Please Help! Why is Elmira's housing cost so cheap? (New York: real estate market, house insurance)
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Could someone please tell me why the housing costs in Elmira are so cheap.
My family and I are in the process of relocating to the Burlington, Vt area. My husband works for Bed Bath and Beyond and I am a SAHM. We have a 4 year old and a 16 month old. For the past 2 years we have been trying to decide where we want to relocate. We currently live in New Jersey, about 15minutes outside NYC. I have lived here my whole life, and quality of life is terrible all around. Housing is unaffordable, taxes high, school systems poor, gangs and drugs are taking over, and water and air are very polluted. We want more for our kids, we finally decided on Vermont, after visting the Rutland area. My husband put in for a transfer and we waited. We recently found out that they want him in the Williston store. Now we are trying to find housing, and it seems that it might be impossible to own a home within a 30 minute commute. After reading an article on the real estate market, I read that Elmira NY has a median housing price of 76,000. I checked out some online realtors and found big beautiful houses for under 90,000. I am in shock. Before we visit that area to see if maybe it will be a better fit for our family, could someone tell me is there a lot crime or something in that area, why is so cheap? Any information is so appreciated, thanks and God Bless.
Basically, the city has been on an economic downturn for quite a few years. Elmira is a mostly blue collar city, and many of the factories have closed. Not much in the way of new tech jobs have filled the void. I think one of the major employers in the area is a prison. I can't speak to the school system (for your children). There are some nice neighborhoods, but quite a few which are a bit shabby. Crime is not really bad compared to many cities in similar straights. An alternative location within commuting distance is Corning. Nice smaller city with a stable economy (as long as Corning Glass doesn't close down). The downtown main street of Corning has undergone a revitalization. A second alternative might be Ithaca. Very vibrant city for upstate NY, but housing costs are going to be much higher than Elmira or Corning. Good schools and stable economy.
Where ever you decide to move, I wish you the best of luck.
I have lived in Elmira/Elmira area for the last 15+ years and we(my family and I) are desperately trying to leave.
I have 4 children ages 14 to 9 so I share what are likely some of your concerns. A great resource is the Star Gazette. You'll get a better picture of what life is like here....take it with a grain of salt, though. In researching our relocation spot, I looked up the city's Chamber of Commerce. There's a wealth of info there, too. Try the school systems site. If you can, try to visit the area both during the year (when school is in session) and the summer when you can better see what the area has for activities. You may want to schedule a visit with the District Superintendent for a tour. There are some great private schools. I homeschool our youngest two. The oldest two go to Twin Tiers Christian Academy.
To more directly answer your question, Elmira has been in an economic downturn for quite some time. The city government just realized they have a 3million deficit and are battling it out. There are a host of issues there. NYS is sooooooo highly taxed and Baldwin (just outside of Elmira) is in the highest taxed bracket in the state. I've found the schools to be okay academically but absolutely horrible otherwise. The atmospheres are chaotic, dark, intolerant to some peoples beliefs, and untrustworthy. This is not the case in all but the majority. Crime wise, it seems to have increased but you don't hear everything in the news. Just across the street from my house is a drug house. We have gangs in the area and yes in the schools. We have shootings. We do have the best public assistance and the rumor is alot of people move here to get it. We have two major prisons and two hospitals.
Housing is plentiful but due to lack in the quality of life department, attitudes of the populace, and schools......I believe this is why Elmira's housing is soooo cheap.
There are good things about this city/area. Not all is bad. There is a lot of history. We do have a major college..Elmira College. Its a typical party college. Never had a problem with the college kids...they're nice. It does bring business but it is not on the tax roll (city problems). The area around the college is really rough, though. The "better "neighborhood is West Elmira and I hear a nicer upscale school. Eldridge Park is coming back to life. There is a country club and many different churches.
We have been through the mill and after one year of my husband not being able to get a job in the area and problems with the schools....we are prayerfully leaving. If you are intent on being here, try it for yourself....look at Horseheads and Corning areas, too. They are excellent, not without fault, but better than here.
To each their own ma'am. I think you picked an exaggerated comparison, in my humble opinion (in a previous post, you said you live there with family, and it was boring. Detroit is not boring, and more often than not, not in a good way). But then, there are some of us that wouldn't move to Florida because the house insurance would tear a hole into our wallets we can't afford. It's a matter of preference.
I agree with Ex-Ithacan. Elmira has been on an economic downturn for some time. Shabby, in places. A dump? I will venture a "no".
And I agree with Vicarian! Elmira is NOT over-ridden with gangs as Charlottesville will have us believe and as far as the schools' "atmospheres"--whatever that means(?)--being chaotic, dark and untrustworthy, perhaps she is talking about the schools in Los Angeles or the Bronx, because it in no way describes the reality in Elmira! Yes, Elmira, as Vicarian and others hear on this thread have said, is econimcally depressed. It has been for a while now. Most of the remaining jobs are low-paying and hence, the houses are cheaper because there is no longer a sizeable upper-middle-income group to buy expensive houses. Elmira has relatively low crime, especially the violent type. Since you are from New Jersey, it has nowhere near the level of violent crime that you have in some of your surrounding vicinty. In no way is Elmira comparable to a city the size of Detroit, as our young friend Angelrocks claims, for Pete's sake!! And Charlottesville, perhaps you need to be back South where people ARE more receptive to religious intolerance; i.e., where the Christian right-wing kooks judge everybody with the intolerance that supposedly the Bible tells us not to do. Judge not lest ye be judged is a Biblical edict that somehow is not followed by the hypocritical "holier-than-thou" crowd.
