Sodus (New York, Buffalo, Rochester: hotel, homes, unemployed)

[Terbear]

HI...I am still looking in the Wayne county/Ontario county and surrounding areas. Can anyone give me more information on Sodus? How far to major shopping etc?

Thanks..
Terri in Ca

[bellafinzi]

Unless your into pickup trucks, I'd look for a town a little closer to one of the four major Upstate Cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany. I've never been to Sodus, but I'm assuming that a radio station in Rochester makes fun of Wayne County people for a reason. I have nothing against people living in the rural parts of Upstate, but it might be a culture shock for someone coming from California.

If you are looking for a nice upscale small mostly rural village on a lake you should look at Skaneateles, NY. It's in the Finger Lakes area, it has a quaint downtown with shops and restaurants, an upscale hotel and spa, million dollar homes line the lake, but near the village there are still inexpensive homes. It's surrounded by rolling countryside with farms. The Planning board of Skaneateles is very strict with new development, I don't agree with how strict they are at controlling the growth, but maybe you would like it. Shopping is in nearby Auburn or Camillus, about a half hour to 45 minutes away.

I can make a thread showing pictures of Skaneateles if you'd like.

[Terbear]

That would be great to see pictures! Actually I would love to find an old farmhouse with 5 acres or so. I don't mind rural, actually I prefer that as long as there is major shopping near by. 30 minutes or so would be fine.

Thanks again..
Terri in Ca

[Karen from Cato]

Terbear, since you prefer rural, I would not recommend Skaneateles. I am orginally from Upstate New York, specifically Cato, which is very rural, but I have spent the last 30 years of my life in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC metro area, pursuing my career and my fortune. In 2000, I bought a summer cottage in upstate New York, and now I am planning to retire there. Skaneateles is beautiful, but very elite, (I know--I used to live in nearby Marcellus, and used to edit the community newspaper nearby in Camillus). I was there this summer, and the village is crowded with traffic and parking problems--not the sort of thing that those of us longing to escape to rural upstate New York really want. You sound like a kindred soul, a country girl. Do come east and take a look at Sodus (my cottage is in Fair Haven, and we go into Sodus to boat shop.) You can shop in the Rochester suburbs from there. Or in quaint Wolcott, which has real bargains but no Talbots. And there are lots of beautiful little farmettes, for not much money.

[bellafinzi]

Terri, if Skaneateles is not your cup of tea, Cazenovia, NY might be. Cazenovia is in Madison County, a rural county with a lot of horse farms. The village of Cazenovia is very quaint and nice, but the countryside has a lot of farms with acres of land. The Cazenovia area has much larger hills than the Finger Lakes area. Shopping would be a half hour away in the eastern suburbs of Syracuse. Sorry, I don't have pictures of Cazenovia.

Cazenovia, NY was the town where Hillary Clinton was interviewed by ABC's (the TV Network) Nightline a few weeks ago.

[I'minformed2]

The closest major city to Sodus is Rochester. Wayne county is "country" only in certain areas. The lakeshore (where sodus is) is laregly a tourist/summer type area and isn't too "hickish". Also, the area around Macedon is mostly suburban in nature with many people commuting to Rochester. Sodus Bay is beautiful and many people in the Rochester area own cottages there. My brother in law has a cottage on Port Bay, a little ways east of Sodus Bay but still in Wayne County.

[Terbear]

You sound like a kindred soul, a country girl. Do come east and take a look at Sodus (my cottage is in Fair Haven, and we go into Sodus to boat shop.) You can shop in the Rochester suburbs from there. Or in quaint Wolcott, which has real bargains but no Talbots. And there are lots of beautiful little farmettes, for not much money.
>>>>>Thanks Karen! You are right..I am a country girl! I grew up in the country, but moved into town about 14 years ago so our Son with CP could go to the best school around. Now we could never in a million years afford to move back where we came from! For some reason I am drawn that direction! I just get a really good feeling about it. I have not even been there...YET! I definitely need to come and look around! I just want to make sure I really have things narrowed down, so I don't wast any time! I am sure I wouldn't be able to be gone for more than a few days...so I would have to see as much as possible in a short time! So.. as a kindred soul, where do you think I should focus? I need to be in a good school district. I have 2 girls still in school. One high school age, and one middle school age. I also have a Son that would need a good community college. My Son with CP would need an excellent program too. Gosh.. I just really need to find the perfect place! Hopefully not super high taxes! Not too far from the action, so my kids won't hate me! But far enough that I feel like I am really out in the country. Oh... and my husband is a contractor. He builds and remodels homes. Excellent work, if I do say so myself! I wonder if he would be able to keep busy? I have heard that Wayne county is a lovely place. Was I wrong? I thought Williamson seemed great. From what I read it is all apple and cherry orchards?
Thanks again for the help...
Terri in Ca

[Karen from Cato]

Yes, Wayne County is beautiful and yes it makes sense to think about Williamson and east to Sodus for what you are looking for. I'm Informed has given you good information about Williamson. I don't know about the schools but in general the upstate NY schools are good and the services are there. Why don't you google Wayne County Community College, and the local CP society chapter?

If your husband is a contractor he won't be unemployed .... good reliable builders are always in demand.