I hear it in movies so the time. We're going upstate. I went upstate. Etc
I never hear downstate, or similar. Does it just mean going north?
I hear it in movies so the time. We're going upstate. I went upstate. Etc
I never hear downstate, or similar. Does it just mean going north?
It refers to the northern part of whatever state the speaker happens to be in. It's mostly used by New Yorkers to refer to the more rural part of New York State which is North of New York City.
Downstate is a thing, I guess, but neither upstate nor downstate are used much outside of New York in my experience.