Some potential grounds for secession include:
1. Desire for lower taxes.
2. Creation of an upstate identity.
3. More conservative outlook upstate.
4. More direct attention on problems in a dying region.
5. Less rights restrictions as a result of being affiliated with such a large and prominent city.
(New York City, for example, has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the rest of the state being close behind.)