Considering Buffalo - how far out is too far? (New York: real estate, to rent)

[Moriah]

Our family is considering a move to the Buffalo area when I finish my RN studies (~ 3 years from now). We currently live in Maryland where I am considered a "super commuter" in that I work in DC 67 miles from our home and spend an average of 4 hours a day commuting. Obviously we don't want to get into the same situation after we move. We'd like to live outside the city/suburbs in a more rural area but what kind of distance would that be? We're planning a visit this summer to more properly scope out the area but until then could anyone share their experiences/knowledge?

Thanks so much!

[twingirls2boys]

You can live in "the sticks" and have about a 30-40 minute drive "downtown" (I have to use that term loosely, it hardly qualifies as a city...). Where are you planning on working? There are also several hospitals in suburban areas as well......

[RWilliams]

You may want to look into the Springville area. Its a quaint little town. It is right at the end of the 219 expressway, so its an easy commute to Downtown Buffalo ( around 40 minutes). I grew up there, its a great little village.

Just noticed the village has their own website:
http://www.villageofspringvilleny.com/home.php3

[Urban Boys]

We are considering moving from San Francisco somewhere else. Somebody here suggested Rochester instead of Buffalo. But anyway, I am not sure what is going on there economically. I like the real estate prices and the traffic situation, and it is so much less expensive than here (ok, anything except Manhattan is less expensive than here). And you have summers without endless fog.

There are a lot of people moving out of this area and going all over the US. The economy is good but the cost of living is impossible.

I am very interested in hearing what others have to say!

Thanks,

[homeward bound]

Moriah, *not* to be overly negative, but do be aware of the big contraction that New York State is just starting in terms of closing and combining hospitals, etc., in the Buffalo area and state-wide. I certainly wish you the best, especially since nursing is so noble a profession, but I hope you're looking into the job-situation in the area very carefully.

In terms of places to live, RWilliams gives good advice to recommend Springville. Nice place!

Also consider East Aurora, which is southeast of Buffalo. It's a very stately medium-sized town. Excellent schools, fine mix of housing, and an easy commute (probably around 40 minutes). Lots of snow (assuming that Global Warming permitting!), but the town cleans the roads quickly and well, and the town has a lot of winter activities. Beautiful summers.

Near East Aurora, consider Hamburg and Orchard Park.

Smaller, quanter places would include Holland, Wales, and Elma. All fine places to raise a family, and many of the people who live there comfortably commute into or nearer Buffalo. More rural--feels like New England on a larger scale, as so much of New York State does.

East of the city, consider Clarence. Flat country, so if you like rolling hills it can seem boring, but a nice town nonetheless. Maybe 20 minutes into Buffalo. Very close to Amhert's extensive shopping, yet with a lot of produce and fruit still locally grown around there.

If you like traditional suburbs, look into Amherst (much reviewed on other threads on this forum--check out older pages). Also, Williamsville, within Amherst, has its own old village area. It's small but very cozy, and right down Main St. from Buffalo and/or the Buffalo beltway entrances. Excellent schools (true of all these places, really.) From most points in Amherst/Williamsville you could be in most points in Buffalo in 15, 25 minutes, top, unless the weather is really bad or an accident has created a bottleneck.

Pretty high property taxes in these areas, but probably similar to what you're used to in Maryland (assuming that your area is part of the vast D.C. suburban sprawl).

Also, if/when you do make your move to Buffalo, do take advantage of your proximity to Toronto, truly a great city.

And look into all the "country" things to do right outside Buffalo or the town you settle in: boating, fishing, swimming, camping, hiking, biking, sight-seeing, etc. You'll find a sense of history AND elbow-room throughout these very varied area that is harder and harder to find in the D.C. area.

And Buffalo itself is a city with a lot of character and merit. (But do be careful about its worsening crime problem.)

Finally, if you like real privacy and renting a cottage on a gorgeous lake, while NY state offers a lot of this around Buffalo, and the Great Lakes are once again enjoyable, and the Finger Lakes are just lovely, look into renting cottages in Ontario. With a four hour drive from Buffalo, you can put your family in a cozy cottage on lakes you wouldn't believe. But don't forget to take a Buffalo pizza or calzone or gyro with you! Buffalo's great food (at pretty low prices) is rarely matched anywhere else I've been in either America or Canada.

Good luck!

[Moriah]

Originally Posted by twingirls2boys

You can live in "the sticks" and have about a 30-40 minute drive "downtown" (I have to use that term loosely, it hardly qualifies as a city...). Where are you planning on working? There are also several hospitals in suburban areas as well......

I'm not far enough along to have specific hospitals in mind, but a 30-40 minute commute sounds like heaven!

[Moriah]

Originally Posted by RWilliams

You may want to look into the Springville area. Its a quaint little town. It is right at the end of the 219 expressway, so its an easy commute to Downtown Buffalo ( around 40 minutes). I grew up there, its a great little village.

