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Also to clarify, being scared of the city of Syracuse is completely subjective. There are many people who live, work and go to school in the city and do not find the area scary at all. I was never scared while living and working in the city.
I was thinking the same thing. It is just like any other city of decent size. You have some rough parts and you have some nice parts. Actually, Downtown might be one of the safest parts of the city. I would look at places like Nob Hill, Clarendon Heights and some apartments in areas close to campus like DeWitt or the Meadowbrook, Westcott and University neighborhoods in the city.
Like a lot of urban schools SU is largely surrounded by ghetto. The Towers are in the downtown near museums, symphony, civic center, etc. There is a courthouse and jail nearby for the good or bad that entails. Not really a green area but conveniently located to the school nonetheless.
Commuting times in the Syracuse area are negligable. Say from Liverpool, which is nice, it wouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so to get to campus. There are lots of lovely apt complexes. You'd need a car of course.
As a person that works at SU, it isn't "surrounded by ghetto". There is only one part by the Pioneer Homes housing project with the BBB area(Brewster-Boland-Brockway). I-81 separates the two anyway and crime is minimal. Besides that, it is surrounded by residential areas with apartments and homes like the very nice Berkeley Park housing development to the East.
I mean the city of syracuse isn't that bad - there's just some patches where it's a bit scary. Just talk to people in the areas where you want to live and see how they live!
How is Liverpool these days? There used to be some very nice apts near Long Branch and the drive was rather nice into the city from there. I heard Bville has grown somewhat too, for the better? I would think anywhere between 31 and just north of the tru way would be nice or am I wrong.
The Pioneer Homes projects on Adams Street adjacent to Rte 81 are the safest and most stable projects in the city but they are still housing projects. If you understand and are comfortable with urban living then the aforementioned towers should be fine. Nob Hill is nice with a mix of tenants but skewed towards older folks (i.e. 70's and up) although some younger people and families live there. I would skip Clarendon heights and anything in the Brighton Ave / Thurber Street area - it's declined noticeably in the past five years.
The Westcott Street area is a mixed bag - is culturally progressive and has a hippie vibe but most of the decent available apartments are three BRl, high priced and targeted at undergrads. Winters are long and cold here - utility costs can be very high - try to find a place where heat or better yet all utilities are included in the rent.
My neighborhood - Outer University - is probably the best possible choice but the only apartments you might find are sort of private in-law type apartments attached to someone's house and rented under the radar (it is A-1 single family residential zoning). The exception is some apartments on Meadowbrook Drive near Brookford Road - racially mixed tenant base and well maintained properties - or so it appears. My mom's 85 year old friend just moved into one there and likes it.
There's also Maplewood Gardens just off Tecumseh Rd by the corner of Nottingham Rd. Smaller apartments for the price with less light than the ones on Meadowbrook but safe and close to SU. That area is close to Dewitt and you'll find more apartment options in Dewitt - which I consider to be a far better choice than B'ville, Liverpool or any other suburb. In Dewitt you should avoid any and all apartments that are on the hill area running parallel to and just south of Erie Blvd east. Just trust me on that one. The rest of Dewitt apartment stock is fine starting at Thompson Rd and running anywhere east of that.
The Pioneer Homes projects on Adams Street adjacent to Rte 81 are the safest and most stable projects in the city but they are still housing projects. If you understand and are comfortable with urban living then the aforementioned towers should be fine. Nob Hill is nice with a mix of tenants but skewed towards older folks (i.e. 70's and up) although some younger people and families live there. I would skip Clarendon heights and anything in the Brighton Ave / Thurber Street area - it's declined noticeably in the past five years.
The Westcott Street area is a mixed bag - is culturally progressive and has a hippie vibe but most of the decent available apartments are three BRl, high priced and targeted at undergrads. Winters are long and cold here - utility costs can be very high - try to find a place where heat or better yet all utilities are included in the rent.
My neighborhood - Outer University - is probably the best possible choice but the only apartments you might find are sort of private in-law type apartments attached to someone's house and rented under the radar (it is A-1 single family residential zoning). The exception is some apartments on Meadowbrook Drive near Brookford Road - racially mixed tenant base and well maintained properties - or so it appears. My mom's 85 year old friend just moved into one there and likes it.
There's also Maplewood Gardens just off Tecumseh Rd by the corner of Nottingham Rd. Smaller apartments for the price with less light than the ones on Meadowbrook but safe and close to SU. That area is close to Dewitt and you'll find more apartment options in Dewitt - which I consider to be a far better choice than B'ville, Liverpool or any other suburb. In Dewitt you should avoid any and all apartments that are on the hill area running parallel to and just south of Erie Blvd east. Just trust me on that one. The rest of Dewitt apartment stock is fine starting at Thompson Rd and running anywhere east of that.
I think the apartments by Nottingham High you are talking about are Medowbrook Heights, I believe the name is.
Also, my sis lives in Clarendon Heights and she saya it's not bad. I think the other apartment buildings on Thurber are so-so though.
I think the apartments by Nottingham High you are talking about are Medowbrook Heights, I believe the name is.
Also, my sis lives in Clarendon Heights and she saya it's not bad. I think the other apartment buildings on Thurber are so-so though.
There are five or six separate buildings on the north side of Meadowbrook Drive between Brookford Rd and Nottingham High School but several different owners - it's not all one complex. Most are generic "modern" brick buildings all built in the 1950's or 1960's but there is a one at the corner of Brookford that's more interesting - not sure if the apartments are nicer or not. It's Tudor astyle with slate roofs etc.
