Upstate/downstate

[David Bowie]

From:    "Peter A. McGraw" <pmcgraw at LINFIELD.EDU>

<snip>

: Until I heard about Chicago and upstate/downstate Illinois, I had
: heard "upstate" only in connection with NY.  So there's always a
: first time, but I've never heard the term used in connection with any
: western state, and I assume it's an eastern usage--i.e., east of the
: Mississippi...

Possibly a northeastern usage, at that.

I'm from Maryland, where there *is* no north (people hail from the Eastern
Shore, Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, or Central Maryland, with the
latter sometimes subdivided into the DC Area and Central Maryland).

I don't recall ever hearing an upstate/downstate contrast in West Virginia,
which clearly has a sliver pointing north.

Florida has North Florida and South Florida, with the Panhandle and Central
Florida filling out the rest of the state's geography.

South Carolina, IIRC, has an Upcountry/Lowcountry distinction, but that
seems to be elevation rather than north/south (which it is, but it's even
more east/west).

<snip>

I've also never heard Upstate/Downstate used for any of the Intermountain
West states.

David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
    Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
    house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
    chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.