Tri-State Region
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- There are many tri-state regions, see tri-state area.
The Tri-State Region or Tri-State Area is a colloquialism used by residents in and around a region in the United States where three states meet. It is used for sets of states including New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania; Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio; Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi; Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee; Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin; Arizona, California, and Nevada; and Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It is commonly used in the area surrounding New York City to unambiguously refer to the greater metropolitan area. Sometimes the phrase is shortened to "the Tri-State." The term is especially favored in advertising and the broadcast news media, but is used in common speech as well.
Roughly speaking, the New York Tri-State area encompasses the populated areas in the states of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut (hence the term "tri-state") that are within a typical commuting distance of Manhattan, either by car or rail, or alternatively, the coverage area of the broadcast television stations that operate from Manhattan.
The appeal of the term over "New York Metropolitan Area" probably arises in part from its avoidance of the use of "New York," which would have the effect of placing the other two states in a subordinate status. In particular, the decentralization of economic activity within the region has led to a movement among residents of northern New Jersey to consider their region to be co-equal in importance to New York City. This opinion is bolstered somewhat by the naming of several professional sports franchises for New Jersey. However, the NFL teams the New York Giants and the New York Jets, despite playing their home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the former since 1976, the latter since 1984), still carry the moniker of New York. New York Governor Mario Cuomo, in office from 1983 to 1995, attended the home games solely of the Buffalo Bills, referring to them as "New York State's only team."
A second advantage of the term is that it allows the inclusion of more outlying rural areas that are still within commuting distance of Manhattan.
These areas generally include at minimum the following areas:
- Southern New York State
- New York City (i.e, the Five Boroughs)
- Nassau and Suffolk counties (i.e., "Long Island")
- Westchester County (i.e., "Westchester")
- Rockland County
- Northern New Jersey
- Southwestern Connecticut
The term is sometimes taken to include additional counties in New York north of Westchester County, as well less urbanized counties in northern New Jersey, and along the Jersey Shore.