Syracuse degree, crime, & winters? (Accord: living in, move, vacation)

[schayban88]

Syracuse is such a underrated city. It usually gets crapped on and blown way out of proportion. First of all, Syracuse has a metro population of approximately 650,000 thousand people which isn't bad at all. You never have to worry about traffic but then again you do see a decent amount of cars on the road it is not like you are driving in a ghost town. The economy here is bouncing back with a lot of future and current projects that are opening such as Syracuse center of excellence, CNY biotechnology research center, Multi-office tenant building, Liberty Resources' Brownell Center for Behavorial Health, Obrien & Gere, Destiny USA, WCNY is moving downtown, Chase bank will open a new cyber programing sector, and a new children's hospital will be opening up. Also, the old GM plant was bought out and soon will be making air conditioning parts and plans on future expansion to the building. Syracuse is definitely the safest out of all the cities in New York State out of Buffalo, Rochester, Capitol region, and down state. The real estate was ranked 2nd best in the country. The suburbs range from middle class to rich to extremely rich. Fayetteville, Manluis, Jamesville, Dewitt, Lysander and parts of Cicero are all rich areas. Clay has a lot of upper middle class people but best of all is Skaneateles is one of the richest areas in the state. Very famous and rich people have lived and still do live in the area. People like Hillary and Bill Clinton had a house there. Billionaire Bob Congel lives out there. Another thing is Syracuse is known for the cheapest gas in the state especially if you live in Cicero. The schools are great schools even city schools are pretty good. People underrate Corcoran high school which is in the city but their advance placement classes ranked one of the best in the country. People come at you sometimes like there isn't anything to do, well my response usually is whatever you can do here you can do somewhere else, if you wanna go you and shop you can, if you wanna go out to a bar or club you can, if you wanna go snowmobiling you can, you got the third largest state fair in the country, you get to experience all four seasons, and you whatever you can do in a big city you can do in Syracuse whatever you can do in a small town you can do that too in Syracuse. It is one of the greatest places to live. People exaggerate how long the winter is for sure. When it really starts snowing is usually end of November sometimes late December and the latest it will ever snow is until March. The summers are perfect temperatures. Syracuse football and basketball are huge, the dome is great, welcome to Syracuse.

[robb350]

Syracuse is a fine place, I remember the spring of '06 being magnificient with great weather from mid March on through.

[schayban88]

Syracuse is great for your husband to find a job in his field simply because jobs are either coming to Syracuse or expanding such as CNY Biotechnology Research Center, childrens hospital just opened up. SUNY Upstate is building a cancer research center and a heart center. SU and SUNY Upstate continue to expand their colleges. St. Joeseph's hospital just announced they will spend 240 million dollars to expand, JP Morgan chase just added a technology center and will add a bunch of jobs for a new cyber program they are launching, Syracuse technology garden continues to grow and future expansion of the mall might help out. Might point is with jobs growing and coming to the area it opens up a lot of opportunities for not only your husband to get a job but also you and in the future possibly your children. Also, Syracuse is huge in building and designing military weapons and two companies here in Syracuse were just awarded over 600 million to build and manufacture weapons for the military. SRCTech was awarded over 500 million last month. Welch Allen plans to grow it's medical manufacturing plant in Onondaga county. In past years Syracuse has dealt with tough losses and a decent amount of economic losses but it is on the rebound for sure and has dealt with this recession better than most cities. The unemployment rate is 7.8 percent where the national average has reached higher then 9 percent. The houses are ridiculously cheap, anyone can afford a house in the Onondaga county. The winters are for sure exaggerated, what people do not know is that when they talk about the snowfall for Syracuse they are considering the average of the metro snow fall. So just north of Onondaga county is Oswego county. They get a ridiculous amount of snow, two years ago they got hit with 13 feet of snow while at the same time Syracuse had about a foot and a half of snow. The only time it really starts to snow is usually December and ends late February or March. Now that doesn't mean it wont snow in November or April because it has before but what I'm saying is the chances of it is slim to now and a very little amount of snowfall. Two years ago we did not have any snow on Christmas and last year the last time it snowed was mid February and when it snows in Syracuse it usually hits hard or else it won't snow. So in all reality it is not that bad. It does get cold. The summers here are a lot better then the south, my cousin lives in Atlanta and it is just brutal in the summer. It is almost equivalent to our winters because you are stuck inside for the whole season. No one wants to do anything in extreme hot temperatures and no one wants to do anything in cold temperatures. Another thing is crime is really not bad at all. You can walk in downtown and be perfectly fine. Last time I checked there was only 12 murders in Syracuse. The news here and the people just blow things way out of proportion. One murder happens and they go crazy about it and talk about it like its the worst city when in all reality cities like Houston and Atlanta experience murders on a daily basis. The suburbs will never have any murders. The only bad thing about Syracuse is how bad people blow things up. Don't turn on the news here, they just talk about negative things all the time. I can't stand to watch the news here but if something good happens to the area they never will mention it. But besides that the people are good people, the majority of the people are white here which probably will be the biggest difference for you because cities like Houston have a much higher diversity. If you are into sports Syracuse University basketball and football are always great to watch in a dome. Welcome to Syracuse and I hope you love it here.

