What it’s really like to grow up in New York: Suburbs vs city

As a state school, it is not a surprise that a majority of the Binghamton population hails from New York. But what does “being from New York” mean? College is where the bubble of where you grew up pops and you immediately become exposed to people from all corners of your state, country and even world.

I used the insight of two fellow students and my own experience to help find out what it’s really like to grow up a New Yorker.

Daniel Bromberg: Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Q: Have you ever lived anywhere outside of Brooklyn?

A: No, I’ve lived in the same house for my entire life.

Q: What did your street look like growing up? 

A: There was a lot of diversity along my street. Houses were scrunched together, yet we still had space for lawns and trees. The end of the street had a line of shops, varying from bodegas to pet stores.

Q: How do you think where you grew up affected you?

A: Because of the city, I’ve been exposed to museums, culture, and so on. That’s definitely my perception of the world growing up. I also think I’m more conscious about my appearance because of being in the city.

Q: Where did you go to high school and what was the application process like?

A: I attended Brooklyn Technical High School, one of the city’s specialized high schools. The application process was unnecessarily stressful. Besides researching and deciding on a list of schools and our order of preference, we also had to take a standardized admissions test called the SHSAT. However, most students are acquainted with this process by 8th grade, as we had the same application process for middle school.

Q: How was going to a specialized high school for you?

A: Going to a specialized high school was honestly a blessing. I got to meet so many people from so many different places, many more than if I went to my zone school. People from as far away as Long Island went to Brooklyn Tech. We were allowed to follow a concentration where we took certain classes that pertained to our interest. My concentration was Law & Society.

Q: What did you do for fun?

A: Usually for fun, my friends and I would go to different museums, art galleries, cafes, and would venture into different neighborhoods. We also shopped — a lot. But we mostly explored the city we called home.

Q: What was the social climate like?

A: The social climate was very cool and friendly. While we had cliques and social groups, they weren’t closed off like in a stereotypical high school. You would often see two polar opposite people carrying a conversation as if their differences were invisible. It was enlightening.

Q: What stereotypes have you encountered from being from the city?

A: People from outside the city always think I’m rich because I’m “from Brooklyn,” but the only thing South Brooklyn is rich in is mob activity. Hipster is also a common term tossed around when people look at me and know I’m from Brooklyn. Once again, Brooklyn is pretty big, and not all of it is hipsteresque and lined with Equinox gyms.

Q: What was your first impression of Binghamton? 

A: “Where is everyone?”

Q: What do you miss most about the city?

A: I definitely miss good pizza and Thai food available at any time. Availability is something all city dwellers take for granted until they leave their haven.

Karen Awayda: Camillus, NY

Q: Where is Camillus, NY? 

A: It’s about 15 minutes outside of Syracuse

Q: Have you ever lived anywhere else?

A: Not anywhere outside of upstate New York, no. My parents lived in Liverpool, NY until my siblings and I were born. We moved to Camillus shortly after.

Q: What did your street look like growing up?

A: It was pretty much typical suburbia: big, tall houses with big grassy yards. The yards were full of trees, fences, and in-ground pools.

Q: How do you think where you grew up affected you?

A: I feel like growing up in Syracuse makes going to Binghamton a different experience for me than most because it feels very similar to where I grew up. The campus is very calm and woodsy, which is probably a big change for people from bigger and busier areas. Because we didn’t really have taxis, buses, or subways, driving was the only real way to get anywhere. People in my high school would be driving as soon as the end of their sophomore year. At Binghamton, I’ve met a lot of people my own age or older who haven’t gotten their licenses yet, which was a big deal where I grew up.

Q: Where did you go to high school? How diverse was it?

A: I went to West Genesee High School in Camillus. I wouldn’t say it was very diverse, granted that our demographic is at least 85-90% white, with a handful of kids that were black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or of other ethnicities. We did take diversity pretty seriously, and always had a large culture fair in the spring that was always a big hit.

Q: What did you do for fun?

A: What we did for fun usually depended on the season. Year-round activities included going to downtown Syracuse or Syracuse University’s hill to eat, get coffee, hang out or shop. Summer usually meant bonfires, going to parks, picnics, and “going to the beach” at nearby lakes. Fall was made up of more bonfires and seasonal activities like apple and pumpkin picking. Winters were usually rough and mainly consisted of going ice skating, skiing and snowboarding, or staying in. Spring was always long anticipated and was spent doing anything outside, like eating or studying. Sometimes we would go to concerts at the Carrier Dome, but you would have to go somewhere like New York City, Buffalo or Toronto to see anyone really big.

