Amherst, NY - tell me about it (New York, Buffalo: how much, houses)

[ddlove01]

I was looking around at possibly maybe moving to another state in a few years and Amherst caught my eye. I've only done a tiny bit of research but can anyone tell me how it's like? Does it take long to get to the grocery stores, shopping malls, etc. How much snow does it get and how cold? Lots of nightlife or pretty boring? Good place to raise a family? According to the stats, its the second safest city, the housing wasn't that overpriced too which was a shocker to me... Any info would be appreciated!

[ckhthankgod]

Nice town that has 3 school districts within it's boundaries(Sweet Home, Amherst and the very affluent Williamsville). There is plenty of retail and things there for you in Amherst. Here is some more information on the town:Town of Amherst, New York Official Home Page

Amherst Police Department Home Page

Amherst, New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amherst Museum - Keeping History Alive

Amherst Central School District

Welcome to the Amherst Chamber of Commerce

Amherst Pepsi Center - Ice & Facility Rental

Sweet Home Central School District

WILLIAMSVILLE - CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

It does snow up here, but Syracuse is actually worse on those terms. It is a good place to raise a family and has good schools.

As far as nightlife, I'm not sure about Amherst itself, but it is easy to go to Buffalo for that.

[Buffalonian4life]

Amherst, a large suburb of the city of Buffalo, is very prosperous and affordable, safe and close to multiple shopping districts and grocery stores. It contains many of the the regions shopping destinations and has close proximity to the largest malls, etc.

You will most definately be welcomed to the wonderful suburb of Amherst, New York.

[mikesuicide]

Boring and homogenized. If your looking for the sterotypical suburb with endless sprawl and little diversity, this is the place for you. I will say that its one pro is the fantastic schools systems

[Buffalonian4life]

Originally Posted by mikesuicide

Boring and homogenized. If your looking for the sterotypical suburb with endless sprawl and little diversity, this is the place for you. I will say that its one pro is the fantastic schools systems

What else would you want a suburb to be?

[ddlove01]

How about the property taxes? Let's say I buy a 200K home, what would the estimated taxes be if that is what the assessed value would be? How do they determine the school tax? I read a couple topics about the school tax and it was just as much if not more than the prop tax...Can you get an exemption and would it be significant? I was trying to read thru the STAR document if anyone is familiar with i...and it was very confusing.

I think the determining factor for us to move to NY would be if we could find a place that the property taxes won't put us in the poor house, KWIM? I mean if they taxes are 6000 per year, that's 500 per month. That's very high IMO. Do WNYers pay more tax than upstate? Is it because the schools are better, the roads are better, there's more to do, etc.

Please help me any way you can.

[ddlove01]

thanks so much for the quick replies, I have bookmarked those links!

[SpeedyWeber]

I grew up in Amherst, in an area known as Eggertsville, and graduated from Amherst Central in '91. From the perspective of a person growing up there, it was a terrific area for me. The school system was great. I always had teachers that were dedicated to a good education. I wasn't a stereotypical student either. I caused my fair share of problems yet I was still encouraged by teachers to do well despite everything.

Eggertsville is close to the Buffalo City line. You can very easily access any of the expressways from the area, letting you get to any part of town in no more then 15-20 min. The City subway system ends at SUNY Buffalo and was 5 min. from my house. I was able to ride it into the city to visit friends I had made from other neighborhoods. It was also convienient for myself and friends to ride it downtown and catch a ballgame in the summer, or hockey in winter.

Eggertsville is not the typical suburb that the rest of Amherst in associated with. There is diversity in the housing and neighborhoods. It is not the same house in a different color over and over again. Yet everyone was always friendly and courteous. My parents had keys to neighbors houses as did they for ours. We always watched one anothers property if someone was away. I could go to anyones house to ask a hand of someone when in need. There were plenty of kids around and places for us to play.

