Regional Description
There are many regions in New York State that have distinct traits about them that make them stand out from other New York State regions. One region that is different than other regions in New York State is the Southern Tier. The Southern Tier region of New York State is uniquely different than other regions through its environment, history, and demographics.
The Southern Tier region of New York State is located mostly along the New York-Pennsylvania border. Since there is a lot of discrepancy of what counties make up the Southern tier, it’s hard to say what counties are part of this region and what counties are not part of this region. Using data provided by the Empire State Development, the New York counties that are associated with the Southern Tier are “Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties” (Empire State Development). The Southern Tier is located in between the upper Alleghany Mountains of Northern Pennsylvania and the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Much of this area doesn’t have the high mountain tops in comparison to the Adirondacks, but this region is not flat. Much of this region is comprised of rolling “hills and valleys that resulted from the erosion of a plain/sea bed that uplifted millions of years ago” (Purdom, Fitzgerald, Roux, Hall, Holland, and Logan). The climate that is associated with the Southern Tier is typically similar to other regions in New York State. Summertime in the Southern Tier is usually very warm and humid, while Winter can be very cold and very snowy.
The history of the Southern Tier has played a part in developing New York State but also developing the United States. Many cities in the Southern Tier, for example Binghamton and Elmira were developed due to the Erie Canal being built. After the Erie Canal was completed, Binghamton wanted to build a canal to connect the city of Binghamton to the Erie Canal. In 1837, the Chenango Canal was completed and this canal connected Binghamton to the Erie Canal near Utica (City of Binghamton). However, this canal never fully got the economic benefits it got from the Erie Canal. To prevent the city from not growing, the Erie Railroad was built to connect Binghamton with other cities in the Southern Tier. After the Civil War, industry started to increase in the Southern Tier. Before the war, this region’s main industry was lumber. After the war, “the lumber industry was transformed into a large furniture and wagon business” (City of Binghamton). Many towns started to become into industrial cities due to the growth of industry, however this would all change due to the Cold War. Many businesses in the Southern Tier provided the necessary resources, like computers, to protect the United States from the Soviet Union. “With the ending of the cold war, many businesses saw those markets evaporating” (City of Binghamton).
There are many different types of people that live in the Southern Tier based on race, age, income levels, education, and other demographic statistics. The Southern Tier is not a high populated region compared to other regions in New York State like the Hudson Valley and Long Island. The population of the Southern Tier is about 653,000 people. Out of this 653,000 people, 94% are White, 2.3% are Black, 1.7% are Asian, and 1.6% Hispanics and 0.6% are other races (New York State Council on the Arts). “The average age of people living in the Southern Tier is 37.4 years” (New York State Council on the Arts). When it comes to the income level of the Southern Tier, the Southern Tier is relatively poorer than the national average. “The median household income of the Southern Tier is $37,837, compared to the national median of $41,994” (New York State Council on the Arts). However, when it comes to how educated the population is, the Southern Tier is slightly higher than the national average of people that have completed high school. Also, the population has a lower unemployment rate (5.6%) than the national unemployment rate of 6.1%. (New York State Council on the Arts).
One can say that the Southern Tier region is similar to many regions in New York State. However, looking at the environment, history, and demographics of the Southern Tier, there are many differences that separate this region from the rest of New York State.
Work Cited
1) "Binghamton, New York - A Brief History." City of Binghamton. City of Binghamton, 2006. Web. 20 Feb 2012. <http://www.cityofbinghamton.com/history.asp>.
2) Inside Southern Tier." Southern Tier Regional Office. Empire State Development, 2010. Web. 18 Feb 2012. <http://esd.ny.gov/RegionalOverviews/SouthernTier/InsideRegion.html>.
3) Purdom, J, Peter Fitzgerald, Nick Roux, Stacy Hall, Tom Holland, and Jim Logan. "Overview of Southern Tier: Geography." iGuide. iGuide, n.d. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://iguide.travel/Southern_Tier/Overview/Geography>.
4) "Southern Tier Statistics & Demographics." BLUEPRINTS blog. New York State Council on the Arts, 2008. Web. 20 Feb 2012. <http://culturalblueprints.co.cc/blog/?page_id=746>.
5) 2010. Photograph. Inside Southern Tier, Binghamton. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://esd.ny.gov/RegionalOverviews/SouthernTier/InsideRegion.html>.
Southern Tier Environmental Links
This hyperlink is run by a group in Tioga County, NY called The Tioga County Landowners Group. This Tioga County Landowners Group is a coalition of people who do not support drilling of natural gas in the Southern Tier because of the possibility of damaging environmental impacts. On the front page, there are many links that focus on the Marcellus Shale , the Department of Environmental Conservation and some pictures of wells. The website also includes the rock formations found in the Southern tier and the gas companies who are interested in drilling in the Southern Tier. To the left part of the website, there are various links, for example, Getting Your Membership, Upcoming Events and other details of the Tioga County Landowners Group.
Clean Growth Now is a group of people and businesses that are supporting natural gas drilling in the Southern Tier. On the Clean Growth Now front page, there are three links that are the main focus for this goup. They are State Leadership, Strict Regulations, and Economic Benefits. Under each three of these links, there is abundant information about the laws and regulations the Department of Environmental Conservation are deciding about, economic benefits natural gas drilling can bring to New York State and showing the benefits of natural gas drilling in other states. Under the state leadership link, there is a link for the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement that the DEC prepared.