Q: What was the social climate like?

A: The social climate was very interesting. Kids would complain that there wasn’t ever anything to do. They would count the days until they could graduate and move to bigger and better places. But these were the same kids who were immensely proud to be from Syracuse. Overall, Syracuse was a very pleasant place to live, and had a lot of its own traditions and customs, which people preserve with pride.

Q: What stereotypes have you encountered about being from Syracuse?

A: Coming to Binghamton, I knew that I was going to encounter a lot of people from downstate. Most of the Binghamton students from New York that I’ve met are either from Westchester, New York City or on Long Island. I was convinced that I was going to get told that I talk funny, but surprisingly haven’t been told I have any kind of accent.

Q: What was your first impression of Binghamton?

A: I have family who live in Vestal, so I had been around the area multiple times before ever visiting the university. I always thought the campus was very pretty and that it was somewhere I could easily see myself going. I was surprised to find out how many people come here from downstate versus how few from upstate .

Q: What is the thing you miss most about Syracuse?

A: I would definitely say I miss having a car the most whenever I go out or run errands. I can still do most things, like go to Wegmans (the DisneyWorld of supermarkets if you’re from upstate), but I’ve never been used to taking buses from place to place. I’d say I miss having a big mall around, but my wallet definitely doesn’t.

Annick Tabb: White Plains, Westchester County, NY

Q: Have you ever lived anywhere else?

A: No, my parents moved to Westchester before I was born.

Q: What did your street look like growing up?

A: My side of the street was lined with houses with backyards. The other side was a former elementary school that had been turned into apartments and condos. There was also a playground on that side that I spent countless hours playing on when I was younger.

Q: How do you think where you grew up affected you?

A: I think that I got the best of both worlds, living in an urban suburb. Compared to the rest of Westchester, White Plains is a very diverse place. My parents considered this when they decided to move here, not wanting to raise multiracial children in an environment where we might be considered alien. Growing up where I did made incredibly aware of other people’s feelings and how important it is to be empathetic. I am thankful that I didn’t grow up in a homogeneous place and that I got the opportunity to realize the beauty of diversity so early in life.

Q: Where did you go to high school? How diverse was it?

A: I went to White Plains High School. There were roughly 2100 students and they all ate lunch at the same time. I spent three years of my high school career eating lunch with my friends under a staircase, which was completely normal. The school was very diverse, with only 23% of the student body being white. Unfortunately, the honors classes that I was in were much less diverse. 

Q: What did you do for fun?

A: When we weren’t doing school related things, my friends and I liked to get food at the seemingly countless restaurants that were in downtown White Plains. When we were feeling more economical, we would go to each other’s houses to bake things or just hang out. As we got older and more independent, we would go to the city to explore new places (or in my case, take Instagrams). As a lover of music, I found myself going to the city very often to go to concerts. There’s something really nice about seeing a show in New York, because more often than not, the artists are especially excited to be playing there. It’s nice to hear a song about being stuck in the suburbs and be able to relate, but also be able to go to the city and hear it live, no matter how obscure the band is.

Q: What was the social climate like?

A: My school’s social climate was interesting in that while there were definite cliques and “popular people”, no one really seemed to care. You were friends who you were friends with, and that was that.

Q: What stereotypes have you encountered about being from White Plains?

A: When I tell people I’m from Westchester, I am often met with, “Oh, so you’re rich.” It is true that Westchester is as a whole a very wealthy county, this doesn’t mean that everyone runs a hedge fund. Compared to the towns around us, White Plains is relatively built up with a lot of things to do. When my friends and I would hear kids from out of town say, “White Plains is so lit,” we would look at each other with looks of skepticism and disbelief.

Q: What was your first impression of Binghamton?

A: Since both my parents went to Binghamton, I had visited a couple of times before I actually went on a tour. I noticed that while White Plains and Binghamton are both suburbs, they could not be more different.

Q: What is the thing you miss most about White Plains?

A: I miss the proximity to the city and just all-around spontaneity. Because no one has a car here and there isn’t a ton to do, a trip to Target is a planned-out “adventure.” On the bright side, I am much more studious here than I was at home.