I live in a rural area near Buffalo. The people here are great, a good place to raise children. Life here is more in common with rural Pennsylvania or Michigan than downstate.
Thanks for taking the time to give some attention to this overlooked part of the US.
Being from the Adirondacks I'm happy you did this my whole life people think if you're from new york your from nyc not 5 hours north so thanks for this
Chestertown here. :-)
Gouverneur here
Yes! As someone from the Rochester area I was waiting for this video. I think you did a good job assessing the area and you pronounced Irondequoit pretty well for someone from out of state.
I will mention that after moving to central Connecticut, I've noticed that Rochester has a lot more good coffee shops downtown than where I live now.
Thank you for doing such a good job on my home state. Keep doing these long detailed videos
great video. informative reminder of how grand NY is. I was born and raised in the Hudson Valley but always loved the Adirondaks and Finger Lake region. Miss it up there
Don't miss those winters, I live in Tucson now.
A Buffalo native. Got tired of the snow & went to U of A for grad school. Bear down!
You’re my favorite UA-camr by far, love how passionate you are about geography
Thank you!
You did a pretty good job. But being from Syracuse , You forgot salt potatoes. A staple for back yard BBQ's here.
Also forgot that Thousand Island dressing is from the 1000 Islands. LOL. Can't forget that. And Potato chips were invented at Moon's Lake House on Saratoga Lake.
I grew up a little south of Syracuse, and salt potatoes were an *event!* They were everything, with a little melted butter for dipping/drizzling.
I live in KY now and no one has heard of salt potatoes here :/
Also (and you can find these in Syracuse): Utica Greens and Chicken Riggies (from Utica). Both delicious italian-american dishes.
As a citizen of Syracuse, I can say this is a very well done video. Also worth noting is the spicy tomato oil, chicken riggies and chicken wing dip
One food you missed ... found only in the Binghamton area: Spiedes (pronounced speedies) are marinated cubes of meat cooked on a skewer and typically served up in a long roll. They're delicious. Imported as a delicacy from Italy, it's widely believed that spiedies are strictly a Greater Binghamton phenomenon. It's widely known that they are a phenomenal meaty treat.
I admire Binghamton city Very much, firstly because of the university...
Now, I admire It for the "speedie"...
Hell yes, gotta have lupos all the way
I grew up 30 minutes from Syracuse and never heard of a spiedies until I moved to the Binghamton area 20+ years ago. I love them. In addition to spiedies, he could add Cornell chicken, and salt potatoes. Also, IBM as a company that started here and pretty much gone.
Born and raised (until 22) in Rochester and I've never heard of those! I did like flying planes into BGM though. On a little plateau (like Seattle) and always a fun trip when the foliage was peaking! I'd usually just take a plane up on my own or with a passenger or two and fly around a bit aimlessly around the southern tier and Finger Lakes. I'm not sure I've spent any time in Binghamton but it wasn't much if I did.
Very popular in NE PA as well. Especially at my house! Lupos or homemade marinade.
As a native, this is spectacular. Very well done!
Upstate NY is without a doubt one of the prettiest states in the US. (There always seems to be a delay in the audio with your videos.)
Albany born, wife from Binghamton. I know people from all over NYS. This is good primer for people who are not from the area. Sure there are legitimate omissions, but this is very good starting point. For someone who is from California, and lives in Tennessee, this is solid work. I had been watching GK videos for months. This one clinched it. My first subscription. Keep up the good work Kyle.
You did pretty good with your pronunciation of Irondequoit
Ya I've heard worse , 😄
You Should try to pronounce Skaneateles... I probably spelled it wrong too.
@@xvillin Or Schaghticoke. Or Coxsackie.
You did a good job describing upstate NY. I went to grad school at Syracuse eons ago (1972-76) and met my lovely spouse (who hails from the Central Valley of CA, by the way). We survived those 4 years of some of the snowiest and coldest weather we’ve ever experienced but we also spent our summers camping in the Adirondacks and southern Ontario and Quebec. Looking back it was pretty amazing and I have mostly fond memories of those years. Except for the Carrier Dome, the campus looks much the same but the city has lost so many manufacturing jobs, it is quite depressing. One side note, more recently my daughter worked for a genetics professor at what was SUNY Buffalo (now University of Buffalo) one summer and we made a couple trips to visit her. I was surprised that the city was pretty cool and how beautiful the architecture of the city was during its heyday (1880-1920). Not all has survived but what has is very impressive.
