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The cost of living in NY isn't so much a problem once you're outside of NYC or part of the metro area. Of course, Syracuse might be slightly more expensive than a town of 5000 people in the middle of nowhere, but it's still nowhere near the prices of the NYC area.
Another area you might want to check out is Montana (i.e. Billings, Missoula, etc) IMO it is THE single most underrated state in the country with regards to beauty. Seriously just google images of it. You will be floored by some of the stuff you see. Guaranteed. Only problem is the state is HUGE, and I'm pretty sure Billings isn't that close to many state forests like Missoula or Bozeman is. I don't think Billings is that far away from some national parks/forests (but Missoula and Bozeman are almost right next to some).
I'd say Idaho is up there too. Boise is actually not a bad city and it's right near a huge forest/mountain area (like Sawtooth National Forest)...as well as a river that runs right through the city basically.
Thanks for the info. I think the largest city we're looking at in NY would probably be Utica, which I've heard good things about. We considered Rochester but apparently the city has a pretty high crime rate for it's size and doesn't have access to many things we like to do.
Idaho has always been at the top of our list, or mine at least. I went to Boise for two weeks three years ago and fell in love with the city. The city is safe, politically moderate, friendly, and not to mention Idaho itself is absolutely gorgeous. I've even started looking at jobs online for the Boise-Nampa area but I'd still rather hear from others on their opinions first. There is a lot that I haven't seen.
Regarding Montana, I would love to live in Montana but like Wyoming, I don't know about all the opportunities there. The state is gorgeous but has a small population and I'm unfamiliar with Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Butte, Missoula and such.
We definitely wouldn't mind a little cold weather but it would be difficult to get used to. I googled some pictures of North Minnesota and found many of them breathtaking. Definitely a place I could live for a while. We've both lived our entires lives in South/Southeast Texas and so we're realy used to the mild winters and hot summers.
The only concern I would have with NY is the cost of living. Same thing with New England in general.
Upstate NY areas are largely around the national average in overall cost of living. So, it isn't as bad as people think it is.
Rochester's Southeastern neighborhoods are nice and there are some other areas that are fine in the city. There are plenty of parks in the area and it is very close to the Finger Lakes and the Grand Canyon of the Northeast in Letchworth State Park. If you don't mind a suburb, Brighton is a very nice suburb with a more dense and walkable set up. It is in essence an extension of the SE portion of Rochester, which has some things to do on Park Avenue, Monroe Avenue, in Swillburg and SouthWedge.
Out of the cities/areas I mentioned, Plattsburgh, Ithaca, Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs go in that order in terms of affordable to less affordable.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 02-23-2013 at 12:37 PM..
Regarding Montana, I would love to live in Montana but like Wyoming, I don't know about all the opportunities there. The state is gorgeous but has a small population and I'm unfamiliar with Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Butte, Missoula and such.
Bozeman is beautiful and considered by some to be the next Boise. It's surprisingly sophisticated and offers more than what one would think of a town with just 40K people.
The wife and I have been doing research literally all weekend. I tried to convince her to keep an open mind to Blacksburg, VA but she wasn't having it, sadly. That being said, we're pretty much in agreement with everything else. Our top choices are looking like:
Idaho
New York
Minnesota
Arizona
Wisconsin
Montana
However, we're still keeping an open mind to other places. We haven't yet scoped out Washington/Oregon.
If you want Utica, look into South and North Utica neighborhoods in terms of city limits and villages like New Hartford, Clinton and Whitesboro could work as well. Rome, a city of 34,000 is 15 minutes west of Utica. You may also want to look into Binghamton, which has nice areas on its West(south of Main), Southwestern and Far East sides. Northern portions of Endicott and Johnson City could work, as well as Endwell and Port Dickinson. Cortland, a small city of 19,000 between Syracuse and Binghamton, as well as 20 minutes east of Ithaca; could offer flexibility in terms of employment and other offerings. It has a SUNY campus too. Homer is a nice village just north of Cortland that may interest you.
Location: (Orginally From Ann Arbor, MI) Now reside in Evans, Georgia
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My question to you would be
What is your concept of low crime?
do you want a more conservative type feel to the area in which you seek?
