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I've always thought Syracuse was a hybrid of the midwest and northeast, almost a confluence of these these two distinct regions and cultures, if you will. The regional dialect is consistent with midwestern english (ie. Great Lakes cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo, and Rochester). The only difference is Syracusans say "soda" instead of "pop" which is common in western New York. Having lived in both the Syracuse area and Westchester County / New York City, Central New Yorkers compared with their midwestern counterparts are more direct and as "Proulxfamily" says, "tell-it-like-it-is." Compared with New York, Philadelphia, and New England, people in this area are more approachable, down-to-earth and genuine. Unfortunately, we have our share of Snookies (mostly in the northern suburbs and Solvay), however far fewer than most northeast metros. As someone who lives in the NYC area, I'm in full agreement with your characterization of south Jersey as this mentality is pervasive along most of the corridor from Philadelphia to Providence.
I remember leaving work in downtown Syracuse at around 5:30 on a winter night, an old woman walking nearby turned toward me and remarked how slippery the street was. Being an aloof New Yorker with my guard up, I initially said to myself why is this person talking to me. I then realized that I was in Syracuse and not Manhattan where people would step over a dead person to get past the subway turnstyle. Don't get me wrong, as in every area, Syracuse has rude people with a chip on their shoulder, however I found this to be less common.
Thank you for your response. Its good to hear from someone who has lived in both places. I grew up in NYC and then mostly in Northern NJ, which attitude wise, is very similar to Long Island, Westchester, and southern CT. I find most people in that area quite abrasive, cold, and like you said, will step over a dead person to catch a train. Here in South Jersey/Phila metro, its unfortunately even worse. The casinos and the shore bring a new element of rudeness into the mix. I moved down here essentially to get away from the North Jersey population, only to find that people will literally throw things at you if you are wearing the wrong jersey to a sporting event.
Syracuse, and Upstate NY in general has extremely nice people. I have never been to Pittsburgh even though I would love to visit it someday, but from what you describe we have about the same type of people here. People are always willing to talk to each other, while given there are a snotty few, but even the wealthy people here are down to earth and in my opinion dont flaunt their wealth. I have a hard time saying the same about some Rochester people (stay away from the suburb of Pittsford there). The person who said Syracuse looked similair to Pitt was absolutely right, I have seen pictures of the city there and it looks very similair to the hills & valleys in Syracuse. Have you had a chance to visit Syracuse? If yes, did you like what you saw? I know the people on this forum would be more than willing to help you explore the area.
As far as sports, if you move here, expect to become an Orange fan. Here, we live & breathe SU. Basketball especially, since we haved one of the greatest programs in history, but give it a few years and our football team will be right back up there. Buffalo Bills and the Giants are big here. My dad is a big Giants fan yet im a Bills fan. The Jets & Patriots you see a little bit. Cuse is a Yankees town. The mets & red sox have fans here too but anywhere yo go you'll see mostly 2 thing: SU Orange, & and the Yankees.
Economically, Syracuse is doing the best it can to withstand the recession, and our local economy is greatly improving. Just today new numbers came out showing the region has gained more than 900 jobs overall in the past month or so. This is certainly good news.
I'm a college student from Syracuse and rebuilding its economy here is obviously extremely important. I plan to stay in the area for the rest of my life, because I believe there is so much potential here. I hope you learn to love Syracuse as much as I do.
I appreciate your response. I have been to Syracuse and I liked what I saw, although my stay was very limited and I only saw the city. I love the view at night when you come around a bend on I-81 and see the whole city lit up- real nice. Pittsburgh was the same way- you emerge from a tunnel and the whole city was lit up with a mountain backdrop.
I'm planning another trip up there once I can scratch together some more, well, scratch. I want to visit Cicero, Fayetteville, Manlius, Cazenovia, and whatever else seems appealing. I'm not a city person, but do want to have easy access to the city. I would gladly root for the Orangemen, as right now I am not a college sports fan. And I'll continue rooting for my Jets and Rangers and not feel out of place like I do here in Philly.
The economy is a big concern to me as well. People seem to think that the only place to find a job is in NYC or Philly. I'll tell you that south Jersey is hurting bad- 12% unemployment in some counties, and more to come with casino layoffs. There are jobs here, but it is hugely competitive for those jobs. Overall, it seems like you can live well on $40k in SYR, where here it is nearly impossible.
You might like to move to Cortland - quick drive to downtown Syracuse (when I commuted to Radisson from in-town Cortland near the hospital, downtown Syr. was half-way time-wise) and the new home of the Jets training camp. I was in a store there last week and there were only two teams' merchandise for sale: the Orange and the Jets.
Another area of influence comes from Canada, as we get our share of people from Ontario and some from Quebec that come down here. It's only 100 miles north of here. Many come to shop, but some fly out of Syracuse, go to college in the area and even have family here too. Some parts of the metro gets TV from Canada(usually Kingston ON) and you can get some radio stations from there as well.
Also, if you the view from the south going into Syracuse, you would love coming in from the north. As you enter the city, you get a great view of the skyline and the hills in the background. Right now, it's even better, as the different colors in the hills really is a sight to see. Coming in from the west on I-690 is nice as well as Onondaga Lake is to your left.
I appreciate your response. I have been to Syracuse and I liked what I saw, although my stay was very limited and I only saw the city. I love the view at night when you come around a bend on I-81 and see the whole city lit up- real nice. Pittsburgh was the same way- you emerge from a tunnel and the whole city was lit up with a mountain backdrop.