I've found the schools to be okay academically but absolutely horrible otherwise. The atmospheres are chaotic, dark, intolerant to some peoples beliefs, and untrustworthy. This is not the case in all but the majority. Crime wise, it seems to have increased but you don't hear everything in the news. Just across the street from my house is a drug house. We have gangs in the area and yes in the schools. We have shootings.......quoted from Charlottesville's letter.
Elmira is NOT over-ridden with gangs as Charlottesville will have us believe and as far as the schools' "atmospheres"--whatever that means(?)--being chaotic, dark and untrustworthy, perhaps she is talking about the schools in Los Angeles or the Bronx, because it in no way describes the reality in Elmira....quote by Pidgett
And Charlottesville, perhaps you need to be back South where people ARE more receptive to religious intolerance; i.e., where the Christian right-wing kooks judge everybody with the intolerance that supposedly the Bible tells us not to do. Judge not lest ye be judged is a Biblical edict that somehow is not followed by the hypocritical "holier-than-thou" crowd......quote by Pidgett
Pidgett, I think you need to follow your own advice and another verse that might be of help for you is "a soft answer turns away wrath". It sounds like you are angry at those who are religous. Many times people who answer the way you have, have had very bad experiences with religion and or religous people. You don't know me, never met me....how can you judge someone without knowing them? You judged me as religously intolerant but my comment never mentioned what beliefs were not tolerated.
I don't know if you've ever been schooled or taught in the Elmira School District but what I said is true. I don't like it anymore than you do. There are more and more people coming out with their horrible experiences that they've had in this school district. While it is not like some LA or NYC schools, it is not all they make it to be. Many incidences are never reported to the state and I can verify that because I have looked on the report card and of the incidences that I found out about there was no notation of those kind of offenses. I have caught the schools apparently letting teachers off with resignation when they should have been fired...like for throwing a desk at the student, using other physical force such as shoving them against a locker. While these may not be everyday occurences they do happen and are happening. The recent articles in the Stargazette regarding safe pre-k and the one by Dr.R.Bryant re:speaking out about sexual harrassment in schools are proof. Although Bryant didn't refer to this district, it has happened here and the school brushed it off. There have been atleast two incidences(one several years ago and one a week ago) were guns were brought to school by a student. A few weeks ago a student brought drugs to one our middle schools. This happens frequently enough that it doesn't appear to bother the kids. Kids are not allowed to wear certain plastic bracelets to school as it had to do with certain sexual favors being forced on them. I know of one incident where a girl was caught having sex in a bathroom at one of our middle schools and condoms are found in the garbage cans at school and outside of it. We do have gangs in Elmira and some of their members go to our schools. My information comes from people who work at the schools, students, police, living here and the newspaper. The schools are aware of this and periodically issue warnings such as "No wearing all white shirts as this was found to be gang related". I never said Elmira was overridden with gangs as you stated.
Elmira has had chances to bring businesses in but certain businesses didn't want them here because it would mean competition for them. They would be forced to pay their workers more in order to keep them. This from people involved with revitalizing downtown Elmira. Not all is the city's fault but the states for the high taxes. New York is well known for this and that is why many potential businesses either won't come here, leave when their tax break is up, or look elsewhere because the city or county won't give them what they want. And how would you explain a 3 million deficit that was originally 2? I give the city management credit for being forthright about this because that is downright embarrassing. I would like to see them be completely honest, ask forgiveness, and change because when people keep lying to you, especially those who have power over you, you learn not to trust them....that's wisdom.
Pidgett, the reality is that these things have and do happen in Elmira. While no place is perfect, not even the south (this in response to what you said regarding its religous intolerance.....I know some groups are very literal....I could explain more) there is more opportunity at this point in time. Sometimes you have to make changes because you need to not because you want to.
Take care and please don't think all religous people are like those you described. We are not perfect....no one is. When you read the Bible, you see what Jesus is really like....He is love.
Last edited by Charlottesville; 04-07-2007 at 10:00 PM..
Reason: grammatical
Well, I believe it is a fine place to live. All the negative things that these people are saying are being blown way out of proportion. Some things they say are true about shootings and such things but it is not enough to make me want to leave. I think that more people should buy houses here due to how cheap it is. West Elmira has soime beautiful houses.
So many people have a knee-jerk reaction when certain towns come up. Elmira is one of them. Maybe it's the prisons, the depression.
My own hometown is derided as a dump and parts of it truly are, but most of the badmouthers have never even been there.
Some people are only happy with Stepford-like suburbia. SUVs and conformity and false smiles. They are afraid of a little grit. Grit is the building block of character and charm in my opinion.
ABQConvict
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