Syracuse or Ithaca? (Albany, Manlius, Camillus: buying, live, move to)

[Cleveland Park]

Great Boston Globe piece, by the way. As someone who both attended Colgate and has a parent who used to be a professor at Syracuse, I can echo that observation regarding some incredibly unintelligent, incurious students at prestigious private universities.

[CNYDC]

As many have posted here, there are very significant differences between Syracuse and Ithaca. Although I live closer to Syracuse, I actually think that Ithaca has a lot more going for it economically. Syracuse exudes the sense of a dying rust-belt city while Ithaca feels more vibrant. I think it has a lot to do with the condition of the respective downtowns. Syracuse is pock-marked with lots of parking lots and empty storefronts, while Ithaca has no real dead areas downtown. Housing stock is comparable, but Ithaca seems to be more stable. I am saying all of this as a booster of Syracuse, because I would like to see it succeed, but just being realistic.

If you are looking for rural living, there are good opportunities in between the two cities as others have noted. Personally, I think Moravia is an interesting place, which is about 1/2 way at the southern end of Owasco lake. Very beautiful countryside in and around Moravia and I am sure prices are very reasonable.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Park

I'd add that Syracuse doesn't fit into a category with Miami (the U, in Coral Gables, right? I don't know as much about the Ohio one) or Vermont. Don't know too much about Denver. Vermont is a public school, and one of the very poorest in the Northeast. University of Miami (FL) might attract wealthy underachievers, but most comparisons would end there -- not a great school, save for the med program.

Syracuse may have a good number of dolts, but it is very highly regarded for many of its programs, but graduate (Maxwell is the best public policy school in the country) and undergrad. It's not an Ivy, nor is it in that Colgate-level "New Ivy" group, but it's right behind that.

Miami also has a good Marine Bio program, but besides that I couldn't tell you about any other good programs there.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by CNYDC

As many have posted here, there are very significant differences between Syracuse and Ithaca. Although I live closer to Syracuse, I actually think that Ithaca has a lot more going for it economically. Syracuse exudes the sense of a dying rust-belt city while Ithaca feels more vibrant. I think it has a lot to do with the condition of the respective downtowns. Syracuse is pock-marked with lots of parking lots and empty storefronts, while Ithaca has no real dead areas downtown. Housing stock is comparable, but Ithaca seems to be more stable. I am saying all of this as a booster of Syracuse, because I would like to see it succeed, but just being realistic.

If you are looking for rural living, there are good opportunities in between the two cities as others have noted. Personally, I think Moravia is an interesting place, which is about 1/2 way at the southern end of Owasco lake. Very beautiful countryside in and around Moravia and I am sure prices are very reasonable.

I actually agree with what you said about Ithaca. I think Syracuse's issue has to do with perception and lack of marketing of itself, imo.

Also, people seem to forget about the higher education aspect of Syracuse due to the colleges/universities there. If you go to the University Hill area during lunch time, that area is as vibrant as a typical Downtown. You could even say that I-81 creates two cities within one to the point of University Hill having a skyline and Downtown Syracuse being another separate skyline. So, it depends on the perspective one takes on Syracuse in terms of it's vibrancy.

Moravia would be another good option if you want to live in between the two areas.

[CNYDC]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I think Syracuse's issue has to do with perception and lack of marketing of itself, imo.

Perception is (almost) everything. Perception can drive an entire economy, especially in a small or mid-size city. If you can change the perception, then you can have a huge impact. Places like Providence, RI and Portland, ME have made huge strides in improving their perception by revitalizing their downtowns. People forget how poorly those places were perceived just a couple of decades ago, now they are the darlings of urban living.

One interesting item to note is that before I visited Syracuse for the first time a few years ago, I actually had a positive perception of it. It was not based on any reality, but I imagined it as a vibrant college town. After visiting, I was extremely disappointed that my imagined perception did not match the reality.

Since I moved to the area and I have spoken to others who have never been here before, this outsider's perception of a vibrant college town seems to be shared by many people outside the area. When I tell them that Syracuse is struggling a bit, they seem shocked.

What this tells me is that unlike places like Rochester or Buffalo, which (rightly or wrongly) actually have poor outside perceptions, Syracuse has the benefit of a neutral or positive perception. This can go a long way, because we are not fighting against a widely-held national perception which can be a drag on revitalization efforts. Think about the odds of Detroit or (perhaps more appropriately) Flint, MI turning itself around in the face such negative media attention. Anyway, just food for thought.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by CNYDC

Perception is (almost) everything. Perception can drive an entire economy, especially in a small or mid-size city. If you can change the perception, then you can have a huge impact. Places like Providence, RI and Portland, ME have made huge strides in improving their perception by revitalizing their downtowns. People forget how poorly those places were perceived just a couple of decades ago, now they are the darlings of urban living.

One interesting item to note is that before I visited Syracuse for the first time a few years ago, I actually had a positive perception of it. It was not based on any reality, but I imagined it as a vibrant college town. After visiting, I was extremely disappointed that my imagined perception did not match the reality.

Since I moved to the area and I have spoken to others who have never been here before, this outsider's perception of a vibrant college town seems to be shared by many people outside the area. When I tell them that Syracuse is struggling a bit, they seem shocked.

What this tells me is that unlike places like Rochester or Buffalo, which (rightly or wrongly) actually have poor outside perceptions, Syracuse has the benefit of a neutral or positive perception. This can go a long way, because we are not fighting against a widely-held national perception which can be a drag on revitalization efforts. Think about the odds of Detroit or (perhaps more appropriately) Flint, MI turning itself around in the face such negative media attention. Anyway, just food for thought.

What you said is true, but I also think the perception of the locals has an effect too. That is more of what I was getting at, because for people that have been to other places, Syracuse really is not that bad, comparatively speaking in terms of many things like crime, the area has good schools for the most part, is in a great location, offers quite a bit for a city of it's size and it's is relatively affordable.

When I went to college in Michigan, people would think that the whole state of NY is like NYC or they think that Syracuse is a college town. As you have come to find out, Syracuse has an University area and is blue collar similar to other Great Lakes/Rust Belt area cities.

All Syracuse really needs is some imagination and open minded people that use the resources it already has and expand off of them.

[schayban88]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

Compare for yourself:

List of Cornell University people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of Syracuse University people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(If I ever become notable I'd be on both lists. )

Honestly, I dont know any of the "famous" people that came from cornell, but I do know a lot of the famous people that came from Syracuse University...anyways our vice president Joe Biden is from Syracuse University...enough said

[Syracuser]

Honestly, the famous people list is trivial. Both institutions graduate a plethora of notable alumni. Of course Cornell is overall a better school, but Syracuse is also great school. So enough with the SU vs. Cornell battle!

[schayban88]

Facts are facts...more people know the famous people that came from Syracuse University...they are way more famous...like I said earlier I dont know any of the so called "famous" people from Cornell, but yeah it is true, Cornell is a better overall school.

[proulxfamily]

LOL - my husband is always mentioning that his biggest star-crush, Vanessa Williams, graduated from SU. All right, all right... I do too. :P