Raise your hand if you like Cuba (New York, Buffalo: rent, crime)

[cadence75]

I will be relocating to New York from Washington. I am looking at Rochester and Cuba. I did plenty of research, but not being there is no substitute. My dream is to own a historic building and rehabilitate it. I can do it in Cuba for under $100.000, but if I head to Rochester a home will have to do. Is Cuba worth the move if I don't depend on an income from a job to raise my children and wife, or is cuba not a stable city. Thank you

[heathersmom]

Are you talking about Cuba NY? It is not a city- Rochester is a City--Cuba NY is near the Southern Tier- Rochester is the other direction...my husband was born in Cuba NY. It is closer to Buffalo. Cuba is beautiful area but not many jobs in that area- old homes and small businesses. Actually, when we play against their school it is combined: Cuba- Rushford. Good luck with your endevor.

[Sunshinegal]

I have lived in Rushford for 11 years. It is a very quiet, small upstate town that is a great place to raise a family.

We have only one blinking light, a library (with interlibrary loan system and computers), a bank, two "corner markets," post office, hairdressers, coffee shop, town historian, a veterinary hospital, vacation lake and marina, a youth center, three small churches, little red school house, town hall and fair ground. We also have a volunteer fire dept. who do their very best to serve and protect us. We have no mini-mart, no gas or grocery store, pharmacy or strip mall! Rushford was a farm town, but family farms are disappearing quickly. No industry or business to speak of here. Individuals with talent run their own businesses and work in nearby communities.

Rushford is a picturesque little town with some nice homes though some are in disrepair. We also have nature preserves and state forests and parks nearby. Land is inexpensive in town and surrounding but lots and homes around Rushford Lake will cost more. We have a Labor Day Festival and parade and nearby towns have their festivals too. You'll find maple sugar farms, honey, skiing, sledding, boating, fishing, hunting, antiquing all around. The school system, Cuba-Rushford, works well for many families. Others choose nearby Christian schools, other districts, or home schooling. There is very little crime - petty stuff. We feel safe, peaceful, somewhat bored, a little depressed in winter, full of fun in the nice summers, and friendly toward all. Taxes are a bit burdensome for this depressed area. The roads are well-kept and the neighbors are friendly. There are liberal arts colleges within 10 and 25 miles where activities, academics, lessons, and culture abound.

Much of this info is true for Cuba too, except that Cuba also has a vacation lake and more business - a real downtown store section, ice cream, grocery store, liquor, pharmacy, McDonalds, feed store, cheese factory, fair grounds and the centralized school. Nicer homes than Rushford; a little more crime, not much to be worried about. Olean, NY, a larger, Walmart-sized town with colleges is only 15 minutes away. In both towns people are friendly and many are talented and educated.

Weather in Rushford and Cuba: Summers are beautiful if we don't get too much rain. You'll rarely see a brown spot on the lawn. Springs are generally rainy and chilly. Falls can be stunning if the rain doesn't knock all the leaves off the trees. Second weekend in Oct. is high fall here and well worth a visit with numerous festivals going on. Winters can be dramatically beautiful too. They may start October 31st and continue until April... But real snow starts in November, harder snows in Jan, Feb and into March. Crocus begin to peek up in April, but vegetable gardening can only start in earnest after the last frost in May. If you love the yard, always have a pair of slip on boots - lawns will be wet in the mornings everyday except in July and August! The biting bugs are few.

My only gripes about this pretty area are the number of gray days we have, the state taxes, the economic depression and some isolation. Good luck!

[dragonshellfire]

I've lived in Cuba ever since I was five years old. My family moved from Western PA and haven't regretted the move. Cuba is a small community, but also a wonderful place to raise children.

I'm currently working two part time jobs in Olean, NY, with the possibility of a full time position in the future. If you want a very family oriented town, with good schools, (I loved Cuba-Rushford Central High), and very historical buildings, combined with an extremely low cost of living, (I went to school in Buffalo and rent was extreme), then I really recommend Cuba, NY.