[CUPlanner]

The only bad thing about Syracuse is how bad people blow things up. Don't turn on the news here, they just talk about negative things all the time. I can't stand to watch the news here but if something good happens to the area they never will mention it.

I second these sentiments. Very well said! I think people in Syracuse are almost masochistic. The city and its economy took some major hits in the 80's and 90's that got people feeling bad about themselves and the area, and since then they have been constantly looking for reasons to continue to feel bad about themselves and the place they live. I think part of this is the result of the many promises that have been made to the city and the region by the local and state governments that have been broken, but still many people in the area overlook the enormous amount of good things about Syracuse and downplay its current condition.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by CUPlanner

I second these sentiments. Very well said! I think people in Syracuse are almost masochistic. The city and its economy took some major hits in the 80's and 90's that got people feeling bad about themselves and the area, and since then they have been constantly looking for reasons to continue to feel bad about themselves and the place they live. I think part of this is the result of the many promises that have been made to the city and the region by the local and state governments that have been broken, but still many people in the area overlook the enormous amount of good things about Syracuse and downplay its current condition.

I also agree with this. I think some of it has to do with the fact that people are not moving forward and think of Syracuse only in terms of high paying factory jobs and supposedly high crime(which isn't necessarily true). I've even stated on another forum that Syracuse or some in the area have self esteem issues, as people get caught up in the negative news that they hear, instead of doing some research and getting out of their comfort zone a little bit.

[lvnfl86]

Do not move here! I cannot stress this enough. Both my boyfriend and I are from SW florida, we moved here for grad school. The winters are long, cold, and snowy. The roads are not plowed like they need to be. The budget isn't big enough. SO they cut corners, and not just with the DOT, but everything else, especially the schools. You will trade your cooling bill for an even higher heating bill. You will not see the sun past NOV. You will be depressed, sad.. The people are jerks. No one is helpfull they will run you over and act like it was your fault. No one opens doors, says excuse me or even hello. Dont expect to know your neighbor, they wont like you, and you wont like them. Oh there is no good mexican restaurants here.. Actually there are no good restaurants period. Mostly because they have no taste buds here. But who can blame them, NY is literally built on top of toxic waste dumps. The mall Carousel, literally built right on top of a TOXIC LANDFILL!!! the lakes are polluted, and Syracuse is one of the worst city's for people with allergies, look into it. Dont come here if you have allergies. The taxes here are much much higher. Im not sure if you have a state income tax in TX, but you will have one here. Much higher sales tax. Even if you buy it online still taxed! There isn't much to do here, Im not sure if you have children, but if you did the school system is horrendous. ALL IN ALL, dont come here.

