Syracuse suburbs/Rochester suburbs (Clay, Henrietta: real estate, mcmansions, condos)

[jalex]

I will be moving to the Syracuse area soon. I have lived in the suburbs of Rochester- Penfield/Webster. I was wondering if anyone knew which suburbs in Syracuse would compare to Webster/Penfield as far as housing, people, "feel", etc. Thanks.

[bellafinzi]

I've never been to Webster yet. But I have seen parts of Penfield. I'd say the only Syracuse suburb that comes close to having the feel of Penfield is Lysander. The Town of Lysander encompasses the northern half of Baldwinsville, the planned community of Radisson and many rather nice housing developments off Route 370 and River Road including the new Timber Banks project. Just like the Penfield area, the terrain of Lysander is gently rolling hills.

Penfield's population of 35,000 is much larger than Lysander's population of roughly 21,000. Though the Town of Clay...population 60,000...is not far away, so Lysander does have great nearby shopping on Route 31 and Route 57 including two Wegman's.

[dealia]

Jalex, I'm trying to make the same type of move as you- roch suburb to SU suburb. Have you found any good rental websites for the syracuse area? I've been all over craigslist and syracuse.com but can't seem to find much else that doesn't list managed townhouses/condos.

[ckhthankgod]

I would say that the Eastern suburbs of Syracuse are comparable to the Eastern suburbs of Rochester. For instance, East Syracuse is just like East Rochester in that both were or are Railroad towns. Hence the East before the major city name, which was the case for a lot of RR towns. Dewitt, Fayetteville, Manlius and the Fremont section of the ES-Minoa school district are the nicest parts of that side of town. My sister who lives in Chili says the same thing about how both are comparable as well. Both seem to have the reputation of being the nicest section of suburbs for both areas too. Jamesville-DeWitt, East Syracuse-Minoa and Fayetteville-Manlius are the school districts and all of them are good. F-M is the biggest of the three and J-D is the smallest, but growing. There is just about anything you need in the Eastern suburbs as well, along with upscale places like a Chico's and Ethan Allen.

Baldwinsville is kind of like Fairport too and is good combination of upscale suburban, rural and village living with the Seneca River running throuhg the village. Another suburb that might be similar is the Camillus/West Genesee SD area.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I would say that the Eastern suburbs of Syracuse are comparable to the Eastern suburbs of Rochester. For instance, East Syracuse is just like East Rochester in that both were or are Railroad towns. Hence the East before the major city name, which was the case for a lot of RR towns. Dewitt, Fayetteville, Manlius and the Fremont section of the ES-Minoa school district are the nicest parts of that side of town. My sister who lives in Chili says the same thing about how both are comparable as well. Both seem to have the reputation of being the nicest section of suburbs for both areas too. Jamesville-DeWitt, East Syracuse-Minoa and Fayetteville-Manlius are the school districts and all of them are good. F-M is the biggest of the three and J-D is the smallest, but growing. There is just about anything you need in the Eastern suburbs as well, along with upscale places like a Chico's and Ethan Allen.

Baldwinsville is kind of like Fairport too and is good combination of upscale suburban, rural and village living with the Seneca River running throuhg the village. Another suburb that might be similar is the Camillus/West Genesee SD area.

Good points. Syracuse's eastern suburbs...Dewitt, Fayetteville, and Manlius might be comparable to the eastern suburbs of Rochester with having similar people, schools and an upscale lifestyle BUT there is a huge difference. The general vibe/"feel" of both places are very different IMO. Syracuse's eastern suburbs are unlike any suburb of Rochester.

When you are in Rochester's eastern suburbs, you feel you are near a medium/large city. On the other hand Syracuse's eastern suburbs have a rural vibe/feel...which is one of the main reason I dislike them compared to the northern suburbs. Rochester's eastern suburbs are vast.... on the other hand you drive in any direction in Syracuse's eastern suburbs and you are in the boonies in a flash.

Not to mention other than one small shopping center....Fayetteville Towne Center....all the retail near Syracuse's eastern suburbs are found on disgusting Erie Blvd. Rochester's eastern suburbs are very close to great shopping on a rather attractive commercial strip ~ Jefferson Road in Henrietta.

I still believe that Lysander is the only suburb of Syracuse that has a similar vibe to Rochester's eastern suburbs.

[ckhthankgod]

I don't know about that, in regards to the Eastern suburbs of syracuse. While Syracuse in general is a very easy city and area to drive around, the Eastern suburbs have a different vibe than the Northern or Western suburbs. Our Eastern suburbs, to me, have more of a New England feel. Our Northern suburbs have more of a spread out, if not Canadian feel to them. While the Western suburbs seem to have more of a Midwestern feel to them. Then, the south towns are more like the South and are very rural. Pretty much, I see our suburbs as precursors to the regions that are "behind" each of them.

Also, with the Eastern suburbs, there seems to be more of a connection to the Universities and those areas. That might be due to the fact many people affiliated with the Universities(SU and LeMoyne) live there, as well as some that work at Cazenovia College and SUNY-Morrisville.

Our Eastern suburbs are more ethnically and racially diverse in comparison to the other set of suburbs and towns too. There is a good amount of Asians, Jews, Blacks, Arabs, Russians, Native Americans and other groups in that area, that come from various economic backgrounds as well.

They also probably have the best collection of good school districts too. All 3 are in very high demand, do well on tests, graduate a high number of students with many going on to college and have good programs as well.

[Melsky]

That's interesting you should say that about the northern suburbs having a Canadian feel. I also think that and I lived in Canada for three years before I came here.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Melsky

That's interesting you should say that about the northern suburbs having a Canadian feel. I also think that and I lived in Canada for three years before I came here.

When I was going to college in Michigan, I noticed how the urban areas in Canada like Windsor, London, Hamilton and St Catharines were more spread out. To me, that's how the Northern suburbs are here. They are more spread out, especially Clay. There are three schools districts for an area of 160-170,000 people and all of them cover a large area too. Out of the Eastern suburban districts, only East Syracuse-Minoa goes a long way from some of the Eastwood area of Syracuse to the Kirkville area just into Madison County.

[johnny99]

I don't see how a "rural feel" or being able to be "in the boonies" is a detriment to an area. ??? The eastern side of the city and Burbs are the nicest areas around Syracuse. The real estate prices around Jamesville, Fayetteville, Dewitt will bear that out. J-D school district is fantastic. If you want strip malls, McMansions, and flat barren winter wasteland look to the northern suburbs.

[jalex]

Thanks for all the input.