Moving to Albany from Texas! (Colonie, Schenectady: insurance, gated, vacation)

[temong]

Hi y'all peoples...we're real excited to move to Albany NY from Houston, Texas....one is the change in weather...green...clean?! etc...

Couple of concerns and questions b4 we make the transition

1) My wife is a RN and what is her scope for a Job with terms to rate per hour in the region.
2) I am a accountant (in the petrochem for 7 yrs) and how easy is it for me to grab a Job? Is small business promoted in the region? Is it booming/growing?
3) What are the house rates and where can I get a listing for the region...looking for a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with garage and backyard~
4) My kids are 5 and 4 yrs....which ISD is the best and how good are the private schools?
5) What is the ethnic mix of the place? Is it a progressive city?
6) What are the tax rates? Car insurance and others?
7) What are the cool 'rec activites' for families ?
8) What sort of lifestyle is prominent? singles family etc>
9) Which are the 'cool' cities to visit nearby in terms of vacation/activities for family etc.
10) How safe and family friendly is the place?
11) Best universities and colleges in the region...besides the schools.

I may have covered most of my questions but I'm sure more may erupt (stresssed out! )

Thanks and praying its all +ive

[aka_mouse]

I dont know too much about Albany specifically so someone else can probably help you more. Id just say an RN and accountant are probably better jobs to looking for in Albany and in all of Upstate for that matter. Albany is where all the state offices are, it being the capital and all. IRS etc.

I don't think any of the Upstate cities are growing... Albany might be slightly just cause of state workers moving there. and AFAIK, Albany is similiar to all the other Upstate cities. The Urban core will probably have a small nightlife area (Lark St.) , a place with a lot of offices then the rest will be a lot of urban decay. Unfortunately most upstate cities are pretty segregated for the most part. With almost everyone whos black living in the inner parts of the city.

All the suburbs are probably going to be fine , low crime decent public schools, but someone else will have to go into details about certain towns.

[Logan11]

Scan down a page or two. There is a large Albany thread with pro and con comments. It's like most of the USA...the old cities have their challenges while the suburbs are a different world. Downtown Albany is a lot nicer than it was in the 70s (lots of state largesse to clean it up) but the city has a few bad ghettos also.

The region as a whole grew by just under 3% between 2000 and 2006. That doesn't include people buying second homes from Downstate who don't get counted as new residents.

The city of Albany continued to shrink slightly while the suburban towns in the county grew. Therefore Albany County had a net increase of a few percentage points. The thing that you have to understand about greater Albany (known as the Capital District) is that it is really four cities..Albany, Troy, Schenectady and now Saratoga. The whole area has around a million people, but its dispersed amongst those cities and the suburbs. The towns of Colonie and Guilderland combined have surpassed the City of Albany in population.

The best nightlife and atmosphere in the region is in Saratoga Springs (half hour north). There are quite a few good restaurants in Albany and surrounding areas (if you look for them) and all of the usual chains. The Albany area has a decent amount of cultural/arts activity...again scattered amongst those four areas. You can always hop Amtrak and be in NYC in 2.5 hours anyway.

Vacation possibilities abound because of the central location to several interstates.....

Boston 2:45 hours
NYC 2:30 hours
Montreal 3:30 hours
Niagara Falls 4:00 hours
Adirondack Mountains/Lake Placid from 1:00 to 2:30 hours
Catskills 1:00 hour
Vermont 1:00 hour
Cape Cod 3:30 to 4:00 hours
Saratoga/Lake George under an hour
Berkshires 45 minutes

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by Logan11

Vacation possibilities abound because of the central location to several interstates.....

Boston 2:45 hours
NYC 2:30 hours
Montreal 3:30 hours
Niagara Falls 4:00 hours
Adirondack Mountains/Lake Placid from 1:00 to 2:30 hours
Catskills 1:00 hour
Vermont 1:00 hour
Cape Cod 3:30 to 4:00 hours
Saratoga/Lake George under an hour
Berkshires 45 minutes

You forgot the Finger Lake Wineries 3:00 to 4:00 hours

[Logan11]

Sorry about that ..Yep that's great also. I have a cousin in Naples and like all the lakes from Otsego/Cooperstown (not a Finger Lake) to Skaneateles, Geneva and Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake and of course Canandaigua. Going east to west they are 90 mins to 3+ hours away from Albany I guess.