Cultural events you do like?( opera, concerts, sympathy, art festivals etc)
Do you need public transportation ?
What is youre ideal budget? ( renting or buying?)
Do you want land or is a new suburbia neighborhood with lots of amendities your thing?
Outdoor activities, can you please elaborate ( hiking, kaykaing, mountain climbing, bike riding , zipping lining etc)
What type of ideal cilmate do you seek ? Snow ok with you..or milder winters more your style? ( perhaps none at all?)
Would you need to find employment in a specific feild to substain your monthly bills?
Location: (Orginally From Ann Arbor, MI) Now reside in Evans, Georgia
560 posts, read 1,142,908 times
Reputation: 314
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhthankgod
If you want Utica, look into South and North Utica neighborhoods in terms of city limits and villages like New Hartford, Clinton and Whitesboro could work as well. Rome, a city of 34,000 is 15 minutes west of Utica. You may also want to look into Binghamton, which has nice areas on its West(south of Main), Southwestern and Far East sides. Northern portions of Endicott and Johnson City could work, as well as Endwell and Port Dickinson. Cortland, a small city of 19,000 between Syracuse and Binghamton, as well as 20 minutes east of Ithaca; could offer flexibility in terms of employment and other offerings. It has a SUNY campus too. Homer is a nice village just north of Cortland that may interest you.
My NY suggestion would be Newport, NY I don't see you menstion children but the The West Canada Valley school district is consistently ranked one of the best in New York State, real estate in the district is reasonable; and Insight House is were I worked for 2 years so I am a tad bias
What is your concept of low crime?
do you want a more conservative type feel to the area in which you seek?
Cultural events you do like?( opera, concerts, sympathy, art festivals etc)
Do you need public transportation ?
What is youre ideal budget? ( renting or buying?)
Do you want land or is a new suburbia neighborhood with lots of amendities your thing?
Outdoor activities, can you please elaborate ( hiking, kaykaing, mountain climbing, bike riding , zipping lining etc)
What type of ideal cilmate do you seek ? Snow ok with you..or milder winters more your style? ( perhaps none at all?)
Would you need to find employment in a specific feild to substain your monthly bills?
My concept of low crime would be a very low homicide, break in rate ,etc.
I'm not sure what you mean by conservative? Politicaly speaking, my wife and I are pretty apolitical. We're not religious or anything but that's not a big deal to us.
This is going to sound bad but culutral events are not a huge deal to us. We'll go to a select few concerts occasionally, but not often.
We won't require public transportation.
I'd prefer to buy but if we need to rent for a while that's fine. My wife is currently unemployed and I make around 55k a year.
I'd like land in the future but right now we'd prefer a suburb or a small town outside of a city within the population I previously mentioned.
We enjoy all kinds of activities, hiking, biking, mountain climbing, etc. The more the merrier!
We're fine with anything that's not hot and humid. In Austin it's 70 degrees and it's February, which I've gotten tired of. I'd like a little cooler weather. We're not oppoed to moving to Arizona though since it's dry heat.
And more than likely I would. I can work in a varity of fields though.
My concept of low crime would be a very low homicide, break in rate ,etc.
I'm not sure what you mean by conservative? Politicaly speaking, my wife and I are pretty apolitical. We're not religious or anything but that's not a big deal to us.
This is going to sound bad but culutral events are not a huge deal to us. We'll go to a select few concerts occasionally, but not often.
We won't require public transportation.
I'd prefer to buy but if we need to rent for a while that's fine. My wife is currently unemployed and I make around 55k a year.
I'd like land in the future but right now we'd prefer a suburb or a small town outside of a city within the population I previously mentioned.
We enjoy all kinds of activities, hiking, biking, mountain climbing, etc. The more the merrier!
We're fine with anything that's not hot and humid. In Austin it's 70 degrees and it's February, which I've gotten tired of. I'd like a little cooler weather. We're not oppoed to moving to Arizona though since it's dry heat.
And more than likely I would. I can work in a varity of fields though.
If you want land in the future and still want the Utica area, then you might like places like Boonville, Deerfield, Frankfort, Schuyler, Ilion, Remsen and Poland. You would be closer to the Adirondacks and still be close Utica and suburbs for events, shopping,etc.
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