Rochester, NY (Syracuse, Greece, Utica: condo, new home, neighborhood)

[Foley]

I currently live in Raleigh, NC and am entertaining a job offer in Rochester. My wife and I are originally from Syracuse and Utica but don't know much about Rochester. I see that the average property taxes are around $6,000. Can anyone give some information on affordable, preferrable newer homes in a good school district. We don't need a huge house - 1600 - 1900 SF. Thanks for any info.

[I'minformed2]

Henreitta sounds like the town you would be aiming for...it has lower property taxes than most other Rochester suburbs, much newer housing stock (its one of the fastest growing towns in the state), and has great schools. It's always been seen as the "commercial suburb" because a huge portion of the town is business complexes and IT firms and such, but it is still a pretty nice place to live. Where do you live in Raleigh? We just moved back to the Rochester area last month after being in the Raleigh area (at that time Apex) for 12 years.

[Foley]

Been in Raleigh 7 years. Used to live in Apex, now Holly Springs. I heard Webster is nice but is pretty expensive. I'll have to check out Henrietta. Do you miss NC at all?

[I'minformed2]

no...I do not miss NC at all...I missed Upstate NY, and that's why I came back. I'll admit to liking Apex, it was one of the few (possibly only) places we lived in Wake County that had a sense of community at all...but that went down hill fast just these past few years, and now it is basically an extension of Cary. Webster is very nice; newer housing stock because of a growing population, excellent schools, and it is right on the lake...but yes, it is more expensive than Henrietta and the taxes tend to be higher.

[katek]

Webster, Fairport, Penfield and Pittsford are more expensive towns with good schools. Henrietta and Brighton are also good towns with good schools. These areas have local colleges and universities nearby. Greece and Irondiquot (spelled wrong) are less expensive but border the city so finding a good area is important. I would say the first ones (like Webster) are farther out from the city but may be farther from more things. It all depends on what you are looking for in a town.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by katek

Webster, Fairport, Penfield and Pittsford are more expensive towns with good schools. Henrietta and Brighton are also good towns with good schools. These areas have local colleges and universities nearby. Greece and Irondiquot (spelled wrong) are less expensive but border the city so finding a good area is important. I would say the first ones (like Webster) are farther out from the city but may be farther from more things. It all depends on what you are looking for in a town.

I agree with some of this, but I wouldn't say that Greece is really close to the city. It borders a part of the city that is quite a ways from where you'd want to go (i.e. downtown, jobs, etc...). I lived in Greece for 5 years and it can be a 15 minute drive to get downtown. Unless you're working for Kodak or a store in between the two, I'd say Greece and Webster have an equal drive to downtown.

I agree that Webster, Fairport, Penfield and Pittsford have good schools and are close to Universities. I would add Brighton to these as well...especially since Brighton's property taxes can rival Pittsford's. Brighton is a more preserved neighborhood with restrictions on building new homes. Henrietta (which borders Brighton) is more up-and-coming. All the mentioned are good places to live.

[Nick Adams]

My wife and I are in our early thirties with a nine year old. We live in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I was just offered a promotion to head an office in Rochester. My job is in marketing with home improvement. I heard the summers are wonderful, will it offer me any possabilities of business in the winter? Down hear home improvements are year around, how about there? My wife is from Peru, however very educated and professional any comments? Our son is in the gifted program at a public school here, any advice on what to do or where to go, do you have spanish classes? And then housing,we will be first time buyers. We oppose to buy here, a two bedroom condo with no laundry inside is in the mid 200's. We don't want to raise our kid here, is Rochester or the Carolina's a better fit for us.
Uncertain in FL.

[reloguru]

Wow, it was like I was reading my life story when I read this! My husband and I are currently in Raleigh as well and originally from Utica/Rochester area, we are hoping to move back home to Clinton NY (outside of Utica) as well!! Any suggestions on networking for a job?

Good Luck to you!
Tracy

[Jdawg8181]

Upstate NY is so boring.

[chrisruns2far]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

Upstate NY is so boring.

Please post thoughtful material, not lazy knee-jerk responses.

What one may consider boring, others may consider priceless. What others may consider excitement, others may consider a waste of time and money.

We are all far to unique to make blanket statements. Upstate appeals to so many people for so many reasons. My lifestyle would probably seem boring or overly simplistic to many people, but I wouldn't trade places with very many people.