Talk:Western New York

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[edit] Wegmans

There are Wegmens in Central New York as well as the Southern Tier. This should be taken out.--Niro5 17:19, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Niro5 has a point, but perhaps a clarification that Rochester and WNY are the home of Wegmans would make more sense. Yes, Wegmans now has about 70 stores throughout NY, PA, NJ and VA, but it still is closely identified with WNY (probably due to its family-owned character). Jim Dunning 18:50, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


Wegmans started in Rochester (1st store), and has since expanded throughout WNY and into Central NY, and parts of PA, etc. If Wegmans is retained in this article that should be mentioned.Truthunmasked 10:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] soda vs pop vs soda-pop

also meny buffalonians dissagree with your discription of Pop Vs. Soda. --Bonojohn 04:12, 17 July 2006 (UTC)--

Do we? I've been living in Boston and started calling it "soda" in self-defense because no one understood "pop," but when I called it that among family, I was ridiculed for putting on airs! Miss w 05:50, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
Western New York is probably the only place I've ever been in the United States where everyone has universally used the term 'pop' to the same degree as we do on the western side of the Niagara River. In fact, this is quite clearly demonstrated on the Pop vs Soda page. Snickerdo 01:18, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Sometimes referred to as the "Syracuse/Rochester Line" (that's self-research, don't include), there are several terms that switch between Syracuse and Rochester. Another example is "Monkey in the Middle" (east of the line) vs. "Pickle in the Middle" (west of the line). -newkai t-c 00:42, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Upstate differentiation

While the differentiation between western and upstate is clear to Western New Yorkers (how many times a week do we have to give the long-suffering sigh and say, "No, I'm not from upstate New York, I'm from western New York"?), it's entirely lost on people not from the region. (Conversation in Portland, OR: "I'm not from Upstate; I'm from a town near Buffalo."/"That's pretty far upstate, isn't it?")

Something should be mentioned about the nature of the region--just defining it isn't enough to merit a full article. Economy? History? Agriculture? Heck, even links to the articles on the counties and towns would be useful here. There just doesn't seem much available. It's hard to tell how much of the area is rural and farm-based from this article. Miss w 05:57, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

This bit of text: "Residents of the area use the term "Western New York" to distinguish themselves from residents of Upstate New York." implies that Western New York is not part of Upstate New York. I'm rewording to clarify. Also some copyedits, like removing condescending use of "crass" for Western New York dialect terms like "pop". Pfly 00:59, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Um, also, there is a 190 MB image on the page? Takes forever to load. Removing. Pfly 01:00, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Livingston and Monroe Counties (where are they?) in Western New York

Livingston, Monroe, and part of Wyoming Counties are in Western New York. I think we should refer to them as the Genesee Valley region counties of Western New York rather than "Central New York".

I grew up in Wyoming County, and it was always referred to as Western New York. Anyone I grew up with would be very confused by a "Central New York" listing! There wasn't even a question about it. And I was on the eastern side of it (Perry). Central New York is the Finger Lakes region. Miss w 16:29, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Monroe County is in the Finger Lakes Region

Nobody in Rochester says that they live in Western New York. Western New York is west of Livingston and Monroe Counties. Rogermx 15:53, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

I live in Rochester and I consider myself a western New Yorker. --TMF Let's Go Mets - Stats 02:23, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not Really

I grew up in Rochester and have always called it Western New York, as have most people I know. Eddiefranklin 04:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

being as that may, Rochester is in Central New York along with Syracuse, and is no part of Western New York.RealBigFlipsbrain 02:14, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

I lived in WNY for a while. I have never ever heard of a native of Rochester describing Rochester as part of Central NY. Many Rochester natives I've talked to consider themselves part of Western NY. Many of the media outlets in Rochester consider itself as part of Western NY. The Bills and Sabres are the major league teams that people up there generally support (unlike most of the rest of the state). There's a decent amount of commuters who make the hour-long commute between Rochester and Buffalo daily. The old Empire Sports Network basically covered only the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas (in other words Western NY). Syracuse on the other hand consider itself "Central New York". Very few there would consider Rochester as part of their region (and vice-versa). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.3.8.253 (talk) 20:31, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

