Considering a move to Ithaca (Rochester, Syracuse: lawyer, relocating, property taxes)

[CateS]

I am vegan, liberal and atheist. I'm also single and kidless. I'm interested in relocating to a city that's a little friendlier to people with my descriptors than Richmond, Virginia (my current locale.) Yes, it is a sleepy, conservative, southern town.

Also of interest. I'm a teacher and want to a work for a school system that values teachers and education. Currently, I only make 42K with 10 years of teaching experience and a graduate degree! Looking for a system that will help pay for more education.

I love culture, art, ballet and theater. I love pretty, rural, outdoor areas. I also want 4 seasons, but I'm afraid of too much snow.

I've heard that Ithaca meets many of these requirements.

My big concerns include snowfall, taxes and cost of housing/living.

In Richmond, we don't get a lot of snow. In fact, in the past 3 seasons we've hardly received any! I want more, but a student of mine who just moved from Rochester, NY said the snow melts until June making for a sloppy, wet spring. That doesn't sound very pleasant.

In Virginia, the tax burden is pretty low. I live in the City of Richmond though, so my taxes are higher than the suburbs. Also, how is the cost of housing in Ithaca?

I'd appreciate any information that will help me make this decision.

Also, if you think Ithata is a particularly poor match for me, where else would you suggest I look?

Thanks in advance.

[honeychrome]

Kate-
Search the boards, or just scroll down and through the pages. There are several lengthy (and diversely opinionated!) threads already about Ithaca that will answer pretty much all of your questions!

Here are a couple of them:
Moving to Ithaca

Ithaca Photo Tour

...and I know there are some others that my not have 'Ithaca' in the thread title.

[CateS]

Thanks.

I'd already done the Photo Tour and will take a look at your other link.

[jgreg]

Politically, you’ll be fine in Ithaca. As for the weather -- Ithaca *typically* doesn’t get quite as much snow as some of the surrounding areas. It tends to be fairly cloudy and gray from Oct. – March. The winter weather can be very changeable. One minute it will be sunny, the next a brief but intense snow shower. Spring time can be pretty soggy.

Property taxes will be either “higher” or “a lot higher” than what you pay in VA. Some might argue with me, but housing prices can be a little pricey. I would blame some of that on the large number of college students. Ithaca has a pretty transient population.

If you’re looking for four seasons, you’re going to have to deal with some snow.

[CBaillo]

ya mostly anywhere that has 4 distinct seasons has snow in the winter. good luck. it was the best thing we could do, but everyone should definitely put in their research, as everyone is different.

[MNatureGirl]

We have a thriving atheist community. Ithaca is very atheist friendly however you still run in to an occasional bible thumper but most simply ignore or laugh at them. Its not a common thing like it is in the Bible Belt.

see our atheist meetup at
http://atheists.meetup.com/89/

We are a University town with liberal higher learning institutes: Cornell U. and Ithaca College

Although I'm not one there are a lot of vegans here and several vegetarian and/or vegan restaurants and shopping places.

The weather can at times really suck. Mostly due to Ithaca is one of the cloudiest cities in the country. This can have a bad effect if you are susceptible to S.A.D. Seasonal Affective Disorder and there sure seems to be a lot of depressed folks in this town.

It is a very small city so don't expect to have all the same amount of happenings as a large city. However Syracuse is only 1 hour away and if you really need to go to a big city event you can do so there.

One bad thing is there are a lot of drug users but probably not any different then a big city.

Crime is on the lower side and one feels fairly safe walking around even at night in about 98% of the city. There are a few areas avoid. I happen to have witnessed lots of crimes in my neighborhood but mostly drug related and vandalism. Mugging is rare and murder rare too.

[doochie74]

i am a vegan as well and my wife and daughter moved here in 01 execting it to be some kind of paradise. it is way too granola crunchy for us, and we thought our political leanings were to the left, ithaca is off the charts to the left. people talk about how ithaca is so open minded, well that is only if you think like they want you to think. if you don't, they bash you in the same manner a bible thumper would bash you if you did not agree with their point of view. don't even get me started on the taxes, they are about 5,000 dollars for every 100,000 dollars your house is assessed at. and they reassess as soon as you buy. so consider this, a 200,000 dollar home here is not even that nice, a fixer upper, and you would be paying about 9400 dollars in taxes on it, that is about 480 dollars a month just for the ny state government. ithaca also reassesses about every 2 or 3 years, that means more freaking taxes. on top of all this, you have to buy trash tags to throw out your trash. all of these high taxes and the city won't even provide you with trash cans or include your trash in your water bill. the tags are 24 dollars for 6 of them, so a normal family would use 2 a week, you do the math. and if the garbage man decides they are too heavy, they won't take it and you are stuck with filthy garbage for another week. we are moving back to nc after this town has shown its true colors. don't get me wrong, i really don't like the south either, but i realized no place is perfect and ithaca is unaffordable, no place to work except cornell or ithaca university, gas is way too expensive, the average heat and electricity bill is about 290 dollars and the winter gray is very long and very very depressing. i beg of you not to waste your time and money moving here.

[vicarian]

^It sounds like you might have been somewhat better off if you lived in one of the nearby towns (Dryden, Lansing, Danby, Newfield, etc.). They tend to be not as granola-crunchy, and you're not charged for your garbage. Taxes are modestly lower in those areas than in the city of Ithaca as well.

The heat and gas...well, that can't be helped so much. Just hope for global warming, I guess.

[Logic72]

Originally Posted by doochie74

don't even get me started on the taxes, they are about 5,000 dollars for every 100,000 dollars your house is assessed at.

Are you sure this is accurate?

I just read off city-data that Ithaca's property taxes are: $2.026 per $100 of assessed value of real property.

Which would equate to $2,026 per/100k.

This, of course, was in 2005 and they could have very well gone up 250% over the past few years.

[hrhicks]

I don't know if you are still watching this post and/or considering the move, but if you do move up there and I do too, we should get together. I'm in the south too and I don't really fit in. I'd also hate the cold weather. I hope you have good luck job hunting, though I am sure you will. Education is in demand. I'm a lawyer, sadly. Which means I have a ton of debt but not a lot of job prospects at the moment. The move would be for my husband who may get a job offer there soon. A recruiter contacted him, so that is a good sign. Let me know what happens, if you see this post.