Can we afford to live in Ithaca?

[Ellie C.]

Ithaca is a great town, but it is a bit far away from everything. There is quite a bit to do as far as eating, shopping, and being outdoors, but the traffic is horrible and the town is infiltrated with a lot of college students all year round.

I guess it's all relative, but "horrible" traffic? I think not. More cars on the road than Oswego? Most certainly.

And for heaven's sake, when will people realize that having a well respected Ivy League school in the town is a good thing? The vast majority of students going to Cornell and Ithaca College aren't here for the party atmosphere; they're serious students.

I've been to Oswego, and the lake is beautiful, but there's a reason not many people want to live there. In February of last year they got over 10 feet of snow in ONE WEEK.

Here's the story in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/ny...Staba,%20David

Or you can just Google images for "Oswego NY snow"...

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by JECK06

I have found that Oswego is a smaller, less wealthy version of Saratoga. Oswego is 40 min North of Syracuse right on Lake Ontario. There is so much to do outdoors. We do get harsh winters, but nothing too much different than the rest of central New York, besides a couple harsh weekends.

Just a correction.

Oswego averages over 160 inches of snow each year. That is considerably more snow than other places in Central New York.... like Syracuse, which averages 115 inches of snow. Ithaca (which some consider CNY) averages any where between 75 to 90 inches of snow each year.

Oswego County is in the heart of the lake effect snow belt. Syracuse is on the edge of the snow belt. Ithaca is just south of the snow belt. There is vast difference in snowfall between the suburbs just north of Syracuse and the towns just south of Syracuse. There are no official statistics for these communities but Cicero probably averages 120 inches of snow, while Camillus or Jamesville probably only average 90 inches of snow each year. The City of Syracuse is somewhere in between. Remember Syracuse's Airport is where the official snowfall measurement is taken and it is located 5 miles north of the city. Just those 5 miles adds a few inches of snow to Syracuse's average.

[rosette8]

Just a note on snowfall, since you were inquiring on another thread about Saratoga and Niskayuna....Albany averages around 60 inches!

[vicarian]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

Just a correction.

Oswego averages over 160 inches of snow each year. That is considerably more snow than other places in Central New York.... like Syracuse, which averages 115 inches of snow. Ithaca (which some consider CNY) averages any where between 75 to 90 inches of snow each year.

Oswego County is in the heart of the lake effect snow belt. Syracuse is on the edge of the snow belt. Ithaca is just south of the snow belt. There is vast difference in snowfall between the suburbs just north of Syracuse and the towns just south of Syracuse. There are no official statistics for these communities but Cicero probably averages 120 inches of snow, while Camillus or Jamesville probably only average 90 inches of snow each year. The City of Syracuse is somewhere in between. Remember Syracuse's Airport is where the official snowfall measurement is taken and it is located 5 miles north of the city. Just those 5 miles adds a few inches of snow to Syracuse's average.

Yeah, and in the communities up in tug hill can pull in 0ver 200'' in a given year. I think the record was close to 250''.

Ithaca's average is about 65-70 inches, although this year seems to be on the low end, near 55 inches.

In response to an earlier poster, I think Oswego actually has less than 20,000 people, but I could be wrong. I know people that went to SUNY Oswego; visiting that school, their social acitivities made Ithaca College and Cornell look tame. But the lake is beautiful.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by vicarian

Yeah, and in the communities up in tug hill can pull in 0ver 200'' in a given year. I think the record was close to 250''.

Ithaca's average is about 65-70 inches, although this year seems to be on the low end, near 55 inches.

Thanks, I've always wondered what Ithaca averaged for snowfall. I figured since Binghamton averages 81 inches of snow and Syracuse averages 115, Ithaca would be somewhere in the middle.

This year snow totals for Syracuse..... Take out the very snowy, very colder December in Syracuse and the total was about 70 inches. Add the month of December and Syracuse had 110 inches of snow this past season.

For me, any winter below 50 inches is too little snow on the ground. And anything above 120 inches is too much shoveling of snow. In the months of December, January and February having cold without snow cover is depressing IMO. Pittsburgh only averages 40 inches of snow and winters down there are very gloomy without the snow cover to brighten up winter.

[rosette8]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

For me, any winter below 50 inches is too little snow on the ground. And anything above 120 inches is too much shoveling of snow. In the months of December, January and February having cold without snow cover is depressing IMO. .

i agree.....

[Catie]

My boyfriend and I have been discussing where to move...I like the finger Lakes area a lot....I hope I win out and wind up in the Ithaca area...good luck!

[creekwalker]

Originally Posted by JECK06

There is quite a bit to do as far as eating, shopping, and being outdoors, but the traffic is horrible and the town is infiltrated with a lot of college students all year round.

Your comment about Ithaca traffic made me laugh out loud... I grew up in Ithaca and now live in Chicago. So of course I believe that there is ZERO traffic in Ithaca relative to the rest of the planet. If some part of downtown is under construction, it's a pain, but you can generally get around it ; )

Living 5-20 minutes outside of Ithaca seems like the perfect balance. The town is there, offering everything you could ever want/need, but you can avoid the townies & college scene if you want to. My folks live in Brooktondale. We swim in 6 mile creek and stand behind waterfalls in the summer, cross country ski in the winter. It's amaaaazing. Us city folks shell out thousands of dollars to go vacationing in scenes like what you all are surrounded by every day - you're blessed! Please please grow the local job market so we can move back there someday...