Wasn't there an enormous snowstorm during those years? Or was that 72?
@@rhoetusochten4211 yes, the winter of 1975-76 was particularly brutal. However, the worst snowstorm I’ve experienced was in the DC suburbs of Maryland in February 1979. 30+ inches plus enormous car-burying drifts.
Half of the video was describing Western NY. We are definitely not upstate. Upstate is east of Syracuse.
@@robertcoren7318 I lived in the Syracuse area for 5 years (B'Ville) and during the winter of 2010-2011 it was hit with 195". It was insane and I think a couple inches from its all-time snowfall record.
I also live in the Capital District for 17 years and I forget the exact year but it was in the early 90s and we got one storm that was epic. 29" of snow, temperature near zero and wind gusts over 30 MPH. It was a true blizzard in all respects.
@@justasimpleguy7211 That beats me by a long shot! That’s more than 18 ft.
It's really important to emphasize the whole state is based on two corridors - the Hudson/Champlain corridor to Upper Canada and the Mohawk Valley corridor to lake Erie. So much history is based on this, especially concerning my (favorite?) North American War: the French/Indian War of 1758-1765.
Still relevant today as I-87 and I-90.
Great video. Born and raised NY’er and I learned a bunch. Cheers!
I think what most of the country would find most unexpected about upstate is how rural it is. I live in the Binghamton area and for me to go the slightly over an hour up to Syracuse (because of the mall) the interstate I travel up (81) has hardly any towns along it. Of the companies that left upstate, the major you left out is IBM, founded in the Binghamton area, though it didn’t leave the state, it just left upstate.
I thought the same thing. The state is very separated, and its weirdly not uncomment to travel from anchor city to anchor city. I grew up just north of Corning and commonly drive to Bing for cars, etc. The economy is weird because of this. You'll find yourself wondering how the people who live between the cities can even afford to, then I remember I commute 45 minutes for work and it makes sense lol.
I live in Cortland county right on I81
Excellent video! One could argue that the Adirondacks offer some of the best true wilderness areas in the country: Five Ponds Wilderness, Siamese Ponds Wilderness, McKenzie Mt. Wilderness, High Peaks Wilderness, Boreas Ponds Tract and the William C. Whitney Wilderness. In 1900, Theodore Roosevelt was off on the summit of Mt Marcy when President McKinley was shot, and it took a runner to deliver the message that he was now the President. When the twin towers fell on 9/11, I was canoeing 10 miles from any civilization, and only heard the news 3 days later.
I imagine there's much research that goes into your videos. You are to be commended!
Thank you!
Always shocked me that New York never split into 2 different states. The difference from just the White Plains to NYC is insane! Awesome content as usual!
I hope that you subscribe to the channel. You will really find everything you like about nature and travel 🥺❤️❤️, and I hope you will not disappoint me🥺
they probably should split... upstate is getting fucked by the high taxes of nyc
@@UserName-ts3sp Can upstate survive without the tax revenues generated by greater NYC? I doubt that the NYC burbs will want to join a state that doesn't include the city.
@@UserName-ts3sp It's actually the other way around. The high taxes of NYC supports upstate.
@@UserName-ts3sp actually it's the opposite New York City metro alone practically makes up 90%+ of the New York state budget. If New York state was to split then all of upstate New York's taxes will increase dramatically. People do not really understand how much big cities are subsidizing rural communities. NYC budget was $88 billion. NYS $177 billion. Mind you the city tax rate is a way smaller percentage compared to the state tax rate and yet New York city's budget is literally half of New York state budget. The fact is upstate New York will be a third world country if wasn't for New York City
I miss New York. I miss walking down Main St. and seeing mountains and lakes and green everywhere. Whenever I hear the USA-USA chant at a sporting event, I know the original held more gravity.
The videos of yours I've seen have always been informative and thorough. Thanks.
I see Rick James down there!! Excellent touch! As a traveler of 5 years (who happens to be from Upstate New York), I LOVE your videos! You have an incredible amount of knowledge which really sets these apart from similar videos. Keep it up!
Thank you!
