Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So Schenectady. My, my, my. As someone who grew up in a wealthy part of Northern Virginia, this place scares me to death.
My boyfriend just moved here (off of Union St.) in the beginning of August and I'd love to share some of the high and low points I've experienced for perspective residents who come from safe, upscale, family-oriented places.
Bad:
-Crackheads. Everywhere. Walking/stumbling/biking down all streets, no matter how upscale they are. If they aren't on crack, then they aren't mentally stable in some way. Because of this, children should not play outside of your front yard unsupervised depending upon the neighborhood.
-Thieves. Don't leave ANYTHING visible in your parked cars ever. Hide anything remotely valuable in the glove compartment and lock it. Also never leave anything quite valuable in there at all.
-Crime. Mostly drug related/robbery/assaults. Stick to common sense and you should be fine. Don't go starting bar fights or you could be stabbed. Don't be in the wrong neighborhood ever unless in a locked car and driving.
-Traffic. Lots. And crazy speeders. Don't cross the street without looking both ways slowly.
-Drugs. The slums are everywhere, but sometimes disguised by decent looking neighborhoods. Be careful what street you go down on foot, especially at night.
-Don't go out past midnight unless you're in a highly populated-by-college-kids-and-other-people downtown area.
-If you don't like having a city-feel (huge lack of greenery and nature), don't move here.
-The streets are literally retarded. They are marked with potholes and weird lines. One minute you're in the right line and the next it turns quickly into a turning lane with little warning and people are honking at you.
-I hear the cops were/are corrupt. I'm not sure this problem has been fixed.
Good:
-Amazing food here at great prices. Pinhead Susan's for instance, is a bar/restaurant that has the best buffalo chicken I've ever tasted.
-Cultural. Schenectady has lots of festivals (Greek, Italian, Irish), but they aren't the best IMO.
-Niskyuna is right around the corner, and that has a Target, Borders, Paneras, Marshalls, Five Guys, Etc. aka modern civilization.
-Stockade District is nice too look at, and perhaps worth living in if you have the money. Beware of flooding, though.
-Although this area is ridden with poverty, every other car is a BMW or Mercedes. I've left my BMW parked here and it hasn't been damaged. (depends on the street you leave it on, though)
-Every bar here sells Guinness. 'Nough said.
That's about it.
In my opinion, Schenectady is probably the worst place to raise a family.
I work in the wedding industry for the capitol region and so I've also seen many other towns/cities near Albany. I've also lived in/around Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Based on that, I feel confident saying that Albany has the worst suburbs out of those and Syracuse has the best. Ask me why if you're interested in my reasoning.
The crime and drugs is definately a problem. But I don't understand everybody complaining about taxes. Yes, the taxes in the city are 150% of neighboring municipalities. However, the houses are half that of the surrounding towns. Therefore, you end up paying substantially less in taxes, depending on the value of your home. Other than that, the schools are actually pretty decent. Schenectady is poised to have more jobs as GE is making wind turbines at the plant, and you know that's an industry with a big time future. And across the river, you got supersteel making trains. Who knows, this may once again be the city that "lights and hauls the world" as its motto once was back in the day. The city is no longer loosing residents as low housing costs are attracting more people from downstate. I say Schenectady is an excellent investment as all the negatives can be erased extremely quickly, just like harlem has gone through transformation in less than ten years.
Children should usually be supervised regardless of the area. I don't get the line of thinking that nice neighborhoods = no crime or shadiness.
Schenectady isn't known as Scumnectady for no reason. However I do not get the same impression from the city as you do as I grew up in the lower NY area and spent a good amount of time understanding what it's like to be part of the 'have-nots'. I suppose coming from the 'haves' side as you have, I understand your mass hysterics - viewing this city as one that is overladen with crooks, addicts and hoodlums and no sign of 'modern civilization'. Dorothy, you ain't in Kansas anymo'
Your last paragragh:
"I work in the wedding industry for the capitol region and so I've also seen many other towns/cities near Albany. I've also lived in/around Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Based on that, I feel confident saying that Albany has the worst suburbs out of those and Syracuse has the best. Ask me why if you're interested in my reasoning."
Yes, I for one am interested in your reasoning. Can you explain? Thanks
Children should usually be supervised regardless of the area. I don't get the line of thinking that nice neighborhoods = no crime or shadiness.
Schenectady isn't known as Scumnectady for no reason. However I do not get the same impression from the city as you do as I grew up in the lower NY area and spent a good amount of time understanding what it's like to be part of the 'have-nots'. I suppose coming from the 'haves' side as you have, I understand your mass hysterics - viewing this city as one that is overladen with crooks, addicts and hoodlums and no sign of 'modern civilization'. Dorothy, you ain't in Kansas anymo'
I'm not sure it entirely has to do with 'haves' and 'haves-not', though that is part of it. I've been around other low-income areas in several states, and none of them gave me the bad feeling that Schenectady does. You can be poor, but still not live in an area where hobos hang out in front of stores and buildings are left to rot.
