Help with places to live! (Syracuse, Albany: apartments, rentals, crime)

[tides]

Hello all.

I desperately need your help. I have just found out that myself and my fiancee have been placed in Syracuse and Albany for next year. We will not live apart. I was wondering if you could help us find an area to live? We are looking for some place that is within 45 minutes from Albany and 1.45 from Syracuse at most.

Amsterdam, NY seemed to fit the bill but it also just doesn't seem like a safe place. We are both physicians and worry most about safety. Are there nice neighborhoods in Amsterdam? We drove through the city quickly 2 days ago and it seemed to be all boarded up and just not safe. Looking for an apartment as we will only be here for 3 years.

Please help!!

[EastreturnsWest]

This is a tall order regarding your time restrictions and three years is a long time to be "stuck" somewhere you don't want to live. Do you need to be in a city? There are a bunch of small towns in the mohawk valley minutes from the thruway that might offer what you're looking for. Amsterdam might have some nice neighborhoods, but like you said, every time I've driven through there I haven't seen one.

If you're more flexible with your commute, I thought of Cooperstown which would split your time evenly. 1:45 to Albany (probably even faster than that) and 1:45 to Syracuse. Cooperstown is pretty idyllic compared to Amsterdam and would give you a small town with nice amenities.

[wingsauce711]

Originally Posted by tides

Hello all.

I desperately need your help. I have just found out that myself and my fiancee have been placed in Syracuse and Albany for next year. We will not live apart. I was wondering if you could help us find an area to live? We are looking for some place that is within 45 minutes from Albany and 1.45 from Syracuse at most.

Amsterdam, NY seemed to fit the bill but it also just doesn't seem like a safe place. We are both physicians and worry most about safety. Are there nice neighborhoods in Amsterdam? We drove through the city quickly 2 days ago and it seemed to be all boarded up and just not safe. Looking for an apartment as we will only be here for 3 years.

Please help!!

There are very safe neighborhoods in Amsterdam, most of the crimes that happen in Amsterdam are drug-related offenses, and they tend to concentrate around east/west Main Street.

Good neighborhoods are around Golf Course Road, Clizbe/Midline Road, and most of the south side of Amsterdam across the river.

Amsterdam is currently in the process of revitalization. A corrupt local government council has been blocking most progress, but good things are planned for the city, including a park-like pedestrian bridge over the river and a Hampton Inn.

Here's my own map of the good/bad areas of Amsterdam. This is just my opinion, having grown up here. The good areas are green, the bad in red, and the "meh" areas are untouched. But just because it's bad doesn't mean you're gonna get mugged/robbed. It's been said that you can walk around the worst parts of Amsterdam in the dead of night and be totally fine. I wouldn't wanna test it, though. It can look a little intimidating.


(forgot to color the south side... It's all green on the other side of the river)

Other surrounding communities that might fit the bill are Mariaville, Broadalbin/Perth, and possibly Fonda/Fultonville if you're willing to drive like 5-10 extra minutes to Albany.

[tides]

Thank you for that map! The question becomes would I be able to find something to rent in those nice areas (ideally south of the river)? If so... how?

[cshells72]

I think the area by the golf course in Amsterdam is super nice!!!!

[irelynx]

It's not often that I've seen rentals pop up in the papers/craigslist for the nicer areas, but then sometimes people just put "for rent" signs in the windows instead. Sometimes a rental (apartments and homes) or two will pop up for Broadalbin, Perth, or Hagaman, which are all nice places. You almost never see crime pop out of them, and on the rare times you do, it's usually bored kids damaging property (probably because there isn't much for kids to do in the area in general). I honestly don't think much of the crime in the area in general is against strangers. It seems like it's always against people who know each other & escalate a situation, or drunk people getting out of hand and getting themselves into something with the wrong people.

As for Amsterdam, I think it tends to be a mixed bag. If you can find a place in one of the nicer sections, it should be fine. There's also a lot of shopping/take-out/restaurants around. But you can also look in the surrounding cities and only be a short drive from the shopping/etc.