Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was one of those kids that was transferred out of NHS and put in a private school. My parents were true believers of the public ed system (my dad was a teacher in the North Syracuse school district). I attended Ed Smith, Levy, and then 9th grade at Nottingham. My older brother did graduate from Nottingham while I was still at Levy. However, the year I entered NHS the school had a number of major issues that year and was very chaotic. Because I was so distracted by everything going on around me my grades dropped from A's and B's to Failing. That was when my parents yanked me out and had me attend a private school from 10th to 12th. I heard from friends that the year I left things did improve because they brought in a new principal who brought in more order.
I still think NHS has a lot of potential but a lot of it depends on the leadership and teachers. Many factors go into a good school.
I would also check out the Lyndon section of DeWitt and Marvelle Road specifically. Although most homes are valued higher than $450,000, there is one priced at $449,000. More affordable homes in the 1,800 to 2,200 square foot range start at just under $200,000 and are located on Lynacres Blvd and Lyndon Road. Most of the more affordable homes are ranches, colonials, and splits built in the 1950s and 1960s. The Lyndon neighborhood (a.k.a Lyndon Corners) is located in the town of DeWitt and falls within the highly regarded Jamesville-DeWitt school district. Marvelle Road borders the exclusive Onondaga Golf and Country Club and has a Fayetteville address.
The neighborhood has a nice mix of architectural syles including tudors, colonials, and large ranches. Most homes on Marvelle were built between 1920 and 1950 and range from around 2,500 square feet to about 7,000 square feet. Marvelle Road along with the Sedgwick, Berkeley Park, and Bradford Hills sections of Syracuse are Central New York's closest match to some of the more modest to medium sized homes in the Highland Park neighborhood of Dallas.
Lyndon is about 1 mile from the onramp to I-481 which provides easy access to Liverpool via the Thruway (I-90). Wegmans, an upscale supermarket chain has their flagship Syracuse store less than .5 miles to the west. The 125,000 plus square foot store has many of the items found in a Whole Foods as well as a large food court, take-out, and international food section.
Taxes - as always - are a major nuisance and I think Dewitt has one of the highest tax rates in the area (could be mistaken). I'm guessing that taxes on the $449K house are close to $20K annually. The listing shows them as $11,599 but that's probably based on an assessed value that is significantly lower than the selling price is likely to be. If the current owners are older and have the extra STAR discount that folks over 65 get that is another factor.
One of my former GF's had a house in Applecross for which she paid $242K. That was in 1999. When she sold that house in 2002 her taxes were just over $10K annual and that was still based on the $242K valuation (sold for $284K).
It's not that much better inside the city limits but I think it's slightly less and IMHO the services in Syracuse (DPW, water, trash collection, police etc.) are for the most part very good.
For those of you who may be interested and I will fully understand if your not, my husband and I visited our future home of Syracuse this past week. Your input in areas helped tremendously. In the end, we fell in love with the village of Manlius. Odd name; sounds like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would invent to pair with girly girl. Anyway, we really like the Syracuse area and I am much relieved. The weather was heaven compared to the 108 degree weather we are left behind.
I was surprised and delighted by the amount of activities going on, and by the way, Dinosaurs BBQ is outstanding. We were going to try Alto Cinco, but decided to give Dinosaurs a second visit. I'll catch AC next time.
For those of you who may be interested and I will fully understand if your not, my husband and I visited our future home of Syracuse this past week. Your input in areas helped tremendously. In the end, we fell in love with the village of Manlius. Odd name; sounds like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would invent to pair with girly girl. Anyway, we really like the Syracuse area and I am much relieved. The weather was heaven compared to the 108 degree weather we are left behind.
I was surprised and delighted by the amount of activities going on, and by the way, Dinosaurs BBQ is outstanding. We were going to try Alto Cinco, but decided to give Dinosaurs a second visit. I'll catch AC next time.
Well, that's about it. Thanks again.
Welcome to Syracuse! It's great to hear things worked out. Manlius is an excellent choice.
Welcome to Syracuse! It's great to hear things worked out. Manlius is an excellent choice.
I second that. Manlius is a very good choice and the name is of a Roman influence. You will notice that many of the names of communities around here have a Roman/Greek type of influence.
Marcellus is a bedroom community of Syracuse with a rural/exurban feel. A village and town share the name of Marcellus. The township has a population of roughly 6,500 and the village located within the town is home to approximately 1,800 people. The downtown section of Marcellus village contains a small grocery store, a recently upgraded library, and several small shops. Although some storefronts are vacant, many buildings in the main business district have been renovated in recent years. The village's housing stock is for the most part well maintained and consists of many historic homes ranging from victorians to colonials of varying sizes. Just outside the village are a couple of subdivisions that were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s that feature colonial, contemporary, and ranch style homes. Since 2000, a few newer developments with more upscale residences between 2,500 and 4,000 square feet have been built. A long abandoned mill that once employed hundreds of people and subsequently sat vacant for decades was recently redeveloped into upscale condos and office space.
For recreation, there are several farms that offer horseback riding and Baltimore Woods Nature Center has miles of well maintained hiking trails and nature programs for kids. The Finger Lakes village of Skaneateles is about 10 minutes away in the neighboring town.
Last edited by RollsRoyce; 07-30-2009 at 08:16 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
