Pictures of Syracuse’s largest suburb –Clay, NY (Camillus: new home, safe neighborhood)

[cuse]

Sorrry, been away from the desk.

I don't live there anymore, I'm in Fl. with the intensions of moving back. I was born/raised in Geddes, the Westvale area near Taunton, Bishop Ludden area. This is the heart of Geddes. Alot of very nice homes in this area. What others have said is not Geddes but Solvay area. I also wouldn't move remotely near Solvay or the Lakeland areas. Westvale is in either West Gennesee or West Hill school districts which are very desireable districts. Geddes, Onondaga, and Camillus all come together and but up. This is the area I should have described more acurately. This is in the western suburbs of Syracuse. Camillus lately has seen alot of new growth in commercial and residential areas. Geddes will never see any Real Commercial Growth near Westvale at all. I personnally like these areas more than Cicero, Clay or N. Syracuse. Just because I was born and raised in Westvale. As was stated that area is kinda flat and spread-out much like Florida. Camillus , Onondag offers rolling hills and very nice views and pretty autumn colors in the fall.
So take a look around before you make a final decision on a home.

[Phish Head]

These posts have me changing my mind a bit. I was dead set on the northern suburbs, I did not realize how flat that area is. We prefer to live where there is some elevation changes. So let me understand:

1) Western suburbs are Westvale, Camillus, and Marcellus. These areas are hilly, middle class, and just starting to develop with commercial and residential properties. Good schools which are smaller than the other school districts in the area.

2) Eastern suburbs are Dewitt, Jamesville, Fayetteville and Manlius. These towns are wealthier, hilly, with the best schools and the highest taxes. People from NJ and LI find it to be more like home.

3) Northern suburbs are Cicero, Clay, Liverpool, Baldwinsville. Great place to live with low crime, but flat landscape and oversized schools.

Am I way off? Based on this (my understanding without really visiting), I may lean toward the eastern or western suburbs. Good schools are a must, and a hilly landscape would be great after living in this flat area of NJ. I was looking at Camillus and Manlius, but its hard to find decent homes in either place under $200k. How is Marcellus? How about Cazenovia?

Thank you all for all your input. We are visiting in the spring because I agree that Syracuse looks different in the sunshine than it does in the gloom of winter.

[cuse]

Phish,

Marcellus is a lovely area with a Great school system. The village of Marcellus is like a Norman Rockefeller setting. Very hilly area with old farming land and victorian type homes. Taxes though are High. Nine Mile Vreek runs though here and heads through Camillus to the city of Syracuse. Great fishing and views along the way.

Camillus is also very nice w/ West Genessee School district. Awesome academics, sports and a national band. Very spread-out area. Zoned residentail, commercial and farm. The outskirts are nice. Just West of Camillus is Jordan-Elbridge. Also a great school and a small town feel much like Marcellus but lower taxes. Camillus, Jordan-Elbridge, Marcellus, and Onondaga all have a very low crime rating and great schools.

When I said new development in these areas I meant things like a new Walmart, banks, offices ect...this area is not built up like clay or manlius, nor will it ever be. The towns there just do not want that to happen. This could be a positive or negative depending how you look at it. They all have shopping nearby.

I think I already posted this link but try it again and go under " Our Community" on the left in the middle. This describes abit about all the areas of your questions....

http://www.1stproperties.com/ Ask more ??'s if you like.

[bellafinzi]

homansweets, winterfest in Syracuse has a lot going on including horse-drawn wagon rides, ice sculpting contests, chili and chowder cook-offs, live music, dancing, parades, dog sled rides, disc golf, hockey, snow angel world record attempt, art show, wine tasting, snowman convention, snow softball, cross-country ski race, and snowshoe race.

In the mean time, if you are into gardening like I am, you could always come up with plans to landscape your backyard. Make it your own little oasis. It helps keep your mind on planning for spring planting season. For plant hardiness, Syracuse is in zone 5b historically. I did my own average since 1990 and we just make into zone 6. The snow cover also helps protect plants here.

Phish Head, your post is mostly right. Your eastern suburbs description is right on. East Syracuse and Minoa are located in the eastern suburbs, but they aren't upscale. Baldwinsville = Lysander. The Baldwinsville area has some flat areas and rolling hills areas, but it's not as hilly as the western or eastern suburbs. The home prices in Lysander are much higher than Cicero, Clay and Salina though. Also, you can add Onondaga to your list of "western suburbs".

