Moving to Watertown/Fort Drum Area (Syracuse, Utica: apartment, to rent, home)

[StarJacks]

My finance has recently been station at Fort Drum and wants me to move to the Watertown/Fort drum area to be closer of course. I've done some reserach on the areas and seen it's very different from what I'm used to and it freightens me a little. I've lived in the "city life" all my life - Orlando, Florida and NYC area so this transformation is kind of hard! I'm used to everything being 10-30mins away by foot, bus or train (public transportation). When and if I decide to move what can I expect there? Where I'm from we have public transportation to get us all around, is having a car a neccesity? From previous post I've read will I have to travel to Syracuse to do daily activities: grocery shopping, going to the mall and recreational activity? I can sometimes be a girlie girl so will I have to travel to the end of the world for spa treatment and etc?
Once I get settled in I would like to start a family so what is the school system like? Are parents able to be fully involved? What is the cost of living? Im not to interested in sailing/boating so living near the water isnt necessary for me, what are good neighborhoods to live in?

Please Help, Thanks!

[Trudy Rose]

You certainly do not have to drive to Syracuse!! Watertown should have everything you need. A car is neccesary.And you will need to learn how to drive in the snow~~It is a beautiful area, and as I said, Watertown is alot closer than Syracuse for shopping.

[newyorkborn&raised]

You know what? I am just going to say what's on my mind. Please do not move here. Stay where ever you are. Your boyfriend is assigned to the most deployed division in the Army and he is more likely going to spend the better part of his tour at Drum deployed. You would only be stuck here and from your post you would not like it. People like you amaze me. You do not know anything about Watertown and the area and you are just basing your opinion off what limited stuff you have heard. Making the statement driving to Syracuse (65 miles away) for groceries is absolutely assanine. If you knew anything about the military you would atleast know that AD posts have commissaries (military grocery stores). To think that Watertown would be completely barren of grocery stores is naive at best. Please for the sake of you and this community stay where you are. We do not need any more temporary residents moving here and pissing on the place.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by newyorkborn&raised

You know what? I am just going to say what's on my mind. Please do not move here. Stay where ever you are. Your boyfriend is assigned to the most deployed division in the Army and he is more likely going to spend the better part of his tour at Drum deployed. You would only be stuck here and from your post you would not like it. People like you amaze me. You do not know anything about Watertown and the area and you are just basing your opinion off what limited stuff you have heard. Making the statement driving to Syracuse (65 miles away) for groceries is absolutely assanine. If you knew anything about the military you would atleast know that AD posts have commissaries (military grocery stores). To think that Watertown would be completely barren of grocery stores is naive at best. Please for the sake of you and this community stay where you are. We do not need any more temporary residents moving here and pissing on the place.

Wow... nice post. Lighten up This person you are talking to, as the fiancee of a soldier, is no doubt quite young and is just asking for help/answers, not looking for a tongue-lashing. Maybe she hasn't done enough research of the topic. That ain't a crime.
And as far as your apparent dislike of the "temporary residents" (mostly sodliers and families) moving there, they are pumping a whole lot of money and life into that area. Before the military buildup, Watertown was dying fast. Population had dropped almost 14% in 12 years (1990-2002). So don't be so hard on the temporary residents.
Maybe as a former soldier (see my profile/pic), I'm just biased toward them. It's not an easy life, so give them (and their families) a break. Most don't have a choice in coming there. Soldiers may not be the ideal group to be moving into the area, but some of you locals may not be the ideal citizens or hosts either.
Or maybe you liked living in a dying old upstate city, hmm?

[MrsVMC]

Originally Posted by StarJacks

My finance has recently been station at Fort Drum and wants me to move to the Watertown/Fort drum area to be closer of course. I've done some reserach on the areas and seen it's very different from what I'm used to and it freightens me a little. I've lived in the "city life" all my life - Orlando, Florida and NYC area so this transformation is kind of hard! I'm used to everything being 10-30mins away by foot, bus or train (public transportation). When and if I decide to move what can I expect there? Where I'm from we have public transportation to get us all around, is having a car a neccesity? From previous post I've read will I have to travel to Syracuse to do daily activities: grocery shopping, going to the mall and recreational activity? I can sometimes be a girlie girl so will I have to travel to the end of the world for spa treatment and etc?
Once I get settled in I would like to start a family so what is the school system like? Are parents able to be fully involved? What is the cost of living? Im not to interested in sailing/boating so living near the water isnt necessary for me, what are good neighborhoods to live in?

Please Help, Thanks!

My husband, myself, and our children will be returning to Fort Drum at the end of this year, and we are so happy that HQ granted our request to return to that duty station!

We ******ed and moaned often the first go 'round, but after 2 years there (off and on..my husband deployed and I went back home faster than you can say "wow"!), he received orders to report to another duty station in the southwest, and I can tell you with my whole heart, that we had no idea what we were leaving behind!

You know how just about every civilized city/town has a wal-mart AND a Target store within a 20 minute drive? Well in our current location, our nearest Target is 1 hour away AND we have to cross a state line to get to it, but they were sure to give us two 24 hour Wal-marts within a 10 mile radius though! (pure sarcasm in that last line!)