You mentioned ALL of my favorite things about Buffalo! Thank you! I'm from Syracuse and I go to school there and I would 1000% choose to live in Buffalo any day over my hometown (though I plan on leaving upstate behind entirely)
Grew up in Albany/Schenectady area and I’ll always be an advocate of the 518 and upstate. I know this isn’t where I’ll spend the rest of my life, but I couldn’t imagine growing up in a better area. Being only 2.5 hours from NYC, and a few hours from the Adirondacks, you get to experience EVERYTHING. The college towns are an amazing experience (Oswego 💚💛) and I love all the other SUNY school towns that I’ve visited. The snow is a lot but you can have so much fun with it (snow days!). Very surprised Kyle didn’t mention Saratoga, however. Arguably the nicest tourist area of the 518... BUT he did mention garbage plates which are even better than advertised!!! 😋
As an Albany native and Oswgeo Alumn I could not agree with you more!!! 💚💛
My teen son says that if he HAD to live somewhere besides Albany, he would move to Troy.
This is very informative as a native Long Islander looking to relocate to the upstate area. Thank you.
I lived in both Elmira/Corning/Finger Lakes area & Rochester for a good period of my life. Few things I recommend:
1. Check out Letchworth state park
2. Other AMAZING regional cuisines: Chicken Spiedies (originally from Binghampton area,), chiavetta's sauce
(from Buffalo), and chicken French aka Chicken Française (from Rochester area). Of these three, spiedie sauce is my absolute mouthwatering favorite! Definitely get the beef on weck once you get a chance!
With the craft beer boom a lot of the smaller towns have found some revitalization, but I left the area for the same lack of opportunities most did after high school & college.
Born and raised in Elmira, spent 25 years there before moving to Dallas. Miss the scenery!
I've lived in elmira and I've lived in LA. Elmira's not so bad
@@nathanbarr1237 I enjoy visiting the area, but will never live there again.
Grew up outside of Corning (in Beaver Dams) and you're absolutely right with the end of your comment. Somewhat not mentioned in this video is how "dissected" the land is due to the hilly terrain. There's an abundance of small "towns" that are not self sufficient and require residents to commute/ travel 20-40 minutes commonly. These towns connect most of the Cities mentioned in the video, albeit in some regions it is somewhat puzzling to think about what would happen if you broke your leg lol (two hour ambulance ride?) I lucked out with a job at Nucor, but it is a 45 minute commute.
St. Lawrence County native here. It’s nice to hear someone talk about something other than NYC!
Just one thing you left out that I think deserves a mention. Cooperstown.
Baseball hall of fame
There are plenty of other things to go over, but then he'd be making an hour-long video. Saratoga? Glens Falls? Lake George? The whole lower Hudson Valley? The Adirondack Park deserves more attention, too.
@@nerdbot37 He forgot Cortland! The Jets held training camp there, and had a few celebrities' go to their college
Syracuse guy here, loved the video and learned some stuff I was unaware of. Keep up the great work! (Also don’t forget the voice actor of Spongebob went to grade school in Syracuse!)
As a Rochester native and a big geography geek I really enjoy your videos and this one in particular- although the state of affairs in upstate is very sad. I do want to mention that Rochester was/is well known for it’s horticultural roots and is fortunate to have three county parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture. I live in NC now for economic reasons, but Rochester will always be home. Thanks also for highlighting our gastronomic achievement of “the Garbage Plate” as disgusting as it looks they are DELICIOUS-my version is home fries, mac salad, cheeseburgers and hot sauce!! Yuuummm!!
I lived in Rochester my whole life and never had a garbage plate from nicks I always go to dog town
What are the names of the parks designed by Olmsted?
Upstate represent love this place lived here all my life alot of great things to do here plus some of the views you can see are insanely beautiful
I’m from Altamont a little village near Albany. You did a great job with this. A shout out should also go to Lake George, which is one of the most beautiful in the country. BTW the Adirondacks which you covered are truly spectacular, as is the Finger Lake region and the Catskills mountains (which you didn’t mention), have much to offer. There is more to life than the money, and upstate New York has a high quality of life in that regard. From Albany we can get to NYC, Boston and Montreal easily.
I live in Knox!
Altamont! My family moved to Altamont when I was about four or five ('59/60). It was a wonderful place to grow up. Access to mountain, lake, fields, streams, and open air ... it was, and is a real community. Though I no longer live there, friends still do ... visit frequently enough, but, must admit I miss the Helderbergs.
i grew up in Fonda Home of theTrack of Champions big dirt car racing fan an upstate has so many dirt speedways, did you know that Lee Wallard who won the 1951 Indianapolis 500 was from Altamont, i lived in Guilderland center for a while, upstate n.y is beautiful that's why i stay!
