Ithaca, New York? (Utica, Russia, Covert: estate, gated, apartment)

[Juba2]

Originally Posted by OHtoCT

What do you think of Ithaca, New York? Is it a good place for a married couple in their mid thirties to live or is it primarily a college town? Crime rate? Public Schools? Where to the professional/executives who live in Ithaca work? Do they have far to commute or does Ithaca offer commerce/banking/technology jobs.

Hello,
My husband and I just moved to Ithaca and we don't know how are we going to make friends here. He works in Elmira and I have not found a job yet. I'm from Brazil and he is from U.S. We like to have fun..., we like to be outdoor. I just learned how to ski, I loved!!!

[tchemgrrl]

Juba:

I just moved here about two months ago and I'm already starting to run into friendly faces at the grocery store or on the bus to work. I think making friends at work helps, but there are also a lot of different social groups around. You might want to look to look at the community calendar at the Ithaca Times website, or at the Ithaca College and Cornell student groups (though it seems like the CU ones are more open to adults that aren't students, because there are more older grad students around). Many of the campus groups are friendly to non-students--my husband went to a campus gaming club a few weeks ago, and we've really enjoyed the CU anime club. In town, I've been going to a knitting group, and we found a capoeira group that we really like though I haven't had the time to go very often yet.

On the other hand, one person I know says that she's had a very difficult time making friends in town; she felt like people weren't very friendly here. So maybe I've just lucked out.

[Papooses]

Originally Posted by Michelle_InMi

Could anyone tell me about the Newfield area and the schools there? Anything would be helpful!

Schools - academic success, parent involvement, band/theatre, sports, special education services, etc.?

Area - how long it takes to get to Cornell, the people there, community events, etc.?

I bought a house in the hamlet of Newfield after my daughter was born....

Newfield is cheaper to live than Ithaca -- unless you drive a truck based vehicle (those hills will eat up your gas budget, especially if you do develop a fondness for activities in the surrounding areas).

Living in the heart of Newfield, near the school, is more laid back than Ithaca. There are slightly less laws to enforce. However, this is both good + bad. My nieghbors liked to burn their trash, which the wind sent my way to upset my asthma, etc. My other neighbor liked to shoot at the children & cats with a beebee (sp?) gun. When I called him in, I was told that's legal until someone gets hurt @@

My daughter is also biracial. She was the only dark skinned child in her entire grade. Their preschool classes were great for my child with their 1:6 ratio (teacher:student) only half days, but then the kids are shocked into a full day Kindergarten with about a 1:24 ratio!

I'm majoring in Early Childhood Education (blended masters program) & was disappointed with the Kindergarten through 5th grades. As a general rule, there's too much emphasis on merely memorizing to pass the state testing (in comparison to the Ithaca city school my daughter now attends). I believe, based on observing other rural districts, this is due to the fact that all grades (Even Start through Senior year of highschool) attend the same school in Newfield -- this means there's less mixing between schools & community: the community itself being pretty limited in funds + activities (compared to Ithaca).

However, what other parents do or don't do doesn't have much impact on one's own child. It really comes down to how much YOU will be involved

My biggest worry about Newfield school is that all children ride the same bus. Preschoolers with 17+ year olds. I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy the idea of my 4 or 6 or 8 year old being subjected to witnessing the fondlings, etc. of teenagers every morning & afternoon.

The arts are also very lacking in Newfield compared to Ithaca.

Ithaca city school districts on the other hand were a much better fit for my child. Only in the last 1/2 of her Kindergarten year she was involved in more inspiring activities than the entire year's worth of such things that Newfield schedules in.

Ithaca in general is much more oriented toward community + family involvement. It's just the Ithaca vibe to volunteer oneself. There's also the benefit of Cornell + Ithaca College students offering their creative & enthusiastic minds in classrooms as well as in the community as a whole. Student teachers generally want to stay as close to their college/university as possible, especially with gas prices.

