Ithaca Area for Politically Right 0f Center

[JustThinking]

I can tell you from experience that being a conservative in the Ithaca area (including in the outskirts, where I live) is a real challenge and can be an extremely isolating and lonely experience. Unless you are as thick-skinned as a rhinoceros, a remarkably quick-witted debater, and are prepared to vigorously defend even your most mildly conservative beliefs at every utterance, you will find yourself revealing fewer and fewer of your political beliefs as the days go by. Many conservatives here keep their political beliefs secret and rarely discuss politics because they have learned that expressing their conservative ideas is a quick path to losing potential (or even established) friendships. If you move here, one experience you will have to get used to is encountering people who assume that you are a very left-leaning person and that you enjoy hearing conservative cultural and political leaders insulted and debased, often in a very crude manner. That's how you will learn how respected your point of view really is.

[ki0eh]

State College, PA has very pleasant surroundings and is much more politically conservative for a college town. Tax situation for retirees likely much more favorable. But you'll eat out much better in Ithaca and a home game Saturday at Cornell is un-noticeable vs. what one has to deal with around PSU.

[Ellie C.]

Originally Posted by orlandoyankee

Just for my own curiosity, define "pretty high property taxes". I know NYS property tax rates are high. But, for a $200-250K house in the Ithaca area, what would I expect for taxes? And is there some kind of reduction for seniors?

Sorry it took so long for me to see this...

In Tompkins county, it can be as high as $40 on $1000, so if your talking a $200K house, it could be as high as $8K. It depends a lot on the location, so make sure you ask if you ever do any house hunting. We live right over the county line in Schuyler, and it's made a huge difference on our taxes. Then there is the STAR exemption, which helps a little, and Schuyler offers a senior discount (don't know about Tompkins).

We were almost scared off by talk of high taxes, but it turned out to be okay for us. We just factored that into our price point when we were house shopping.