This website from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Conservation shows all the state parks located in New York State. The hyperlink above shows various state parks located in the western part of the Southern Tier and parts of the Finger Lake Regions. There are several state parks that are located only in the western part of the Southern Tier. Some state parks located in this region is Two Rivers State Park, Newton Battlefield State Park, and Robert H. Treman State Park. Under each link, for example Robert H. Treman State Park, there are separate links showing the description, the Hours of Operation, Fees and Rates and other important information.
This website is also from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Conservation, but this hyperlink shows state parks that are located in the eastern part of the Southern Tier and some of the parts of the Mohawk River valley. Similar to the State Parks I link, there are several state parks located in the counties that are associated with the Southern Tier. There is the Chenango Valley State Park, Oquaga Creek State Park, Bowman Lake State Park and others. Similar to the State Park I hyperlink, there are descriptions, hours, maps, fees and other important information for each state park.
The link above provides information, published by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, about the Susquehanna River Watershed. This link, shows various reports that the DEC have done in studying with the Susquehanna River. The Department of Environmental Conservation also provides a map of just the watershed and which streams and other rivers flow into the Susquehanna River. This website also covers basic facts about the watershed, like which rivers flow into the Susquehanna River and the water quality of the river.
Southern Tier Economic Links
This website, published by the City of Binghamton, shows various links that to help local businesses owners and people who want to develop any land in the Binghamton area for commercial use. The Greater Binghamton Area is comprised of 21 communities that the Chambers of Commerce represents and there are links that link to each community’s website. This link, Legislation Issues, shows different committees that work with small business owners in the area. Also on the Binghamton Chambers of Commerce website, there are events, programs, and news that cater to business owners in the Greater Binghamton Area.
The link above shows different economic statistics of the Southern Tier region of New York State. This data collected by the United States Census Bureau, shows statistics in eight counties that are located in the Southern Tier. Located on this website, are statistics about the different developments located in the Southern Tier and what are going to be the effects of these new developments on employment in this region. These developments range from farming, housing developments, hotels, and industry in the Southern Tier. This website also provides a map of unemployment in the Southern Tier and other economic statistics that relate to the Southern Tier region.
This link, published by the Regional Economic Development Council, shows different ways this council is trying to make the Southern Tier region an economically stable region. This council has developed a plan that would increase the number of industry in the Southern Tier to increase the economic growth of the region from 2011-2016. This website also provides questions and answers to people about membership, economic competition in the Southern Tier, commercial planning in the Southern Tier, and other information about the Region Economic Development Council.
This links setup by the Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board provides Southern Tier communities ways to bring in economic growth through planning. There are many committees that work with local town governments in the Southern Tier to come up with different ways to bring in money into the Southern Tier through economic development. For example, the Seneca Lake Watershed Management Plan was a plan to conserve water that would provide water to potentially new developments in this area. Also this development board provides annual reports for each year that reviews the economic conditions in the Southern Tier.
This Appalachian Regional Commission is a commission that focuses on tourism for the Appalachian Mountains located in parts of the Southern Tier. Even though this commission covers all of the states that these mountains are in but there are several different sets of data that focuses only on the Southern Tier of New York State. One data set is economic status of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southern Tier. This link provides maps, economic status of the different counties located in the Southern Tier. This website also provides various maps of economic status, income, unemployment in the Southern Tier region.
Southern Tier Social Links
This website provides information about the Seneca Nation in the western part of the Southern Tier region. The front page of the website gives basic facts and information of the Seneca Nation in the Southern Tier. This website also includes various statistics about the Seneca Nation. These demographic data include population, the economy, and other statistics about the Seneca Nation. There are also separate sections on education, other minorities and other information about the people that live in the Southern Tier.
The link above provides information about the Southern Tier Health Care System. The Southern Tier Health Care System is comprised of various healthcare centers throughout the Southern Tier region of New York State. If you want to learn more information about this program, click here. One of the programs that the Southern Tier Health Care System has setup is STEMS. STEMS provide emergency services to the Southern Tier region and a person can go to upcoming events held by STEMS. Also the Southern Tier Health Care System also provides help for children who have experienced sexual or physical abuse in their lives.
This website provides information about the population of the Southern Tier. This website has statistics about the economy ,income, education, and other statistics about the population of the Southern Tier. The website also provides a brief summary about the Southern Tier region of New York State. This website also allows people to post comments about the website and there are other sections from this website that link to other regions in New York State.
The link above connects to the American Civic Association website. The American Civic Association, located in Binghamton, New York, provides services to immigrants that have moved to the Southern Tier region of New York State. These services include how to become a United States citizen, learning English, and other classes that cater to immigrants that live in the Southern Tier. Also, the American Civic Association also provides basic necessities for newly arrived immigrants. This includes housing, food, healthcare and other basic necessities that a person that just immigrated may not have but they need them. The American Civil Association also hold cultural events that try to get the local community involved with learning about different cultures around the world.
This website shows the population of the Southern Tier. This website publishes census information about different percentages of the population for each race that live in the Southern Tier. There are also maps that show the voting population for each minority group of the Southern Tier region. For example, there is a map showing the percentage of African Americans that can vote in the Southern Tier. There are also maps that show various demographic data for the Southern Tier region. This data is published by the Citizens Redistricting Committee and to learn more about what their purpose is click here.