I live in upstate and love hearing about the parts of ny that aren't the city. I've been to a lot of the places you named I've been and loved it. Thanks for making the video! Go Bills!
'k - Syracuse native here - stood the snow for 30 years and bugged out to Dallas. I agree with almost everything you said; I was really saddened to hear that Syracuse has sunk to 140k population. I was in 7th grade in 1959, when we learned that the city population was 221k. I guess everybody moved to the sun belt or followed their jobs to Mexico. so sad. I know that you can only cover just so much in 21 minutes; it pains me greatly that small towns have cratered so badly, and if ever you need a project, research the former Borscht Belt, a thriving entertainment center in the Catskills *which no longer exists*. I was wrecked. points to you for pronouncing Irondequoit correctly! food interests are Colosse cheese and Croghan bologna. and my last fillip - Upstate is defined by me as being above the 42nd parallel!
I don't think the population decrease is as bad as it sounds. Family size is much smaller than it was 60 years ago, so density isn't what it used to be.
There’s a lot of CNY’ers here in DFW
Great idea about covering the Borscht Belt.
Ex-New Yorker here. Very interesting and positive (overall) overview of upstate. Good job!
hi, i’m an albany native! crime is pretty bad in some parts of the tri-cities, but there definitely are many nice areas too. i wish you had mentioned saratoga springs, which has some great historical/cultural value. also the reason why counties in our area are one of the few to see population growth is because of our growing nanotechnology industry, which i thought would’ve be good to mention as well. overall, i think you did a great job summarizing the region. love your videos, keep up the great work!
Thank you! I had to make a few cuts for the video and Saratoga Springs was one of them, along with Lake Champlain and Erie Canal. I wasn't aware of the nanotechnology sector but I do appreciate learning new things in comments. It seems to go along with the whole "state capitals that are college towns are doing the best economically" thing that is going on throughout the US.
@@GeographyKing Hi Kyle! 👋I'm also a native upstate New Yorker, hailing from just outside the Albany area. I really appreciate you shining some spotlight on the most overlooked parts of the state. Anytime I travel somewhere and I get asked where I'm from, I always feel the need to specify my place of origin as "upstate NY" because anyone not from here automatically thinks of NYC. And on top of that, it truly feels like a different culture upstate versus being in NYC/Long Island. I wanted to mention Saratoga Springs and Lake George, like some of the other commenters have. If you're planning a trip to upstate NY again, I highly recommend visiting Saratoga over the summer during track season and Lake George is a nice spot in the summer as well.
I drive for Uber and I cover primarily the 4 counties of the capital region. I will say Troy and Schenectady are definitely NOT nicer than Albany. I'm not saying crime or poverty are any worse in those cities, but after spending more than 3 years familiarizing myself with those areas, they simply don't have as much to offer as Albany
If i didnt already love this guy enough! I just noticed the Rick James album on the wall. We would get along well my friend. keep up the good content.
Thank you for this video. I am considering moving to Rochester, NY to be near my family and, more importantly, to get my son, who is autistic, the kinds of services he can't get almost anywhere else. The services there are arguably the best of the country and people move there from more "attractive" places for that reason.
Yea we have one of the best hospitals in the state too.
@@Conrailfan2596 Also, one of the top universities in the country with its arguably best school of music.
I would suggest avoiding pittsford even though it is the nicest suburb and on paper has the best schools but if your son is autistic the district SpEd is not (coming from a pittsford sutherland senior with asperger's) they are very hesitant at times on support and the support is awful in elementary especially (I had to leave for a specialist private 5th grade because they were not doing a good job and I had enough) though middle and high schools are great and much better with SpEd once you get fully into the SpEd system which can be rough at times. Overall the area is great (though it's all I've known) and the resources outside of school fairly plentiful for special development.
@@smarkwick7814 Thanks. My son has “aged out,” so he would not be attending school. It’s more about other services and work. I am in contact with the Golisano Center and Rochester really is a model for people in our position. And as I mentioned I have family there.
I once drove from NYC to Buffalo. Upstate is massively beautiful. That was a great little road trip
grew up here and will stay because its beautiful!
