I hear it in movies so the time. We’re going upstate. I went upstate. Etc

I never hear downstate, or similar. Does it just mean going north?

  • @[email protected]
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    710 months ago

    I’m probably wrong, but I think it means somewhere north of the capital city, and maybe it’s only used in New York

    • @[email protected]
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      2210 months ago

      You are very wrong. Albany is part of “upstate NY” and Albany is literally the capital city… In NY it means basically anywhere that isn’t NYC.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 months ago

          The term upstate has no relation to the capital city, that was a mistaken assertion. It isn’t used very widely at all, it’s just a local term in a couple of states for their northern portions. Most states don’t have an area that is referred to as upstate.

        • @[email protected]
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          110 months ago

          In NY state it essentially means anywhere north of NYC, the capital city Albany is upstate NY. It doesn’t seem to mean north of the capital in any state unless that capital is at the southern part.

    • @Ultraviolet
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      710 months ago

      Upstate in NY is literally the entire state other than NYC and Long Island.