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Well, I'm glad to hear that the people and culture of upstate NY is very similar to that of central CT, since I generally can't handle Midwestern culture and people. Although, it's kind of annoying that people in WNY use the word "pop" instead of "soda." That kind of worries me just how Midwestern the area may be. But whatever...no two places will be exactly alike. I have a few more questions:
1. How does the snow in WNY/upstate compare with the snow in southern New England? In southern New England, the snow is usually very wet, heavy and slushy. It's messy and disgusting. My father said that the lake effect snow in WNY/upstate may be dry and powder-like, and therefore less of a nuisance. Can anyone confirm this?
2. Since I much prefer summer over winter, and love to wear shorts and go swimming in the pool, which months are actually suitable for swimming in a pool outdoors? In CT, it was June, July and August. If it's the same for upstate NY, I can live with that. I like my summers HOT and HUMID.
3. Would you say that upstate/WNY is slow paced, fast paced or moderate paced? Personally, I prefer a moderate pace of life. I thought the pace of life in greater Hartford, CT was a bit too fast for my tastes, actually. Everyone cared about making money and buying a nice car, and nothing else. Granted, I like to buy nice things too, but it's secondary to me. I just want to live modestly, not lavishly.
Well, I'm glad to hear that the people and culture of upstate NY is very similar to that of central CT, since I generally can't handle Midwestern culture and people. Although, it's kind of annoying that people in WNY use the word "pop" instead of "soda." That kind of worries me just how Midwestern the area may be. But whatever...no two places will be exactly alike. I have a few more questions:
1. How does the snow in WNY/upstate compare with the snow in southern New England? In southern New England, the snow is usually very wet, heavy and slushy. It's messy and disgusting. My father said that the lake effect snow in WNY/upstate may be dry and powder-like, and therefore less of a nuisance. Can anyone confirm this?
2. Since I much prefer summer over winter, and love to wear shorts and go swimming in the pool, which months are actually suitable for swimming in a pool outdoors? In CT, it was June, July and August. If it's the same for upstate NY, I can live with that. I like my summers HOT and HUMID.
3. Would you say that upstate/WNY is slow paced, fast paced or moderate paced? Personally, I prefer a moderate pace of life. I thought the pace of life in greater Hartford, CT was a bit too fast for my tastes, actually. Everyone cared about making money and buying a nice car, and nothing else. Granted, I like to buy nice things too, but it's secondary to me. I just want to live modestly, not lavishly.
Given the questions and concerns, I think you would be fine in regards to what you are looking for.
Well, I'm glad to hear that the people and culture of upstate NY is very similar to that of central CT, since I generally can't handle Midwestern culture and people. Although, it's kind of annoying that people in WNY use the word "pop" instead of "soda." That kind of worries me just how Midwestern the area may be. But whatever...no two places will be exactly alike. I have a few more questions:
1. How does the snow in WNY/upstate compare with the snow in southern New England? In southern New England, the snow is usually very wet, heavy and slushy. It's messy and disgusting. My father said that the lake effect snow in WNY/upstate may be dry and powder-like, and therefore less of a nuisance. Can anyone confirm this?
2. Since I much prefer summer over winter, and love to wear shorts and go swimming in the pool, which months are actually suitable for swimming in a pool outdoors? In CT, it was June, July and August. If it's the same for upstate NY, I can live with that. I like my summers HOT and HUMID.
3. Would you say that upstate/WNY is slow paced, fast paced or moderate paced? Personally, I prefer a moderate pace of life. I thought the pace of life in greater Hartford, CT was a bit too fast for my tastes, actually. Everyone cared about making money and buying a nice car, and nothing else. Granted, I like to buy nice things too, but it's secondary to me. I just want to live modestly, not lavishly.
I guess the snow would be more powder like, but we do get heavy wet snow...Not really sure what the ratio would be as I've never given it much thought.
Pretty much the same months you can swim in CT , you can swim here. I had the boat out in September and still went in the water.
