How do you view the Syracuse area? (York, Wilmington: crime rates, move)

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by RollsRoyce

The taller the buildings the "bigger" the city looks. Syracuse needs to rebrand itself and cannot be viewed as the poor step child between Buffalo, Rochester and Albany. Many cities of similar population to Syracuse have taller skylines and attractive skyscrapers. Not all of these cities are in the sunbelt either. Hartford, Providence, Lexington, KY, Des Moines, Knoxville, Little Rock and even dumpy Springfield, MA which has one attractive 30 story building have dynamic skylines. Other medium sized rust belt cities like Akron, Toledo, Dayton, New Haven, and Fort Wayne even have better skylines than Syracuse. The job market, schools, quality of life and affordability are key deterimants of a successful community as well. I didn't get the impression that bella was saying those weren't important considerations.

As pathetic as this sounds, I had a dream several weeks ago that I was walking on West Fayette Street with my eyes looking at street level. I saw the stub of one of the older buildings and as I looked up, I noticed a huge crane and construction of what appeared to be a highrise condo and apartment structure on the base of this ugly 1950s 2 story edifice. Just as I was about to walk closer to examine this much needed addition to Syracuse's skyline, I woke up and realized it was a dream.

Grand Rapids would be an excellent model for Syracuse's skyline.

That's interesting that you mentioned Grand Rapids, because I mentioned that city on here for a similar reason and showed pictures of their skyline.

I'm all for tall buildings, as long as they are filled to a good degree. I think it has been a good 40 years or so, since a skyscraper has been built in Syracuse. I know they are tearing down some buildings on Warren Street and maybe that would be a good location for a taller building.

[bellafinzi]

Thanks RollsRoyce!

I couldn't have said it any better!

ckhthankgod, you'd be surprised how much a skyline can change people's perception of an area. Imagine people having a positive perception of Miami if that city had Syracuse's current skyline? It can be hard to imagine, but most people's perception of Miami, FL would drop considerably if it had Syracuse's short outdated 70s style skyline.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

Thanks RollsRoyce!

I couldn't have said it any better!

ckhthankgod, you'd be surprised how much a skyline can change people's perception of an area. Imagine people having a positive perception of Miami if that city had Syracuse's current skyline? It can be hard to imagine, but most people's perception of Miami, FL would drop considerably if it had Syracuse's short outdated 70s style skyline.

Actually, I agree with you about the skyline. I just hope that if people build it up, that the buildings would be put to good use or wouldn't be vacant. That's where trying to lure companies to come into the city of Syracuse and/or individuals that would be willing to locate here to interject some new ideas into the area.

[howie13204]

Yes, you read that right. The cost of living here is a bargin compared to South Carolina. In fact, a LOT of people have lost their shirts in real-estate in coastal and lower SC and are moving to less expensive places. We have quite a few architectual gems downtown that we should be proud of. The Syracuse Savings Bank is one of my favorites. Let's not forget the Landmark Theatre either. We just have a lot of buildings and houses that are over one-hundred years old. If we were that old, we wouldn't look too good either, LOL! I wholeheartedly agree with all of you that some new ways of thinking are in order to fully bring back downtown. It's going to be slow process. The national economy is currently a wreck - stimulus or no. At least the local banks here did not speculate in real-estate as eslewhere, and as a result, this recession/depression is not going to hit us nearly as bad as Calif., Arizona, Nevada, Florida, SC, NYC, etc. BTW, I have met a few people who have moved back here and are glad they did. I got help from Come Home To Syracuse myself. Also, a big plus for me living here is that I have no allergies thanks to our NY climate. In SC, my allergies had grown dangerous even after spending in excess of $3,000/per year on them to no avail. People always rave about the weather in the southeast. What they won't tell you is that a lot of them have developed serious allergies since moving there from the northeast. I don't know about you, but I would much rather have snow in the winter and be able to breathe and be healthy and put that $3,000 to better use.

[RollsRoyce]

Welcome to Syracuse! Thanks for spreading the good word about CNY on the other forums. The Syracuse Savings Bank is an amazing building as is the Niagara Mohawk Building.

[beckyhuggs]

Originally Posted by howie13204

Yes, you read that right. The cost of living here is a bargin compared to South Carolina. In fact, a LOT of people have lost their shirts in real-estate in coastal and lower SC and are moving to less expensive places. We have quite a few architectual gems downtown that we should be proud of. The Syracuse Savings Bank is one of my favorites. Let's not forget the Landmark Theatre either. We just have a lot of buildings and houses that are over one-hundred years old. If we were that old, we wouldn't look too good either, LOL! I wholeheartedly agree with all of you that some new ways of thinking are in order to fully bring back downtown. It's going to be slow process. The national economy is currently a wreck - stimulus or no. At least the local banks here did not speculate in real-estate as eslewhere, and as a result, this recession/depression is not going to hit us nearly as bad as Calif., Arizona, Nevada, Florida, SC, NYC, etc. BTW, I have met a few people who have moved back here and are glad they did. I got help from Come Home To Syracuse myself. Also, a big plus for me living here is that I have no allergies thanks to our NY climate. In SC, my allergies had grown dangerous even after spending in excess of $3,000/per year on them to no avail. People always rave about the weather in the southeast. What they won't tell you is that a lot of them have developed serious allergies since moving there from the northeast. I don't know about you, but I would much rather have snow in the winter and be able to breathe and be healthy and put that $3,000 to better use.

I think the negative attitudes about Syracuse primarily come from people who have never left Syracuse and who think things must be better somewhere else. For those of us who have left and seen other things, we eventually realize that Syracuse has a lot to offer and is really a great area. Life is not always greener on the other side.

