Ithaca, New York? (Long Beach, Owego, Oneonta: transplants, real estate, mortgage)

[tviz25]

Yes it is in the northern part of the city near the high school.

[yankee_transplant]

It's spelled "Ruloff's", and their food is awful.

Best pizza in Ithaca is at "The Nines" in collegetown. Bring on the flames.

Originally Posted by gastric

My favorite part of Ithaca is the variety of great food. I worked at Ruloph's for quite a while and their damn WC5 white chocolate chocolate chip cheese cake is still #1 on my cheesecake list. I'm struggling to remember the name of the place that had my favorite pizza but it begins with an S and I believe one street down from Ruloph's.

Otherwise I never really liked living in Ithaca that much. We took our kids back for a 2-day vacation once and didn't like it that much then either. It didn't seem to have a whole lot of young-kid-centric activities other than the lake though they were constructing some new outdoor and science-related kids stuff when we were there.

[gastric]

Thanks for the spelling lesson. Note I didn't comment on the "food" at RulOFFs, just the cheesecake. I'm sure they still make it as it was a house recipe not some factory ordered item.

The pizza place was Souvlaki House on Edy Street. Fresh toppings, we talk about it often.

See what living in Ithaca does for you? Kills the brain cells!

[Ellie C.]

I looked in the area for months before moving to Ithaca. The other towns I looked at were too depressing or too remote for me. I like not having to get in the car and drive everywhere. I can walk to the coffee shop, the library, the bank, etc. I like the fact that it's a college town - there's always something to do here if you want to get out of the house.

And yes, it's a liberal town. I have a tendency to like people who respect the differences in other people, and don't judge others or expect everyone to have the same views.

[WallStreetWarrior]

I'm what you would call a very conservative Republican; I mean, I love Bill O'Reilly. But, I'm going to tell you why I like Ithaca.

My sophomore year at NYU, I joined the Republican Debate Club; we would go to schools around New York and New Jersey and debate politics with them. For the most part, these "competitions" were a crapshoot which basically ended in debating morals rather than politics. However, every year Ithaca stood out. I think it's because while most liberals, unfortunately, are more concearned with having as many anti-Bush bumper stickers as possible and tuning in only to "drive-by media", Ithaca has a lot of damn smart liberals. The college does anyway, which reflects my views on the community as a whole. For the most part, what I remember is people who actually cared about political science and what it really meant to be a liberal, or a Democrat for that matter. A lot of "liberal" towns are filled with hippies who drive Toyota Priuses and practice extreme cultural liberalism, but couldn't tell you a thing about social contract, the Magna Carta, or even liberal democracy.

Assuming I were a bleeding-heart liberal, Ithaca is where I would want to be. I would say more, but I really don't want to stir up a politcal debate here.

Hope I could help.

Matthew

[jgreg]

Matthew,

I think you've nailed it pretty good there. Although, there are quite a few of the hippyish cultural liberals, as you describe them. When I lived there I refered to that crowd as the Culture of Greivance - they were very vocal with their complaints and it gets a little old after a while.

I enjoyed living there and like to visit, but the economic opportunities, cost of living and weather of Central NY made me search elsewhere.

[Royal Ranger]

You see tviz25....name calling is how enlightened people in Ithaca respond to someone that may have an opinion/observation that doesn't line up with the party line here in Ithaca. We are not judgemental unless of course it goes against what we think. There is also a bumper sticker that reads, "Ithaca - 10 square miles surrounded by reality" Is Ithaca a beautiful place to live? Yes it is. Politically....a conservative is rarer than a sunny day.

[Tioga]

People lookin' in from the forum must think that Ithaca and Saratoga, NY are each an oasis in a sea of rural rednecks/poverty in upstate........sure......yeah, whatever. I have relatives in both places...but ....Ithaca-well-you better be driving on the "left" side of the road. And Saratoga.....overkill on "trendy".

[brianj29]

I live in ithaca and its what it is an expensive leftist collegetown ruled by Cornell.I attended the public schools and I preferred the smaller schools as there are alot of racial issues and people pandering to every "disadvataged" segment of society.Scenery is cool with lake and gorges and such,work sucks unless u work at corn hell (major glut with PHD's and such) I am thinking of moving as i am in human services and there are simply no good paying jobs. Winter brutal fall beautiful so hope this helps from "townie'.

[Mar1lyn27]

Ithaca is my favorite place; I'd live there in a flash if it weren't so dreary and cold in the winter.

If I had the means I'd live there from April to October and then disappear someplace warm for the winter, always longing to go back to Ithaca.