“...upstate NY... seriously depressed area... the positive economic activity you see is in college towns...”
This is all soooo true!! My daughter and her husband live in Otsego County so we see it first hand. If a person looks on a real estate sales website such as zillow or trulia in the counties around Amsteradm, Ilion, Utica, etc. most of the properties for sale that come up are in pre-foreclosure.
The so called “environmentalists” concentrated in New York City led by Cuomo and his ilk have enough demographic and political clout to keep fracking out. The southern tier and up into Otsego county area sit on the Marcellus shale deposit containing massive amounts of natural gas.
The positive economic activity in the college towns that you correctly point out unfortunately ends up perpetuating the unhealthy dynamic instead of helping because the surrounding areas around the college (Ithaca/Cornell, just for one example - this happens throughout the state) become influenced by the liberal thinking and the cycle is perpetuated ad infinitum. The end result is that upstate New York becomes even more poverty stricken.
The whole thing is heart breaking and the socialists/liberals are responsible and also in charge of the higher education/brainwashing. This keeps the problems going - ideas do have consequences, alas.
On a side note - the “environmentalists” are so called because they are wolves in sheeps clothing - their real agenda is to keep private industry out or to kick it out through pressure (Remington) so the only power lies in the hands of govenment. I predict that the fracking will be allowed as soon as Cuomo and his minions figure out how the state can have access to the proceeds through taxes or however they end up doing it.
sorry - mistyped the spelling for Amsterdam - obviously meaning the city in upstate New York, not the one in Europe