Upstate New York is a place in between: East coast sophisticate and midwestern hick. New England blue states and Ohio red. Lively, exuberant industrial revolution past, decaying rust belt present. Hippie relics that fled New York in the 70's and the mall rat "hippies" that have nothing to flee...Boston and Seattle if you were so stupid as to drive route 90 all the way across the continent. It's a great place in so many ways, and yet horrible, horrible in others. It's like your friend with low self esteem who's attractive, yet thinks they're hideous so they never date, and dwells in the negative. I gave it a try as an adult, then left like so many others - regretting only that my escape hadn't come earlier.
There's not much going on for the past 50 or so years, so there's a calm stillness about the whole region. Yes, it's boring, but there is beauty in the quiet. To my eye, this photo perfectly captures the feeling of the place. It's from a (painfully attainable) real estate listing and it has it all: The pre-modern charm of what hasn't been replaced by decades of new development that never happened there. The bookish nerdiness of a dozen college towns. The frumpy welcome of a too-wide rocking chair...a cat.
The cliche says you can't go home again, and honestly, my family's house has much less forgotten-past charm, so it's not a literal itch. But nostalgia trumps the senses, and a part of me will always want to leave the big city - with all it's progressive safety - and go home.
How sad that you feel that way about upstate NY. Having lived here all my 52 years, I think it is a wonderful place - beautiful country and diverse people. The one thing that this area has is warm people, most of whom are unpretentious and genuine, down-to-earth and unassuming. While I love to travel and want to see more and more of other cultures and places, this is the best place on earth.
Posted by: Sonja | May 24, 2006 at 10:01 AM
Sonja, I'm not trying to disrespect my home. I'm really quite conflicted about it - there are a lot of great things about upstate NY. Unfortunately, there are more bad things - for me - like people yelling "hey faggot" and throwing bricks at me.
Posted by: ryan | May 24, 2006 at 11:00 AM
oh, come on...flying bricks are fun!
Posted by: heidi | May 24, 2006 at 10:53 PM
I've only visited Upstate once (have a great uncle who lives there), and I distinctly remember a feeling about the whole place. That picture could well have been a room in Uncle Victor's home. I'm far from an expert, but I have to say my experience matches that very well.
Posted by: Chuck | May 25, 2006 at 10:20 PM
"this is the best place on earth."
Sonja,
Please travel more. While Upstate NY is nice is its own economically depressed way, it is hardly the best place on earth. That is taking ethnocentrism to an extreme.
Posted by: Stefan | June 07, 2006 at 12:58 PM