[jrice]

Originally Posted by lvnfl86

Do not move here! I cannot stress this enough. Both my boyfriend and I are from SW florida, we moved here for grad school. The winters are long, cold, and snowy. The roads are not plowed like they need to be. The budget isn't big enough. SO they cut corners, and not just with the DOT, but everything else, especially the schools. You will trade your cooling bill for an even higher heating bill. You will not see the sun past NOV. You will be depressed, sad.. The people are jerks. No one is helpfull they will run you over and act like it was your fault. No one opens doors, says excuse me or even hello. Dont expect to know your neighbor, they wont like you, and you wont like them. Oh there is no good mexican restaurants here.. Actually there are no good restaurants period. Mostly because they have no taste buds here. But who can blame them, NY is literally built on top of toxic waste dumps. The mall Carousel, literally built right on top of a TOXIC LANDFILL!!! the lakes are polluted, and Syracuse is one of the worst city's for people with allergies, look into it. Dont come here if you have allergies. The taxes here are much much higher. Im not sure if you have a state income tax in TX, but you will have one here. Much higher sales tax. Even if you buy it online still taxed! There isn't much to do here, Im not sure if you have children, but if you did the school system is horrendous. ALL IN ALL, dont come here.

If its all that bad then why are you still here?

[acknight]

Below: your post, without the either blatantly false/exaggerated parts [emphasis - my injection] - sure, it doesn't make as much sense as redacted, but the words are yours, not mine:

Originally Posted by lvnfl86

Do not move here! I cannot stress this enough. Both my boyfriend and I are from SW florida, we moved here for grad school. The winters are long, cold, and snowy. The budget isn't big enough. SO they cut corners. You will trade your cooling bill for an even higher heating bill. Oh there is no good mexican restaurants here.. The taxes here are much much higher. Im not sure if you have a state income tax in TX, but you will have one here. ALL IN ALL, dont come here.

Yes, the taxes are higher here (no, sales tax is no higher here than at least large swaths of TX). Yes, there aren't really any good Mexican restaurants here, compared to down there. No, the vast majority of heating bills don't - unless you're keeping your thermostat at 80.

Your description of Central New Yorkers doesn't match the experiences I've had here for the last 21 years here. Given the virulent nature of the post, it may not be them that's the problem. To echo jrice above, why are you still here?

[jrice]

Originally Posted by lvnfl86

Do not move here! I cannot stress this enough. Both my boyfriend and I are from SW florida, we moved here for grad school. The winters are long, cold, and snowy. The roads are not plowed like they need to be. The budget isn't big enough. SO they cut corners, and not just with the DOT, but everything else, especially the schools. You will trade your cooling bill for an even higher heating bill. You will not see the sun past NOV. You will be depressed, sad.. The people are jerks. No one is helpfull they will run you over and act like it was your fault. No one opens doors, says excuse me or even hello. Dont expect to know your neighbor, they wont like you, and you wont like them. Oh there is no good mexican restaurants here.. Actually there are no good restaurants period. Mostly because they have no taste buds here. But who can blame them, NY is literally built on top of toxic waste dumps. The mall Carousel, literally built right on top of a TOXIC LANDFILL!!! the lakes are polluted, and Syracuse is one of the worst city's for people with allergies, look into it. Dont come here if you have allergies. The taxes here are much much higher. Im not sure if you have a state income tax in TX, but you will have one here. Much higher sales tax. Even if you buy it online still taxed! There isn't much to do here, Im not sure if you have children, but if you did the school system is horrendous. ALL IN ALL, dont come here.

So why so bitter? Did you find the school program here too difficult? Are people here too straight forward and real here unlike SW Florida where everyone is pretentious and nice to your nice while stabbing you in the back?? No authentic mexican food here? Well thats true, but you should have expected that considering we dont have the illegal problem here like they do there so no real need for those types of restaurants. As far as the budget, have you been back to Florida recently? From the news reports they are one of the hardest hit by this recession so I am sure they are cutting more corners than NY. The roads?? Where exactly do you live because I know from experience the northern suburb roads are always clear. Sure the winter is kinda long but so is your hurricane season, and well I'd rather deal with snow than the potential that my house could be destroyed by winds.

