Poverty Belt

Poverty Belt is a growing term being used by people who live in the northeastern US to describe Central New York. Central New York is a geographical region of upstate New York which lies between the Catskill mountains and the Adirondacks. It is comprised of the cities Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Binghamton, Buffalo and Rochester (which is often referred to as Crotch-Chester). Common characteristics of this region which account for the name include scarcity of jobs, high unemployment, a shrinking population and a crumbling infrastructure. The "belt" part of the term comes from the way the aforementioned cities are horizontally situated close to the New York state thruway which runs from East to West through the middle part of the state.

-Where do you come from?
-I grew up in the Poverty Belt?
-Where's that?
-Central New York.

-Syracuse a tough place to make a living.
-Why's that.
-It's situated in the Poverty Belt.
-The what?

by Nite of Nat October 8, 2007

Poverty Belt

Poverty Belt is a growing term being used by people who live in the northeastern US to describe Central New York. Central New York is a geographical region of upstate New York which lies between the Catskill mountains and the Adirondacks. It is comprised of the cities Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Binghamton, Buffalo and Rochester (which is often referred to as Crotch-Chester). Common characteristics of this region which account for the sobriquet include scarcity of jobs, high unemployment, a shrinking population and a crumbling infrastructure. The "belt" part of the term comes from the way the aforementioned cities are horizontally situated close to the New York state thruway which runs from East to West through the middle part of the state.

-Where do you come from?
-I grew up in the Poverty Belt?
-Where's that?
-Central New York.

-Syracuse a tough place to make a living.
-Why's that.
-It's situated in the Poverty Belt.
-The what?

by Nite of Nat September 29, 2007