The bus to Newfield has a very limited schedule if you're considering saving on gas cost.

I could go on, but I'm off to enjoy my summer

[ckhthankgod]

Papooses, I'm actually surprised there weren't more children of color in your child's grade in Newfield, as there is a decent amount of students of Black African descent in that district. Ithaca City schools are good though and are very integrated.

[CBaillo]

My daughter went to newfield for preschool, and will be going to it for kindergarten, and there are lots of colored kids..my daughter herself is mixed, asian/irish, and its obvious. There are many pure minorities as well.

Newfield is a more rural town...its part of the "reality" towns that surrounds ithaca, as in the saying "ithaca, 10 square miles surrounded by reality". It is an awesome place to live, but if you are ultra liberal as is a lot of the people in Ithaca, its not a good fit, because people in Newfield (i myself included) love their guns, love hunting, and are a lot more conservative when you compare it to Ithaca. I prefer Newfields school system over Ithaca anyday.

Everybody I talk to, from work to personal life, and friends HATE Ithaca's school system (many who have actually gone there, or put their kids there, and ended up moving them), in their own words (since most wont listen to me personally, having only been here over a year), the teacher/student ratio is bad, and the teachers tend to care less, and it i VERY easy for kids to slip through the cracks. Diversity is not exactly a good thing either. Ithaca has more colored kids, sure, BUT, and this is a very big BUT...it has a notorious reputation for the racial tensions that go on amongst the children, as not just races are mixed in, but different cultural backgrounds.

You have the colored kids, white kids, city kids, ithaca kids, "redneck" kids all stewing together in one big pot. They are trying to fix the racial issues but its not anywhere close to being resolved.

Newfield promotes a lot of community activities as well. Maybe you're just looking outside of it, and don't notice? but my family and i have gone to many chicken bbqs, carnival, old home days, parades, pancake breakfasts, and other events.

Ithaca is more liberal and has more activities and culture, naturally, because its bigger, and more of a oversized town/mini city, but its not without its bad traits as well.

Its all about whats important to you. Personally, I rather have my daughter and my family live in newfield, and go to school in Newfield, and still be 10 minutes away from Ithaca for culture, dining, shopping, activities, whenever we want to go. I wouldnt ever consider actually living in Ithaca.

[ckhthankgod]

I understand what you are saying CBaillo, but why does Ithaca get pretty good marks as a school district then? They seem to have some pretty good schools there and kids go on to good schools after HS.

While diversity might not necessarily be a good thing, it's not necessarily bad and with the globalization of the world, it's just a real thing, if anything else. Hopefully, people can deal with it accordingly.

I'm not an Ithaca City SD booster or anything, but you have to take the good with the bad. It's also a good things that we have choices too.

[Emitchell]

One of the reasons the schools in Ithaca look good is that there are a lot of smart children in Ithaca – kids of Cornell and Ithaca College faculty, among others.

When I was growing up in the Ithaca area, I remember that it was one of the toughest districts in the state to get a regents scholarship since there were a lot of really competitive, smart students.

On a general note, I think many of the comments from "eduam" on the previous page are right on the mark. Ithaca’s a unique place, no doubt.

[xedis]

Originally Posted by Emitchell

One of the reasons the schools in Ithaca look good is that there are a lot of smart children in Ithaca – kids of Cornell and Ithaca College faculty, among others.

When I was growing up in the Ithaca area, I remember that it was one of the toughest districts in the state to get a regents scholarship since there were a lot of really competitive, smart students.

On a general note, I think many of the comments from "eduam" on the previous page are right on the mark. Ithaca’s a unique place, no doubt.

Are you saying Breeding Makes Smart Kids

[ckhthankgod]

Ithaca, the best of everything?

[steveinjersey]

I grew up in Ithaca. It is a beautiful area. Still have family there. Would consider retiring there in maybe 10 years. but the taxes as so high! The property taxes are ridiculous!