Any Insight on Towns would be great. (Rochester, Greece: affordable houses, buying)

[Relocating Bean]

We have never visited Rochester before and we are moving there from Europe and I was hoping maybe someone could offer me some insight. I have tried to do as much research online but it is never as good as real feedback.

We have two young children and are looking ideally for a community that would allow our oldest into a Full Day Kindergarten program, we would love lots of parks, ease of shopping and good family programs ie. sport programs for young ones (2 and 5), group play ect.. I have found alot of info on Pittsford on this forum which sounds great but I was also looking at Perinton, Penfield, Fairport, Pittsford and Victor? Is there one of those that anyone thinks is better then others? The other area that sounds nice is Genesee County but it is difficult to find any information on that part of New york....is this somewhere I should consider looking? We will be in Rochester for only 5 days and we will need to find a community and buy a house so any information would be so appreciative!
Look forward to reading your answers!

[skbs]

I think Hilton has full day kindergarten... my best friend sends her kids there and she loves it... I am always hearing about great things the schools are doing. Greece might also have full day- but she left Greece FOR Hilton (I know a lot of people who have)... It is ideal to live on the Hilton/Greece border- best of both worlds... shopping, dining, parks... YMCA... all in Greece but Hilton schools... LESS TRAFFIC. I would do a search on Nothnagle.com that way- Town Greece/ Hilton Schools. There are always new houses going up and newer ones being put up for resale in that area...


East Rochester is another on with full day kindergarten. They don't have a bus system though- all of the kids walk- even in the snow... It is a cute town, with a nice park and quaint little "village"... VERLY AFFORDABLE houses... near Perinton, Pittsford, and Penfield- close to everything... Schools are decent...Good luck.

[Relocating Bean]

Thank-you! I will definitely look into Hilton... had not heard of but certainly closer to work.

[rochacha]

Do you have budget limitations for housing? X dollars per month will allow people to take into account housing costs, taxes, etc. You areas of search are a little confusing because you are naming all towns east of Rochester, then jump to Genesee County, which is southwest. Spencerport (Ogden), Churchville (Riga), Byron-Bergen are all areas between Rochester and Genesee County that might be something worth looking into. Also, for more information on Genesee County, look for Batavia and Attica instead, as it might provide more information.

[Relocating Bean]

I know they are a little confusing but all I could find on the web was mainly Pittsford ect. area. My husband work will actually be to the west of Rochester but I have struggled on finding information of those areas. So any input on other area would be great. Everyone seems to say that if we had to live East it would be 20 to 30 min. commute. We really don't have too much limitation on budgets as we are coming from Euros to $ which makes it very affordable.

[skbs]

Originally Posted by Relocating Bean

I know they are a little confusing but all I could find on the web was mainly Pittsford ect. area. My husband work will actually be to the west of Rochester but I have struggled on finding information of those areas. So any input on other area would be great. Everyone seems to say that if we had to live East it would be 20 to 30 min. commute. We really don't have too much limitation on budgets as we are coming from Euros to $ which makes it very affordable.

If you are going to be on the West side of Rochester, Hilton is a better option for you than East Rochester. I live on the East Side- the farthest East you can get in Penfield and it takes me about 45 minutes to get to the other side of Greece (where Hilton is)... depending on where West is- it will take your husband a good amount of time in rush hour to get over there- especially in the winter... My husband works in Henrietta and in the winter his commute is between 45-50 minutes because of snow and rush hour combined. I would stay west side if I were you. There are not a lot of full day kindergarten programs in the area- but it is supposed to be in the works in three or four years for the area... at least that was what Spitzer planned (but who knows now)

[rochacha]

As far as I can interpret from the excerpt below, Spencerport is the only west side school offering full-day kindergarten.

"At least eight Monroe County school districts currently offer full-day kindergarten.
East Irondequoit, Fairport, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Rush-Henrietta, Spencerport, Webster and Wheatland-Chili school districts offer extended-day kindergarten programs..."
(E.I. considers all-day kindergarten | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle).

Ogden is the town that the village of Spencerport resides in. Ogden is a great town to live in. A good mix of older homes and new subdivisions, so something for every taste. If money is not a problem, you should be able to get a nice new construction for $250,000 (~2,300 sq. ft., 1/2 acre). It is semi-rural, but just a town over from Greece and all its shopping. You can check out Town of Ogden :: Home

EDIT: Another link Spencerport approves full-day kindergarten

[MovesAlot]

Brockport also has full day kindergarten. I absolutely love living in the Brockport School District. It is a wonderful school system and a quaint village community. Brockport also is home to one of State University of NY (Suny) colleges, SUNY Brockport.

If your husband is going to be working on the west side of Rochester, I would recommend buying a house on the west side. You will literally have a 15-20 minute commute barring any traffic accident or major snowstorm.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to list them on the boards....people are quite friendly here and will definitely give you advice and opinions.

[skbs]

Originally Posted by rochacha

As far as I can interpret from the excerpt below, Spencerport is the only west side school offering full-day kindergarten.

Again, Hilton DOES have full day kindergarten... my best friend sends her daughter... She goes in the AM and comes home after the school day... it isn't an extended situation... it is full day. I have several friends sending their kids to ER... but if you want West Side... don't go out to ER with the little amount of time you have to look.

[Relocating Bean]

Wow thanks everyone. You all certainly make moving there easier knowing that there are so many helpful poeple about. I have added Hilton and Brockport on to my search and have found a number of nice homes. But maybe someone can comment on Greece as they seem to all have a Greece address and I have not read great things about Greece (please keep in mind I have only read and not seen). It certainly would be nice to have it narrowed down before we went!