need info on NICE towns around albany,ny (Colonie, Schenectady: home search, school districts)

[Samantha Aloi]

hi i am looking for info on small towns surrounding albany,ny. am moving to the area within the next 3 months and am having a hard time finding anything. im married with 2 kids so the schools must be excellant.wondering about safety and home ownership also.thanks so much!

[Miker]

Latham & Loudonville are good choices. Their school district (North Colonie Central Schools) is consistantly rated highly (Some Loudonville locations are in South Colonie Central Schools which is still good but not as good). Location is very convenient as they are right in the center of the Capital District so whether you work in Albany or Troy or Schenectady you will have a short commute. Also, these communities are located in the Town of Colonie which was recently rated one of the 10 safest communities (with a population over a certain number) in the US.

A good site for home searches is removed Select the residential tab then Capital/Albany. There will be a drop down box to search by community name.

Good luck!

[Samantha Aloi]

thanks miker! thats exactly the kind of info i wanted. we just got back from visiting tha albany area. it really is beautiful. i am a little confused though. we stayed in Colonie it seemed a little too "city". although when i looked it up it didnt seem nearly that big. whats the difference in the town of colonie and the village of colonie. and how do you know the difference?

thanks again!!!
samantha

[Miker]

Originally Posted by Samantha Aloi

thanks miker! thats exactly the kind of info i wanted. we just got back from visiting tha albany area. it really is beautiful. i am a little confused though. we stayed in Colonie it seemed a little too "city". although when i looked it up it didnt seem nearly that big. whats the difference in the town of colonie and the village of colonie. and how do you know the difference?

thanks again!!!
samantha

I'm not an expert on the technicalities but I'll try my best. The Village of Colonie is within the boundries of the Town of Colonie. It is what is known as an "incorporated" area meaning they have their own mayor and village board etc. This also means that the taxes are a little higher because they have to pay for these positions in addition to the town taxes (however all of the Town of Colonie is known for having low taxes...for NYS/Albany area at least). All of the Village of Colonie is in the South Colonie School District.

Latham and Loudonville are really nothing more than zip codes within the town.

Being in the center of the Capital District, Colonie can be a little congested or "city like" so may not be quite what you are looking for. I will guess you stayed in the South Colonie area when you visited (on or near Wolf Road perhaps???). Latham and Loudonville (North Colonie) are more suburban than the South Colonie area but still relatively densely populated with a signifacant amount of commercial property.

[andaroo]

Hi Samantha,

I grew up and later raised my family in the Albany Area - I agree with Miker's comments on Colonie, but you may want to look at the Delmar/Guilderland/Voorheesville area - they are just south and east of the city of Albany. All have great schools but V'ville (where my kids attended) is a bit more rural and definitely has the "small town" feel to it - the home prices and taxes are a bit lower than in G'land and Delmar, too. All are within a 20 minute drive of the heart of dtwn Albany. I grew up in Delmar and had a great time doing it, but friends I still have there say the housing prices have become outrageous (and with that the taxes).

Rensselaer County (Troy), which is on the east side of the Hudson River next to Albany, has many wonderful communities, too. It generally gets a bad rap, but from what I've heard it's undeserved and the taxes are MUCH cheaper. Check out East and North Greenbush - both have good school districts.

The proximity of Albany to NYC/Boston/Montreal and the Adirondacks makes it a beautiful place to be regardless of where you live. Good luck and enjoy!

[Samantha Aloi]

Originally Posted by Miker

I'm not an expert on the technicalities but I'll try my best. The Village of Colonie is within the boundries of the Town of Colonie. It is what is known as an "incorporated" area meaning they have their own mayor and village board etc. This also means that the taxes are a little higher because they have to pay for these positions in addition to the town taxes (however all of the Town of Colonie is known for having low taxes...for NYS/Albany area at least). All of the Village of Colonie is in the South Colonie School District.

Latham and Loudonville are really nothing more than zip codes within the town.

Being in the center of the Capital District, Colonie can be a little congested or "city like" so may not be quite what you are looking for. I will guess you stayed in the South Colonie area when you visited (on or near Wolf Road perhaps???). Latham and Loudonville (North Colonie) are more suburban than the South Colonie area but still relatively densely populated with a signifacant amount of commercial property.

thanks again miker! its still a little hazy but i get the gist. wheen we visited we stayed at the Ho JO on rt 5. so yeah you were close. i really appreaciate all your counsel. its hard to find good info you can trust. thanks samantha