[kmtjss]

Wow from Houston to Albany, thats a move. I lived in Austin a couple summers ago and loved it. The work in Albany is good. If your wife is a RN than she can pick and choose where she wants to work. In Albany the big hospital is "Albany Med" RN's are making between $25 to $30 dollars an hour depending on her yrs of experiance. My wife is a nurse and she loved it there. Very challenging and all types of specialty work. Albany is a good place to work but if your looking to raise a family look at Guilderland or East Greenbush. North Colonie is also a great School district. If you don't mind a little longer commute try Clifton Park or Saratoga. The homes cost a little more but again, a very safe area. Clifton Park and Sarasota is about a 30 to 45 minute travel but also real nice communities. Good schools and the homes run anywhere between $200 to $300 K 4bd/2ba 2000 sq ft. All areas within 15minute commute to Albany. Traffic is nothing like Houston thats forsure. Make sure that if your job is right down town that your parking space is included. The crime rate in those towns I mentioned is practically nothing.
We moved to Florida this summer and miss NY but My wife can't be in the cold weather any more.
Good luck!

[Sgoldie]

Oh, you'll love Albany. It's right at the juncture between NYS, Boston, and Montreal (French Canada). To the north and east are mountains and gorgeous Sagandaga Lake, Lake George, and Lake Champlain. The Boston Pops summer just over the border in Mass.

There are several colleges including a large state university center and grad school, Union College (one of the oldest and most prestigious in the country on par with a small Yale or Harvard), and Rennsalear Polytech (also very impressive) amongst others. They're building a huge technology research center in Albany, I believe they stole it from Austin. There is an acoustically sound outdoor amphitheater at Saratoga as well as an old-time hose racetrack and mineral spring spas. There are many terrific restaurants and the airport is a breeze to get to. I wish I could remember the name of the upscale diner w palm trees we ate at in Rotterdam. There were some nice house in that area too.

Downtown there's the ultra modern "Egg" for cultural performances which sits amongst the state captial bldgs. There are heritage buildings that reflect the old Dutch settlements and to the south along the Hudson you can find turn of the century robber baron mansions, quite interesting.

You'll have no trouble with your skillsets finding jobs.

[kmtjss]

Also, Bethlehem and Niskayuna Are also within 15 to 20 minutes from Albany and have great school districts. The towns I mentioned are 95% white but if your looking for more diverse area try Troy or Schenectady county. Very diverse but not as nice as the prior towns I mentioned. The schools are second to none but the sports programs are nothing like Texas. Still all in all there is a real community feeling in each town. Hope you like gray skies and winters that last about 5 to 6 months long. Summers last about 2 to 3 months and the fall is about 3 months long. No need for an inground pool because you end up using for about a month and a half. The water is great in NY but make sure you get city sewer or buy a house with a new septic system. The water table in NY is high and every time you flush you will see it bubble up on your back lawn. At least buy a house on a hill.
The nursing programs are good in NY so if your wife wants to work just weekends and be home with the kids durring the week they have a program where she would work 2 -12 hour days Sat / Sun and they pay her for 36 hrs with Benifits. My wife did it for 5 years and it saved us a ton on child care.
Again, good luck with the move.

[temong]

Wow that's some +ive input! I'm hoping frm the lil bit of research i've done; it's defintely going to be cold...my bones :P but besides that i'm surprised that there is no boom as such in the region...i know its pretty; how well does a small business do out there?! is there good support from the local govt. for such ventures?

[Logan11]

The fact that the region is growing at all says something. Most of Upstate NY west of here is shrinking. This isn't Texas or the South....we measure success in smaller numbers. If you have a good innovative idea for small business you can succeed in this area....