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So it is not set yet, but I may be movin to albany with my wife and toddler by the end of the summer. We are coming from Syracuse and I have some questions about the area:
1. looking for a suburb with some sort of a town center. To anyone familiar with Syracuse then think of the fayettevile manlius area.
2. my wife and i will both be working downtown so a less than 20 minute commute would be nice.
3. prefer to be west or south of the city. West would be nice because it wouild cut down on thruway travel time for family visiting from syracuse.
South, would be nice because it would cut down on travel time to nyc, as I have family on LI.
4. that being said, what is the time travel for getting to midtown, by way of driving to met north from albany? (I have heard anywhere from 2 - 4 hours, not sure which is accurate though)
5. to anyone with kids, how is it as far as activities, etc... in syracuse I have found that there are numerous places and activities to take advantage of (ymca, state parks, etc...) I imagine albany is the same, but would like some confirmation.
6. lastly, and this is broad so feel free to include whatever you think. I am looking for the overall atmosphere of the area. I grew up in NJ and on LI and have lived in syracuse for some time now. So basically, how much different can it be from those places?
lastly, thanks in advance for any help, it is appreciated.
Scotia, Colonie(in or around the village), Altamont, Delmar, Westmere and Niskayuna(think more like DeWitt in the J-D SD, with nice, older neighborhoods next to nice parts of Schenectady with shopping close by).
My parents in Delmar are putting their house on the market in a couple weeks...
1. it has a town center, great public schools, 4 (soon to be 5) supermarkets.
2. you can get to downtown in 20 minutes
3. 10 minutes from thruway exit 24.
4. YMMV, but about 3 hours to NYC.
5. Thatcher Park is lovely, Indian Ladder Apple Farm, Five Rivers nature preserve, Great Escape theme park is an hour north, etc.
6. My friends from Syracuse described a mainly negative, inferior attitude; it is the same in Albany. But like Syracuse suburbs Albany suburbs have good schools and are quiet and peaceful. I think they are similar.
My advice is to avoid the Saratoga County suburbs. Settle in Delmar, Guilderland, Colonie, Niskayuna, or Rotterdam and u will be fine.
My parents in Delmar are putting their house on the market in a couple weeks...
1. it has a town center, great public schools, 4 (soon to be 5) supermarkets.
2. you can get to downtown in 20 minutes
3. 10 minutes from thruway exit 24.
4. YMMV, but about 3 hours to NYC.
5. Thatcher Park is lovely, Indian Ladder Apple Farm, Five Rivers nature preserve, Great Escape theme park is an hour north, etc.
6. My friends from Syracuse described a mainly negative, inferior attitude; it is the same in Albany. But like Syracuse suburbs Albany suburbs have good schools and are quiet and peaceful. I think they are similar.
My advice is to avoid the Saratoga County suburbs. Settle in Delmar, Guilderland, Colonie, Niskayuna, or Rotterdam and u will be fine.
Great stuff, thanks. Any specific reason to avoid Saratoga County suburbs?
Great stuff, thanks. Any specific reason to avoid Saratoga County suburbs?
The attractive aspect of Saratoga County is the slightly lower real estate taxes. The unattractive aspect is the commute to Albany if you have normal working hours. I lived in Saratoga County for over twenty years and worked in Albany, but I was fortunate enough to have a 7 AM - 3 PM workday which makes the commute bearable. Also, off the top of my head, the only towns with what I would call town centers are Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Mechanicville/Stillwater, Schuylerville and Waterford and only Waterford is a twenty minute or less commute to Albany and that is only if there is no traffic.
I recommend Colonie if you have traditional work hours--otherwise Clifton Park.
But neither Colonie or Clifton Park have town centers in the traditional sense.
One of my disappointments in moving to this area is that there are very few towns with town centers. Bethlehem has a little bit of a town center at the Four Corners. Altamont is very small, but cute, with a village center. It is probably more than 20 minutes to downtown, depending on where you live. Scotia has a little center with an inexpensive, family-owned, second-run movie theatre. It is a fair bit further from Albany than Altamont, but it probably is just as quick, if not quicker, to get to Albany because you are near the highway. Ballston Spa has a nice town center. There are other places with nice town centers, but they are further away from Albany. Niskayuna doesn't have a town center, but the section called Old Niskayuna has a little strip with some useful and cute stores.
This area has tons to do for young families. I'm not sure what sorts of activities you are looking for, but if you search for some of my earlier posts, you will find a lot of my suggestions to other families.
1. I've lived in Albany for most of my life (in Colonie). I think your best bet in terms of a small-town suburb would be Delmar.
2. It's like a 10 minute commute.
3. It's south of the city and very close to the thruway.
4. I'd say it's about 2 hours 45 minutes to Midtown.
5. Delmar has a great school and is a great place to raise a family (it has lots of young families).
In terms of activities around Albany, I'd say it's very similar to Syracuse. One difference however is that Albany's downtown is a bit more walkable. There are several fun areas of downtown that are fun to visit for dinner (downtown proper), drinks (Lark Street) or just during a sunny day. Washington Park, for example, is a great park in the heart of downtown to go and visit during the summer or fall. It also has a playground.
Like Syracuse there are lots of small mountains close to visit for skiing (if interested) in the winter, or bigger mountains further away. In a similar vein there are lots of State Parks close by if interested in a good hike, but there's also Adirondacks at about an hour drive if you're interested in something more challenging. There's also a great YMCA in North Albany. Because Albany is a very old city and is the state capitol, there are lots of neat museums to go to, including the New York State Museum which kids love (it has a ride-able carousel). You can also tour the State Capitol building. The Empire State Plaza, which is between the Capitol building and the State Museum, has a farmers market and lots of festivals in the summer and winter.
Because Albany is relatively equidistant between Buffalo, NYC, Boston and Montreal there are lots of large musical acts that stop by Albany that normally wouldn't for a city of it's size.
6. I'd say the broad feel is just like Syracuse in my estimation.
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