Boston to Syracuse...hmmm...intriguing (New York, Buffalo: for sale, real estate, sublets)

[bostonguy1960]

I've lived in Boston almost exclusively since coming for college, then graduating in '82. Although I love Boston for the most part, I'll never afford a house in the metro area, even if a friend and I combine incomes. Plus, I work so many hours that I've little time to enjoy the many high-cost attractions which New England boasts (expensive public parking at decent beaches!). Even if sports tix fell into my lap at face value, I couldn't afford them.

Syracuse has the stimulation of a large university plus AAA-level minor league hockey and baseball. Plus, as is often discussed here, it's such a reasonable drive to many east coast attractions and Canada.

Seems one doesn't find many condos in the Syracuse area due to the low cost of conventional homes? In the Boston area, despite the high cost of homes, surprisingly we do have lots of condos in older or apartment-type buildings at somewhat affordable prices (much more than I can ever locate online in SF, LA, SD, Portland or Seattle!).

I realize Syracuse gets so much more snow than Bosaton, although as the windiest major city, Boston's winters can be fierce even without snow. 18 degrees at 5 am is ok in February unless Boston has a common 15 mph wind or more.

Has anybody make the Boston/Mass. move to Syracuse and been delighted -- or is Boston and New England too special to leave behind?

I lived outside of Buffalo for grades 2-5, thus I think my accent is from Buffalo (not a good thing). Does Syracuse have a similar accent or none?

Is the area gay-friendly, at least near the university? I would assume most educated folks are not anti-gay, at least in the northeast.

Do gays or yuppies tend to live in certain areas, or is the city too small to have any type of ghetto or haven?

Thanks, and sorry for the rapid-fire questions.

[proulxfamily]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

I lived outside of Buffalo for grades 2-5, thus I think my accent is from Buffalo (not a good thing). Does Syracuse have a similar accent or none?

Is the area gay-friendly, at least near the university? I would assume most educated folks are not anti-gay, at least in the northeast.

Do gays or yuppies tend to live in certain areas, or is the city too small to have any type of ghetto or haven?

Thanks, and sorry for the rapid-fire questions.

Syracuse, in general, doesn't have much of any accent. The northern suburbs DO. Definitely. <shudder> A general laziness while speaking, in addition to very flat A's and short O's. *I* don't have an accent and rarely detect one in others, unless they're from the northern suburbs or even further north (Fulton, Oswego, etc.)

I never really come across "anti-gay" here... if anything, the opposite. Now, don't go walking through macho Little Italy (and the rest of the north side) or the sketchier areas of the city with sparkles and feathers or anything (Not that you're a transvestite. lol - though there's a strong presence of that too.)... but I don't see anywhere that's openly anti-gay. Just maybe a few disapproving people and their glares. Funny thing is that even as a housewife with three toddlers, I'm often mistaken for being a lesbian. LOL I go everywhere with my friend Lisa and her 1 year old daughter and people see us week after week. (I grew up snowboarding, lifeguarding and playing soccer so I wear flip flops and jeans and tees. Lisa is very, very girly... I guess we fit the profile, despite the four very young children in our company and her pregnant belly. haha- we're just two stay at home moms who need to get out.) Once upon a time, some redneck "woman" at the zoo muttered "Ugh- I don't want to see that" when we were all walking and holding hands. With our own children. Geez. Ever since then, we tend to walk around holding hands, just to **** off whomever would be so high and mighty as to be offended. :P Usually, we get Awwwwws. I have to say, if ever there was a woman I'd turn for, it would be her. Anyway, I usually get more than warm welcomes by accident... we have a family pass +1guest to the zoo. My friend is the "+1 guest" but whenever I hand them my membership card, they ask for "your partner's ID." It's a silly thing to correct so I never do. Syracuse also has a HUGE pride parade in downtown every spring/summer.

Gay people live pretty much everywhere, as other regular people tend to do. The "ghetto" is any near side of the city. Stay away from the near north, west, south and east sides. You shouldn't have to move anywhere in particular or do anything special to live a normal life here.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by proulxfamily

Syracuse, in general, doesn't have much of any accent. The northern suburbs DO. Definitely. <shudder> A general laziness while speaking, in addition to very flat A's and short O's. *I* don't have an accent and rarely detect one in others, unless they're from the northern suburbs or even further north (Fulton, Oswego, etc.)

