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Thank you all for your great input. We are looking at sending our boys to CBA so picking an area nearer to Albany seems more likely. Delmar and Guilderland seem nice from the real estate photos we have seen. Are either of these places more teen friendly? Also, trying to find a house with the right amenities is tricky. Our current house has a great gourmet kitchen and beautiful pool on 2 acres. We don't need a pool or a lot of property but a great kitchen and floor plan are a must. I need a fourth bedroom to handle the mant visitors we anticipate. Can I get that in the $300-400k range? Most houses in that range seem to be builders specials that look a little worn.
One last question...what time is rush hour? I would like to be in my office downtown by 7:30 and depart between 4:30 and 5:30. Would I avoid traffic by coming in early?
Look into Altamont for houses with larger lots. Altamont feeds into the Guilderland school district. Averill Park and East Greenbush are options too if you want more for your money. The schools are not bad but it is definetly more rural, if that's what you are looking for.
I'm not sure what you mean by "teen friendly". Can you explain it?
Scotia isn't a bad place. My sister commutes to Albany from here nearly every day and it usually takes her 30-45 minutes on average depending on the traffic. (I don't know when rush hour starts in the am but in the evening it's around 5.)
The school district in Scotia is pretty nice, but I wouldn't say it's a very "teen friendly" place as there is nothing to do. (The only options for recreation seem to be the bowling alley or the mall in Rotterdam.)
I would look into Loudonville, Clifton Park, Niskayuna, Guilderland.
Thanks everyone. I guess "Teen friendly" to me is not being so rural that the kids have to travel 10 miles to go to a friends house. It might also mean that the area has a downtown where kids can meet and congregate.
OP, I know what you mean. I grew up in Niskayuna and was bored as a kid, but I didn't play sports and I wasn't a big partier/drinker, which a lot of kids were. I can only speak for Sch'dy where I now live. I was downtown Saturday night w/my young son. There were a lot of teens/young adults downtown. I think they were mostly Union College students, but I could be wrong. If I were a teen again the places I'd hang out at would be: the Bow Tie cinema, the rock climbing gym, Bomber's Burrito's they have nintendo night, which sounds fun, the Pizza King where you can grab a slice, w/about 5 kinds to choose from, Vale Park gazebo, pavilion, walk in the woods, Central Park paddle boats, music at night during the summer. In Scotia Jumping Jacks ice cream, watch waterskiing, in Niskayuna Upper Union St. pizza at I love NY maybe just walk around, the skateboarding park? If you have any specific questions about Sch'dy or Niskayuna feel free to IM me. What do your teens like to do? Maybe w/more info we can all help more?
Thanks everyone. I guess "Teen friendly" to me is not being so rural that the kids have to travel 10 miles to go to a friends house. It might also mean that the area has a downtown where kids can meet and congregate.
You really don't want your kids hanging out in a any downtown are of the Capital Region. They are ghettos and by ghetto I mean drug, crime & gang activity. I really don't know where the teenagers hang out around here...maybe at the mall. However, parts of revitalized downtown in Schenectady & Albany are not too bad but it is a couple of blocks of nice stuff and then it gets dumpy. You need to check this out for yourself so you can find a safe place for your family to be.
Another place to check is Voorheesville. There's a rural feel but it is not far removed. It is located between Guilderland & Delmar. Like Delmar there are sidewalks in Voorheesville, which most areas don't have (very annoying thing!!) and a little town center. Check it out and see what you think. The schools are rated the best in the area.
You really don't want your kids hanging out in a any downtown are of the Capital Region. They are ghettos and by ghetto I mean drug, crime & gang activity. I really don't know where the teenagers hang out around here...maybe at the mall. However, parts of revitalized downtown in Schenectady & Albany are not too bad but it is a couple of blocks of nice stuff and then it gets dumpy. You need to check this out for yourself so you can find a safe place for your family to be.
Another place to check is Voorheesville. There's a rural feel but it is not far removed. It is located between Guilderland & Delmar. Like Delmar there are sidewalks in Voorheesville, which most areas don't have (very annoying thing!!) and a little town center. Check it out and see what you think. The schools are rated the best in the area.
What I got from the downtown part is that the oP wanted a community with a decent business district that has things for teens as well.
Sure there are ghetto parts of the cities in this area. Schenectady for example you wouldn't catch me hanging out in Hamilton Hill, strolling around w/my kids on a Sunday afternoon. But hey there is a great restaurant, Petta's that I'd go to. Just because there are horrible areas of the city, let's not overlook the beautiful areas, The Stockade, GE Plots, Central Park, Union College. There are gangs and drugs, yes but that doesn't mean that all teens are gang bangers. All the highschool students that I know are smart & successful, all have gone on to college, volunteer in their communities are polite and well spoken. Sch'dy High has amazing programs, the John Sayles Art School is great as one teen said "where else could I take ballet for gym class?" The IB program, ROTC are other programs that you won't find everywhere.
We lived for 20 years in the Albany area and just moved out last year. I have 4 kids... 13-21... so understand teens. We lived for 13 years in Clifton Park and 7 in Loudonville. I worked in downtown Albany for much of that time, but also traveled a bit too. The commute from Clifton Park to downtown Albany is miserable on a good day... horrible on a bad day (bad weather, accident, etc..). There is not any good way that they will fix the traffic problem. When we moved to Loudonville we found that we absolutely loved the location. We were central to everything, and everyone always congregated at our house since it was close to everyone. We sold a beautiful 4,000 sq ft. colonial with an inground pool for $436K when we moved. We were in the South Colonie school district but our kids went to a private Christian school. Loudonville is officially in the Town of Colonie, as is Latham and the Village of Colonie. The thing we used as our bounds when we did the search for that house was to find a place inside the 87, 90, 787, 7 loop. We were just off Albany Shaker Rd near the new The Crossings park. I highly recommend that area. All the suburban schools around Albany are very good.
I am very close to the area convergent describes above. It is about as "teen-friendly/walkable" as you will find after Saratoga Springs. (Pity about the commute to Albany from Saratoga....it is a great town for all ages.)
CBA is very involved in the community around south Colonie & Loudonville, and the Crossings is such a nice park. There is a rec center adjacent to the park with a huge swimming pool and multi-court basketball leagues, fitness gym, etc. Two malls close by although they carry a curfew for unaccompanied minors - no biggee. The strip on Rt. 9 in Loudonville has enough on it for teens, and slowly the Central Ave. strip in the village of Colonie is starting to spring to life.
I would agree with all the caution about Clifton Park. Don't move there unless you absolutely have to. The commute is a tragic waste of time, because there are so many good options where you have city streets as a back-up option for commute.
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