I would say upstate has a moderate pace.. Probably a little slower than Hartford, but faster than cities in the midwest of similar size. There are plenty of modest people around here. There are the shallow money is everything types, but they can be easily avoided.
Your best bet is to visit for a weekend and hang out in places that people your age hang out.
Now that I think about it and from what you've mentioned before, you may like Rochester's Western suburbs, as well as Henrietta and parts of Irondequoit. In the Syracuse area, the Western and Northern suburbs. In the Buffalo area, maybe Kenmore, parts of the town of Tonawanda, much of the suburban areas east of Buffalo and a good chunk of the Southtowns. South Colonie, Rotterdam, Scotia and East Greenbush in the Albany area. Probably the Whitesboro area in the Utica area. All are solid and less pretentious suburban areas in those metros.
So then which of the five cities along the Thruway would be best for me, in your opinion? I want the one with the longest, hottest, most humid summers, best economy, more of a white collar vibe and the best scenery. I like forest and tree type landscapes, with some hills here and there. I'm not a fan of open fields.
I'm from Buffalo and lived there most of my life. Out of all of them, I highly recommend. Buffalo has a wonderful art and music scene. It's a small city, but life there is vibrant and active. It's mellow, but not slow. There are tons of great bars and restaurant and KILLER Italian food (huge Italian population). The art scene is a very large part of Buffalo culture. One of the best features to living there is that cost of living is CHEAP. You can find a sweet apartment for very little money. Lots of old Victorians converted to apartments, duplexes and triplexes. I'd say 90% of apartments are in a house, and not a complex or building. I miss that about Buffalo! The best areas are Allentown, Elmwood Village, North Buffalo (around the zoo). Buffalo is VERY gay-friendly, with some good gay bars. And the parade is always VERY fun. It's a blue collar town, yet extremely liberal. It never felt midwestern to me. It feels more like a scaled down, less expensive Boston. It's had a bad reputation in the past (downstaters hate on Buffalo), but it is really underrated. Do a little research and you'll see Buffalo is in a revitalization and surging ahead of many other cities!
But I should add, the winters can be brutal! But if you live in the city, and don't have to drive everywhere, they're also super fun. Because the pubs are ALWAYS open. I hope your liver is up to life in Buffalo.
So then which of the five cities along the Thruway would be best for me, in your opinion? I want the one with the longest, hottest, most humid summers, best economy, more of a white collar vibe and the best scenery. I like forest and tree type landscapes, with some hills here and there. I'm not a fan of open fields.
I'd say Rochester or Albany, with a person lean towards Rochester. Albany gets less snow, but overall COL is a little bit higher than Rochester. Albany is 20th and Rochester 22nd out of the top 100 metros in terms of percentage of people with a Bachelors degree or higher. Cities with the Most College-Educated Residents - Graphic - NYTimes.com
Rochester is a bigger metro in terms of population, but not by that much.
I'd say Rochester or Albany, with a person lean towards Rochester. Albany gets less snow, but overall COL is a little bit higher than Rochester. Albany is 20th and Rochester 22nd out of the top 100 metros in terms of percentage of people with a Bachelors degree or higher. Cities with the Most College-Educated Residents - Graphic - NYTimes.com
Rochester is a bigger metro in terms of population, but not by that much.
Yeah I would agree, based on my research. Rochester seems like the most suitable for me. It has a larger gay population, nicer scenery IMO, cheaper housing, more private industry jobs. Besides, I thought the city and general area had a better visual appeal than greater Albany. I wasn't impressed with Albany.
Okay, so I am now convinced that Rochester is my metro area of choice in the entire state of NY. However, the other metro area that interests me is Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL. I literally have to decide between the two by tonight, as I have to check out of my hotel tomorrow morning (here in FL) and settle on a new place, once and for all. The bottom line is that there is no perfect place and I would have to accept some negative aspects no matter what.
I'm gonna create a thread on this in the City vs. City forum lol.
Though Rochester has a decent sized gay population, Tampa does also. I have a friend that there is very happy with his options in the gay community.
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