I think that there are decent parts of Schenectady, for instance, the further you head up Union Street and the closer you get to route 7, the area tends to get better.
Your last paragragh:
"I work in the wedding industry for the capitol region and so I've also seen many other towns/cities near Albany. I've also lived in/around Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Based on that, I feel confident saying that Albany has the worst suburbs out of those and Syracuse has the best. Ask me why if you're interested in my reasoning."
Yes, I for one am interested in your reasoning. Can you explain? Thanks
Firstly, it depends on what you're looking for. If you want city life, I still don't recommend Albany or it's suburbs .... but here I am going to talk about more country (raise your family here) suburbs.
Okay. I'd personally say that Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs are the most decent 'suburbs' of Albany. They have good shopping and restaurants and are fairly cleanly. However, even those two places aren't enough to live up to the many 'middle and upper class' suburbs of Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse. (and even the lower class can live in better suburbs around those three cities if they choose)
Rochester has many 'Clifton Parks' . . . but I even feel like I'm degrading them by putting them in the same category. Rochester has Pittsford, Fairport, Penfield, Greece, etc. All lovely places to raise a family. They aren't nearly as dirty (and by dirty I'm talking aesthetics) as Niskayuna or Schenectady or Troy or Brunswick.
Syracuse has the best. Cazenovia, Manlius, Fayettville, LaFayette, etc. All beautiful, relatively upscale country suburbs.
Buffalo also has miles and miles of wine country and Lake Eerie surrounding it. I went to school around there and have driven everywhere around it for four years.
Point is, it is my personal belief that the suburbs around Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo tend to be more aesthetically pleasing. Most of the buildings and grounds and maintained and you won't find many crack heads or homeless looking people wandering around these family-friendly suburbs.
After searching for an apartment around Albany (unfortunately), I have been very disappointed not to find a single upscale, cookie-cutter town around.
I tend to agree that Albany's suburbs are not as well-kept or thought out as many of Rochester's or Syracuse's, but I think you're off on a few points.
Saratoga Springs is really not a suburb. It is a good old-fashioned Victorian city with walkable neighborhoods and a thriving downtown. It may represent one of the most preserved, prototypical small city communities in the country and to say it doesn't match up w/the suburbs of Rochester, etc is absurd. A more apt comparison would be to Skeneateles or some small cities in Westchester or even California.
You're also missing out on some of Albany's more picturesque suburbs- Voorheesville, Altamont & parts of Guilderland come to mind.
Clifton Park is another story. Typical contrived suburb with absolutely no intention of creating a central community spirit- they're lost without their minivans. Then again, that can be said for many of the suburbs you mention here.
Which brings me to my final point of confusion- why on earth are you seeking out a 'cookie-cutter' town? I thought things were trending more toward towns with personality, significant architecture, walkable villages with central shopping and meeting places?
hmmm, your justifications have me puzzled. I concur with rug city...why is a cookie-cutter town a good thing? Clifton Park, one of your favorites around here, has the distinction of being referred to locally as "Velveeta Land". Obviously not a desirable distinction.
Also, I'm pretty sure you won't find many "crack heads or homeless looking people wandering around these family-friendly suburbs" in Slingerlands, Delmar, Loudonville, Guilderland, Clifton Park, East Greenbush etc.
By cookie-cutter, I didn't mean to say I desire every house to be alike etc. It was probably the wrong term to use, but what I meant was that I wanted one of those cute 'cookie-cutter' (meaning akin to adorable little small town) type places. Gingerbread towns, if you will. Every house is different based on personal preference but there is a central downtown where everyone unites.
To me, even a unique town/city such as Saratoga Springs is a 'suburb' if it's within 30 minutes of the city. I'm lumping all of those areas into the suburb category, because I don't view suburbs as being those towns where every house matches the other and they're all in perfect rows. I lived in a unique town 30 minutes outside of Washington D.C., yet it was still referred to as being a suburb always, so it's just the way I was raised.
Voorheesville and Altamont are just two places. No matter how nice they may be (which I have yet to confirm), they do not hold any weight for the rest of their sorry neighboring suburbs. A few good places does not 'the best city suburbs' make.
To me, a great suburb is somewhere that's community oriented, somewhere that'd be ideal for raising a family, and also somewhere that's aesthetically pleasing.
Saratoga Springs isn't a suburb of Albany. This isn't the DC area which is a much larger metro area than Albany. Also during rush hour, it's much more than a 30 minute commute. It's more like an hour to Albany.
However, I work in Schenectady and pretty much agree with your sentiments. I don't like going there and I've gotten to know way too many folks with substance abuse problems. Even though it's on an upswing, I'd be reluctant to move there. Same goes with Albany or Troy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
However I do not get the same impression from the city as you do as I grew up in the lower NY area and spent a good amount of time understanding what it's like to be part of the 'have-nots'. I suppose coming from the 'haves' side as you have, I understand your mass hysterics - viewing this city as one that is overladen with crooks, addicts and hoodlums and no sign of 'modern civilization'. Dorothy, you ain't in Kansas anymo' 