Just noticed the village has their own website:
http://www.villageofspringvilleny.com/home.php3

Thanks so much for the link! Explored a bit there and it looks just darling

[Moriah]

Originally Posted by homeward bound

Moriah, *not* to be overly negative, but do be aware of the big contraction that New York State is just starting in terms of closing and combining hospitals, etc., in the Buffalo area and state-wide. I certainly wish you the best, especially since nursing is so noble a profession, but I hope you're looking into the job-situation in the area very carefully.

This is some of what I'm hoping to learn about from locals. On several of the nursing boards I frequent this has been vaguely mentioned, but local nurses don't seem to have much concern about long-term job safety or saturation of the RN market. What are you hearing differently?

Originally Posted by homeward bound

Also consider East Aurora, which is southeast of Buffalo. It's a very stately medium-sized town. Excellent schools, fine mix of housing, and an easy commute (probably around 40 minutes). Lots of snow (assuming that Global Warming permitting!), but the town cleans the roads quickly and well, and the town has a lot of winter activities. Beautiful summers.

Near East Aurora, consider Hamburg and Orchard Park.

Smaller, quanter places would include Holland, Wales, and Elma. All fine places to raise a family, and many of the people who live there comfortably commute into or nearer Buffalo. More rural--feels like New England on a larger scale, as so much of New York State does.

East of the city, consider Clarence. Flat country, so if you like rolling hills it can seem boring, but a nice town nonetheless. Maybe 20 minutes into Buffalo. Very close to Amhert's extensive shopping, yet with a lot of produce and fruit still locally grown around there.

Thanks for these suggestions - I'll be checking into real estate costs for these areas, etc.

Originally Posted by homeward bound

Pretty high property taxes in these areas, but probably similar to what you're used to in Maryland (assuming that your area is part of the vast D.C. suburban sprawl).

We're on the outermost edges of that sprawl and I commute to the heart of it every day Our property taxes are perhaps 1/2 of those in the Buffalo area, but we're taking the higher rates into consideration when budget analyzing.

Originally Posted by homeward bound

Also, if/when you do make your move to Buffalo, do take advantage of your proximity to Toronto, truly a great city.

Ahh yes, the site of the Hockey Hall of Fame ... it has not escaped the notice of my hockeynut husband

Originally Posted by homeward bound

And look into all the "country" things to do right outside Buffalo or the town you settle in: boating, fishing, swimming, camping, hiking, biking, sight-seeing, etc. You'll find a sense of history AND elbow-room throughout these very varied area that is harder and harder to find in the D.C. area.

And Buffalo itself is a city with a lot of character and merit. (But do be careful about its worsening crime problem.)

We have tons of history here but the elbow room is sorely lacking these days. Any picturesque corn field can be counted on to become a field full of $400k+ homes by summer's end

Originally Posted by homeward bound

Finally, if you like real privacy and renting a cottage on a gorgeous lake, while NY state offers a lot of this around Buffalo, and the Great Lakes are once again enjoyable, and the Finger Lakes are just lovely, look into renting cottages in Ontario. With a four hour drive from Buffalo, you can put your family in a cozy cottage on lakes you wouldn't believe. But don't forget to take a Buffalo pizza or calzone or gyro with you! Buffalo's great food (at pretty low prices) is rarely matched anywhere else I've been in either America or Canada.

Good luck!

Actually this is what started our idea to move to the northcentral NY area. For 40 years my husband's family vacationed at the same set of cottages in rural Ontario (Plevna area). After several years away, last summer we spent a week at a lake close to the old vacation spot. Now we want to live close enough to spend more weeks a year up there and perhaps buy our own cottage for weekend trips. I'd started my career change prior to that trip, but now we're a bit more motivated to get out of here.

Thanks for the lovely long post and I hope you don't mind the return questions

[ksimons]

Hi -I stumbled on your post while researching info about Buffalo. Glad you're thinking of moving to WNY. I grew up in Rochester and spent three years in Buffalo, but also lived in Gaithersburg, MD from 98 - 2002 so think I can relate to why you want to leave MD! The advice you've been given by others is solid, but also keep in mind that if you live south of Buffalo you're going to have to deal with more lake effect snow than if you lived in the city or North of it. I mention this b/c I know that a dusting of snow is enough to cripple the metro DC area, while half a foot would still be considered driveable to most WNYrs I would also like to put in a plug for the Rochester and finger lakes areas. Canandaigua, Honeoye Falls, and Geneseo, NY are all charming small towns in the Rochester area that you may want to consider if you're not firm on Buffalo.

[Moriah]

Ksimons, thanks for the comments! I'm more than glad to sit home (with pay) as the DC Metro area goes crazy over a dusting of snow, but I learned to drive in SW Michigan where we also got a bit of lake effect snow. I'm actually looking forward to driving in snow where people know how to drive in snow, not skidding past you at 65 MPH in a massive 4x4 that makes them feel like God. And having lived in Gaithersburg you know something about that, eh? While of course we're facing more snow than we can imagine (and I can imagine a whole lot its something we're excited about, not scared of. I had grand times as a kid in Alaska snowmobiling and sledding and want to share the same with our 11yo.

From what I've heard and given its proximity to where we want to be over the Canadian border, Rochester would be our first choice except that the Univ of Buffalo offers the graduate program I'm considering applying to once I get done with my bachelors here. Maybe half way in-between??