Great video as always. But some exclusions: the Adirondack chair and baseball bat. Lake George, ausable chasm, cooperstown( baseball HOF), the Catskills region, Hudson River area. Saratoga Springs and racetrack.
Grew up in massena area, Lake George was all we could ever afford for summer vacay. Great Escape here we come!
@@derhak727 same with our family. Dad had an aunt in Schenectady. We stayed there. Shot up route 50. Fort William Henry, Gaslight Village, steamboat ride on Minnie ha ha. Good times
As a native downstater, Lake George is where my family would vacation once every year for a week in the summer. It’s my home away from home and my favorite place on earth.
As a former upstater from Binghamton, I think you did a fantastic job in describing upstate. You were truthful yet complimentary. Only thing I would recommend when you talked about food you didn’t mention speidies , a marinated Italian sandwich, from the Binghamton area. Delicious!!!
You forgot Saratoga. One of the nicest areas of the state. Between Albany and Saratoga is growing because of High Tech. It has the best winter weather and best recreation in the state, with Lake George. You could do a whole video on the area.
Just wanted to say thanks. Being from Albany you feel kind of invisible. I appreciate you shedding some light on the cool things upstate has to offer.
I live in Watertown, Fort Drum is a large Army instillation and tends to keep Watertown going economically.
Great video! What you said at the end was exactly how I came into this video.. Easy to forget that there are other cities in a state with such a dynamic city like New York City!
Your candor on the economies of regions is appreciated. I’ve seen numerous “educational” videos about the Appalachians. Every one of them baffled me because the videos always portrayed the Appalachians as the best place to live and vacation. I feel sorry for anyone that believed the videos and travelled there expecting a wonderful vacation place with unique mountain music and cuisine, only to find narcotics, illiteracy, and unemployment. You, sir, don’t blatantly omit the problems of a region like mainstream travel shows (although I understand they have financial reasons for not wanting to offend whole regions). However, in my humble opinion, presentations that are overly positive, to the point of being unrealistic, are vacuous fluff with no inherent education value and do nothing to make the world a better place through education. So, thank you again, sir.
Its not all bad. The NC area of it is actually really nice, I live there. But yeah the whole WV area and such is kind of sad
@@corrigan0543
Agree. I’ve heard some areas of the Appalachians are nice but I never had the chance to visit them. I lived in one of the poorest regions for years. I think the people of the area would benefit greatly if they acknowledged their problems, confronted them head-on, and said “yes, we have oxycodone and fentanyl coming out of our ears and our children start smoking at age 12-14. And none of that is good”. But instead, people ignore these problems and get offended if someone mentions them...and so it continues.
@@corrigan0543 But WV IS also beautiful. One of Anthony Bourdain's last shows was on WV. A friend who is a folklorist at WVU said it was a pretty good representation of WV food and culture, and great views.
WEGMAN'S IS THE BEST!!! YESSS!!!!
That’s my job!
They need to come to Long Island.
It still blows my mind to think that Buffalo was once the richest city in the country.
This is so interesting as someone who only know of NYC New York. It reminds me of Chicago and the rest of Illinois. Nobody really knows much about Illinois outside of Chicago, and the state is rather diverse and a lot different than some would think. Maybe you could make a video If you’re ever out of ideas...I’d watch. :). Keep up the good work. Thanks for the awesome content.
I second this. I would like to see a "downstate Illinois" video.
Upstate ny is waaaaay more geographically diverse and interesting than Illinois outside of Chicago.
Same could be said about Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland, Georgia, and many other states.
@@gdo3510 that is true lol
Thanks for a great video about upstate from this downstate woman. One of my favorite museums is the Corning Glass museum (North of Emira).
I have a growing list of places to visit. I recently learned that Seneca Falls has an "It's a Wonderful Life Museum" as that town seems to have been the inspiration for Bedford Falls in the movie. Seneca Falls was also host to the first convention for women's suffrage.
Thank you so much. I never knew so much about the rest of New York. And your overview of food at the end has my mouth watering 😋☺️
I'm from SC but have lived in the Finger Lakes for the last 5 years and I think you did a great job capturing the zeitgeist of upstate.
Some notes:
The Southern Tier (areas bordering PA) is in many ways part of Appalachia. Driving through there feels like eastern KY.
Rochester had Kodak and Xerox--which were crushed by the internet age.