That's good to know about Clarendon Heights but given my druthers I'd live elsewhere even if the apartments there are nice.
I've lived in Syracuse for most of my life but have also lived elsewhere. There are parts of the city that I just wouldn't live in (although at some point or other I have lived in most of those). Those areas includes parts of the South side, Southwest, near West, near North and the near East side. But there are nicer and safer areas very close to some of the dicey areas - and that's the way many older cities are. People who don't get that or aren't comfortable with it should and usually do live in the suburbs but sometimes have a mis-impression of what it's like to live in "the city".
One of the most gun violence prone and poverty stricken parts of the city is focused around a small area near East Fayette St. and Croly Ave. But go exactly one city block up Croly... cross over to the other side of East Genesee St.... and you're on Scottholm Blvd. - historically a very safe area with gorgeous older homes - some of the nicest in the entrie city (and priced accordingly).
There are five or six separate buildings on the north side of Meadowbrook Drive between Brookford Rd and Nottingham High School but several different owners - it's not all one complex. Most are generic "modern" brick buildings all built in the 1950's or 1960's but there is a one at the corner of Brookford that's more interesting - not sure if the apartments are nicer or not. It's Tudor astyle with slate roofs etc.
That's good to know about Clarendon Heights but given my druthers I'd live elsewhere even if the apartments there are nice.
I've lived in Syracuse for most of my life but have also lived elsewhere. There are parts of the city that I just wouldn't live in (although at some point or other I have lived in most of those). Those areas includes parts of the South side, Southwest, near West, near North and the near East side. But there are nicer and safer areas very close to some of the dicey areas - and that's the way many older cities are. People who don't get that or aren't comfortable with it should and usually do live in the suburbs but sometimes have a mis-impression of what it's like to live in "the city".
One of the most gun violence prone and poverty stricken parts of the city is focused around a small area near East Fayette St. and Croly Ave. But go exactly one city block up Croly... cross over to the other side of East Genesee St.... and you're on Scottholm Blvd. - historically a very safe area with gorgeous older homes - some of the nicest in the entrie city (and priced accordingly).
So true, but even within the same sections of town, you will find nice parts in rough parts. For instance, you don't even have to cross East Gensee Street from Rolling Greens Estates, just go up the hill and it is different there too. You have Strathmore in the Southwest corner of the city and it is still nice as well. Even up the hill on South Ave., just past Glenwood/Valley drive, it is still fine up there too. actually, it's pretty much the same within the same sides of town. There is a rougher inner city part and then you have a very nice part. So, on the West side, Near West side is rough, but you have Strathmore. Southside, you have the inner part especially north of Ballentyne, but go into the Valley section and south of Seneca Turnpike is fine with some really nice houses. Eastside, Rolling Green Estates is really the only rough part, with some neighborhoods closer to downtown being hit or miss, while you have Scottholm, Bradford Heights/Hills, much of the Salt Springs area, Westcott and the University area which includes Berkeley Park. On the northside, the Near North side around Lodi and Butternut is the roughest, but you still have very nice Sedgewick, most of Lincoln Park and most of Eastwood, especially South of James and East of Midler(that's if you don't consider it a part of the Eastside). So, it does depend even within the same sides of town.
You're absolutely right "ckh" and I'm so glad I found this forum recently. There's an overwhelming amount of uninformed anti-city bias in the forum discussions of a certain local newspaper's web site - I don't even try getting into discussions there. There seem to be plenty of folks in this forum who understand Syracuse - both its strengths and weaknesses
I think upper East Fayette seems just fine and I'm particularly impressed by the work Housing Vision Unlimited has done with the whole stretch of East Fayette from Cherry to Pine St.
The original poster - if still considering the towers apartments adjacent to then highway and the hospital - now has a new factor in the mix. The state announced yesterday that it's moving all the remaining tenants out of Townsend Towers and Harrison House. Both of those buildings have had high vacancy rates and some ongoing issues with drug dealing and crime in general. Upstate Hospital is planning to work with the state to turn those two buildings into housing for faculty and med students - great idea and it will stabilize that area.
You're absolutely right "ckh" and I'm so glad I found this forum recently. There's an overwhelming amount of uninformed anti-city bias in the forum discussions of a certain local newspaper's web site - I don't even try getting into discussions there. There seem to be plenty of folks in this forum who understand Syracuse - both its strengths and weaknesses
I think upper East Fayette seems just fine and I'm particularly impressed by the work Housing Vision Unlimited has done with the whole stretch of East Fayette from Cherry to Pine St.
The original poster - if still considering the towers apartments adjacent to then highway and the hospital - now has a new factor in the mix. The state announced yesterday that it's moving all the remaining tenants out of Townsend Towers and Harrison House. Both of those buildings have had high vacancy rates and some ongoing issues with drug dealing and crime in general. Upstate Hospital is planning to work with the state to turn those two buildings into housing for faculty and med students - great idea and it will stabilize that area.
I agree with every topic you touched on in this post.
I always thought that St. Joe's should do the same thing with the Snowdon on James and use that for the same purpose as Upstate is using those two buildings Downtown.
Yeah, .com, as I call it, does have a lot of bias and generalizations in terms of the city and the residents there. It's pathethic many times reading some of the comments on the boards there.
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