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That was really interesting seeing pictures of what Jamestown looks like on the ground level, the buildings and all that. Even though Im not that far away in the Buffalo area, Ive never actually been through Jamestown.
I haven't heard great things about it, but seeing the pics, it doesn't look that bad at all. I don't see why people in upstate NY get all bent about board-ups. Thats how things are all over upstate. Thats just how it is. Unless you are living in some wealthy tourist town like Saratoga Springs or some suburb (and you get board ups even in the nicer burb in NY) this is what Upstate NY cities look like.
The pictures only show one small area of Jamestown, there are many areas that are very ugly, rundown and disgusting!!!
And lo and behold...the drug problem is rapidly making its' way south to Warren. Warren will be another Jamestown within 5 years. Watch and see.
I have a couple friends who both have kids who are addicted to drugs, and they live in Warren. I also have some realatives who are dealing with drug problems, they live in Warren. To be honest I am OLD, and growing up in Warren in the 70's, I did drugs...so no matter where you live, there is a drug problem.
I've left Jamestown far behind since the last time I posted. Down to one piece of property in the family in Jamestown, and that's likely going to be sold in the next year or two as well (And there are people willing to fight over it when we do sell it.)
I lived in jamestown area my whole life... i moved away 2 years ago. Sure it has beautiful countryside, almost unmatched. But LITERALLY EVERYTHING else is on the opposite spectrum. People are NOT nice, most of the time not even friendly, to get a hello at a grocery store is practically unheard of. Heat in the winter can be VERY expensive, especially in an older house. Roads are terrible, taxes are very high, schooling is poor, healthcare is deemed one of the worst areas. To be quite honest, Jamestown is an area that people on welfare move to, because NY state offers a lot of "assistance" to folks like that, so you find many people from puerto rico, and various areas moving there to live in the slum houses. The income is very very low, there are no specialty jobs, its just all basic living careers to sustain the area. No research, no culture, no nothing like that at all. If its beautiful country you are searching for, if you can live out in the boonies by yourself, and not have to commute white knuckled in the snow everyday, then i say it JUST MIGHT be an OK place for you to go, but if you are looking for a place to live, and interact with the community, and raise a family then i say NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!!!! -to put something else into perspective for you, dang near everybody i went to highschool with are now hippie pot heads who do nothing but worry about the next time they are going to get high or drunk, there are many many people like this living there... i literally cannot name more than a couple people i know that are near my age that arent this way. Take some advice from me, please stay away. If you still are interested, then please, go there, and stay there for a good week, and just drive all over jamestown, i think you will change your mind for sure.
Is the weather the reason why people don't commute that far to buffalo and rochester?
I'm sure people commute from decent distances away from Buffalo to work there. Roads tend to be taken care of in a timely manner. So, even if it snows quite a bit, the roads should be decent to fine. I know people in my area that drive about 30 minutes or so to work and the Syracuse area actually gets even more snow on average(about 115 inches a winter).
I commute from the Jamestown area to Erie, PA right through areas that get 200+" snow. Most people think I'm crazy but I have little problem... the key is good winter tires, and the roads are maintained well. The only time I have trouble is when a heavy duty lake effect blizzard hits with heavy sideways blowing snow that reduces visibility to near 0... that's tough, but despite the reputation here, those events aren't that frequent though it varies each year. I'm in the minority that really loves and embraces the climate here, including winter.
I commute from the Jamestown area to Erie, PA right through areas that get 200+" snow. Most people think I'm crazy but I have little problem... the key is good winter tires, and the roads are maintained well. The only time I have trouble is when a heavy duty lake effect blizzard hits with heavy sideways blowing snow that reduces visibility to near 0... that's tough, but despite the reputation here, those events aren't that frequent though it varies each year. I'm in the minority that really loves and embraces the climate here, including winter.
Glad someone around here enjoys living in Jamestown, considering all the negative things that have been said about this town in this thread.
To be honest, I don't think many people from Jamestown realize how "sucky" small towns can be in the South. Not only do you have the poverty and drugs, you have the redneck, Bible-thumper culture that makes it really difficult for people outside a very narrow range of belief to co-exist within the community. And in many towns, especially in Florida and the mountain regions of NC and TN, you don't even get the benefit of super-low real estate prices - and property taxes are higher than most people outside the South realize. In addition, many southern towns are just plain ugly...trailers everywhere, junkyards, etc, etc.
In any case, I'm making plans to visit three potential locales for my eventual relocation out of the South (well, really four, but I've been Ithaca twice already, so no need to visit that town this time around.) I'm going to check out Pittsburgh, PA, mainly to see how the "big city" is up north (and the cheap RE prices there do have me intrigued), then Jamestown, and then finally over to Syracuse after a detour into Ontario for a few days. The trip will take place in mid-to-late June.
Anyone from Jamestown know of a good place to stay a couple nights? I was thinking of going for the Comfort Inn off the interstate, but I'm open to other alternatives, if the price isn't too bad. I'll be posting about what I see in this thread, as well as posting in the Syracuse sub-forum about my visit there as well.
I know a lot of people are down on upstate New York, and the Rust Belt in general, but I really do want to get out of the South and its endlessly long, hot, humid summers and the mindless culture of sprawl and auto-centric development. While the move won't take place right away (sniff, sniff), I certainly can't wait for the day when I'm able to pack the moving truck and pilot it northbound.
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Warren and drugs
