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Best reasonable cost of living area? New Hampshire or Central New York? No contest!! Central New York hands-down! CNY has everything you want minus the higher costs of New Hampshire/New England and we have a good well-rounded city as well=Metro Syracuse.
The weather. The most snowfall can be anywhere across all of Oswego County-Hannibal-Fulton-Williamstown-Redfield-West Monroe-Constantia-Bernards Bay-Cleveland, western Oneida County from Camden toward Taberg-Osceola-Ava-West Leyden-Rome-Boonville. Also directly east of Lake Ontario in Oswego County-Southern Jefferson County-western Lewis County including all of Tug Hill Plateau, the villages of Parish-Mexico-Pulaski-Altmar-Richland-Sandy Creek-Mannsville-Ellisburg-Adams-Henderson-Sackets Harbor-Adams Center-Barnes Corners-Copenhagen-more. Also sometimes high hill locations southward of Syracuse & Canastota; snow because of high elevation.
I think that you can do bee-keeping especially if you are in a mostly rural area and don't have nearby neighbors and you are not IN the suburbs or IN the villages. There are apple orchards around the Lafayette-Navarino-Otisco area (south of Syracuse) and the orchard owners might be glad to have your bees pollenate the apple blossoms; that is a sort of hilly area so roads could be more ice slippery in winter. There are also Peach-Plum-Pear-Cherry-etc. orchards out near the Hannibal-Southwest Oswego area=can be a snow area.
If it wasn't for the sometimes heavy snowfall, I think there would be many great areas in Oswego County that would be fine for bee-keeping.
I guess the areas I might suggest you look for rural property would be: WESTWARD out of Baldwinsville along and on roads off Route 370 toward Plainville-Meridian-Cato & southward toward Weedsport & Jordon & Elbridge; just remember that the suburbs keep being built outwards from the suburban city area.
***>>>Also why don't you visit/look at Route 31 westward (& country/rural roads that run off this Rt. 31 area), SOUTH of Baldwinsville which leads you to Jordon. I'm thinking that rural roads in that area such as: Kingdom Road, Perry Road, Daboll Road, Conners Road, West Dead Creek Road=this area might be a pleasant and good area for you to enjoy plus have bee-keeping and have reasonable winter driving conditions.***<<<
You could look at rural areas on roads off Route 5 EASTWARD between Chittenango and Canastota=but don't go farther east than Canastota.
Maybe you would like the Apulia or Fabius area east of Tully; for bee-keeping=winter driving to Syracuse can often be more difficult.
That's about it for now. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have additional questions or want me to comment on any area or subject. Best of luck to you.
grdnrman
Not really, it depends on how you look at it. In the current economic conditions, it might even be easier to live in NH. I've done extensive research into both southern NH and central NY. Actually, NH and NY are among my favorite states, by far, and I'm hoping to live in either NYS or NH in the coming months. Comparing apples to apples, however, living in southern NH is probably going to be a little easier and possibly even cheaper (depending on where) based on the current economy.
A direct comparison can be made between Onondaga County, NY and Hillsborough County, NH. Both have a central city (Manchester and Syracuse) surrounded by suburbs. Manchester has a central city population of 103k and Syracuse is 145k, more importantly, population densities in both counties are similar. Hillsborough County has 400k people, Onondaga County 467k. While no two counties are exactly the same, these two counties are pretty similar. I've been to both recently many times. The overall feel is also similar, but I'd give the edge to more well kept towns, proximity to Boston, and proximity to the ocean in Hillsborough County. Clearly, both areas are surrounded by some amazing natural beauty, with lakes, mountains, forests, and farmland in abundance nearby both areas.
Right off the bat, you are making 8.5% more in NH due to a lack of state income tax. Also, you are making 8.5% more than that, depending on what you buy, due to a lack of sales tax. That in itself is a significant increase in the amount of money you get to keep. Property taxes are also higher in NY overall, but so insignificantly so that I'd say its about equal. Homes sometimes cost more in NH, but not always. I've found many similar homes in both areas in the 150k range.
The big difference is in salary. In addition to not having to pay a state income tax or sales tax, the median household income is $79k in Hillsborough County vs. $41k in Onondaga. That's almost double. Also, the per capita income is $33k in Hillsborough vs $21k in Onondaga. So clearly, it may be easier to live in NH, even with the slight increase in home cost, than the SYR metro.
Unemployment is now above the national average in SYR metro, 8.6% vs 7.9%. I'm disturbed by this, as Syracuse is usually better than the national unemployment rate.
I initially thought that central NY would be far cheaper than NH, but I'm finding out through more extensive research that its pretty close, and with all tax considerations, current unemployment, and income potential, NH might be an easier place to live. Just something to consider, as I still think both areas are great places to live.
Last edited by VintageSunlight; 07-25-2012 at 10:29 AM..
Reason: correcting a statistic
Not really, it depends on how you look at it. In the current economic conditions, it might even be easier to live in NH. I've done extensive research into both southern NH and central NY. Actually, NH and NY are among my favorite states, by far, and I'm hoping to live in either NYS or NH in the coming months. Comparing apples to apples, however, living in southern NH is probably going to be a little easier and possibly even cheaper (depending on where) based on the current economy.
A direct comparison can be made between Onondaga County, NY and Hillsborough County, NH. Both have a central city (Manchester and Syracuse) surrounded by suburbs. Manchester has a central city population of 103k and Syracuse is 145k, more importantly, population densities in both counties are similar. Hillsborough County has 400k people, Onondaga County 467k. While no two counties are exactly the same, these two counties are pretty similar. I've been to both recently many times. The overall feel is also similar, but I'd give the edge to more well kept towns, proximity to Boston, and proximity to the ocean in Hillsborough County. Clearly, both areas are surrounded by some amazing natural beauty, with lakes, mountains, forests, and farmland in abundance nearby both areas.
