Upstate New York has for a long time been a small part of the otherwise urban and metropolitian state, consisting of about 1/3rd of the state’s population, a number that declined, especially since the 1980s.
Now, the MTA Region has seen it’s population grow while Upstate’s population has declined.
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Indeed, all but a few upstate counties have seen notable population declines.
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Manufacturing in our state, a high cost state with many regulations, has been on a long decline.
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However, overall jobs statewide have increased in recent years.
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And upstate — despite the decline of manufacturing, has relative low levels of unemployment. Hamilton County, due to it’s seasonal economy, has long had very high unemployment in the winter and lower unemployment in the summer.
Upstate cities have fared poorly in recent years, taking the brunt of the state’s population losses — as people leave the state — others are choosing to move out of troubled cities to sprawling suburbs.
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As the economy continues to change and New York City becomes an even larger megapolis, it seems like Upstate New York will continue to stagnate and decline, only propped up by the wealth of the metropolitan region, and those second homeowners who head up north to enjoy Upstate’s many recreational resources.