Other areas of Amherst are nice as well, however when you get out towards East Amherst and parts of Williamsville there is some "keeping up with the Jones'" going on. Eggertsville seemed a bit more down to earth.

Taxes, jobs, and weather is what made me leave the area. However since I have moved around a bit, my wife and I are considering moving back to the area, or at least back to NY. I'm currently near Baltimore and this place is a s***hole. The weather is better, there are less taxes, and my wife and I make more money hear then if we would've stayed, but everything else is horrible. The state edjucation system keeps pumping out dumber and dumber students. They keeping dropping the bar or else no one would graduate and the classes would overwhelming full. The housing market is extremely expensive. So much so the extra money we make from the higher paying jobs pretty much all goes to our mortgage. The traffic just blows. There are many people here, many of them drive like poop, and many people drive through here from all over the east coast just adding to the chaos. The neighborhoods suck, save for a few very expensive ones. Most of the people are ignorant and not firendly. I'm constantly finding myself having to say something to a neighbor about their dog/car/kid/noise/trash. There are crappy neighbors in every city if you pick the wrong place to live, but this entire region is the worng place to live.

So, I'm willing to pay higher taxes so that my son can go to a public school and have a good education. Besides the housing market there is very affordable. It won't take $200k to buy a nice home. I am ready to move back to nice neighbors with some common sense. I am ready for bearable traffic. And as far as the weather goes, I'll just have to suck that one up. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the food in the Buffalo area is some of the best around. I can't think of one restaurant that isn't a decent place, if not terrific.

[SpeedyWeber]

Originally Posted by mikesuicide

Boring and homogenized. If your looking for the sterotypical suburb with endless sprawl and little diversity, this is the place for you. I will say that its one pro is the fantastic schools systems

I disagree. Endless sprawl, that's funny. You know, when you leave a small city like Buffalo and live in a large metro area, it makes Buffalo seem even smaller. There isn't any diversity in any neighborhood in Buffalo. It is one of the most segregated cities around. However as a whole, the metro area is very diversified. Where do you live Mike? I can break down every single neighborhood in Buffalo and tell you what to expect. I lived in many of them and know someone from all of them.

Amherst is mostly full of families with children. It is also full of white collar jobs. Some people need nothing more then a good neighborhood with good schools and good access to all the surrounding areas. Amherst does have many snobs abound though. Many of its inhabitants are either German, or Jewish.

Clarence is like Amherst, but a bit more rural. More space and larger plots of land.

Tonawanda is full of smaller cape style homes. The people are less stuffy then they are in Amherst, but the school system isn't as good either. Many of your blue collar labor types are there. It has a large Italian ethnicity.

The cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda are poorer versions of the Town of Tonawanda.

Cheektowaga is like Tonawanda but with a Polish background.

Depew is kind of trashy.

Lancaster is much like Amherst but without the Jewish.

West Seneca is close cousins with Cheektowaga natives.

Orchard Park is like Amherst, but with people that think they are better then people from Amherst.

Hamburg is pleasant, but a little spread out and little out of the way for a convienient commute to anywhere except downtown.

Blasdell is kinda crappy, like Depew.

Dont even think about moving to Lackawanna. I had a girlfriend once that told me to kiss her where it stinks so I drove her to Lackawanna.

As fas as within the city limits goes......

West side is Puerto Rican, although it used to be Italian and they still have a presence there.

East side if African American. Except for a small pocket know as Love Joy which is primarily Italian and they are very territorial.

South is Irish.

North is where most of the Italians moved to, and bleed over to Kenmore/Tonawanda

If you're gay you live in Allentown. (Most likely where Mike is living)

Elmwood strip is mostly yuppie/trendy types that think they are above everyone that lives in a suburb.

Delaware Park is the very wealthy.

Riverside/Black Rock is a cheaper dirtier version of the City of Tonawanda.

I think that about sums it up. Please note I am not trying to put down any area. There are great people in all the areas, however the above is a basic guideline to what you will find. While I do have my own opinions what is above is true and anyone from Buffalo would be hard pressed to argue I am wrong.