I'm planning another trip up there once I can scratch together some more, well, scratch. I want to visit Cicero, Fayetteville, Manlius, Cazenovia, and whatever else seems appealing. I'm not a city person, but do want to have easy access to the city. I would gladly root for the Orangemen, as right now I am not a college sports fan. And I'll continue rooting for my Jets and Rangers and not feel out of place like I do here in Philly.
The economy is a big concern to me as well. People seem to think that the only place to find a job is in NYC or Philly. I'll tell you that south Jersey is hurting bad- 12% unemployment in some counties, and more to come with casino layoffs. There are jobs here, but it is hugely competitive for those jobs. Overall, it seems like you can live well on $40k in SYR, where here it is nearly impossible.
I am from Cicero, and my family still lives there. It is a wealthier suburb of the area however is more flat and there are 0 hills if you are into the nice scenery. However, there are some beautiful neighborhood developments and Cicero (and Clay) has major commercial centers so there are plenty of things to do. Skaneateles, NY is gorgeous. Its within Onondaga County and only 20 mins from Downtown. Please go there when you visit, it is a small but extremely pretty and friendly village that almost takes you back in time to the 1890's. Especially since you like the country more than the city, you would fall in love with Skaneateles. Manlius & Fayettville are extremely nice, and I also recommend Camillus & Elbridge. Camillus is my favorite suburb of Syracuse. Even though you may not consider yourself a city person, there is plenty to do in Syracuse and alot of history and beautiful architecture to see. Armory Square (located downtown) is a new mixed use district with local & national retailers from small boutiques to Starbucks and Urban Outfitters and is continuing to grow. There is both new construction and plenty of historic preservation that is really changing the life of Downtown Syracuse. The SU campus is arguably the most beautiful in the nation and Marshall Street is a very nice area next to campus that is a major part of campus life.
Oh and by the way, have you ever been to a Wegmans? That alone is reason enough to love it here lemme tell you.
I am from Cicero, and my family still lives there. It is a wealthier suburb of the area however is more flat and there are 0 hills if you are into the nice scenery. However, there are some beautiful neighborhood developments and Cicero (and Clay) has major commercial centers so there are plenty of things to do. Skaneateles, NY is gorgeous. Its within Onondaga County and only 20 mins from Downtown. Please go there when you visit, it is a small but extremely pretty and friendly village that almost takes you back in time to the 1890's. Especially since you like the country more than the city, you would fall in love with Skaneateles. Manlius & Fayettville are extremely nice, and I also recommend Camillus & Elbridge. Camillus is my favorite suburb of Syracuse. Even though you may not consider yourself a city person, there is plenty to do in Syracuse and alot of history and beautiful architecture to see. Armory Square (located downtown) is a new mixed use district with local & national retailers from small boutiques to Starbucks and Urban Outfitters and is continuing to grow. There is both new construction and plenty of historic preservation that is really changing the life of Downtown Syracuse. The SU campus is arguably the most beautiful in the nation and Marshall Street is a very nice area next to campus that is a major part of campus life.
Oh and by the way, have you ever been to a Wegmans? That alone is reason enough to love it here lemme tell you.
Funny you should mention Wegmans! I travel 40 miles each way, once a month, to stock up at Wegmans here in NJ. Best store ever, and certainly a reason to like Syracuse.
Funny you should mention Wegmans! I travel 40 miles each way, once a month, to stock up at Wegmans here in NJ. Best store ever, and certainly a reason to like Syracuse.
Well then you'll like it x9! lol - there are 9 Wegmans within half an hour of me, the closest being 5 minutes away. No matter what suburb or part of the city I've lived in, I don't think I've ever been more than a 5 minute drive from a Wegmans!
Cuse has a very friendly feel but fail to see how it is midwestern in any sense..... Pittsburgh too. They are all strictly northeastern.
I've seen this debate before but having moved back and forth myself I would put both Syracuse and Pittsburgh in a transitional region with similar distance to the core I-95/Northeast Corridor. I lived in eastern Iowa after gradiating from ESF and honestly saw about as much similarity in feel (albeit with a number of differences in dialect) between Syracuse and the Quad Cities, to between Syracuse and Albany where I had just spent a good deal of time before moving. Albany is much closer in feel to the larger Northeastern cities and to most people it is closer in space and time.
There was an interesting thread in the Pittsburgh forum about the "Paris of Appalachia" based on a book written by a transplant - the locals either couldn't or didn't want to see what the fellow was talking about. Syracuse has less claim on Appalachia since Onondaga County only borders the Federally defined Appalachian Region and isn't included in it like Pittsburgh is. Likewise Syracuse has less claim on the Rust Belt than, say, Buffalo.
So (since I've also spent a good bit of time in Pittsburgh on business and pleasure) I would say that Syracuse differs from less Appalachian influence than Pgh but like Pgh has historically sat astride the transition from the Northeast to the industrial Midwest, from canal through railroad to Thruway days.
It certainly seems that Northeastern influence is probably growing - certainly more SU students are drawn from NYC & Philly so there's more current exchange in that direction than with the declining influence of the industrial Midwest in this country. The same could probably be said of Pittsburgh.
Obviously there are some big differences between Syracuse and Pittsburgh - Pgh is obviously much larger, and its older neighborhoods have much higher population density with many row homes. One European transplant to Syracuse called it a "large village" due to having detached homes as a preponderance of the housing stock even in the older areas.
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