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My huband and I are thinking very strongly about relocating to Upstate NY with my family in a little less than a year. My mothers from Brooklyn originally and swears that Upstate NY is where to be. We currently live in the SF Bay Area and have absolutely no idea where to look. Were looking towards Johnstown, Caroga Lake but were open to suggestions. Low crime, colleges,great school districts,quiet towns with plenty of shopping, plus there has to be lots of work. Healthcare preferred. I like Albany from what I've seen via the internet. If anyone has any thoughts to share please feel free.
Healthcare jobs will be best found in Rochester and Syracuse...those are large metros though, not small towns. If you would like a small town that is easily commutible to either...Canandaigua outside of Rochester and Skaneatles outside Syracuse would proabably be a nice fit for you. (Ontario County, NY where Canandaigua is, was recently rated the best rural county in America to live....Canandaigua is an easy 35 minute commute to Rochester)
Its that 'lots of jobs' part of the equation that will be hard to balance as far as much of upstate NY goes, though health care is probably one of the best fields to be looking in.
You could virtually walk into any town or city upstate and find a job in healthcare. You might want to check out web sites that list the various colleges up here. There are plenty of them in places of all sizes.
As someone who had to come to Rochester, ny with family I would definitely talk to people who are not originally from here to get a better idea about how you would adjust. I know from friends how diverse and culturally alive SF is and that cannot be said of Rochester. Aside from the bitter cold, there is no metropolitan city close by to provide enrichment. Yes, rochester is safe and has good schools, but the same can be said of suburbs of NYC, Washington, DC, etc. Do your kids a favor and move to a place that has opportunities for them. Also, think of yourselves and how you do not want to be bored stiff. Albany has some safe suburbs and is much more accessable to NYC.
I would respectfully disagree with the last poster re: Rochester. We moved here with our family (two teenage boys) this past June, from Westchester County near NYC. In Westchester, we frequently went into NYC for theater, museums, concerts, etc. It's true that Rochester isn't NYC, but there is plenty to do culturally--the GEVA Theater, the Auditorium Theater, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Eastman School concerts, the George Eastman House, the Memorial Art Gallery--all of these have events scheduled all year long. There are excellent universities nearby--high-ranked SUNY schools, the U of R., etc.
Our cost of living is less than half what it was in Westchester. People have been very friendly and welcoming. Our kids love their new schools (in Brighton).
The only thing I would say is if you have kids, get a home in one of the Rochester suburbs, not the city of Rochester itself. Rochester does NOT "have good schools." The schools are in serious trouble, with very low test scores, a low graduation rate, many kids in long-term detention, many kids still in high school at age 19 or 20, gang activity, etc. The district has just hired a new superintendent, so there is hope that he will start to turn things around, but it will be a long battle. However, there are excellent schools in the suburbs, such as Brighton, Pittsford, Perinton, Penfield, etc.
Oh, and be sure you are ready for an upstate winter!
As someone who had to come to Rochester, ny with family I would definitely talk to people who are not originally from here to get a better idea about how you would adjust. I know from friends how diverse and culturally alive SF is and that cannot be said of Rochester. Aside from the bitter cold, there is no metropolitan city close by to provide enrichment. Yes, rochester is safe and has good schools, but the same can be said of suburbs of NYC, Washington, DC, etc. Do your kids a favor and move to a place that has opportunities for them. Also, think of yourselves and how you do not want to be bored stiff. Albany has some safe suburbs and is much more accessable to NYC.
Uhhh, one of the things that people tell me after visiting Rochester is the amount of culture for a city its size(coming from SF persons ironically). There are a number of art galleries, museums, theaters, etc. There is also Toronto close by, about the same distance it would take you to get to NYC from Albany. If you are bored stiff in the area you obviously live in a closet and make no attempt to go outside because there is plenty going on.
As someone who had to come to Rochester, ny with family I would definitely talk to people who are not originally from here to get a better idea about how you would adjust. I know from friends how diverse and culturally alive SF is and that cannot be said of Rochester. Aside from the bitter cold, there is no metropolitan city close by to provide enrichment. Yes, rochester is safe and has good schools, but the same can be said of suburbs of NYC, Washington, DC, etc. Do your kids a favor and move to a place that has opportunities for them. Also, think of yourselves and how you do not want to be bored stiff. Albany has some safe suburbs and is much more accessable to NYC.
I quite agree with cary280. If you're from an area like SF, you probably want to get an SF perpective on moving. I'm from S. Ca., moved to a place 30 minutes south of Syracuse and was a little shocked about the place. When I did finally meet up with people from my area (SD) who had relocated here, I was releived to find out that I wasn't the only one who found the differences a little odd. (Mentality, Physical Well Being, Arts and Culture)
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Do some research
