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My hubby and I both grew up in OKC, then we moved to the suburb Norman a few years ago. We now have a 1yo boy and have talked for several years about moving out of state. We are both ready for a change of scenery and people.
In a nutshell, I saw a "list" of best cities to raise a family in, and Tonawanda was on there. That began my investigation of WNY and everything about it--weather, cost, housing, landscape, crime, demographics, jobs, salary, schools, etc.
My request to current New Yorkers is your input: safe suburbs of Buffalo and Niagara with good schools, strong community, away from the big city life, preferably semi-close to the Great Lakes or Niagara River, and LOW crime. I am a nurse and he is in computers so hopefully jobs won't really be an issue.
From reading on here, it seems I would not want to live in Buffalo or Niagara. Towns like the Tonawanda area, Cheektowaga, etc. seem to be more the direction I'm going. It seems Amherst is a good city...would love an old Victorian house on maybe an acre or so? Just don't know where to start looking!
Would love input and insight from those who live here, grew up here, what you like, what you don't like...this is such a huge decision I want all the help I can get! We are flying there next spring to do a sort of roadtrip through some of the towns I mentioned.
I am pretty aware of the taxes, weather trends, utility costs, etc. I understand that there will be better things and worse things--it's all give and take!
Some of the inner ring suburbs like cheektowaga, west seneca, amherst, ect. are more built up, and lot sizes are going to be smaller then what you are probably looking for. I grew up in a town called East Aurora, it's a suburb that is more further out, but still less then 20 minutes from Downtown Buffalo. I'd do some research there, I think you'd like it.
Some of the inner ring suburbs like cheektowaga, west seneca, amherst, ect. are more built up, and lot sizes are going to be smaller then what you are probably looking for. I grew up in a town called East Aurora, it's a suburb that is more further out, but still less then 20 minutes from Downtown Buffalo. I'd do some research there, I think you'd like it.
Great choice. Areas like Lancaster, Hamburg, Clarence, Williamsville/East Amherst, Wheatfield, Orchard Park, Snyder community in Amherst, Lewiston/Porter, Elma, Alden and Eden would some places to look. Some are more suburban and others more small town/rural. All are still within a reasonable commute to Buffalo though.
I agree with the others in that the outer ring suburbs may be more to your liking but I wouldn't totally disregard Tonawanda either as its a really nice & safe area (though property taxes are higher than in a lot of the other suburbs). Cheektowaga on the other hand I wouldn't even consider, most of their schools are below the other 'burbs (other than Lackawanna, another place to avoid), it has some of the highest property taxes in the area (without the benefit of good schools) & it has areas where the crime spills over from East Buffalo. The majority of the remaining suburbs are going to have pretty good school districts.
As a nurse you're not going to have any problems getting a job, in fact you might even be able to get lucky & find someone willing to help with relocation costs as well. Qualified medical professionals seem to be in short supply in this region. My wife's employer paid for us to move here + gave her a nice sign on bonus. Yahoo is in the process of opening a center in Lockport, your husband may want to look into that for employment?
My hubby and I both grew up in OKC, then we moved to the suburb Norman a few years ago. We now have a 1yo boy and have talked for several years about moving out of state. We are both ready for a change of scenery and people.
In a nutshell, I saw a "list" of best cities to raise a family in, and Tonawanda was on there. That began my investigation of WNY and everything about it--weather, cost, housing, landscape, crime, demographics, jobs, salary, schools, etc.
My request to current New Yorkers is your input: safe suburbs of Buffalo and Niagara with good schools, strong community, away from the big city life, preferably semi-close to the Great Lakes or Niagara River, and LOW crime. I am a nurse and he is in computers so hopefully jobs won't really be an issue.
From reading on here, it seems I would not want to live in Buffalo or Niagara. Towns like the Tonawanda area, Cheektowaga, etc. seem to be more the direction I'm going. It seems Amherst is a good city...would love an old Victorian house on maybe an acre or so? Just don't know where to start looking!
Would love input and insight from those who live here, grew up here, what you like, what you don't like...this is such a huge decision I want all the help I can get! We are flying there next spring to do a sort of roadtrip through some of the towns I mentioned.
I am pretty aware of the taxes, weather trends, utility costs, etc. I understand that there will be better things and worse things--it's all give and take!
I will put in for Lancaster, Alden and even Akron. (I live on acreage between the first 2). All 3 have villages and kid activities. Lancaster is closest in and there are lots of places outside the village in the town to find homes for reasonable prices. Plenty of Victorians out here. Acreage is easier to get the farther out from the city -- in any case, it rarely took my husband or I more than half an hour to get to work in the city ( and it is about 25 miles to where we worked).
You need to be aware of the school districts you want to be in. On our road, you can be in one of 4 school districts: Lancaster, Alden, Clarence or Iroquois Central and still live in Lancaster. This is not uncommon around here -- in most towns, there are multiple districts. I would do the research on the schools before the house.
I will put in for Lancaster, Alden and even Akron. (I live on acreage between the first 2). All 3 have villages and kid activities. Lancaster is closest in and there are lots of places outside the village in the town to find homes for reasonable prices. Plenty of Victorians out here. Acreage is easier to get the farther out from the city -- in any case, it rarely took my husband or I more than half an hour to get to work in the city ( and it is about 25 miles to where we worked).
You need to be aware of the school districts you want to be in. On our road, you can be in one of 4 school districts: Lancaster, Alden, Clarence or Iroquois Central and still live in Lancaster. This is not uncommon around here -- in most towns, there are multiple districts. I would do the research on the schools before the house.
Aren't all 4 of those districts very good? I believe all have some of the highest grad rates in the area too.
What are you going to do for a job? Do you want to own a home or rent? Are you aware of the tax rates here?
Come and visit for a couple weeks before you make any decision. The best time to visit is during the dead of winter
In all honesty, having worked in the mortgage industry for about half a decade now, I know that the ratio of home values to property tax rates is pathetically high, but the one bright spot is that a house you can get in 80% of the suburbs for about $150,000, would cost $300,000 in cities that are considered to be reasonable real estate markets and would cost $600,000 in places like Boston and Seattle. So while there are other trade-offs with moving to a place like Western New York, you have to ask yourself if it's better to buy a house in a place like Hamburg for $125,000 that carries a $4,100 property tax bill, or buy a identical home in a place like Nashville, TN, or Charlotte, NC for $275,000 and a $2,400 property tax bill.
Aren't all 4 of those districts very good? I believe all have some of the highest grad rates in the area too.
Yes, but I posted that to make sure the OP knew that a town line did not mean a school district line. All 4 districts are in the town of Lancaster on the same road. The town north is Clarence, and it is divide off at a main road, but I really have no clue why we get into Iroquois... except it might have been a situation like where I live: one original family farm on both sides of the road were put in the same district. [We are Lancaster and our taxes are lower than the others.]
In all honesty, having worked in the mortgage industry for about half a decade now, I know that the ratio of home values to property tax rates is pathetically high, but the one bright spot is that a house you can get in 80% of the suburbs for about $150,000, would cost $300,000 in cities that are considered to be reasonable real estate markets and would cost $600,000 in places like Boston and Seattle. So while there are other trade-offs with moving to a place like Western New York, you have to ask yourself if it's better to buy a house in a place like Hamburg for $125,000 that carries a $4,100 property tax bill, or buy a identical home in a place like Nashville, TN, or Charlotte, NC for $275,000 and a $2,400 property tax bill.
To add to this, the house in Hamburg might be bigger and/or has more acreage too. So, a lot of times it's a matter of perspective.
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