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My fiancee and I have been living in NYC for the last 10 years or so, and we're hitting that point (we're both in our late 20s) that we'd like to find somewhere to settle down and start a family and other such Norman Rockwell fantasies.
We both find the city to be a bit of a trap, as it's difficult to make enough money to leave, but we're struggling through.
We would like to move upstate into a more rural setting, but have no idea where to start or how to find employment. I can't even figure out how to find out what kinds of employment opportunities there would be up there, and my ideas about what average annual salaries and living costs are completely skewed as I've been in the city for too long, and paying $1800 for a small 2BR seems almost cheap.
She has a masters degree in English and has been working in book publishing (marketing and advertising) for about 7 or 8 years, and I work as a freelance designer and Adobe Expert (certified.) We're both intelligent and hard-working .
The Finger Lakes region seems to fit with what we want out of life, but I'm at a total loss as to how to find gainful employment. Do we just pull up the stakes and roll the dice? I'd love to hear from some people who've made the leap and made it work.
Look into the Ithaca area (yeah, I'm turning into an Ithaca cheerleader- and I don't even live there!). With Cornell and the 'academic economy' I'd think that both of you could find work in your respective fields. Don't expect the salaries you get in NYC, but it also won't cost you so much to live. If you have a car start making weekend trips to the area, getting the local papers, checking bulletin boards, etc.
As a freelance designer you might start strategizing to keep some of your NYC clients and work the mythical 'telecommuting' thing (wasn't that supposed to be the future...?).
My husband and I did what you are contemplating. We were 26 and I worked on Wall Street and he worked in CT. We lived in an apt in New Canaan and were sick of commuting, long days, and knowing that even if we saved a lot, our dream house was unattainable in Fairfield County. We both went to college in upstate NY (Geneva), so we knew the area and had always loved Skaneateles. So we each told our jobs that the other was being tranferred to Syracuse, bought a house and took the leap. Our house was an 1880 Queen Ann Victorian in the village. We could walk everywhere. My husband got a job (actually, he arranged it before the move) with a bank and I quickly found work with an ad agency doing PR/ copywriting. Our friends thought we were crazy at first to just pick up and leave, but once they saw us there, they understood the lure. Our first house here we paid $120K for in 1988. It recently sold for about $289K. Lots of homes here in the low $300's. I say go for it! Oh, also Skaneateles also has a large internationally known company, Welch Allyn, that has an extensive marketing dept. They post jobs online.
Joanne
Look into the Ithaca area (yeah, I'm turning into an Ithaca cheerleader- and I don't even live there!). With Cornell and the 'academic economy' I'd think that both of you could find work in your respective fields. Don't expect the salaries you get in NYC, but it also won't cost you so much to live. If you have a car start making weekend trips to the area, getting the local papers, checking bulletin boards, etc.
As a freelance designer you might start strategizing to keep some of your NYC clients and work the mythical 'telecommuting' thing (wasn't that supposed to be the future...?).
Well, it's $1800 for a 2br in Brooklyn on an off-ramp for the BQE in which the second "room" is about 6ft by 6 ft.
Thanks for your input, it helps a lot. We're headed up over the next year to check out the different areas and see where we like. Ithaca is getting a lot of rave reviews from friends and other boards I've been posting on.
As far as salaries, I've no expectation of keeping what I make here, but I don't expect I'll need that much to live. My friends back in baltimore go wide-eyed when I tell them what I make, as they have no idea what it costs to live here (they pay like $600 a month for a HOUSE! and think that's expensive.)
But thanks again for the help.
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