I never really come across "anti-gay" here... if anything, the opposite. Now, don't go walking through macho Little Italy (and the rest of the north side) or the sketchier areas of the city with sparkles and feathers or anything (Not that you're a transvestite. lol - though there's a strong presence of that too.)... but I don't see anywhere that's openly anti-gay. Just maybe a few disapproving people and their glares. Funny thing is that even as a housewife with three toddlers, I'm often mistaken for being a lesbian. LOL I go everywhere with my friend Lisa and her 1 year old daughter and people see us week after week. (I grew up snowboarding, lifeguarding and playing soccer so I wear flip flops and jeans and tees. Lisa is very, very girly... I guess we fit the profile, despite the four very young children in our company and her pregnant belly. haha- we're just two stay at home moms who need to get out.) Once upon a time, some redneck "woman" at the zoo muttered "Ugh- I don't want to see that" when we were all walking and holding hands. With our own children. Geez. Ever since then, we tend to walk around holding hands, just to **** off whomever would be so high and mighty as to be offended. :P Usually, we get Awwwwws. I have to say, if ever there was a woman I'd turn for, it would be her. Anyway, I usually get more than warm welcomes by accident... we have a family pass +1guest to the zoo. My friend is the "+1 guest" but whenever I hand them my membership card, they ask for "your partner's ID." It's a silly thing to correct so I never do. Syracuse also has a HUGE pride parade in downtown every spring/summer.

Gay people live pretty much everywhere, as other regular people tend to do. The "ghetto" is any near side of the city. Stay away from the near north, west, south and east sides. You shouldn't have to move anywhere in particular or do anything special to live a normal life here.

All true. I would just like to add, we do have a couple of areas that are known for being more gay friendly in the Hawley-Green area of the Near Northeast neighborhood:Welcome to the District of Hawley-Green!
Hawley-Green Historic District - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and Westcott, which close to Syracuse University: Westcott, Syracuse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As far as condos, it seems like most, if not all are in the suburbs. I can only think of Watertree and Erie Village in the East Syracuse area, of the top of my head. There are some in Village Green and Radisson in the Baldwinsville area too. I believe Franklin Square in the city has some too.

You can also go the loft route too. There are some Downtown in Armory Square, the Amos Building and a couple of other locations.

Here are some more sites you might want to look at: Syracuse Apartments for Rent | Apartment Finder

#1 Syracuse Real Estate Website | CNYREALTOR.COM

MapsKrieg - All Apartments, Rooms, Sublets, and Real Estate for Sale in Syracuse, NY

Welcome to CNY Pride

Westcott Street Cultural Fair

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by proulxfamily

Syracuse, in general, doesn't have much of any accent. The northern suburbs DO. Definitely. <shudder> A general laziness while speaking, in addition to very flat A's and short O's. *I* don't have an accent and rarely detect one in others, unless they're from the northern suburbs or even further north (Fulton, Oswego, etc.)

Only parts of the northern suburbs and the northside of the city have that accent. I call it a blue collar accent. I live in the northern suburbs and do not have that accent....

[jrice]

A general laziness while speaking

That was rude. I was born in North Syracuse and raised in Clay my entire life. If I do have an accent it is not because I am lazy with my speech it is because that is what I was brought up around and learned how to speak. Its not like those of us in the northern suburbs speak city slang, like saying fity cents.

[proulxfamily]

Originally Posted by jrice

That was rude. I was born in North Syracuse and raised in Clay my entire life. If I do have an accent it is not because I am lazy with my speech it is because that is what I was brought up around and learned how to speak. Its not like those of us in the northern suburbs speak city slang, like saying fity cents.

It's just a figure of speech, jrice. Canadians have those "lazy O's." It refers to muscles in your mouth being relaxed while pronouncing certain sounds in speech, not a character judgement on people who have this accent. At.all. I'm sorry it came across as anything else.

[jrice]

Originally Posted by proulxfamily

It's just a figure of speech, jrice. Canadians have those "lazy O's." It refers to muscles in your mouth being relaxed while pronouncing certain sounds in speech, not a character judgement on people who have this accent. At.all. I'm sorry it came across as anything else.

its "aboot" time you apologized. Just kidding, no offence taken

[SteveMax58]

I would just like to add that, as a former southerner....all y'all nertherners got axence.

[RollsRoyce]

The inland northern accent or "Northern cities vowel shift" starts near Amsterdam and is most prominent in Great Lakes cities along the I-90 corridor and northward including Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Grand Rapids, South Bend, Milwaukee, etc. Try listening to WGN-TV (Time Warner Channel 14) and you'll notice the Chicago accent sounds very similiar to Syracuse. Also, am radio stations like Cleveland's WTAM 1100 and Detroit's WJR 760 provide a good reference. As Proulxfamily mentioned, the dialect is stronger in some areas than others. The Eastern Suburbs have it far less as does the East Side of the city. I would partly attribute this to there being many non-native Western and Central New Yorkers in this area and a more highly educated population that generally has less of a dialect regardless of geographic location. I agree with Bellafinzi that this is more of a blue collar accent and is certainly not limited to the northern suburbs. Based on my observations, the dialect seems most prevalent in communities like Solvay, Tipp Hill, North Side, Eastwood, Cicero, Mattydale, Galeville, Nedrow, East Syracuse, North Syracuse and Oswego County.

Here is some information:

Inland Northern American English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by SteveMax58

I would just like to add that, as a former southerner....all y'all nertherners got axence.

BTW...I only meant this as a joke. I havent noticed a strong accent myself, just the added vowel enunciations that others have mentioned...but not with everybody. I don't find it annoying, personally.