During a Depression, where would you rather live, Downstate or Upstate suburbs? (New York: real estate, apartment)

[bellafinzi]

Some say the United States is heading into an economic Depression. Given the following two choices, where would you rather live during a Depression and why?

New York City suburbs

OR

The suburbs outside Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany

[juppiter]

I'd never want to live in a suburb again period. Fake people, been there, done that.

[cheese9988]

Not sure how NYC is to live. But alot of times Upstate, it is cheaper to live in the city. When we were looking for a house in Rochester the taxes jumped up $500/yr just to go up a couple blocks into Irondequoit. Not to mention in the city everything is closer so you do not have to drive as much. It may be possible to get around without a car in certain sections of Rochester, probably would be easier to do in Buffalo.

So basically either way, cost of living is cheaper. I know people who live in the suburbs who have well water, septec systems and are always getting power outages during storms. We didn't invent technology for me to go back to the boondocks. Sorry sidetrack.

[jpicard]

Niether. NY has become is like an old soviet block country. There really is no such thing as home or land ownership in NY. Property taxes are so high you basically renting from the government and it is actually cheaper to rent than to buy. NYC and suburbs have the highest rents in the world.

With that said it gets a little better upstate with real estate and rents being somewhat cheaper. There are however no jobs up there and the local economies are in shambles thanks to the oppressive tax policies. Again, upstate NY counties are ranked near the top of the list in counties in the US with the highest property taxes.

Upstate NY is beautiful place to live but if you can afford it. With some land you could grow your own food to help in a depression but the high costs will make it more difficult than it is in other regions.

[mycrows]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

But alot of times Upstate, it is cheaper to live in the city. When we were looking for a house in Rochester the taxes jumped up $500/yr just to go up a couple blocks into Irondequoit.

You're right, there's no hard and fast rule about where you're going to find the lowest taxes upstate. The city of Rochester doesn't have the highest taxes in Monroe county, but it's up there. This little utility from the D&C for calculating property taxes in NYS is pretty interesting - 2007 Tax Rates. It's old but from my experience it's still pretty accurate. According to the database, if you had a gone out a little further, into the town of Webster, you'd find a lower tax rate than either Rochester or Irondequoit. But, as you pointed out, the cost of living might be higher and the home prices definitely are.

You just have to crunch the numbers on a case by case basis. I was surprised to learn that residents of the village of East Rochester pay the most taxes of anyone in Monroe county. Where did you land?

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by jpicard

Niether. NY has become is like an old soviet block country. There really is no such thing as home or land ownership in NY. Property taxes are so high you basically renting from the government and it is actually cheaper to rent than to buy. NYC and suburbs have the highest rents in the world.

With that said it gets a little better upstate with real estate and rents being somewhat cheaper. There are however no jobs up there and the local economies are in shambles thanks to the oppressive tax policies. Again, upstate NY counties are ranked near the top of the list in counties in the US with the highest property taxes.

Upstate NY is beautiful place to live but if you can afford it. With some land you could grow your own food to help in a depression but the high costs will make it more difficult than it is in other regions.

Have you ever lived Upstate??? Its cheap to live up here, and its because of the housing costs. Yes we are the highest taxed, but between Buffalo and Syracuse we are among the cheapest in the nation to buy a home.

I lived in NC, my home here in Rochester costs as much as my apartment did in Raleigh. And I have 1800 sq/ft, a garage, my own driveway and a backyard. You don't have to worry about waiting in traffic, and everything is close by. So you save a ton on gas. Food is cheap and the water is cheap.

How can you say it is expensive to live somewhere just based on taxes?

And the economy up here, because we were not involved in a big housing or employment bubble, NY, as of last month had lower unemployment rates then alot of other states. Sometimes having a steady economy is a good thing.

[jpicard]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

Have you ever lived Upstate??? Its cheap to live up here, and its because of the housing costs. Yes we are the highest taxed, but between Buffalo and Syracuse we are among the cheapest in the nation to buy a home.

I lived in NC, my home here in Rochester costs as much as my apartment did in Raleigh. And I have 1800 sq/ft, a garage, my own driveway and a backyard. You don't have to worry about waiting in traffic, and everything is close by. So you save a ton on gas. Food is cheap and the water is cheap.

How can you say it is expensive to live somewhere just based on taxes?

And the economy up here, because we were not involved in a big housing or employment bubble, NY, as of last month had lower unemployment rates then alot of other states. Sometimes having a steady economy is a good thing.

Property taxes alone range anywhere between 3k to 20k per year depending on where in the state you are living. Rockland county where I live average around 7 to 10k per year.

With that said I did say in my last post it is better upstate. But again, if you are paying 3-4k a year in taxes and have 2 hour commute since there are no jobs in the woods you are not really saving money with a 200k home long term in the sticks.

Thus my statement stands that due to taxes you do not really own a home in NY but rent from the government.

[piperspal]

I live upstate now. If those were my only 2 choices, I'd stay put. But since you are talking about a very real possibility, I'd boogie outta
here in the middle of the night & head south a bit. Not that it'll be any better there per se; but at least I'll be warmer under the cardboard tent.

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by jpicard

Property taxes alone range anywhere between 3k to 20k per year depending on where in the state you are living. Rockland county where I live average around 7 to 10k per year.

With that said I did say in my last post it is better upstate. But again, if you are paying 3-4k a year in taxes and have 2 hour commute since there are no jobs in the woods you are not really saving money with a 200k home long term in the sticks.

Thus my statement stands that due to taxes you do not really own a home in NY but rent from the government.

That's a really ignorant comment...

first of all, Rockland County is NOT upstate, NY


Second of all...all of Upstate NY is not "the woods"; We have 4 metros with over 700k in population and 2 with over a million. There are plenty of high tech, education, and medical jobs in Buffalo and Rochester.

Please educate yourself.

[jpicard]

Originally Posted by I'minformed2

That's a really ignorant comment...

first of all, Rockland County is NOT upstate, NY


Second of all...all of Upstate NY is not "the woods"; We have 4 metros with over 700k in population and 2 with over a million. There are plenty of high tech, education, and medical jobs in Buffalo and Rochester.

Please educate yourself.

"high tech" jobs, LMAO. But you are the one saying I need to educate myself and making ignorant comments.

Did not say it was exactly "upstate NY" and have family-lived in various parts of the state. The wages are much lower in the cities you mention and the taxes listed by the taxfoundation are among the highest in the nation. To have reasonable housing and taxes means living outside of these cities thus increasing your commute time. The fact is upstate NY traditionally has had high unemployment and low paying jobs. Please educate yourself.