On the forum for my part of TN I see posters all the time asking about the area because they want to get away from Upstate NY. Most of them have never lived elsewhere and their main reasons are the winters and taxes. However, they ask nothing about the negatives about the area they want to move to, they just assume it must be better than Upstate NY because winters are not as harsh and there is no state Tax. However, this area of TN has nearly 10% sales tax on everything including groceries and schools are a joke. If you think Syracuse City schools are bad you should really see schools in other areas of the country. Up until about 2 years ago schools in this area were still putting kids with Autism in isolation boxes all day. We are not close to any major city, the closest is Knoxville which is nothing to write home about.

In some ways maybe its good that people left Syracuse and are coming back because they are the people that can really start changing the negative attitude in Syracuse.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by beckyhuggs

I think the negative attitudes about Syracuse primarily come from people who have never left Syracuse and who think things must be better somewhere else. For those of us who have left and seen other things, we eventually realize that Syracuse has a lot to offer and is really a great area. Life is not always greener on the other side.

On the forum for my part of TN I see posters all the time asking about the area because they want to get away from Upstate NY. Most of them have never lived elsewhere and their main reasons are the winters and taxes. However, they ask nothing about the negatives about the area they want to move to, they just assume it must be better than Upstate NY because winters are not as harsh and there is no state Tax. However, this area of TN has nearly 10% sales tax on everything including groceries and schools are a joke. If you think Syracuse City schools are bad you should really see schools in other areas of the country. Up until about 2 years ago schools in this area were still putting kids with Autism in isolation boxes all day. We are not close to any major city, the closest is Knoxville which is nothing to write home about.

In some ways maybe its good that people left Syracuse and are coming back because they are the people that can really start changing the negative attitude in Syracuse.

Good points....As a person that comes from parents originally from SC and Mississippi, people would be astonished at how bad some areas really have it.

Like you said, the schools here are good, including some of the Syracuse City schools.

Also, the tax thing kind of evens out due to the services we get here and the fact that you get taxed in other states, but is different ways. I know some states tax your vehicles or some of the things a person owns.

As for weather, again, while we get a lot of snow in this area, people fail to realize that we don't get hurricanes, serious earthquakes and if we get bad snow storms, they are usually cleared in a timely manner. We hardly ever get floods and mudslides too.

So, maybe people need to get out of the area more to realize that it isn't as bad as they think it is. We really don't have too many "bad" neighborhoods either. While some might look rough, they aren't necessarily bad and even with the "bad" neighborhoods, it's more abou the lifestyle you live. You hardly hear about random crime in this area, regardless of the setting.

[howie13204]

Thanks, beckyhuggs, for bringing up southern taxes. The last I heard, TN had a 9 percent tax - must have gone up. I came here from Mt Pleasant, SC, and they came very close to imposing a 10.5% tax on everything - food, clothes - you name it. In true SC fashion, the sales tax was hiked, but it got spread out with different things being taxed differently. The residential subdivisions there also levy their own taxes on top of city and county taxes, which could easily add up to thousands. What people who move south don't realize is that the south is going to be playing catch-up with all the growth for the next 50 years at least, and taxes are going to have to SKYROCKET in order for them to provide all the services they promised to newcomers. Mt Pleasant SC, talked a good game the last few years to entice people to come and have gotten themselves in nearly the same amount of debt as Syracuse currently has for reason stated above, and Mt Pleasant is only about half the size of Syracuse. Combine that with real-estate there losing half its value, a seven year glut of houses for sale, and people moving out in droves, and well...... you got a ticking time bomb down there and the ticking is getting louder and quicker by the day.

[Wild Eagle]

Yo Howie13204,

I need to talk to you. I am from the finger lakes area of CNY. I have lived in G'Ville for the past 7 years. We have really struggled to have SC feel like "home". We too have greatly suffered with allergies and my daughter with bad asthma. Are you from Syracuse or SC? Have you been able to adjust to the winters?
I believe upstate NY is the best place to raise a family. I have wanted to return home for the past 4 years but can not figure out if CNY is as great as I remember or do I need to realize you can only return to a place not a time! Any further thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

[howie13204]

Originally Posted by Wild Eagle

Yo Howie13204,

I need to talk to you. I am from the finger lakes area of CNY. I have lived in G'Ville for the past 7 years. We have really struggled to have SC feel like "home". We too have greatly suffered with allergies and my daughter with bad asthma. Are you from Syracuse or SC? Have you been able to adjust to the winters?
I believe upstate NY is the best place to raise a family. I have wanted to return home for the past 4 years but can not figure out if CNY is as great as I remember or do I need to realize you can only return to a place not a time! Any further thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Wild Eagle,
Sorry I haven't replyed until now - been super busy at work. I'm from SC actually. My southern allergies slowly got worse over the years and they exploded about four years ago. I very nearly got a job in CNY about five years ago (maybe) and I fell in love with it - most especially when I found out how incredibly cheap real estate is here compared to SC! As far as CNY winters, I've adjusted quite nicely. Believe it or not, back in the 70's, we got quite a bit of snow in SC. I also went to college in the western NC mountains - Brevard College namely - and it snows there many times every winter. So....... snow? Yeah, been there, done that. Did your family have allergies in CNY? I would be willing to bet you didn't or they were very mild. What grows in SC and the pollen that can get blown up from FL and GA there is vastly different than CNY. Syracuse is coming back out of obscurity. I'm sure you remember Onondaga Lake being very polluted? It has been cleaned up immensely. Would say more but I have to go to work.