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I always thought that Rochester was a unique city, upstate New York is really nice, I have relatives there and I realize that there is more to New York than just New York City.
Why? I haven't been there but it seems like a pretty typical post-industrial Great Lakes city to me.
DT Rochester is remarkably clean, and most of the older buildings in that part of town are in surprisingly good condition. Outside of its CBD, Rochester appears to be less ghetto, on average, in comparison to other Rust Belt cities, which includes the likes of Flint, MI and Youngstown, OH. The waterfall on the Genesee River in DT Rochester is pretty neat and not something most other cities in the US, if any, can lay claim to, especially within their CBD. However, the suburbs of Rochester are where the metropolitan area truly shines, IMO. Throughout Monroe County, the suburban and exurban areas are mostly clean and upscale. Also, much of Monroe County has a newly minted look that is more common in MI and IL than NY State or elsewhere in the Northeast, while still doing an excellent job of preserving historic homes and other structures. As a result, the countryside of Monroe County is quite bucolic. All of the above makes Rochester seem like a relatively prosperous metropolitan area, especially by NY State standards.
Lower crime, City proper:Albany
Metro: Albany, but all are low in a comparative sense on a national level
Safe & affordable suburbs:Buffalo, but all Upstate metro areas have them
Outdoor Activities, Mountains: Albany
Water: Rochester due to having Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Erie Canal in the metro. Buffalo is close in this regard though and is close enough to the Enchanted “Mountains” about an hour and half South.
Weather: Albany gets less snowfall on average, but this will depend on what you are looking for, as more snowfall could be good if you ski. All 3 have ski areas nearby.
Food: depends on what you are looking for, but Buffalo has a little bit more of a unique food scene in terms of area dishes than Rochester.
Children & Family Activities: Rochester mainly because of the Strong Museum of Play. Again, all 3 have amusement parks within an hour, if not minutes and sporting events, if you are into that.
Keep in mind with Buffalo and Rochester, there can be/is some overlapping in terms of proximity to some these things, as the cities aren’t that far from each other and the metro areas actually touch each other.
Also, as another poster mentioned, you might as well consider Syracuse or even Utica-Rome, as they are also along the I-90 stretch of the NY State Thruway. Both of those metros, which also touch, have things that fit the criteria within them or nearby.
I dare say that in terms of an Upstate NY suburban area, New Hartford outside of Utica is a big time sleeper in terms of a very good school district, plenty of big box shopping, some walkability in its village, has affordable and relatively affluent areas, has some viable employment options within/nearby and even public transportation could be an option depending on where you live in the town/village. Vestal outside of Binghamton is similar(Binghamton University is actually located there). Yet you may not think of them due to the areas they are in. So, that may be something to consider.
Why? I haven't been there but it seems like a pretty typical post-industrial Great Lakes city to me.
As another poster eluded to, Rochester is more white collar than people may realize and actually has an above average educational attainment in terms of the percentage of people 25 and over with at least a Bachelors degree.
Also, it has a high percentage of patent holders due to talent from Kodak, Xerox and Bausch and Lomb, among others, staying in the area and forming smaller companies. Here’s an article/list: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savi...ies/ar-BBP7aUe (Albany and Ithaca are also listed). So, Upstate NY isn’t just about manufacturing, but other industries and innovation as well.
Lower crime, City proper:Albany
Metro: Albany, but all are low in a comparative sense on a national level
Safe & affordable suburbs:Buffalo, but all Upstate metro areas have them
Outdoor Activities, Mountains: Albany
Water: Rochester due to having Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Erie Canal in the metro. Buffalo is close in this regard though and is close enough to the Enchanted “Mountains” about an hour and half South.
Weather: Albany gets less snowfall on average, but this will depend on what you are looking for, as more snowfall could be good if you ski. All 3 have ski areas nearby.
Food: depends on what you are looking for, but Buffalo has a little bit more of a unique food scene in terms of area dishes than Rochester.
Children & Family Activities: Rochester mainly because of the Strong Museum of Play. Again, all 3 have amusement parks within an hour, if not minutes and sporting events, if you are into that.
Keep in mind with Buffalo and Rochester, there can be/is some overlapping in terms of proximity to some these things, as the cities aren’t that far from each other and the metro areas actually touch each other.
Also, as another poster mentioned, you might as well consider Syracuse or even Utica-Rome, as they are also along the I-90 stretch of the NY State Thruway. Both of those metros, which also touch, have things that fit the criteria within them or nearby.
I dare say that in terms of an Upstate NY suburban area, New Hartford outside of Utica is a big time sleeper in terms of a very good school district, plenty of big box shopping, some walkability in its village, has affordable and relatively affluent areas, has some viable employment options within/nearby and even public transportation could be an option depending on where you live in the town/village. Vestal outside of Binghamton is similar(Binghamton University is actually located there). Yet you may not think of them due to the areas they are in. So, that may be something to consider.
Just to add to the bolded part, given some other things you've mentioned in other threads, OP, both have visible Asian populations. This is especially the case for Vestal, which is about 10-11% Asian and even without counting the pretty high Asian student population at Binghamton University(14.5%), Asian public students make up about 11% of the district's enrollment. It is about 6% for the New Hartford SD.
In terms of the original places, school districts like Williamsville and Amherst Central in the Buffalo area; Brighton, Rush-Henrietta and Pittsford in the Rochester area and Niskayuna(next to Schenectady), North Colonie, South Colonie, Guilderland and the K-8th grade Menands(30% Asian student pop., has 4 or 5 options for high school) all have substantial Asian student populations. In the Syracuse area, Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-Dewitt come to mind. Liverpool to a lesser, but a relatively visible degree(about 5-6%). there are others in Upstate NY as well. So, you and others looking for something similar have more options than you may think you do in NY outside of the NYC area.
Many of the districts listed are also some of the more culturally diverse suburban SD's in Upstate NY and are highly regarded. So, this could go for those wondering where or what those types of districts are in those areas as well.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I'd be inclined to live in the Albany area. It's the one I'm most familiar with. Albany is in a sweet spot location wise within a range of about 3-4 hours to Boston, Montreal, and NYC and a quick ride up the Northway will get you into the high peaks of the Adirondacks. I like the blocks around Lark Street with the old world row homes. I don't know if I like or hate Empire State Plaza, it's something! Very mid-century brutalist, but still interesting.The city does have a bit of riff-raff element and I'd propably opt to live in a suburb. Troy does too, but Troy also has a bit of an electic vibe, it has some blocks that make it feel like a little Brooklyn.
I've never been to Rochester. I did make a breif visit to Buffalo on a rooadstop across country. It had similar housing venacular that I was use to seeing in outskirting cities near Boston like Somerville. I had great Italian food while there, but I've had great luck finding good Italian all over Upstate.
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