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a college town in a somewhat rural area without compromising cultural and intellectual pursuits often associated with larger cities.
A pretty good description of Ithaca. The only thing I'd quibble about is the "without compromising" bit; Ithaca has a lot of options for a city of its size, but it's not NYC, and it's a little too far from large cities for a day trip. It'll depend a bit on how to balance that desire with the desire for a rural environment. A medium-sized city like Madison WI has more cultural options while being a bit further from rural areas, Northampton MA feels more rural to me (or at least "differently rural") but is close enough to Boston to actually do regular day trips. For me it's the right balance, but it might not be for you. Visiting and looking through the events listing in the Ithaca Journal, and equivalent studies of similar college towns, would give you a better sense of if a place has what you're looking for. Or if there's something specific, feel free to ask.
A pretty good description of Ithaca. The only thing I'd quibble about is the "without compromising" bit; Ithaca has a lot of options for a city of its size, but it's not NYC, and it's a little too far from large cities for a day trip. It'll depend a bit on how to balance that desire with the desire for a rural environment. A medium-sized city like Madison WI has more cultural options while being a bit further from rural areas, Northampton MA feels more rural to me (or at least "differently rural") but is close enough to Boston to actually do regular day trips. For me it's the right balance, but it might not be for you. Visiting and looking through the events listing in the Ithaca Journal, and equivalent studies of similar college towns, would give you a better sense of if a place has what you're looking for. Or if there's something specific, feel free to ask.
I wonder if Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo would be big enough for them? Would the 3 and a half or so trip to NYC or Philly be good enough?
I don't think the average Ithacan who moves from the wider world really focuses on Syracuse or Rochester at all (unless they really need to go to the Apple Store, maybe). Maybe a concert in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Scranton, or possibly Albany. And Ithaca is just too far from the corridor cities to day trip and do anything - maybe just pick someone up at an airport in NYC or Washington is all I remember anyone going down and back in a day for. 4 to 4.5 hours would be a more realistic city to city one way drive time from Ithaca to any of Philly, NYC, or Toronto, and another 1/2 to 1 hour for DC - allowing for traffic and close to legal speed.
Northampton as mentioned would be day-trip proximal to Boston and NYC. Madison and Urbana-Champaign could be day trippable to Chicago as another option. Chattanooga could be worth considering if non-flatness is part of the appeal, two hours or so to Atlanta.
I wonder if Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo would be big enough for them?
Really depends on what they're looking for. "cultural and intellectual pursuits often associated with larger cities?" Not much in those cities that's worth the drive.
Don't get me wrong; we're huge fans of the Strong museum, we've been to the Syracuse Zoo, attended Buffalo's Shakespeare in the Park and gone to most of the museums in that area while visiting family (I really like Buffalo, actually, but an extra hour's driving would get me to NYC.) But big city cultural and intellectual pursuits not available around Ithaca, I'm thinking professional live opera and big theater, art museums, big but not culturally-mainstream music acts, zoos and aquariums, cultural festivals, certain types of ethnic food. And there's not much of that sort of thing within 2 hours drive, several options within 4 hours. We usually go to NYC or Boston, and loved Chicago when we were in Madison.
If it is a matter of crunchy, rural, liberal college town in close proximity to a major area, then places like New Paltz(about 2 hours from NYC) and Burlington VT(about an hour and a half south of Montreal) could work as well.
If it is a matter of that type of community that offers a cosmopolitan vibe/a good array of cultural events in spite of its location and size, then Ithaca fits. I was thinking that was what that poster was referring to.
Really depends on what they're looking for. "cultural and intellectual pursuits often associated with larger cities?" Not much in those cities that's worth the drive.
Don't get me wrong; we're huge fans of the Strong museum, we've been to the Syracuse Zoo, attended Buffalo's Shakespeare in the Park and gone to most of the museums in that area while visiting family (I really like Buffalo, actually, but an extra hour's driving would get me to NYC.) But big city cultural and intellectual pursuits not available around Ithaca, I'm thinking professional live opera and big theater, art museums, big but not culturally-mainstream music acts, zoos and aquariums, cultural festivals, certain types of ethnic food. And there's not much of that sort of thing within 2 hours drive, several options within 4 hours. We usually go to NYC or Boston, and loved Chicago when we were in Madison.
Syracuse actually has most of those things(opera, cultural festivals/some ethnic foods, Syracuse Stage, the Westcott Theater, the Everson, etc), but I get what you are saying in terms of scale in relation to bigger cities/areas.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 07-15-2014 at 01:56 PM..
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