For the most part, if you have kids and if you land in Starpoint, Amherst, Clarence, Lancaster, Hamburg, or Orchard Park school systems your kids will have the chance to do well, if you're a good parent. If they go to Cheektowaga, Ken-Ton, North Tonawanda, Depew, or West Seneca they can still do well but would still be better off if the other school districts. Avoid Buffalo Public Schools like the plague. City Honors is the only public school in the city worth mentioning. There are good private schools in the area as well.

[mikesuicide]

Originally Posted by SpeedyWeber

I disagree. Endless sprawl, that's funny. You know, when you leave a small city like Buffalo and live in a large metro area, it makes Buffalo seem even smaller. There isn't any diversity in any neighborhood in Buffalo. It is one of the most segregated cities around. However as a whole, the metro area is very diversified. Where do you live Mike? I can break down every single neighborhood in Buffalo and tell you what to expect. I lived in many of them and know someone from all of them.

Amherst is mostly full of families with children. It is also full of white collar jobs. Some people need nothing more then a good neighborhood with good schools and good access to all the surrounding areas. Amherst does have many snobs abound though. Many of its inhabitants are either German, or Jewish.

Clarence is like Amherst, but a bit more rural. More space and larger plots of land.

Tonawanda is full of smaller cape style homes. The people are less stuffy then they are in Amherst, but the school system isn't as good either. Many of your blue collar labor types are there. It has a large Italian ethnicity.

The cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda are poorer versions of the Town of Tonawanda.

Cheektowaga is like Tonawanda but with a Polish background.

Depew is kind of trashy.

Lancaster is much like Amherst but without the Jewish.

West Seneca is close cousins with Cheektowaga natives.

Orchard Park is like Amherst, but with people that think they are better then people from Amherst.

Hamburg is pleasant, but a little spread out and little out of the way for a convienient commute to anywhere except downtown.

Blasdell is kinda crappy, like Depew.

Dont even think about moving to Lackawanna. I had a girlfriend once that told me to kiss her where it stinks so I drove her to Lackawanna.

As fas as within the city limits goes......

West side is Puerto Rican, although it used to be Italian and they still have a presence there.

East side if African American. Except for a small pocket know as Love Joy which is primarily Italian and they are very territorial.

South is Irish.

North is where most of the Italians moved to, and bleed over to Kenmore/Tonawanda

If you're gay you live in Allentown. (Most likely where Mike is living)

Elmwood strip is mostly yuppie/trendy types that think they are above everyone that lives in a suburb.

Delaware Park is the very wealthy.

Riverside/Black Rock is a cheaper dirtier version of the City of Tonawanda.

I think that about sums it up. Please note I am not trying to put down any area. There are great people in all the areas, however the above is a basic guideline to what you will find. While I do have my own opinions what is above is true and anyone from Buffalo would be hard pressed to argue I am wrong.

For the most part, if you have kids and if you land in Starpoint, Amherst, Clarence, Lancaster, Hamburg, or Orchard Park school systems your kids will have the chance to do well, if you're a good parent. If they go to Cheektowaga, Ken-Ton, North Tonawanda, Depew, or West Seneca they can still do well but would still be better off if the other school districts. Avoid Buffalo Public Schools like the plague. City Honors is the only public school in the city worth mentioning. There are good private schools in the area as well.

Aren't you a regular Buffalo thesarus.
Nice try, your lame attempt to imply that I'm gay is cute. I actually have lived in most neighborhoods as well and won't argue with 50% of your stereotypes, the other 50% your dead wrong with sweeping generalizations. You're quite the parody of yourself. Your description of the Elmwood Village fits you, Mr. big city. Amherst is sprawl and quite homogenized. Although Buffalo has quite a bit of racial division, 80% of the city is diverse in its population. Elmwood being by far the most.