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Hi everyone, I'm a doctor looking to settle down with my wife somewhere, possibly in upstate New York. We were looking at Massena, Potsdam, and Watertown. We're looking to start a family soon, and in terms of leisure, we're pretty much home-bodies but do like going out from time to time. If you guys had to choose from the above three towns, which would it be?? Thanks.
Which to choose? Massena or Potsdam or Watertown-NY
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Vas
Hi everyone, I'm a doctor looking to settle down with my wife somewhere, possibly in upstate New York. We were looking at Massena, Potsdam, and Watertown. We're looking to start a family soon, and in terms of leisure, we're pretty much home-bodies but do like going out from time to time. If you guys had to choose from the above three towns, which would it be?? Thanks.
Hello Mark,
If it is between the three places you mentioned, then I guess I'd have to say Watertown because it is the largest of the 3 and Watertown is THE main city in Jefferson County. Watertown also has the most and best shopping opportunities of the 3 towns; multiple plazas, a mall, movie theaters, restaurants, and more. From Watertown it is a short drive to much larger Syracuse, the major city in the middle of New York State. From Watertown you can also easily travel to the big Canadian cities of Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, & Toronto and smaller Kingston. Watertown is also close to the Adirondack Mountains/Lakes and mountain towns like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Long Lake, Blue Mtn. Lake, & Old Forge for summertime fun or for wintertime skiing & other sports. At the St. Lawrence River is the summer resort area called the Thousand Islands at the towns of Alexandria Bay, Clayton & Chippewa Bay with scheduled sightseeing boat cruises among the Islands and the two "Castles" which you can tour, Boldt Castle and Singer Castle, on separate islands in the river. Also fishing, private boating, summer cottages, golfing, camping, resort restaurants, and resort activities. If you drive a little farther southwest of Syracuse you can visit the beautiful Finger Lakes Region which is New York State's major wine producing region; vineyards, wineries, bed & breakfast inns, clean water lakes, gently rolling farmlands, craftsmens products for sale, and unique little countryside shops. Eastward of Syracuse is the Turning Stone Casino & Resort at Verona with four golf courses, restaurants, a 40 story hotel, big name entertainment=comedy/band & singer music/shows, bars and nightclub dancing. A little farther east at Cooperstown is the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum, Farmers Homestead Museum, Hyde House early-American restored mansion, and Glimmerglass Opera.
In St. Lawrence County all the main towns are sort of similar size with none of them being THE ONE MAIN TOWN; towns: Massena, Potsdam, Canton, Ogdensburg, & Gouverneur. All those towns are pretty quiet, not a lot going on. Living in either Massena or Potsdam you are quite far removed from the rest of New York State but you can easily drive over to Montreal and Ottawa very quickly for a weekend stay.
If you have additional questions, I'd be glad to give you answers.
Yes out of the three Watertown would be the best option. Just curious why you have chosen those three. Is there a particular community you are looking for? Are you looking for small town quiet, shopping availability, etc? I hope I don't come across as questioning your choices, as I'm sure you've put some thought behind this to come up with the area you have.
I'm asking because as a central New Yorker, who just moved from the Watertown area. We lived there from 2009-until 3 weeks ago. I wasn't always happy with the area. It all depends on what is is you are looking for in the area you live in. There is a growth in commerce there, because of Drum, but I've found selections in shopping lacking. Quite a bit of the time the supply doesn't meet the demand specifically with children's items. Syracuse is about an hour away, which sometimes wasn't a bad drive, mostly because I have family there, but you may not always want to have to drive that far to get things you need. There are some decent restaurants there, many more in Sackets (which is about 20 minutes away or so) But for the most part I was curious as why there wasn't more of a variety of cultural eateries. You will find a good amount of fast-food and chain variety restaurants.
With all three brigades currently at home, the traffic there can get pretty congested especially along Rt3 and Coffeen St, which are two of the main travel ways. For a few years there's been talk of a fourth brigade on it's way in, which would add to the congestion and supply issues. As mentioned by the other posters, Watertown is more of a major city then the other options you've listed, but still a small city. Also one good point to note, is there are a lot of houses currently for sale in Watertown and surrounding areas. A lot. Many of them have reduced pricing or turned to renting because of the flooded market. Almost every street has at least one or two, so if you chose to go there, you would have no problem finding a home to buy if that's your goal. Of course there are some very good things about the area, which I haven't given as fair a shot in this reply, and I will if you are interested in.
