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?

  • @hydrospanner
    link
    14 months ago

    This is absolutely reflective of my experience in PA as well. Everything you said and exactly as you said it.

    Nothing is “upstate”.

    NEPA is anything north of 80 and (roughly) east of where the Susquehanna splits near Selinsgrove.

    Western PA is the whole state, north to south, from the Ohio border to approximately 219.

    Central PA is south of 80, between 219 in the west, and east up to and including Lancaster county.

    The part that’s left over is usually just called “north central PA”, but there’s not much of anything up there, so it’s usually referred to by specific county or town in that region, and most frequently when you do hear that, it’s someone describing where their hunting camp is.