[Timtheman]

Hi all,

Nice posts. May I piggy-back just a little about a nearby area I'd love to know more about? What can you tell me about Caneadea? And could you say just a little more about the "gray days" and why? Thanks much!

[Fearringtonflash]

I spent a sabbatical in 1986-87 in WNY and loved Cuba. I was wondering, is Moonwink's restaurant still in business?

[BuffaloTransplant]

Have 2 friends who live there and love it. Very rural

[homeward bound]

Sorry I can't answer about Caneadea, but "gray days" refer to the sometimes successive cloudy days you can get in that area (called the Southern Tier) pretty much any season of the year. They're most often caused by being in "the Lake Effect." The same conditions that can create a lot of snow in the winter are generally what can create successively cloudy days.

I spent a lot of time in Birdsall and Angelica, in all seasons, and always found the general area very beautiful for all the reasons people have listed here. The area's weather was actually a big part of this. I'm pretty light-sensitive, so a few cloudy days in a row never seemed depressing to me.

In the summer, the cloudy days keep you from roasting. They're a welcome break from weather that can get hot and relentlessly sunny, just like almost anywhere else. When it's July and August and a few cloudy days in a row come, it's actually a relief. You can still swim, work up a sweat, etc., if it's cloudy. It remains warm enough. But you don't have to squint or slather yourself with sunscreen. You can get stuff done comfortably, or relax more comfortably. And when the cloudy days lift, you're ready for the sunny days to return--they haven't lost their appeal by frying your skin and eyeballs for too many successive days. You appreciate sunny days more with the cloudy-day breaks.

In the spring, cloudy days mean rain, and the rain there (barring the rare flood) is a blessing. It keeps the area incredibly green and lovely. As was said, when the rest of the state or Great Lakes states have drought, this area almost always remains verdant. Its many wetlands show that. And again in the spring, cloudy days generally mean pleasantly cool temperatures to get your garden work going, to do house repairs without roasting, etc.

In the fall, the cloudy days admittedly can mute the incredible fall colors there (the woods and towns both have lots of maples). But they also keep/make the weather cool so you can enjoy the fall colors for long stretches without feeling burnt-out by the sun.

I can understand why cloudy stretches in the winter can seem depressing to some people. But to me it always meant "Might snow!"--and in these greenhouse days, I think it'd be nice to have the prospect of snow around. The area's generally abundant snowfall is one of the things that makes it so beautiful, since it's a rural area with several beautiful-looking old towns. (And yes, I was in the area for the blizzard of '77-'78, so I know that snow isn't all fun and winter can be killingly cruel.) If you like to cook, read, play or listen to music, have friends, family, a dog to walk, a hobby or two, are willing to try cross-country skiing or ice-skating, etc., getting through the winter without too many blah's or pounds gained is certainly possible.

And it's not like the area is the Irish sea coast. It gets plenty of sunny days, and even the occasional drought. At the very least, its occasional gray stretches are well worth what the area offers in exchange.

[Timtheman]

Homeward bound,

Thank you greatly for your detailed response. The area, pace, and parks all appeal very much to me. It seems Cuba and Olean provide a shopping base beyond the necessities. My one concern about the area seems to be the hospital situation. Any reflections of that matter? Thanks again.

[homeward bound]

Sorry, but I don't know anything about this. I suppose you could Google "Cuba NY hospital," and also you could look at a map of the town, with the street-name labels on, and it would highlight any area hospitals, so you could go on in a search for further information that way.

The easiest thing, I think, would simply to be to call the town hall or the local chamber of commerce, and they could direct you further.

(The only time I needed medical care while in that area was a non-human event: my lovably dumb dog got a huge snoutful of porcupine quills, and we went from Angelica to Belmont to a local vet.)

The forum seems pretty slow lately, but I'm sure someone will chime in with more info here. I hope you'll post if you make the move to Cuba!