"Why" do you live in upstate NY?

[juppiter]

Originally Posted by jrice

I am originally from Syracuse (both sets of grandparents came to Syr right of the boats), and lived there until I was 26. The only reason I moved was the economic resources in Syracuse were bad. I was laidoff by Telergy and could not find a comparable job in terms of pay scale. So we moved to Las Vegas. Vegas is not the utopia that most people make it out to be, people are fake (I blame the Cali transplants for that), the weather is miserable(especially in the summer), theres no sense of community, etc

What I miss about Syracuse is:

-the people, it might be because I am from the area but I find everyone friendly and sincere.
-the weather, snow is not as bad as 115 degree summers, also the sun can get pretty boring when you see it 360 days a year
-the sense of community, you know your neighbors and are friendly with them. Most people stay in their homes decades instead of trying to flip them and make a quick buck
-Food, good old fashioned italian food, bakeries, Hoffman hotdogs
-that its home


If Syracuse could focus more resources on bringing jobs back into the community instead of being so focused on Destiny USA it would really benefit the area. Theres only so much retail can do for a city

Yup... Destiny USA is not gonna bring tourism to the area. Pyramid (the company that owns Carousel) proposed almost the same exact project in Albany ten years ago and it got turned down. Malls are on the way out.

[tt6351]

Originally Posted by jrice

Since 2003. If I were single I would like it more but its just not a great place to raise a child. And crime is getting alot worse also. I am not naive I am well aware crime is everywhere but it seems this town just somehow breeds it, and people for the most part are snobbish here as well. Remember that week during the past school year where there was a shooting a day in and around the high schools--NYC isnt even that bad. And unlike most of the cities back east where there were good and bad sides--like in Syracuse the South and West sides were bad, everywhere in Vegas crime can get bad--except in places like Seven Hills where the rich people live. I am hoping to be in PA by start of school year.

How long you been in Vegas? Did you learn spanish yet?

It's been 15 years here for me. Spent some of that time in a small rural community about an hour north of here. With my husband commuting into Vegas every day, shopping, etc. Bit the bullet and moved back into town. Don't think we could have kept up with the gas prices doing 150 miles roundtrip a day for work, ya know? No Spanish whatsoever here. Figure if I can't understand, it's not important. Ah, that's another post. I totally agree with you that it seems like this town "breeds" the crime, etc. I hear the response of "it's EVERYWHERE...you can't run away from it no matter where you are".....argh, if I hear that one more time. I know it is too, but it is so much more prevalent here. I remember those shootings. It was getting a bit crazy there for a while. Not too long ago, right outside my development, someone decided to put a pipe bomb inside a telephone relay box. So...like you said the crime is everywhere around here. Home invasions are like everyday...ah, we know the drill. I've lived in this house 3 years and only know a few neighbors....not like back home where everyone wanted to know you. Here, it's so transient people don't want to be bothered..I guess. Oh well. I hope all goes well with you and your move by the upcoming school year. We figure it might be another 2 years before we do anything.

[e dantes]

As a long-time Central New Yorker, I moved to Missouri to get married last year, but me and my wife plan to move back in a couple of years. I miss it so much: the friendly people, the beautiful scenery, and the great day trips that are just hours away in all directions. Give me the snow any day over these brutally hot summers out here!

[CBaillo]

i live here for many reasons.

1. pursuing our dream of opening our own winery
2. raising our daughter in a small town
3. the outdoors
4. the four seasons
5. the nicer, more sincere people
6. the community

We moved from CA. we grew up there, but absolutely hated it. hard to have a sense of community when even the smallest city in SoCal is usually 100,000+ people. and its city right next to city right next to city, small towns are not existant in southern CA.

It's funny that people bring up the fact that sun is not all its made out to be. When we tell people we moved here from CA, they're like WHY?!, why would you move here from someplace w/ sun. And my response is usually..do you even KNOW what 115-117 degrees feels like?! Do you KNOW what 11 months of summer and 1 month of fall feel like? It's only Baywatch if you could afford to live by the beach, for the rest of us, we had to live in the desert, and fringes of the big cities. I've always liked balance in all things..and i love the warm seasons (notice WARM, not HOT :P) as much as i love the snow and cold. i do a lot of things that can only do in the snow and cold, so i'll never hate winter.

Plus we've never been city folk. We've always had small town mentalities. My wife and I had values instilled in us that are mostly missing from a lot of people from my generation. We were tired of the rat race, competing with the jones', and being surrounded by people who only cared about that crap that didnt matter...aka material things. We weren't in this life to race through it, and not have time to smell the flowers, and enjoy our children. Money wasn't important to us, and we rather live a slowed down, more family centric, allbeit less profitable, life.

Now we call this place home, something we were never comfortable enough to call CA. this is where our heart is. And every place may have problems, but coming from Southern CA, this place is as close to perfect as I'VE ever seen.

[twentyfour01]

Here's what I wish we could see in the local media: More attention given to the voices of newcomers to the area. Real opinions by real people who really like this area enough to try to make a go of it. (As opposed to canned opinions by "experts" or consultants who are just passing through on the lecture circuit or on University assignment.) I'm sick of hearing from consultants.