Best Place to Live in and Around the Capital Region? (Schenectady: real estate, crime)

[Rumblebelly]

Originally Posted by sgl23

Thanks everyone. I'm the original poster.

Hubby and I work in Troy, and currently live in Troy. We're looking to eventually leave once we start a family. That's why I asked about neighboring towns. We dislike traditional suburbs and would rather go somewhere with a unique character.

I've visited Niskayuna and Delmar, both are a bit too suburban for me. Albany is a bit too urban. I think I'd go stir crazy if I lived in a rural area.

Is there something in between? Sounds like Saratoga has a few good reviews. Of course I'll need to consider the commute to Troy....

S.

Just curious but is Troy a bad place to raise a family? We are thinking about moving to the area and were wondering about Cohoes and Waterford. It looks like they have downtowns but are still relatively small.

[busymominny]

Have you check out Scotia or Glenville. I recent;y feel in love with these areas. They have a nice village/community feela nd seem like a great place to raise kids. Check out the website visitscotia.com it gives really good info and pics. Good luck I live in Clifton Park, but it seems congested and I don't get the sense of community..

Originally Posted by sgl23

Thanks everyone. I'm the original poster.

Hubby and I work in Troy, and currently live in Troy. We're looking to eventually leave once we start a family. That's why I asked about neighboring towns. We dislike traditional suburbs and would rather go somewhere with a unique character.

I've visited Niskayuna and Delmar, both are a bit too suburban for me. Albany is a bit too urban. I think I'd go stir crazy if I lived in a rural area.

Is there something in between? Sounds like Saratoga has a few good reviews. Of course I'll need to consider the commute to Troy....

S.

[hmtklein]

Scotia looks cute is it effected by Scnectady much? It seems like the run down scnectady is awful close and I wonder if it effects the property values of Scotia. That would be sad because Scotia looks so cute especially with the big park and the river right there.

[j12308]

Ok, I live in Sch'dy, grew up in Niskayuna. I know Sch'dy has a bad reputation. But I really like it. What you see on TV and read in the paper is only the negative side, the great stuff is rarely reported about. I think Troy is beautiful as well, I don't know much about it in terms of raising a family. From what I understand Troy is making a real comeback and Sch'dy is on its way as well. Maybe you just need to find a different neighborhood in Troy. I think Scotia is a cute town, Niskayuna, esp. the older section, near Hillside is very popular with families. Closer to Troy, Latham, Colonie, are fine choices as well. I know that the Shaker HS is a very good one. I personally like towns/cities with a downtown. I like sidewalks and lots of trees, I like being able to walk places with my kids. My suggestion, drive around until you find an area you like and ask the locals. Reputations will only take you so far, you need to see for yourself.

[hmtklein]

j12308, Thank you so much for your input - I sounds like you like a lot of the stuff that i like in a community. Do Colonie and Latham have downtown areas? I have been to Scotia, Sch'dy and Troy. I loved the layout of Troy it has such potential, ughh and right there on the river. I was shocked at how much vacany there was in those old buildings and there wasn't any foot traffic? Here in Colorado a City with good bones like that would be overflowing with retail and pedestrians. I made me sad to see some of those beautiful old buildings neglected and forgotten. Anyway, I really like old neighborhoods with bungalows or homes with front porches, big old trees and sidewalks. If you could like in any town which would you pick?

[j12308]

Hi hmtklein,
Boy, it's so hard to pick a town. If Colonie and Latham have "downtown" areas, I haven't seen them. And I've been back in the area for 5 years, prior to that I'd grown up here. They are areas that have good schools, close to Albany. I've seen more split level ranches, and 60's and 70's homes, mixed in with the new developments and just a few old homes on some of the busy streets that are kind of left over from when it used to be a farm. Colonie and Latham were not areas that we looked at homes, not because they aren't nice places to live, just not old neighborhoods like we were looking for. When I moved back to this area my husband and I looked all over the capital region for a house. In this area I like Ballston Spa nice downtown that is like so many of the small cities in this area, nice bones, but got really rundown for awhile, trying to make a come back. I think that Ballston Spa is doing a great job of it. Small town feel, antiques stores, a coffee shop, clothing stores, close to Saratoga. My parents live in a bungalow in "old" Niskayuna, again nice walking area. Has a good reputation in terms of its school district. Not so much of a downtown area. Basically a lot of the capital region have nice bungalows, you just have to search for that neighborhood. I like a lot of the towns around here. We choose Sch'dy for lots of reasons. For one it's close to the Adirondacks. We love camping, hiking, x-country skiing, and snow shoeing. So for us we wanted to be on the northern end of the capital region. But we did look in Guilderland, Altamont, Duansburg, etc. Altamont has a very cute downtown, I don't know if they specifically have bungalows, but they have lots of old homes w/big front porches. Anyways...we do love our neighborhood, neighbors are so nice, I know most of them. We like being close to the downtown area, lots of building going on now. Regardless of what others say, Sch'dy is doing a good job of revitalizing its self. I've noticed a huge difference in the last few years. I know a lot of good people trying to make a diffence, so I feel good about our choice. We would have bought in Scotia too. We like the downtown area, the homes were spaced a bit closer together than what we found in our neighborhood of Sch'dy. We'd looked at a lot of houses in Scotia. The neighborhoods right outside of downtown. Nice old homes, sidewalks everything we were looking for. We were just simply able to find a bigger home, bigger yard for cheaper in Sch'dy. So in a nutshell I like Schenectady, Ballston Spa, Scotia. Boy that's my rambling...so where in Colorado are you??? My sister is in Colorado Springs.

[Ellwood]

Schuylerville is a lovely place; great schools and close enough to Saratoga for shopping.

[hmtklein]

Hey j12308,

Thanks so much for alllll your help on this forum - I've been supper busy lately and haven't had a chance to say it sooner - but you have been a big help on all my posts! Thanks sooo much! Btw, you asked where we were coming from in Colorado - we are moving from Fort Collins, I have been to Colorado Springs where your sister is - I am very jealous of their mountain views!

Heather

[ladystardust]

I live in rural Columbia County, but the very northern edge. I'm a NYC native and the rural thing is fine. I have a secluded property with a lot of land but in ten minutes I'm in Chatham, ten minutes to Kinderhook, ten minutes the other way to the Target in Rensselaer/Troy. Chatham and Old Chatham have some small-old-town character to them, but NYC people describe Chatham as "there's nothing there," so it's all relative. If school districts are a factor I suppose that might influence your choices, too.

Check out Chatham- you can have a house in the village, walking distance to shops and cafes, but most of the old homes are huge and have a bit more than a yard. There's some character there- more than there was when I visited ten years ago- and Chatham would be an easy commute because you can hop right on the Taconic to 90 to get up into Albany and Troy.

[Phish Head]

We are still trying to decide between living in Northeastern PA, or the Albany or Syracuse areas. Each have their pro's and con's. But my favorite place in the Capital Region is definitely Ballston Spa. Beautiful town, in a small valley, experiencing a definite rebirth. Lots of church spires reaching toward the sky. Reasonable home prices, and minutes from Saratoga Springs. In my opinion, it is everything that Upstaters mean when they talk about a real hometown: