clifton pk, niskayuna, colonie?? (Albany, Troy: apartments, house, to buy)

[hbumbles]

i am moving to the area and i will be working in downtown albany every day. clifton pk, niskayuna and colonie are some of the areas we were told might be a nice place to buy a house and send our kids to school.
i was also told the drive from the northern suburbs is brutal. how bad can it be compared to ny or any other major city?
your thoughts, comments or suggestions about location, schools or commute are greatly appreciated.
thanks

[rajmelk]

Originally Posted by hbumbles

i am moving to the area and i will be working in downtown albany every day. clifton pk, niskayuna and colonie are some of the areas we were told might be a nice place to buy a house and send our kids to school.
i was also told the drive from the northern suburbs is brutal. how bad can it be compared to ny or any other major city?
your thoughts, comments or suggestions about location, schools or commute are greatly appreciated.
thanks

None of these commutes will be anything close to "bad" by major city standards. Having said that, the Northway will typically crawl from Exit 9 to the Twin Bridges...and from Niskayuna, you'll have to take roads (e.g. 7) with a lot of stop lights. The North Colonie school district (Latham, Loudonville) will be your best bet on both counts.

[j12308]

I agree w/ the previous poster. Maybe look into Guilderland, Slingerlands as well.

[rosette8]

I also agree and would add try East Greenbush and Bethlem....Great schools and I THINK a better commute.

[hbumbles]

Can you please tell me a little more about East Greenbush - type of community, people, schools, cost of housing/apartments etc..

[dbh522]

I live in East Greenbush and work in downtown Albany. My commute is 3.5 miles and less than 10 minutes and I never hit any traffic since I don't travel any highways. 9 & 20 goes straight across the river into downtown. The housing prices here are similar to the rest of the capital region. The taxes are high but the schools are excellent. And, it's not like there are low taxes anywhere in NY. My husband works in Colonie and it takes him 15 minutes to get to Wolf Road so shopping at the malls is close. There is also shopping here so we can avoid the Wolf Road area usually. There's even a movie theater here.

[convergent]

I would highly recommend Town of Colonie... which includes Colonie, Latham, Loudonville, etc. We lived in Clifton Park for 13 years, and then moved to Loudonville for the last 8. I would say that it took years off my life to not have to drive up to Clifton Park and back every day. We ended up very close to everything and almost never had to get on the highway to get anywhere. Traffic is a non-issue in the Albany area if you can stay off the highways. The taxes and things the town does for you are excellent in that area too, compared to East Greenbush or Niskyuna.

We just moved to NC and are still trying to sell our house up there... so I can fix you right up.

[Jimmyboger08]

its not really bad at all...all those suburbs are good...so are bethlehem niskayuna and guilderland

[Zyll]

I live in east Troy, a nice little modern area like a town close to everything. Was nice to get away from the Clifton Park Northway traffic. Nothing much to do around here though. I have been thinking where I would like to live next? I would say East Greenbush, Colonie and Glenville/Niskyuna would be my top picks at this point. Seems to be some other things going around in those locations. I like to look at lower priced cute starter homes. I have had a fascination with Corinth for some reason latey? Its too far and too old. Always buy a house built pre 1980, pref 1960s, these were the best ones built. Take cre