adirondack and children (New York, Albany, York: movies, schools, places to live)

[Ellwood]

see my response to your Glen Falls/Saratoga post. There are several areas I would recommend, mostly due to the Schuylerville school district: Schuylerville (outskirts) i.e. Quaker Springs, etc., Northunderland (check out Brampton Woods).

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by Cigarboo

I'm not sure if the Capital Region is your answer. There is no decent zoo withing 2 hours. No big museum within 2 hours. At least it's nothing compared to Washington DC. I wouldn't call the winters bright and sunny. You get some of those days, but mostly the winters are cold and gray. For me personally, I think I'm suffering from SAD which seems to be my only explanation as to why I'm so negative about the area at this point. We're about 5 hours from Cape Cod, so not really that close to any significant water.

With that said, I do think it's a nice place to raise a family. The schools are fine and we feel safe. There are friendly people, probably not as openly friendly as the south, but good people open to becoming friends. There are many things I like about it. It definitely has the community feel.

For me, I would like to be closer to a bigger city and the winters are just a bit too long. If you don't mind that, then I think your family would do fine here.

Can't speak for jobs as it seems it's a bit tough everywhere these days. I would not consider this area a high job growth area even without the recession.

You're not too far from NYC where there are plenty of museums. Take the train, it's a great day. I think you need a vacation to a warm climate. The winters are not all gloom and doom; there are plenty of sunny days; get out and enjoy them. We walk out dog most days for two miles and I think it helps to get out of the house.

[nunoco]

I moved to Plattsburgh three years ago when my kids were 11 and 7, and haven't regretted it. Schools are great; people for the most part are very friendly and kid-oriented; there's a big drive-thru zoo called Parc Safari about 40 minutes away en route to Montreal, and an indoor "biodome" in Montreal proper; if you're OK with fresh water, 100-mile-long Lake Champlain has white sand beaches and great boating and sailing, though right now it's better for, uh, ice fishing; the swimming program in the middle school and high school is very popular; and though my kids don't swim competitively, I've heard good things about the local AAU club, here: Lake Champlain Waves.
Hope this helps, and good luck whatever you decide.

[Cigarboo]

You're not too far from NYC where there are plenty of museums. Take the train, it's a great day. I think you need a vacation to a warm climate. The winters are not all gloom and doom; there are plenty of sunny days; get out and enjoy them. We walk out dog most days for two miles and I think it helps to get out of the house.

You make a good point. It is a nice area and wonderful for people who like cold weather/winter activities. I've been here for about 12 years and have a couple of school age kids. We've grown some roots and are very fond of this area as it is a very nice place to raise a family.

I'm about 3 hours from Boston, 3 hours from NYC and 3 1/2 hours from Montreal. Sounds great, but I don't find those places easy to do as day trips. We do go occasionally, but I'd really rather be able to go places that are within an hour or so. It's just not that convenient to go watch pro basketball/baseball games. It costs $300+(2A/2K) to take a train into NYC to catch a game at MSG. So things we like to do, we find that we don't end up doing as much as we would like. We go down to the Bronx Zoo and watch several Yankee games every year, but all that takes lots of planning and a lot of driving in a day.

I must have responded as sort of a knee jerk reaction as I would probably love to be around where the OP is at currently...close to DC with the Smithsonian and National Zoo...bigger city. Anyways, we're planning on moving out of here at the end of the school year. Sometimes, it's just time to go.

[natepickle]

Is there a place to find out about the sports activities in and around these places? Not school things, outside of school. Summer and winter activities for kids?

[anothertntony]

Originally Posted by natepickle

What about property taxes in ny? How much higher are they?

In general, property taxes in Upstate NY are stratospheric. You can see all of the tax rates on the comptroller's website. This document will have all of the information that you need:

http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/...2007table2.pdf

Look at the "Total Overall Full Value Range" column. It is in tax dollars per $1000 of assessed value, so $25 would translate to an annual tax rate of 2.5% of the fully assessed value, for example.

Personally, I do not consider the housing prices to be low in the area. They apparently were low around 2000 (and those who bought houses before then still seem to think of the prices as low), but they jumped considerably (more than doubled in the nicer areas) and have not fallen appreciably. They will certainly be cheaper than the very expensive parts of the country, but those expensive parts of the country typically have more to offer.

I can't offer much advice for the children related questions, although skiing and hockey are probably the most popular winter sports. The schools also have active sports teams, of course. The general consensus seems to be that this is a great area for raising kids.

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by Cigarboo

You make a good point. It is a nice area and wonderful for people who like cold weather/winter activities. I've been here for about 12 years and have a couple of school age kids. We've grown some roots and are very fond of this area as it is a very nice place to raise a family.

I'm about 3 hours from Boston, 3 hours from NYC and 3 1/2 hours from Montreal. Sounds great, but I don't find those places easy to do as day trips. We do go occasionally, but I'd really rather be able to go places that are within an hour or so. It's just not that convenient to go watch pro basketball/baseball games. It costs $300+(2A/2K) to take a train into NYC to catch a game at MSG. So things we like to do, we find that we don't end up doing as much as we would like. We go down to the Bronx Zoo and watch several Yankee games every year, but all that takes lots of planning and a lot of driving in a day.

I must have responded as sort of a knee jerk reaction as I would probably love to be around where the OP is at currently...close to DC with the Smithsonian and National Zoo...bigger city. Anyways, we're planning on moving out of here at the end of the school year. Sometimes, it's just time to go.

Good luck! I hope you find a great place for you and your family.

[Cigarboo]

Good luck! I hope you find a great place for you and your family.

Thank you.

And good luck to the OP.

[hmtklein]

The weather is better on the Eastern side of NY as we get less lake effect snow (& gray skies) then the rest of NY.
To answer your question about people in the Capital Region, I can tell you from an outsiders perspective, that people are very helpful. I think in general most NYers will bend over backwards if you ask them for help or advice. But I do not find them to be the type of people that are very excepting of new people into their social circle. At least not in comparasion to Colorado... There is also this stupid don't make eye contact with strangers thing I find the closer you get to the cities....

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by hmtklein

The weather is better on the Eastern side of NY as we get less lake effect snow (& gray skies) then the rest of NY.
To answer your question about people in the Capital Region, I can tell you from an outsiders perspective, that people are very helpful. I think in general most NYers will bend over backwards if you ask them for help or advice. But I do not find them to be the type of people that are very excepting of new people into their social circle. At least not in comparasion to Colorado... There is also this stupid don't make eye contact with strangers thing I find the closer you get to the cities....

Natepickle has been asking the same questions on several city-data state sites (ID, UT, WY, MT, SD, ND IO), so I doubt if he is seriously interested in answers.