Looking for a nice town upstate (New York, Buffalo: ski resorts, homes, living) - City-Data Forum

baller31 · 03-01-2011, 04:08 PM

Me and my wife want to move away from CA and possibly to upstate NY. We don't want to live in NYC or ANY huge city for that matter. We're looking for a medium size to small city (less than 150,000 people), and has to be safe. I'm a big outdoors guy and my wife is more of a "fahionista" but also loves the outdoors. Any towns/cities come to mind? It's just us two, no kids. We're moving from Sacramento, CA.

Dreamshot · 03-01-2011, 04:59 PM

Lots do....I would suggest the NYC Metro area (as opposed to upstate, though some spots [specifically Orange, Dutchess, Putnam, and Ulster Counties] have an upstate feel). All of the following are 2 hours or less from NYC and come close to your description (budget not mentioned):

Westchester County: Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Larchmont, Rye, Chappaqua, Briarcliff Manor
Putnam County: Garrison, Cold Spring
Rockland County: Pearl River, Nyack, New City
Orange County: Montgomery, Cornwall, Washingtonville, Tuxedo, Goshen, Chester
Dutchess County: Fishkill, Beacon, Wappingers
Ulster County: New Paltz

Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange have easy access to the Catskills and the associated outdoor activities.

All mentioned counties border the Hudson River = more outdoor activities.

All are in the NYC Metro and within the NYC scope of influence = tons of high end shopping opportunities.

Need to know your budget to further refine list.

jblake78728 · 03-01-2011, 06:22 PM

Stay away from downstate. The cost of homes are insane (as is the overall cost of living) & it still has that rat race feel even several hours outside of NYC.

It really depends on what you consider small to medium size. I know that you stated under 150K but realistically you aren't going to find anything that is even close to 150K in Upstate outside of the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse & Albany areas. The rest of upstate is very rural, 25K is considered a big town. Is a town of 10K-20K going to be too small & remote for you? If it is your best bet is going to be to live in the outer suburbs of Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester or Albany ...... if not then there are plenty of nice small towns in Upstate.

Ithaca, Geneva or any number of towns in the Finger Lakes region. Saratoga Springs, Glen Falls, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Lake George or Plattsburgh are all nice towns in the Adirondack region.

Dreamshot · 03-01-2011, 06:48 PM

Unless you want utterly depressing weather 8 out of 12 months of the year, don't move to Central (Syracuse) or Western (Buffalo, Rochester) [upstate] New York.

CookieSkoon · 03-01-2011, 06:58 PM

I suggest Rochester for you. I wouldn't tell you to live down in the hills unless you were ready for a very rural and 50/50 hillbilly experience. ;P

ki0eh · 03-01-2011, 07:15 PM

Albany area has some balance of outdoors access and maybe more style than the other upstate cities. Not as cheap as others but also closer to NYC for shopping trips.

Ellwood · 03-01-2011, 07:22 PM

Saratoga Springs NY; great place, very safe. Check out some of the posts on the ALBANY section of the NEW YORK forum; use the SEARCH FORUM function and input SARATOGA.

CookieSkoon · 03-01-2011, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellwood

Saratoga Springs NY; great place, very safe. Check out some of the posts on the ALBANY section of the NEW YORK forum; use the SEARCH FORUM function and input SARATOGA.

I agree with this ^^^

Dreamshot · 03-01-2011, 07:55 PM

Also agree with the Albany area suggestions, Saratoga, Clifton Park, Guilderland, Colonie, Halfmoon...

jblake78728 · 03-01-2011, 08:16 PM

East Aurora is also worth looking into if you want to be close to a metro area but not feel like you are. Small town feel with a walkable downtown area full of shops & restaurants. Has a strong arts presence. Rural surroundings but its only 20 miles from downtown Buffalo. Its also an easy drive to the Finger Lakes or Lake Erie. Very close to some of NY's most scenic state parks. WNY's ski resorts are also very close.