As a 30 year resident of Rochester, I hear people describe it as being part of Upstate New York or the Finger Lakes Region, not Western or Central New York. Except for the pro sports teams and the occasional weather story, Rochesterians are totally indifferent as to what happens in or to Buffalo. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rogermx (talk • contribs) 03:10, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Western New York

Western New York is comprised of exactly eight counties. Those counties are Niagara, Erie, Orleans, Wyoming, Genesee, Chatauqua, Cattaraugus and Alleghany. Monroe and Livingston Counties are not in Western New York. RealBigFlipsbrain 02:21, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Excuse me, but how many of the people in this discussion actually live in Rochester/Monroe County? Let me bring up the discussion from a native (and current residential) point of view. I was born in the city, and grew up in Penfield (a town bordering on the east side of Rochester (but still in Monroe County). To the east of us is where the "315ers" live (the people in the 315 Area Code region, i.e. Wayne and Ontario County close by, and heading out to Syracuse and beyond). We identify more with the Buffalonians, and several of us would even agree that you could extend the meaning of the Canadian "Golden Horseshoe" around Lake Ontario to include us. (The band Moxy Früvous have referred to us in the past as being in "Metro Canada".)

Our sports loyalties are to the Rochester teams first, then the Buffalo Major leagues, with baseball being split between Yankee/Met fans and haters (although there are three MLB clubs closer to us: Toronto, Cleveland, and Boston.

The Rochester Metro area is split between being Western and Central New Yorkers, but the dividing line would be at the border bewtween Monroe and Wayne/Ontario Counties. --Paploo 20:19, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I've got no opinion on the question at hand, but no way is Boston closer to Rochester than NYC is. AJD 00:45, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
I just checked on Google Maps, and NYC is about 60 miles closer, and you can get there in a little less time, but only if you drive through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Driving within the state will take you 7-8 hours, while driving to Boston only takes 6, from Rochester. --Paploo 16:05, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
Sports loyalties and personal feelings aside, Western New York is Niagara, Erie, Orleans, Wyoming, Genesee, Chatauqua, Cattaraugus and Alleghany counties. When Western New York's local television channels display, say, weather maps for example, they display the 'eight' counties of western New York. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have so many Bills and Sabres fans in the bordering regions, it's just a simple matter of political geography. If there is any remaining confusion, please see the map included in the Finger Lakes region article here on Wikipedia. RealBigFlipsbrain (talk) 00:13, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
You present some seriously flawed arguments. First of all, a community decides what they identify with. If the majority of Rochester residents consider themselves part of Western New York, then that is the region they're part of. Who are we to tell them what region they are a part of? Secondly, when a Buffalo station's weather maps are displayed, Buffalo and its surrounding suburbs are immediately displayed. Why?; because Buffalo and Rochester for the most part have 2 different sets of stations. This is most similar to the Baltimore and Washington DC/Northern Virginia, who have different sets of stations but are generally considered part of the same region. Finally, putting Rochester exclusively in the Finger Lakes region aligns the entire area with Syracuse, a city further away from Rochester than Buffalo. Syracuse considers itself part of Central New York, something which I haven't heard anyone outside this board describe Rochester as a part of.

I am 51 years old, born, raised and still live in Rochester, as were my five sisters, both of my parents, all of my aunts and uncles (both blood and in-law), all of my 22 first cousins and two of my grandparents. There is NO WAY anyone in Monroe County considers themselves to be part of Central New York. Also, there is not one finger lake in Monroe County. We are Western New Yorkers. Always have been, always will be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.46.28.109 (talk) 20:13, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Major League Sports

Although lacrosse hasn't caught on too much in the Southern States, I think that the National Lacrosse League should be mentioned here, especially since this is the one sport that the top level of contention, Rochester and Buffalo (and Toronto, among others) play each other. (They both have teams in baseball's International League, but there is still a level above them.) --Paploo 20:20, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cornell University

I'm not knowledgeable at all in this area, but I noticed that Ithaca is counted as one of the metro areas but Cornell is not included in the list of colleges and universities. Is there a reason for this or is this just an overlook? OGOLD (talk) 02:51, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Ithaca would be more associated with the Central NY region as well as the Finger Lakes before Western NY. A Finger Lake town such as Canadaigua would be more associated with Western NY because it's within the Rochester MSA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.3.8.253 (talk) 17:17, 29 February 2008 (UTC)