Letchworth is a must see.
NY state pours a lot of money into ag research, which gives farmers a competitive edge. There's a lot of research happening in emerging crops like biofuel willow and industrial hemp.
From SC, I'm astonished by the number of confederate flag I see in upstate. Why?!?
Obligatory "I went to Cornell and we're not *all* snobby" comment :)
Thanks for making such fun and informative videos, King!
Confederate flags in NY signify the owner is a racist bigot. Upstate chapters of the KKK into the 1970's were not unknown
Glad water was discussed! The long term economic prospect of Upstate, NY is positive thanks to abundant water! It is a resource that needs to be cherished and protected, especially as other parts of the country run dry...
It's now the start of 2022. I've been a City and LI resident for most of my life. However my wife studied nursing at D'Youville College and so kept in touch with classmates in upstate NY. We visited Buffalo and the St. Lawrence areas frequently. While she would hang out with her girlfriends, I would go out exploring. As such I got to take the free tour of Buffalo City Hall, wander Tifft Preserve, take a boat ride and stroll along the Erie Canal, sail on the Miss Buffalo, walk under Peace Bridge, explore the Buffalo Naval Park, get cactus barbs stuck to me in the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. cross the river to watch the Siege of Fort Erie, see the falls from both sides, tour Fort Niagara, take the Uncle Sam's 1000 Island boat, ride, tour Singer Island , and tour Boldt Castle. Of course I consider anything above Westchester County "upstate" LOL. Yes Upstate NY is beautiful. And I enjoyed being a tourist in my own state. As a fellow UA-camr I posted many of these explorations. I am not monetized and my audience is nowhere near yours, but for me I enjoyed the number of views I got of my tour of Singer Island. I made sure to add a "like" to this video.
I grew up in Oswego and you know it's summer when the menu features salt potatoes, spiedies, fresh lettuce and cantaloupe. Yum!
Hello from Rochester, ny!
I love seeing videos about Upstate! I appreciate it when my area gets recognized!
My family lived just outside Utica for a few years when I was in the first 3 years of elementary school. I remember looking forward, in the fall, to driving into the mountains to get fresh apple cider, and making snow tunnels in our fronts yards in the winter, and exploring the woods near our home for hours on end. It was beautiful there.
I couldn’t agree more. I did all those things as a kid an more. I am a native of New Hartford. One hell of a nice small town! Unfortunately, like much of upstate it has declined as well. A damn shame.
Thnx King. You’re always worth my time !
Also upstate shout outs to Cooperstown NY (baseball HOF), Fort Ticonderoga (Lake Champlain region), Saratoga Springs (horse country), & The Erie Canal.
Saratoga Springs! Birthplace of the potato chip.
Speaking of Albany, there is an inland pine barrens area in Albany and Schenectady Counties, called the Pine Bush. That's one of my bucket list areas to visit, since I live in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Regarding the Adirondack Park, you didn't mention the Catskill Park, which is a smaller version of it, covering 700,000 acres. I have spent time in both the Adirondacks and the Catskills, and both are amazing places. Regarding wine, we have many wineries here in the southern counties of NJ. I live near Egg Harbor City, which was once known as the Wine City.
20:43 - That "Garbage Plate" sounds really good! I've always had an interest in New York City and State. Thanks for the overview.
Keep rolling your eyes, you might eventually find a brain.
@@ROBLOX-1gv7ej2j What the heck are you talking about? Who's rolling his eyes?
Thanks for doing this! I’m from upstate ny & this was a fun romp
GREAT show. My favorite so far. I am a clevelander who doesn't identify as an ohioan. My favorite STATE is New York. I lived in central NY for a bit and fell in love. I know you know this but it's only UPSTATE to the city. There are 6 distinct regions.
I lived in the Syracuse area (Baldwinsville) for 5 years and one aspect that was particularly fun was a meetup group I joined called Syracuse Outdoor Adventure Club. It was a very large and active meetup group mostly doing hikes, canoeing and kayaking but we'd also do fun stuff like a Wine & Falls tour every year in the Finger Lakes and a Halloween Spooky Walk through Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse.
There's a lot of outdoor opportunities in and around Syracuse and we'd also range to the Finger Lakes, Tug Hill and the Adirondacks. Anyone in the Syracuse area looking for a really great group of people to enjoy the great outdoors with should check them out.
niagara falls on the american side is so amazing. you must have a large respect for the sheer power of the falls and just how beautiful but dangerous it is. i’ve had countless nightmares when i was a kid of going over the falls. the us side is extremely underrated.