Thanks all for the replies and info. To reply to Janvier, the reason I've been looking at the above three communities is because of their proximity to Canada. I'm actually from Ottawa and I'd like to maintain some proximity to family and friends back home. The reality is that I've been looking into other towns in Vermont and New Hampshire as well, but given that this was the New York forum, I just mentioned the above three in my first post. There are physician opportunities for me pretty much everywhere, so it all comes down to quality of life type thing. If anyone has any input on areas in northern Vemont or northern New Hampshire, I'd be glad to get your opinions. Thanks!!
Ahhh I see. I have a good friend back in Watertown that is a Canadian married to an American soldier. They live in Watertown and make the trip back to Ottawa frequently to visit family. We used to commiserate on the weird lack of a Tim Hortons in Watertown. She was prior Canadian Air Force and we were stationed together in Rome NY at EADS. EADS is under NORAD so a joint command and we have many Canadians stationed there that would make the drive back home. Rome/Verona is a nice area not too far from New Hartford, or Syracuse, but unfortunately would had at least another hour to your drive. I wish you the best of luck in your search.
Perhaps the OP can look into hospitals in Carthage or Alexandria Bay. Alex Bay is right by I-81 and across the St. Lawrence. It is a nice community in the 1000 Islands, but is pretty small. Gouverneur also has a hospital, as does Ogdensburg.
With Potsdam and Canton, there are 4 colleges between them. So, they offer some events for that area and a college town vibe to a degree.
Another thing with the Watertown area is that you have private school options K-12. While I wouldn't say that there are any terrible schools in the area, it is just something nice to know about. Immaculate Heart Central Schools
Thanks all for the replies and info. I'm actually from Ottawa and I'd like to maintain some proximity to family and friends back home. The reality is that I've been looking into other towns in Vermont and New Hampshire as well, but given that this was the New York forum, I just mentioned the above three in my first post. There are physician opportunities for me pretty much everywhere, so it all comes down to quality of life type thing. If anyone has any input on areas in northern Vemont or northern New Hampshire, I'd be glad to get your opinions. Thanks!!
Hello Mark,
Yeah. "Tim Horton's" has been in Syracuse for a while now.
A lot of Canadians come to Syracuse for shopping trips; and other reasons. I see their cars all around Metro Syracuse Suburbs all the time.
The distance from Burlington-VT to Ottawa-ON is about 138 miles.
The distance from Montpelier-VT to Ottawa-ON is about 172 miles; about the same as Syracuse - Ottawa.
The distance from St. Johnsbury-VT to Ottawa-ON is about 193 miles actually farther than Syracuse-NY to Ottawa-ON which is about 165 miles.
The distance from Ogdensburg-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 50 miles.
The distance from Massena-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 51.5 miles.
The distance from Potsdan or Canton to Ottawa-ON is about 62 miles.
The distance from Alexandria Bay-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 75 miles.
The distance from Watertown-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 100 miles.
The distance from Plattsburgh-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 119 miles.
The distance from Syracuse-NY to Ottawa-ON is about 165 miles.
All locations in New Hampshire are farther away from Ottawa-ON.
Some locations in Vermont and New Hampshire are more expensive than the cost of buying a home and cost of living in the "North Country" = Northern New York State.
If you were to live in Watertown-NY, you would have Expressway highways from Watertown to Ottawa. Drive Interstate 81 to the Canadian border, then on the Canadian side take Expressway 401 to the Prescott-ON area, then take Expressway 416 from Prescott all the way to Ottawa. The distance from Watertown to Ottawa is 100 miles. Maybe you have already determined those driving distances.
If you have additional questions, we would be glad to answer them and give you more information. Good luck to you.
grdnrman
Last edited by grdnrman; 09-26-2012 at 07:25 PM..
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Which to choose? Massena or Potsdam or Watertown-NY
Perhaps the OP can look into hospitals in Carthage or Alexandria Bay. Alex Bay is right by I-81 and across the St. Lawrence. It is a nice community in the 1000 Islands, but is pretty small. Gouverneur also has a hospital, as does Ogdensburg.
