Ballston Spa / Glens Falls - jobs, schools, neighborhood questions (Albany: hair salon, crime)

[wheels_99]

My wife and I are seriously considering relocating to an area north of Albany. We are doing this for several reasons:

1. To live near a nice charming town, but still be say 5 minutes from a grocery store, gas station, coffee shop, etc.
2. To live in a modest [colonial] home in a family-friendly community (housing development) so our 9 month old daughter can grow up and play with other kids right down the street. We are looking for a house of about 1800 SF+ with a basement, 3BR+, 2+ bath, 1/2 acre+ in the mid 200s
3. To be in a good school district with community support for academics & extracurricular activities for our daughter.
4. To be close to high schools & colleges & a gym or two so my wife can teach in any/all of those.
5. To be close to IT jobs (software, application support, development, etc) if I decide to change jobs in the future.
6. To be close to the adirondacks just because we love them.

We originally thought living right near Clifton Park may be the right area for us based on visits a couple of years ago. We just went back and realized that it has everything we are looking for, plus alot more shopping and it is way too busy for us.

So, we ended up in the Malta / Ballston Spa area and really liked Ballston Spa & some of the housing developments there. It seems close enough to the new tech park in malta, Saratoga/Clifton Park for shopping/jobs, and Schenectady/Albany area for other IT Jobs.

Then, we researched the Glens Falls area. It is much cheaper there, but it does not seem like there is much job opportunity (at least for me in the IT field) nearby. Are most jobs of the tourism kind? What are the schools like here?

Any thoughts or insight anyone can provide?
Thanks!

[Carmengreenmarcos]

I worked as a substitute teacher for 5 yrs in Albany area so there are alot of good schools around there. Glenns Falls is cheaper, but less around there. IT wise, as u already stated the tech park is right there, and I believe there is one near Troy/East Greenbush area. There are also a few colleges around there so that might b another possible job direction it wise to go. I'm not sure what u do it wise but just throwing that out there.

[wheels_99]

Thanks for the info. I think we just need to find the right development, maybe on the west side of Clifton Park, toward Ballston Lake. We don't mind being close enough to Clifton Park so we can go into town for trips to Walmart/Target, Home Depot/Lowes, eating, etc.

We do not, however, want to go into Clifton Park for our everyday necessities (grocery shopping, gas, etc). It looks like we could live near Ballston Lake / East Glenville and have access to groceries, gas, etc in East Glenville/Scotia.

Does anyone live near there?

Any housing developments you can recommend?

[wheels_99]

I forgot to mention that I work in software development, support, website design, maintenance, etc. I do more with software than hardware, so I'm not sure how soon anything would be available in malta if I should decide to switch jobs in the future. As I understand it, most of the jobs there would be hardware-based.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by wheels_99

My wife and I are seriously considering relocating to an area north of Albany. We are doing this for several reasons:

1. To live near a nice charming town, but still be say 5 minutes from a grocery store, gas station, coffee shop, etc.
2. To live in a modest [colonial] home in a family-friendly community (housing development) so our 9 month old daughter can grow up and play with other kids right down the street. We are looking for a house of about 1800 SF+ with a basement, 3BR+, 2+ bath, 1/2 acre+ in the mid 200s
3. To be in a good school district with community support for academics & extracurricular activities for our daughter.
4. To be close to high schools & colleges & a gym or two so my wife can teach in any/all of those.
5. To be close to IT jobs (software, application support, development, etc) if I decide to change jobs in the future.
6. To be close to the adirondacks just because we love them.

We originally thought living right near Clifton Park may be the right area for us based on visits a couple of years ago. We just went back and realized that it has everything we are looking for, plus alot more shopping and it is way too busy for us.

So, we ended up in the Malta / Ballston Spa area and really liked Ballston Spa & some of the housing developments there. It seems close enough to the new tech park in malta, Saratoga/Clifton Park for shopping/jobs, and Schenectady/Albany area for other IT Jobs.

Then, we researched the Glens Falls area. It is much cheaper there, but it does not seem like there is much job opportunity (at least for me in the IT field) nearby. Are most jobs of the tourism kind? What are the schools like here?

Any thoughts or insight anyone can provide?
Thanks!

You can try areas like Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake or Scotia. I believe they are closer to Schenectady and both have good school districts.

[Caitlyn1925]

Boy is this the PERFECT question for me! I currently live in Malta but grew up in South Glens Falls.

