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Are you going to Syracuse University? The university and the surrounding city offer plenty of venues for you to check out. The cold winter weather may be a shock, but I think that as long as you know what you're looking for in Syracuse, you could be happy (your question is more personal than factual, and our opininons vary. Maybe you could check wikipedia and the univeristy website to give you a better idea of the region).
Well, the average winter high is about 30 degrees, and the average low is near twenty. So it's cold, yes, but usually it only goes below zero once or twice a year.
Could a girl from Newport Beach be happy at college in Syracuse?
Cali Girl- I grew up in orange county. Villa Park/Orange hills to be exact and worked in newport. I moved an hour from New York City 10 years ago after getting married.
Let me tell I have still not adjusted to the weather, the sticky humidity. I miss the weather...and even though the cost of living their and here is the same...I would still move back to the OC in a heartbeat just for the weather.
Do I think you will be happy. Well I dont know syracuse, my dh travels their for business. From what I hear...and this is JUST what I hear...its extremelly blue collar and a HUGE college town. Let just say its not coto de caza and its NO SOUTH COAST PLAZA OR NEWPORT FASHION ISLAND. My good friend is from syracuse and she said the coolest thing to do is hit applebees. And the mall is something to be desired.
NOW, if you were saying Cornell University...well I have heard cornell is a more of a white collar upscale town.
I have never been to syracuse, this is only what my friend and dh told me, and I am just trying to relate to you because I grew up their.
Unless you are up for a HUGE culture shock. I would honestly say, NO you wouldnt be happy, and this is only because I know newport.
I am not saying it to offend the people from Syracuse, I just know orange county, so I am basing my opinion from that point of view.
Maybe you should visit, you know, just to make sure.
The CITY of Syracuse (population ~ 145,000) is like a big Poughkeepsie, NY or a big Newburgh, NY. The suburbs of Syracuse (population 250,000) are nice, similar to the suburbs outside of Poughkeepsie and Newburgh.
The problem (unlike in Buffalo, Rochester or Albany) is that Syracuse University is right in the middle of the City of Syracuse, not in the nice suburbs. This is one reason why grads actually stick around other cities in Upstate, but not in Syracuse. They all want to get out right after they graduate and I don't blame them if they only see the worst parts of Syracuse everyday. The city is just a depressing place IMO. Just down the road from the SU Campus are ghetto neighborhoods. It's like this...going to college in the middle of South Central LA and never going far from campus therefore never seeing any nice areas of So Cal. Then telling outsiders that LA is a horrible place just based on your experience of going to college in South Central LA.
All the local politicians think it's so wonderful that all the colleges in the area are located in the City of Syracuse. I personally think it's one of the worst drawbacks of the region since outsiders only see the worst part of the region, not the nicer areas. Rochester is lucky to have all their colleges outside their city limits in the nice suburban areas to the south. That way the students and the visitors don't have such a negative view of Rochester since they don't have to live right in the middle of ghetto type neighborhoods.
Syracuse's nice areas are all hidden away from any area that visitors would need to travel. Even most of the hotels in Syracuse are in industrial or in bad city neighborhoods. It's the opposite in Rochester. The Rochester area has all their nice areas in the most visited parts of their region in full view. That's why Rochester gets many good first impressions, while Syracuse gets bad first impressions.
Bottom line, the Syracuse region needs a huge population and construction boom so more nice areas become visible to outsiders.
You will adapt and it will be a good experience for you.
I also grew up in California and moved back a couple of years ago (to San Francisco). No place is California! I have a couple of friends from here that have moved to upstate NY and they like it. You can actually buy a house for less than $800k!
I lived in Montreal and Toronto, and although I am happy to be back in California, I am ready to move maybe East again.
The weather takes some getting used to. It is too humid in the summer and cold in the winter, but you will probably learn to enjoy the seasons (I did). But don't try to clear the windshields of snow with the washer fluid and the windshield wipers (they burn out).
The food tastes different (in a good way), and the pizza is way better (as is all Italian food).
And you can go to NYC or Boston on the weekends. How fun!!
Bellafinzi has some excellent points regarding Syracuse. I think Syracuse has a lot of nice "burbs" and outlying towns, but as far as the actual city and where the college is located it leaves a lot to be desired. When I recommend Syracuse I always recommend the outlying areas. If you were to rent an apartment in one of the nicer areas (studios are pretty cheap in that area) and attend college I think it would be better.
Cornell is a pretty area, but if you are looking for upscale shopping Syracuse is about all there is to offer in the area. The general area from Binghampton to Syracuse and beyond has a rich agricultural history and you won't find "upscale" areas that might even vaguely compare to NYC metro or LA.
The city gets about 110 inches of snow a year, and I am sure you saw on the weather channel that a town just north of Syracuse got over 100 inches of snow in something like 1 week time. It is cold and the summers are humid. But there are lakes in the area, upstate NY is very scenic and you are in reach of NYC and some other larger cities. When I moved back from NM (4 years) to NYS I thought the winters were going to literally kill me so bring your best winter gear if you do move up here.
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so bring your best winter gear if you do move up here.
