Canton vs Potsdam NY for a single person? (New York, Rochester: rental, college)

[OH2CA]

Originally Posted by clynnog

Glad you are making the most of your surroundings. With the right frame of mind, the North Country can be a beautiful place. Have you had a chance to head up to Ottawa or Montreal for a dose of culture?

I have to admit this has turned out to be a much more pleasant experience than I had anticipated. While I am not sure this would be a good place for me long term, a year up here is no problem (and who knows I may discover yet more things I like).

I had a chance to see the Orchestra of the Northern New York in Potsdam a few weeks ago and I was totally blown away by the quality of the music. Last week I saw student play at St Lawrence U which was very well done too.

Two night's ago I caught a movie in Potsdam in the Potsdam 10 "artsy" movie series .. other than those 3 things I have been mostly busy, but they really provided a nice cultural breather.

No trips to Ottawa or Montreal yet, other than the one to the Ikea near Ottawa a month or so back.

I am driving to Watertown this weekend to meet with a friend who is in Syracuse for the week, so this is about half-way.

Any good Thai or Vietnamese restaurants in Watertown? Other than shopping there, is there something else I can do?

Thanks!

[JiminCT]

There is actually a Korean place in Watertown I hear is OK. Montreal or Ottawa are both wonderful in that department.

BTW..Barrymore's in Ottawa or the National Arts Center both put on some great events. Barrymore's is more my style (rock)...but the NAC has some great events. NCPR gives them publicity...probably due to the ample number of Canadian contributors.

[Calla0413]

Hi,
I used to live in Canton and Potsdam and now live in Montreal. If you haven't made it to Montreal, I highly recommend it. It is worth the 2 1/2 hour drive. Better yet, just drive to Cornwall, park your car and take the train into downtown Montreal.

While Ottawa is Canada's capital, Montreal is the place to be! It's amazing here. Don't worry about the French thing. Most of the people here are trilingual. French, English and their own mother language (i.e. Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese...etc.)

[OH2CA]

Originally Posted by Calla0413

Hi,
I used to live in Canton and Potsdam and now live in Montreal. If you haven't made it to Montreal, I highly recommend it. It is worth the 2 1/2 hour drive. Better yet, just drive to Cornwall, park your car and take the train into downtown Montreal.

While Ottawa is Canada's capital, Montreal is the place to be! It's amazing here. Don't worry about the French thing. Most of the people here are trilingual. French, English and their own mother language (i.e. Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese...etc.)

Hi,

Sounds quite wonderful, I'm not worried about the French thing, I could get by with it actually :-)

I drove up to Ottawa the last weekend of Winterlude (?) it was quite nice. Had my pick of Vietnamese restaurants for lunch, walked around the ice sculptures for quite a bit, hit a big Chapters right across from the Rideau Center and then had Thai for dinner before driving back. Well worth the 3 hours in the car.

Re Montral - lucky you! I really want to visit Montreal, would you have some recommendations as to where in Montreal to go? I enjoyed the Ottawa bit because I was able to park my car and just walk around all day - it was very very cold, but a clear sunny day, so a perfect winter day as far as I am concerned.

There's also a art movie house (Bytown?) that I hope to visit.

My time here is up at the end of the semester - and as much as I have enjoyed the people (incl students :-) here, I will be happy to be moving to a larger, less remote place, esp with easier transportation facilities.

Just two quick examples. Last november I had an interview just north of San Francisco, CA, my flight was out of Syracuse. All together it took 21 hours door-to-door! Too long!

Over winter break a friend of mine flew back to CA using the small airline that flies out of Ogdensburg (that wasn't an option for me at the time of my interview). While she was in CA the airline pulled the service from Ogdensburg leaving her (and some other colleagues) stranded essentially. They all came back via Syracuse and taxi.

Again, people are nice up here, but transportation in/out of here is bad, and if you are single (like myself) your social life will be severely limited.

So, let me know about Montral ;-)

(Oh, I've visited Toronto and like it too .. I'd move there in a heartbeat, though Montreal would be great from a more multicultural aspect)

[Calla0413]

One thing definitely - parking is non-existent this time of year and pretty much most of the year. There are paid parking areas but, be prepared to pay as much as $30 a day. It's one of the downfalls of coming to Montreal, that and all the potholes. However, living in St. Lawrence County, you should be used to the potholes.

I strongly recommend taking the train from Cornwall into downtown and use the metro system to get you around. It will make your life a lot easier and worth the $30 for the road-trip train fare.

As for restos, museums and other venues of interests. It all depends on your interests and tastes. Food-wise, I can tell you to visit Chowhound Boards - Chowhound and visit the boards for Montreal. There are lots of good recs on there. I've been focusing on Korean restaurants and have a few good places for certain dishes. If you're a meat eater, I highly recommend Schwartz for the smoked meat. It is very good and worth the 2 hour wait!

