If Upstate New York Was a State, This is What Our Map Would Look Like

For those of us that live in Upstate New York, it can feel as though we're completely separate from residents who live downstate.

Conversely, I would imagine that people who live in New York City feel as though Upstate New York is a different world, completely separate from the area in which they live.

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Though the name "New York" is used for both Upstate and Downstate, there are times when those two areas feel like different states altogether.

What if that thought came true, though? What if Upstate New York DID become its own state? That idea was shared by X user @FrankWiedemer earlier this month, and they took it a step further.

They shared a map of what that new state would look like. Check this out:

The photos shown here are congressional maps, cropped to display everything from Dutchess County and above.

These photos led me to another pertinent question: if this area of the country were to become America's 51st state, what would it be called?

READ MORE: We Searched ‘Upstate New York’ on Google, These Were the Top 10 Answers

We could certainly take a metaphorical page out of the books of other states who share names. Like the Carolinas and Dakotas before us, we could adopt a "North New York" and "South New York" split.

Or, if one half of the state was unwilling to lose the original "New York" moniker, we could turn to the Virginias for inspiration. One half would remain "New York", while the other would adopt a directional tag (North New York or West New York, for example).

Though it will likely never happen, it's an interesting thought. Think about it: other than a few arbitrary lines on a map, what does Upstate and Downstate New York have in common? The culture, the cost of rent and the availability of land are all drastically different, just to name a few.

As you outline the details, it starts to make a bit more sense, right?

The cover photo used for this article was part of this video published by Geography by Geoff on YouTube.