But anyway, Watertown on the other hand has had so much development over the last 2 years to include, a Super Wal-mart of course, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, and a many other retail chains that were not there before, along with a few restaurant chains.

Grocery shopping is not difficult to do there either, with the commissary on post, Hannaford's, P&C, and of course Super Wal-mart! LOL!

You will need a car. It gets quite cold there by October and usually lasts until March or so, and you don't want to be at the mercy of public transportation if you don't have to. Also, a car would be a good idea because although there has been a lot of development in the area as of late, it is still a rural area with long country roads if you go more than about 10-15 minutes out of the city proper.

Schools are still uncharted territory for me, because we won't have any contact with the schools there until we return this winter. I'll get back to you on that!

Cost of living is mild compared to other locations, you can easily find an apartment to rent for less than $950. Most places there do not include utilities in the rent, but gas will probably be your greatest utility expense because of the heat needed during the cold weather months. But overall, utilities shouldn't average any more than maybe $230/month.

Spa's, let's see. I don't recall seeing any when I was there last, but some of my friends who are still there, have mentioned one in Carthage, which is about a 20 minute drive. I'm sure that there are probably more spas to choose from in the surrounding area, but like I said I complained too much to find out the first time!

I hope that helps!

Good luck with your decision.

[newyorkborn&raised]

Originally Posted by mrkool

Wow... nice post. Lighten up This person you are talking to, as the fiancee of a soldier, is no doubt quite young and is just asking for help/answers, not looking for a tongue-lashing. Maybe she hasn't done enough research of the topic. That ain't a crime.
And as far as your apparent dislike of the "temporary residents" (mostly sodliers and families) moving there, they are pumping a whole lot of money and life into that area. Before the military buildup, Watertown was dying fast. Population had dropped almost 14% in 12 years (1990-2002). So don't be so hard on the temporary residents.
Maybe as a former soldier (see my profile/pic), I'm just biased toward them. It's not an easy life, so give them (and their families) a break. Most don't have a choice in coming there. Soldiers may not be the ideal group to be moving into the area, but some of you locals may not be the ideal citizens or hosts either.
Or maybe you liked living in a dying old upstate city, hmm?

Nice...I also served so you can't play that "local/military" thing on me. As for the OP she was asking ignorant questions and making assumptions about the Watertown area. I am fed up with those kinds of attitudes. Since I am former military, I realize how important it is to build positive relationships with the community. When people ask questions in a loaded manner (assuming that Watertown is lame, boring, small) it is hard to gain cooperation.

[Tioga]

..Well..as an upstater who has also spent time at "Drum"(now retired), There are certain pluses and minuses to being military up there. Units there have seen regular deployments(not a biggie if you're unattached...a pain if you have dependants left behind up there). The base has seen a lot of modernizing oveer the last 20 years. Watertown has pretty much what any family will need(store-wise). I found that other soldiers who were also big into the "outdoors stuff", liked the proximity of the Adirondacks. Of course, as elsewhere in the U.S, since soldiers started posting at places other than near home(way back when), there have been some military-civilian "issues"...BUT..not anywhere near the issues of some bases elsewhere in the U.S.

[Erika Jo]

Hey girl.
I have read all the posts. I was in your same position... kinda. We were married and I moved up here, not too long ago... Less than a month. There are plenty of places to do all of your basics and more places to go to spas and such. Like it was said in another post, you will have to learn how to drive in the snow (I'm from Sarasota).

But also, like someone else stated in such a harsh way, these men do deploy a lot. You have to become VERY independent. While the Army does take consideration for fiances and girlfriends, i.e. allowing them to attend FRG meetings before deployments and such, that's about all that you get. You will have to step out of your shell in order to meet Army wives, girlfriends, and fiances... I meet a lot of women through my husband's friends.

Although, being just a fiance has it's drawbacks... such as the fact that you won't be allowed to shop at the PX or Commissary without your fiance being there with you because you need your military ID in order to check out... Unless you meet a lady who wants to take you or something to that extent. However, you know Sweetbay? Well their store brand name is Hannahford (or whatever)... There's a Hannahford store here, an Aldi, and other grocery places....

For just plain shopping, there's Kohl's, Target, the mall, Big K, and other places... I can't list them all. You definitely don't need to drive all the way to Syracuse.

Let me know if you need to talk about things. I'm completely where you would be if you were to move here... except I'm a wife.

[JiminCT]

"We do not need any more temporary residents moving here and pissing on the place."...

Without those temporary residents and summer taxpayers (aka summer residents)...the region would be in dire economic straits. Fort Drum is the ONLY reason that Jefferson County has a net influx of people right now. The locals in Alexandria Bay are really similar to newyorkbornandraised's attitude....they would rather bite the hand that feeds them. You really ought to wake up and realize without new residents in the North County, the area will go the route of Utica and Binghamton. Maybe welcoming outsiders is a hard concept...but to keep the North Country economically solvent, you'd better get used to it.

[JiminCT]

And they have the right to criticize.....while I love the North Country, attitudes such as NYbornandraised are part of the larger problem in this region. Most of the smart locals have LEFT.