Thanks Kyle I live not far away in toronto and can't believe the low real estate prices in western New York! I should visit when this pandemic ends.
You can buy a 2,000 square foot home for like $130,000 it’s crazy
As a native of the Adirondack/Lake Champlain region, I have several comments. Adding to Albany's appeal is its relative proximity (no more than a half day's drive) to three major metro areas: NYC (about 150 miles to the south), Boston (about 170 miles to the east) and Montreal (about 225 miles to the north). It's also only about 30 miles south of Saratoga, which is an appealing summer vacation area. Albany also is within relatively easy driving distance from ski resorts in southern Vermont (e.g., Killington and Stratton) and about 2.5 hours from Whiteface Mountain (near Lake Placid) in NY. Next, a little known fact: Hamilton County, in the heart of the Adirondacks, has the lowest population density of any county east of the Mississippi. It has all of about 5,100 residents in an area almost as large as the state of Delaware. The comment about Utica "struggling a little economically" is an understatement. An industrial center from the days of the Erie Canal, it has been reeling from the closure of many factories (silverware and cutlery principal among them). Couple that with the closure of the Griffiss Air Force Base in nearby Rome several years ago and it's been one depressed (and depressing) area. Finally, I am pleased that Buffalo is making a comeback. As property values in other areas of the country become increasingly unaffordable, I suspect more people will consider the Buffalo area as a place to live.
I’m one of those from the Capital Region who fled south. I wish I hadn’t had to, but I’d been frostbitten as a child and, moving back in 2002, I found that the destroyed blood vessels in my fingers and toes made me unable to go outside when the temperature is 20 degrees or below. If you have poor circulation (unrecognized in children in the early 1960s), don’t move to any snow belt cities unless you plan to snowbird. I consider the Capital Region one of the (if not THE) cultural capital of the U.S. in the summer. North, south, east, west - within a 90-minute driving radius is world-class music and theatre, plus great museums.
surprised you didn’t include catskills and hudson valley, and u didn’t mention saratoga springs
The Catskills are very underrated, even among New Yorkers.
Catskills and most of Hudson Valley are usually considered downstate, at least by upstate New Yorkers. Agree that SS deserves a mention.
Catskills is definitely upstate though
@@jessepinkman801 I understand why there may be differences of opinion on what is "upstate" and "downstate." There are certainly towns in the Catskills that have New York transplants and summer residents who are downstaters. But there are many towns in the Catskills that are quite rural and removed from downstate influence. Perhaps one reason why people north of the Catskills don't got there is they think it is more downstate than it is. There are NYC transplants in the Adirondacks, Berkshires and Capital Region too. And some people confuse the Catskills with the more southern Borscht Belt/ Shawangunk region. Anyway, I find the Catskills more interesting and enjoyable than the Adirondacks.
yea, i live in the hudson valley, i'm suprised its not upstate. My town has like 2,000 people in it. idk how thats "metropolitan"
Ha! The pic at the end of Scott Norwood🦵🏈 😭 with his arms raised victoriously. Nice touch👍
I was crying over my Beef-on-Weck that cold January day back in 1991.
I remember thinking to myself... Theres always next year. Boy was I in for a surprise 🏈
I was born in Utica in 1969 but my parents left for the Boston area when I was 2. These days when we drive out to Rochester area to visit my wife's parents, I always feel a little nostalgic although I don't know why. Beautiful areas upstate though. Thanks for the video!
I grew up in Binghamton. It’s surrounding cities are Endicott, Vestal, and Johnson City. IBM had their manufacturing center in Endicott but everything moved to China in the 1980’s. It was a wonderful place to grow up but like you mentioned the economics of Upstate is a hard fought battle with “down” state (nobody calls it that btw, just me right now) well done review. Buffalo looks prettier covered in Snow
I have family in Rochester and you're right it is quite rough around the edges. Hopefully you can make a video about Long Island, NY, where I'm from, one day
Me hearing Long Island: 🙄 nothing to see here..
Great video and commentary Kyle. It’s nice to hear a substantial amount of info on what I think is largely a neglected part of the country. The food looked delicious esp the garbage plate from Rochester. Look forward to the next one.