Cicero or Clay? (Syracuse, North Syracuse, Mattydale: buying a home, neighborhoods, buying)

[nelleli]

Hi Everyone!
My hubby and I are planning to buy a house in the CNS school district. We are looking at homes in Clay and Cicero, and as far as I can tell, there are no major differences between the two areas. Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks!
On a side note, anyone have advice for buying a home with a pool in the area? is that just asking for trouble?

[bellafinzi]

You're correct, not much difference between Cicero or Clay. A few minor differences:

-Parts of Clay have lower taxes than Cicero.

-Since the Cicero Swamp is in Cicero... Clay may have fewer mosquitoes

-Some parts of Cicero near the swamp have basement flooding issues in rainy Springs, but a house with a sump pump usually solves that problem

-IMO the best part of the CNS school district is in the Clay neighborhoods surrounding the Bear Road/Buckley Road intersection....Wild Creek, some of developments just west of the Village of North Syracuse all the near Wegmans on Taft Road. Homes there keep there value and are always in high demand.

Lots of homes have pools in the Cicero/Clay area. Mostly the uglier above ground pools. Many neighbors at one time or another went through a phase of buying a pool, then realizing they are not worth the cost or effort to maintain...then they pull them out. I've never had one myself... never much of swimmer.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

[skeeterflea]

Reviving this old thread, what are the differences in property taxes between the two areas? I'm just guessing that Cicero's is higher due to waterfront property?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

You're correct, not much difference between Cicero or Clay. A few minor differences:

-Parts of Clay have lower taxes than Cicero.

-Since the Cicero Swamp is in Cicero... Clay may have fewer mosquitoes

-Some parts of Cicero near the swamp have basement flooding issues in rainy Springs, but a house with a sump pump usually solves that problem

-IMO the best part of the CNS school district is in the Clay neighborhoods surrounding the Bear Road/Buckley Road intersection....Wild Creek, some of developments just west of the Village of North Syracuse all the near Wegmans on Taft Road. Homes there keep there value and are always in high demand.

Lots of homes have pools in the Cicero/Clay area. Mostly the uglier above ground pools. Many neighbors at one time or another went through a phase of buying a pool, then realizing they are not worth the cost or effort to maintain...then they pull them out. I've never had one myself... never much of swimmer.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Out of the two, I think that Clay and that part that bellafinzi stated are the best parts of the district. It's probably the most diverse part of the district in multiple ways too(ethnically, economically, etc.) and still nice.

I live in the district too in Mattydale, but that is more working class-middle class. A part of the district I think people overlook that is nice, but is mainly in the town of Salina part is Pitcher Hill. It's an older suburban development that is still well kept and affordable. Some of the neighborhoods in Pitcher hill go to Liverpool schools too. I think the two or three western most streets go to Liverpool and the rest go to North Syracuse schools.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by skeeterflea

Reviving this old thread, what are the differences in property taxes between the two areas? I'm just guessing that Cicero's is higher due to waterfront property?

For the North Syracuse school district, I believe Clay has slightly lower property taxes than Cicero. The waterfront could be one reason, other reasons that I'm aware of include....1) the Town of Clay has been historically a better run town, 2) Clay has a larger commercial and industrial tax base to off-set the residential taxes.

Here are the out-dated statistics...from a couple years ago (best I could find):

Property and School Taxes on a $100,000 house by school district

Town of Cicero
North Syracuse ~ $2,478
Central Square ~ $2,260

Town of Clay
North Syracuse ~ $2,342
Liverpool ~ $2,728