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An area that's close to restaurants and stores and with a fair amount of young people, so probably somewhere between SUNY Albany and downtown Albany. Essentially, I don't like suburbs that much.
Also, if you are still open to Syracuse, this previously mentioned area is similar, but is several blocks east of Syracuse University/SUNY-ESF and a little bit further east of Downtown: https://westcottsyr.com/
Also, if you are still open to Syracuse, this previously mentioned area is similar, but is several blocks east of Syracuse University/SUNY-ESF and a little bit further east of Downtown: https://westcottsyr.com/.....So, could be a couple of similar options to consider, if Syracuse is in the mix.
Also would you consider areas of other area cities like Schenectady’s Union Street, Stockade and Downtown areas or parts of Troy near RPI or its Downtown?
Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, that whole strip are all part of the rustbelt. It's the same as any town or city, if you know people it's more interesting, if you don't it gets boring. I used to have friends here, they all moved away, and I'm dying at the moment from boredom, but getting back out and trying to make new friends, working out and getting ready for swimming and all that, trying to make new friends.
Honestly, the place around here where there seems to be more happening believe it or not is in downtown Troy, but Troy itself on the north and south sides is dangerous and run down. It has this .....brooklyn for 4 blocks kind of vibe. It's multicultural and has a good arts scene, though it's not that big... You have the community college with the tri-city wildcats so at least you've got SOME kind of local sports going on professionally.
You know what's a really exciting place to be though? You mentioned Toronto. Honestly, if I could get my green card I would move there, and you can find anything in Toronto. The difference between any one of those rustbelt cities and Toronto is night and day, just driving through there you get the feeling like it's brimming with life, like s*** is actually happening, while driving around Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse...you kind of just get this feeling like these towns are.........dead. All the upstate NY cities have the same story, industry moved out a long time ago and now everything is dead and dried up and boring. Albany to be optimistic is probably the least dead of all of the upstate cities with all the government offices.
If you could somehow move within an hour of NYC you'd be good, but prices of everything even once you get a little bit closer shoot up to double, triple, quadruple of what they would be. If you could move closer to Boston that'd be a more interesting option as well.
You are correct about the best aspect of Albany, which is that you can reach Montreal, Toronto, NYC and Boston almost equal distances away. If you can travel on weekends to those cities and use Albany as a home base that's....kind of it's best use, but as it's always been you need to have a good income to have an eventful 20s.
If you move to Poughkeepsie you can be on the Metro North line and take a train down to NYC, there's an option if you want access to a large city.
EDIT: And by the way, about Schenectady...I don't know. People get shot all the time, there's a SH*T ton of drugs down there. There are nice pockets, but the place is an abysmal mess. If you feel like you want to end it all, just take a stroll around that city at night. Downtown you can find your crazy coked up people asking you for change.
Saratoga where I grew up is your nicer town, and is wonderful if you have friends to hang out with, it can be like heaven on earth, but again, no real sports scene of any kind, it's got drinking, hiking, biking, fitness and horse racing pretty much. Saratoga is the perfect family and retirement town, but prices will be like triple of anywhere else as is usual in America for places you can fall asleep without locking your windows and doors.
I think there's a whole lot more sh*t to do if you get involved with the colleges and universities somehow if you're in your 20s. Albany University is in a very nice area. There's this one chinese bus by the way that in the summer goes down to NYC for like $10, it's called like USA Tours or something, that's ....not the right name, something like that.
The nice places around Albany are the places where you gotta drive into where things are happening: Guilderland, Slingerlands, the Pine Hills area isn't so bad, while you want to avoid the north and south sides Arbor Hill and just 'South Side' Albany. Never move to Lansingburgh (north Troy) or South Troy, try to move up the hill to the east of troy near the area where that all girls Hogwarts like private school is, forget it's name. West Albany like the Melrose neighborhood near the University isn't bad, Colonie is fine. Anything north of the mohawk is fine if you can afford it, from Latham, Clifton Park, Ballston Lake, Ballston Spa, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls, Lake George, these areas are relatively safe and nice I guess. Burnt Hill is fine...nice boring safe suburbia as usual I guess.
I really would move to Albany instead of Schectady by the way, you don't want to isolate yourself from a train and bus station that will get you to Boston or NYC, and you DEFINITELY don't want to be taking buses regularly from the Schenectady bus station, that place is ghetto as sh*t.
Last edited by felixforgarus; 06-05-2019 at 12:08 AM..
Troy can also be a problem at night. I bowl at a place in the heart of downtown, and I've told stories of how I had to step over drunks laying on the sidewalks, addicts dancing in the streets, etc. Now that Uber & Lyft are around, I try not to walk around downtown Troy at night. The ONE good thing is that Troy's crime rate is nowhere near as high as Schenectady's.
I'm in my 50s, and as soon as I'm able to retire, I plan on moving out of state. It's gotten really depressing. The increase in bars, beer hauses, wineries, etc. makes me think of the scene in It's a Wonderful Life where (when George wishes he hadn't been born), Bedford Falls becomes "Pottersville" and has almost nothing but bars and nightclubs in place of the businesses.
Also - the rent here is ridiculous. I pay nearly $800/month for a 1 bedroom, which is cheap...but nothing else is included and the buildings are old and maintenance is constantly needed. I'm tired of finding "loft" apartments that cost over $1,000 per month and up. Everything in Albany is either for the rich, the welfare recipients, or college kids.
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