Marcellus and Cazenovia are nice, but are semi-rural. They are small villages with a couple housing developments outside the villages. So they aren't really "suburban". If you don't mind areas that are outside the suburbs than you could also look into the Chittenango area. It's located past Fayetteville in Madison county.

This info might help you or someone else in the future...here's a list of the school districts in the Syracuse area and the total number of students:

school district name ~ city
school district name ~ suburban
school district name ~ mostly rural

Syracuse 21,298
North Syracuse 10,188
Liverpool 8,521
Baldwinsville 5,960
West Genesee 5,166
Central Square 4,954
F'ville-Manlius 4,633
E. Syracuse-Minoa 3,646
Jamesville-DeWitt 2,717
Chittenango 2,567
Phoenix 2,413
Westhill 2,048
Skaneatles 1,844
Cazenovia 1,807
Solvay 1,747
Jordan-Elbridge 1,703
Tully 1,244
Onondaga 1,025
LaFayette 1,003
Fabius-Pompey 942

[Phish Head]

Thanks for all the info. I'm excited to start looking around. Since I may enroll at SUNY ESF in a year or so, we may be better off in the eastern suburbs. Thanks again.

[dcomposto]

bellafinzi, I am going to Syracuse this weekend to drive around the area. I have been downtown a few times, so I am not interested in going there at this time. My main concern is finding an area to live in. I am still a little overwhelmed with all the information I have on where to live. I am still researching schools. So far I want to check out Balwinsville, W. Genesee, Fayetteville Manlius, and Westville areas. Do you have any suggestions on what develpments or towns I should focus on.

[bellafinzi]

Phish Head, you're welcome!

dcomposto, I'd definitely check out Radisson Planned Community, the Village of Baldwinsville, maybe a couple housing developments outside the village of Baldwinsville.

I'm not as familiar with Camillus, Westvale or the Fayetteville/Manlius area. So I made a map with a route you could take. Of course you don't need to follow it exactly. It maps the general areas you might be interested in visiting. It starts out on the Thruway coming from the east, then goes to I-481 north, to exit 12 in Clay. Then head west on Route 31 to Radisson Planned Community in Lysander, then go back on Route 31 head west to Baldwinsville, the newer homes are located north and west of the village. You might want to check out the homes off Route 370 southeast of Baldwinsville in Lysander. Then either back track to the village and get on I-690 or continue on 370, go to John Glenn Blvd, take a right and get on I-690 that way. This will take you to Camillus, you can either take West Genesee Street through Camillus or use the bypass to check out the new housing developments west of the village near Camillus Middle School. Then back track to the Westvale area, then take 173 to Onondaga Hill down through the valley section of the city, then get on I-481 to exit 3. Take Route 92 east to Manlius, then get on Route 173 which goes past the High School, you might want to check out the neighborhood off Enders Road or the new housing development right next to the High School, if you'd like... you are close to Pompey and could go see housing developments off Pompey Center Road. Then back track through the village of Manlius to Fayetteville on Route 257, take a left on to Route 5 to get back to I-481 which will take you back to the Thruway. If you decide which area you like the most and then tell me the price range, I could maybe point you to a spefic housing development. There are so many housing developments in Baldwinsville, Camillus and Manlius, it's quite hard to pick which ones you may like without narrowing it down more.

http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/10212/2005008241244695667_rs.jpg (broken link)

Don't feel pressured to use my Route. It's just a guideline if you didn't already have a plan. After you do visit, I'd be interested in hearing about the trip if you have time. Thanks.

Hope this info helps a little.

[Phish Head]

Sweet! I'm going to use this map as well during our visit. I'm surprised by all the open space where it says "Cicero". Its so close to the city, yet there are large roadless areas. Interesting. Are the open spaces near Syracuse heavily forested or mostly farmland?

[bellafinzi]

It's a mix of farms and forest, plus wetlands. The huge area without any roads in Cicero is actually the "Cicero Swamp". It's a State protected wetland. Also, consider this map is about 5 years old. There are a few more housing developments not seen on the map that have been built lately.

If either of you are interested in the newer developments, you may want to pick up a free map of Syracuse at your local AAA office(if you have AAA Membership). The latest map was made in 2005. It has most roads on it but is already out of date since it didn't include a couple recent housing developments.

The far north rural area of Clay looks like this....







Check out my Cicero photos thread for rural pictures of Cicero.

[dcomposto]

thanks bellafinzi, you have been tremendously helpful!!