A breakdown of land uses of New York State looks roughly like this:

60% forested lands 24% farmed 8% residential uses

6% water bodies 1% industrial uses 1% commercial uses

Not that you would necessarily realize that from looking at a map or even driving on a highway system. Interstates have put a state of mind in humans that the only places that really exist are those nearby the interstate and that have formal exits on the controlled-access highway. There are actually places between Albany and Syracuse, not that you would know from driving except maybe if you studied the exit signs.

In these places, little towns and cities people live. Many of these areas are highly dependent on various industries or government, but they continue to exist. Lots of areas are farmed and lived on, but they may not appear in one’s psychological view of the world. Particularly in Western New York, it seems that the land looks a lot more closed in then it really, with road frontage dominated by residential housing, that overlooks vast quantities of land that are actively farmed or are forested.

There is a lot of New York that exists outside of the cities, on back roads, rarely explored except by the locals. There are too many back roads for one ever to see in a life time, but it’s important to see at least part of the landscape not on the main street.