Right off the bat, you are making 8.5% more in NH due to a lack of state income tax. Also, you are making 8.5% more than that, depending on what you buy, due to a lack of sales tax. That in itself is a significant increase in the amount of money you get to keep. Property taxes are also higher in NY overall, but so insignificantly so that I'd say its about equal. Homes sometimes cost more in NH, but not always. I've found many similar homes in both areas in the 150k range.
The big difference is in salary. In addition to not having to pay a state income tax or sales tax, the median household income is $79k in Hillsborough County vs. $41k in Onondaga. That's almost double. Also, the per capita income is $33k in Hillsborough vs $21k in Onondaga. So clearly, it may be easier to live in NH, even with the slight increase in home cost, than the SYR metro.
Unemployment is now above the national average in SYR metro, 8.6% vs 7.9%. I'm disturbed by this, as Syracuse is usually better than the national unemployment rate.
I initially thought that central NY would be far cheaper than NH, but I'm finding out through more extensive research that its pretty close, and with all tax considerations, current unemployment, and income potential, NH might be an easier place
to live. Just something to consider, as I still think both areas are great places to live.
I wonder if the higher income has anything to do with Hillsborough County's proximity to Boston? It is less of a stand alone county, as many work in MA and live in NH. Remember that Hillsborough County also has Nashua, NH's second biggest city with 86,000 people. Hillsborough County has almost 100 square miles of land, but has 67,000 less people.
Median home value is at $264000 for Hillsborough County versus $124000 for Onondaga County(give or take): Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
I wonder if the higher income has anything to do with Hillsborough County's proximity to Boston? It is less of a stand alone county, as many work in MA and live in NH. Remember that Hillsborough County also has Nashua, NH's second biggest city with 86,000 people. Hillsborough County has almost 100 square miles of land, but has 67,000 less people.
Median home value is at $264000 for Hillsborough County versus $124000 for Onondaga County(give or take): Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
There's overall COL to consider: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
There's also the higher college student presence in Onondaga County, which can effect economic factors(students that live off campus are counted in poverty percentages, for example). So, there is a lot more to think about.
I wonder if the higher income has anything to do with Hillsborough County's proximity to Boston? It is less of a stand alone county, as many work in MA and live in NH. Remember that Hillsborough County also has Nashua, NH's second biggest city with 86,000 people. Hillsborough County has almost 100 square miles of land, but has 67,000 less people.
Median home value is at $264000 for Hillsborough County versus $124000 for Onondaga County(give or take): Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
I'll add more later......
I'll concede that housing costs more there- no doubt. But the salaries are nearly double and you can find homes in the $150k range. Not as many as Syracuse or as big as some in the area, but they're there. Also, the Sperling site shows the property tax rate in Onondaga County to be $30/$1000 vs $23/$1000, which clearly makes a difference. Subtracting the 8.5% state income tax and 8.5% sales tax also contributes to a pretty favorable cost of living compared to CNY when all factors are considered.
My only point was that I also thought NH would cost A LOT more than SYR, but after really adding everything up, its pretty darn close.
There's overall COL to consider: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
There's also the higher college student presence in Onondaga County, which can effect economic factors(students that live off campus are counted in poverty percentages, for example). So, there is a lot more to think about.
There's a lot to think about- gasoline taxes (49 cents NY vs 19 cents NH), personal freedoms, gun laws, red light camera laws, quality of shopping, friendliness of the population, etc. I'm comparing everything important to me. Both NYS and NH are good places and both would fit my lifestyle. Saying CNY is a slam dunk cheaper than NH is just not true when you factor our current economic and real world costs.
I'll concede that housing costs more there- no doubt. But the salaries are nearly double and you can find homes in the $150k range. Not as many as Syracuse or as big as some in the area, but they're there. Also, the Sperling site shows the property tax rate in Onondaga County to be $30/$1000 vs $23/$1000, which clearly makes a difference. Subtracting the 8.5% state income tax and 8.5% sales tax also contributes to a pretty favorable cost of living compared to CNY when all factors are considered.
My only point was that I also thought NH would cost A LOT more than SYR, but after really adding everything up, its pretty darn close.
Actually, salaries aren't double. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Again, remember the college presence here that effects economic information to some degree and in comparison.
According to what "cheekyerica" said, Central New York seems to be their choice based on research that they have already done.
By> cheekyerica. "Hi everyone! I'm hoping to get some opinions insofar as finding about some different areas in the Syracuse/CNY area.
My husband and I had been looking at New Hampshire as well but when we compare
>the cost of living,
>price of properties and
>job options,
>Central NY really wins out.
We're ideally looking for a location that we can commute to Syracuse in about half an hour/35-40 minutes (each way) and.... that we can have some rural/space between us and the neighbors. Does anyone know if there are places I can/can't take up beekeeping?
Thanks in advance!"
cheekyerica & husband also want some space between them and neighbors. Southern New Hampshire continues to have more people moving in therefore more neighbors as time goes on. They definitely want a single family home with property and some good distance between them and any neighbors; they definitely are not looking for a condo or townhome or duplex or apartment where there would be too many closeby neighbors. They also want to do bee-keeping so want to be a distance from neighbors so they can pursue that without complaints/problems from neighbors.
So I guess they've already researched incomes, job options, all taxes, price of properties, cost of living in general, quality of life and determined that the CNY region would be better for them as compared to conditions in New Hampshire.
grdnrman
Last edited by grdnrman; 07-25-2012 at 03:12 PM..
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Central New York versus New Hampshire