If you like to walk around, Old Montreal sounds like your place - although summer I think is the best for that. From there, it's within walking distance to Chinatown and then you can venture toward famous St. Catherine's Street. A friend and I did this once when she visited and it was quite a jaunt but, fun!

As a university student, I have been very busy with end of year stuff so, I haven't gotten out much to do anything. I know there's all kinds of stuff going on, which is the great thing about living in a metropolitan area, you know when you want to do something there always is something! Plus, living about 20 minutes from a major international airport really helps. If you have your passport you should consider flying in/out of Montreal.

If you give me some ideas as to what you're interested in, I'd be happy to give more specific recs.

As for being single in St. Lawrence County, it is tough - I know that scene all too well. It is difficult to meet a quality person but, it's not impossible. After all, I did meet my husband in Potsdam.

[citygirl234]

Hello OH2CA, how did you get to Potsdam. I am planning a visit and I see that the nearest airport is Syracuse. Did you drive up there. Also, how much is the space you rented and how big is it.

[OH2CA]

Originally Posted by citygirl234

Hello OH2CA, how did you get to Potsdam. I am planning a visit and I see that the nearest airport is Syracuse. Did you drive up there. Also, how much is the space you rented and how big is it.

Hi, I live in Canton, about 15 mins away from Potsdam by car on highway 11.

The last two trips I have taken (in fact I am on one right now) I flew out of
the Ottawa airport as it's just under 1.5 hrs from there to Canton (@20 mins on
two lane highways), compared to the close to 3 hour drive to Syracuse (@1:10hr
on two lane highways - I only mention this because some drivers here are quite
leisurely and drive 5 mph *below* the speed limit -- can be quite frustrating if
you are in a hurry and can't pass).

In the winter I would definitely fly out of Canada, less chance of trouble with
snow, it's actually worse if you go south of here.

In the end the two are fairly the same in terms of hassle - you just have to
decide how you want to spent you time. Flying out of Ottawa saves me
time in the car, though I have to leave sufficiently early to deal with the
border crossing (usually fine, but they did pull me over last January on the
way to the airport and searched me and my car/luggage for 45 minutes).
And since every flight becomes an international flight, you have to allow for
that too.

With Syracuse you won't have that problem, but you'll have to spend more
time in the car - and may possibly deal with white-out conditions, until
Watertown.

I am renting a two-bedroom apartment on Judson Street (Harison House)
for $650'ish (I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember exactly as I set up
automatic payment when I got there). Lots of my colleagues from SLU
live there. Greg the owner is nice enough, but a bit strange/set in his
ways.

Hope that helps.

ps: the travel in/out of that area is a *major* pain and one of the main
reasons I couldn't live here long term. It's one thing to be remote if you
can escape easily, but this is certainly not the case. The purpose of this
trip is actually to interview for a new job. In a large undistinguished
midwestern city, but with a huge airport and all sorts of bookstores
and restaurants, cinemas etc. Not as diverse as I'd like, but then
neither is Canton :-|

pps: I just returned from Portland 2 days ago, it took about 18 hours!
Portland -> Vancouver -> Toronto -> Ottawa -> 1.5 drive across
the border around midnight (not counting customs etc). Exhausting.

ppps: The people up in the North Country are very nice.

[OH2CA]

Originally Posted by Calla0413

If you give me some ideas as to what you're interested in, I'd be happy to give more specific recs.

As for being single in St. Lawrence County, it is tough - I know that scene all too well. It is difficult to meet a quality person but, it's not impossible. After all, I did meet my husband in Potsdam.

hi, I will take you up on your offer - I am currently traveling, but once I get
back I'll post.

thanks!

[OH2CA]

Originally Posted by OH2CA

Hi, I live in Canton, about 15 mins away from Potsdam by car on highway 11.


ps: the travel in/out of that area is a *major* pain and one of the main
reasons I couldn't live here long term. It's one thing to be remote if you
can escape easily, but this is certainly not the case. The purpose of this
trip is actually to interview for a new job. In a large undistinguished
midwestern city, but with a huge airport and all sorts of bookstores
and restaurants, cinemas etc. Not as diverse as I'd like, but then
neither is Canton :-|

Let me just add that any "regular" problems with travel here get magnified due to the remoteness. For instance, I arrived in Ottawa yesterday afternoon, my bag didn't.

Aside from the fact the it took nearly 20 minutes for someone from United Airlines to show up to take a very cursory report (didn't even ask for a description of the bag!), the bag now has to both clear Canadian customs and then again US customs. This means at least an extra day's delay before I get my bag.

In my case no missing bag report was apparently filed even though I did this with the agent at the airport and then later last night by phone with United Airlines last night. It was only today that they got noted the search (I hope). The soonest I can expect it if everything goes 100% well is tomorrow, ie 2 days after my return. Unfortunately, this has happened to me here before, last time it took 4 days.

As much as the people here are nice, if you plan on traveling you had better have a lot of time and patience.

[mt168]

I have read most of the comments and advisories, what about crimes, ANY??? Seems this topic was not touch.