Upstate New York

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orange: Upstate New York; white: Downstate New York

Under Upstate New York is understood that part of the US state of New York , of the Greater neither New York City nor Long Iceland can attribute.

New York City and Long Island are sometimes referred to as "Downstate" in conceptual opposition to Upstate.

definition

"Upstate" and "Downstate" New York are not divided by any clear or official boundary. The term "upstate" is often used to refer to all parts of New York State beyond New York City and Long Island . Usually, however, those regions are also included in the Downstate that are outside of New York City, but are still within the city's sphere of influence and / or have significant numbers of commuters who travel to New York City to work every day. This mainly affects Westchester County and Rockland Counties , but increasingly also Putnam County , Orange County and Dutchess Counties .

The most widely recognized boundary between Upstate and Downstate is that which separates the suburbs from the extra-urban areas. According to this definition, the following regions are not included in Upstate New York:

Population and area

If the total population of New York State (18,976,457) is subtracted from the residents of New York City, Long Island and the suburbs of Westchester County and Rockland Counties, the population of Upstate New York is approximately 6,000,000. What is particularly noticeable about the ethnic structure of Upstate New York is the high proportion of the white population; it is 88.2% (downstate: 56.1%). Only 7.0% of the residents of Upstate are colored (Downstate: 21.1%); Asians are even more underrepresented (1.5%; Downstate: 7.8%). (Status: 2000 census)

The area of ​​Upstate New York at this boundary is 130,736 km² (Downstate: 10,344 km²).

geography

Letchworth State Park, west of the small town of Dansville in upstate New York

Upstate New York is home to the headwaters and springs of the Delaware River , Susquehanna River, and Hudson River . The landscape of the region is characterized by the hilly Allegheny Plateau , mountain ranges ( Adirondack Mountains , Catskills , Shawangunk Mountains ) and large lakes ( Finger Lakes , Oneida Lake , Great Sacandaga Lake ). The region is separated from the neighboring Canadian province of Ontario by Lake Erie , Niagara River , Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River . It is separated from the Canadian province of Quebec by a land border. The border with the neighboring state of Vermont to the east is partly marked by Lake Champlain .

history

Before white colonization began, the area west of the Hudson River was inhabited by the Haudenosaunee , a group of peoples who belonged to the Iroquois language community. East of the Hudson lived peoples who spoke Algonquin . There were conflicts between the two groups that broke out after the arrival of the European settlers.

The region was a main stage of French colonization, and in the upper valley of the Hudson River, Dutch settlers carried on a brisk fur trade. During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), numerous clashes between the British and French took place here, with the British allied with the Haudenosaunee and the French with the Algonquin . James Fenimore Cooper captured many of these events in his novels.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Upstate New York was the scene of further conflicts, including the Battle of Saratoga (1777), which many historians consider the decisive battle of this war. While New York City remained under British control for most of the war, in Upstate the colonial forces had the upper hand. For the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), this war became a civil war in which the Mohawk , Cayuga , Onondaga and Seneca allied with the British, while the Oneida fought on the side of the revolutionaries. The Canandaigua Treaty, signed in 1794, guaranteed the Haudenosaunee land rights in the region, which were eroded by further treaties.

Upstate New York was a third time during the British-American War (1812-1814) the scene of military conflicts, with Sackett's Harbor and Fort Niagara being targets of British surprise attacks.

A milestone for the region's economic development was the opening of the Erie Canal , which took place in 1825 after eight years of construction. The Erie Canal established a connection between Lake Erie and the Hudson River , thus enabling shipping between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic .

Nevertheless, Upstate New York remained isolated compared to other regions and thus attracted numerous religious sects in the second half of the 19th century , whose doctrines often came into conflict with both the long-established population and the authorities. The revivalist Charles Grandison Finney coined during this period, which is called in English "revivalism", a slogan with the Upstate New York as the "Burned-over district" was characterized: as a region that is so completely evangelized that no "fuel “(Unconverted human material) left more for further conversions. Some of these religious groups - such as the Mormons , Seventh-day Adventists, and Spiritualists - survived into the 21st century.

Economy and culture

Median per capita income (US dollars) in the 62 counties of New York (as of 2010)

Most of Upstate New York consists of extensive forest and agricultural areas that are only broken by a few major cities and whose economic situation has been poor since the end of the Cold War . Large parts of Upstate have been part of the Rust Belt since then . Upstate New York is in sharp contrast to Greater New York City, with the Hudson Valley ( Dutchess County , Putman County and Orange County ) being part of the agglomeration of New York City and showing a tendency towards economic upturn.

From a cultural point of view, too, Upstate New York is mostly seen as a wasteland, especially by the residents of New York City. In fact, however, there are a number of smaller cultural locations here that offer an art scene, theaters, opera houses, arthouse cinemas and more and attract people of all skin colors. These include, above all, university cities like Ithaca , Binghamton , Rochester , Albany , Buffalo and Geneseo . The cities of Niagara Falls and Corning are particularly popular with tourists .

Major employers in Upstate New York include:

  • Development and production
  • Distribution and retail
    • Wegmans (Rochester, over 44,000)
    • Price Chopper (Schenectady, 24,000)
    • Constellation Brands (Victor, 7,500)
  • service provider
    • Paychex (Rochester, 12,700)
    • Albany Medical Center (over 8,000)

Cities and regions

The biggest cities in Upstate New York are:

Upstate New York is divided into the following regions:

Upstate New York in literature and film

In the east of Upstate - on Otsego Lake , on the Susquehanna River and on the Mohawk - the first four novels of James Fenimore Cooper's leather stocking cycle (1823–1841) are set. Most of Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy (1925) takes place in Upstate in the fictional city of Lycurgus; Perhaps the model was Johnstown .

Frank Capra's feature film Isn't life beautiful? (1946) is set in a fictional city in upstate New York, whose real model was probably Seneca Falls .

Web links

Commons : Upstate New York  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://rbj.net/2017/09/13/kodaks-decades-of-decline/