And from your attitude I can see why your neighbors appear like "jerks" and dont like you. Perhaps if you were a little less negative I would say your depression might pass.

To conclude, sorry your stay here was not so great. Enjoy where ever you moved to. I hope its the utopia you seek, a sunny place with lots of mexican eateries, where your neighbors open your doors, and is far away from toxic waste dumps, totally devoid of trees and flowers so your allergies dont act up.

[proulxfamily]

Originally Posted by lvnfl86

Both my boyfriend and I are from SW florida, we moved here for grad school. The winters are long, cold, and snowy.

Ummmm... welcome to Zone 4, sorry it's not Florida.

The roads are not plowed like they need to be.

They're wet and get somewhat snowy during storms... the plow comes by every hour, at least. Sorry the roads aren't snow-free, like in Florida.

The budget isn't big enough. SO they cut corners, and not just with the DOT, but everything else, especially the schools.

Not true. Are you involved with local government to know this first hand? Do you have children in the schools? Are the roads not dry enough for you? Did you get into an accident because you drove as if you were in Florida instead of winter roads? Are your classes too hard? Is your thong too tight?

You will trade your cooling bill for an even higher heating bill.

If you keep a household temp similar to Florida, probably. I wouldn't trade my $180 electric/heating monthly bill for my Florida friends' $400 electric/cooling bill. Wear clothing... jeans, socks, shoes, sweater. Inside. It's possible, try it. You have to actually wear appropriate clothing outside. If you try to make your home as warm as Florida and wear insufficient clothing for the time of year/weather, you're going to be cold and have high heating bills.

You will not see the sun past NOV.

Not true. I am regularly blinded by sunlight in the winter because it's reflecting off the snow. I always have to wear tinted snowboarding goggles while going down the mountain, from the sunlight.

You will be depressed, sad...

No- *you* are depressed, sad... that is your experience.

The people are jerks.

There are jerks everywhere and Moderator cut: personal attack

No one is helpfull they will run you over and act like it was your fault. No one opens doors, says excuse me or even hello.

That isn't my experience. At all. I have three young children and rarely do I open the door for myself. Perhaps if I acted as though I *expected* others to open the door for me, they wouldn't. I don't blame them. It's not polite to expect others to do for you what you can easily do for yourself... don't wait for the door to be opened. It's a rude assumption.

Dont expect to know your neighbor, they wont like you, and you wont like them.

They aren't impressed enough Moderator cut: personal attack

Oh there is no good mexican restaurants here...

Sorry we're not Florida.

Actually there are no good restaurants period. Mostly because they have no taste buds here. Or you just don't recognize good food?
But who can blame them, NY is literally built on top of toxic waste dumps. The mall Carousel, literally built right on top of a TOXIC LANDFILL!!!

LOL - and what does Florida do with its garbage? Moderator cut: personal attack

the lakes are polluted,

Onondaga Lake is. Skaneatles Lake, nearby, is used for drinking water.

and Syracuse is one of the worst city's for people with allergies, look into it. Dont come here if you have allergies.

I apologize that our deciduous and evergreen forests, flowers, and fields of crops irritate your allergies. Sorry we're not Florida.

The taxes here are much much higher. Im not sure if you have a state income tax in TX, but you will have one here. Much higher sales tax. Even if you buy it online still taxed!

Our taxes are high, I'll give you that. We also don't have to directly pay for phenomenal schools, fire and police departments on several levels, an extensive library system, beautifully maintained public parks and events, well-maintained roads. And on the other side, we also have a very inexpensive cost of living, if you choose to live frugally.

There isn't much to do here, Im not sure if you have children, but if you did the school system is horrendous.

Not true. At all. With this statement, you've lost ALL credibility. I'm glad we're not Florida.

ALL IN ALL, dont come here.

Yes, I agree. People who are determined to dislike anywhere that isn't hot and sunny, like Florida, shouldn't come here. Good luck to you after graduation, hopefully you'll be able to find a job that's far, far, FAR away from here. Preferably back in Florida to be withModerator cut: personal attack