[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Laker14

We add "Upstate " because to simply say "New York" is an incomplete answer. New York could mean "New York City" which is a completely different world than "Upstate". Upstate is very rural, very green, punctuated with many fascinating and beautiful natural geographic features, such as gorges, waterfalls, rivers, marshes, lakes etc.
NYC is mostly concrete and is densely populated with skyscrapers and high-rises.

Attitudes tend to be markedly different between the two areas, and generally political affiliations tend to be more "Red" than "Blue" upstate, compared to NYC.

I love visiting NYC, but it's a completely different universe than where I live in Upstate NY.

Interesting take on the issue. Very similar to people who say they went to college at "Berkeley" as opposed to those who say they went to "Cal." If you identified the school as "Cal" you are probably conservative. If you identified it as "Berkeley" you are referencing back romantically to its liberal protest history.

Very different also if you are from "L.A." versus being from "So Cal." While not such a political bifurcation, more of an income or urban vs suburban reflection of self-identity.