South Glens Falls is an AWESOME school district. I am an alumni and can personally vouch. If you move into the SGF school district your family will become a part of the annual Marathon Dance. This is a dance that the high school students from South High put on every year to raise money for people in the community that need it. In 32 years of having this dance, the students have raised over $2 million for worthy causes. Its an incredible thing to be apart of.

Academics are great. I would estimate that 75% of the graduating seniors in my class went onto college. When I was there (graduated 5 years ago) the boys sports teams weren't great. The girls on the other hand won a few state championships over the years. Theatre was big for us but the year that I graduated, the director left. I'm not sure whats become of that program now.

The district is divided into 4 separate areas. These areas decide which elementary school your children will attend. We have Moreau (SGF closer to Fort Edward & gansevoort town), Tanglewood (SGF village), Harrison Ave (SGF village towards GF) and Ballard (gansevoort/ Wilton). I personally went to Moreau and had a great experience. I would also recommend Tanglewood. I wished I would have lived over there. Tanglewood and the high school are right across the street from each other. Living over there would have been alot more convenient during high school.

The town itself is decent. You have your grocery store, banks, garages, hair salons, gas stations, restaurants, fast food, small beach, parks, dollar stores, laundromat, etc. Pretty much everything you need on a regular basis if within a 5 minute drive. SGF is also pretty equidistant between Queensbury and Saratoga (10 mins on northway).

There was little to no crime when I lived there. My entire family still lives there so I visit weekly. I recall a few break ins and a few drug busts (nothing too crazy) but thats about it.

If you want to get more bang for your buck go with SGF. You'll easilly be able to find the house that you want there. I have family members who live in Briarhurst (off of Spier Falls Rd). Gorgeous house. Great, SAFE area. Very family oriented. There are alot of developments going in on Reservoir Road as well. Those houses are right around your price range, I believe.

As for IT jobs up that way, you would be within a 10 minute drive to Saratoga or Queensbury. You could also hop on the northway and be to Malta to work at the new AMD plant within 25 minutes. Rush hour traffic is hardly an issue traveling between Malta and SGF.

Now onto Malta. I currently live here and absolutely adore the neighborhood. We dont yet own a home, and unfortunately probably will not be able to afford to buy a home in the town once AMD comes in. If you want to live in Malta, do it NOW. In a few months, these home prices are going to definitely rise. This may be good for you though. The town itself is super cute and VERY safe. We have a price chopper, laundromats, fast food, banks, restaurants, salons, gas stations, etc. From where I live, everything is a 1 minute drive. It takes me 7 minutes to get from my driveway to Wilton Mall in Saratoga, so you will be very close to everything. Its also only about 10 mins to Clifton Park.

If you decide to move into Malta you will be in the Ballston Spa school district. Heres where MAlta falls short for me. I havent heard great things about the BS school district. The town of Ballston Spa has a few rougher neighborhoods, though I guess you will find that with nearly everywhere. I dont know much about the academics though, so I cant really judge.

The town is in the process of building some new shops and what not but were not really sure whats going in yet. It will be nice though. During the summer months, Malta is only a 5 minute drive to Saratoga Lake.

Sorry this was so long. Guess I had alot to say :-). Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Rumblebelly]

I lived in Ballston Spa for a couple of years. The north side has a few run down streets mixed in with decent areas. We lived a block north of South Street and didnt' have any problems. However, there's always that one run down house a couple hundred feet away with those damn kids...The south side of town is great. Fantastic streets with grand Victorian homes.

Downtown is coming along really well. In the past year, 3 new restuarants have opened up...one being a wine bar. There are a lot of construction and renovations going on throughout the village. There's always things going on such as film festivals, parades, and other events. It's also 5 minutes from the Hannaford in Milton. There are a few nice developments on the edge of the village that might meet your criteria.

Sorry we don't have kids and aren't familiar enough to know much about the BS school district. I've heard mixed things about it.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Rumblebelly

I lived in Ballston Spa for a couple of years. The north side has a few run down streets mixed in with decent areas. We lived a block north of South Street and didnt' have any problems. However, there's always that one run down house a couple hundred feet away with those damn kids...The south side of town is great. Fantastic streets with grand Victorian homes.

Downtown is coming along really well. In the past year, 3 new restuarants have opened up...one being a wine bar. There are a lot of construction and renovations going on throughout the village. There's always things going on such as film festivals, parades, and other events. It's also 5 minutes from the Hannaford in Milton. There are a few nice developments on the edge of the village that might meet your criteria.

Sorry we don't have kids and aren't familiar enough to know much about the BS school district. I've heard mixed things about it.

Here's info. on the SD:Ballston Spa Central School District Overview | GreatSchools