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Correct- the aurora theater has main run movies playing- such as Avatar right now, and the Chipmunks for the kiddies. one big screen, renovated old theater with character. Is rented sometimes for special events too.
So I'm the one that started this thread and we're here now. I can vouch for this area being a pretty mellow place to be. Everyone we meet keeps saying how they wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It is a bit like Mayberry in some regards, but we were looking for that kind of lifestyle change from a large metropolitan area. We are in traffic a LOT less.
OK- So we've been living here for about 3 months now. First of all, if you are moving from a more conscious region such as Seattle or the Bay area East Aurora is the place to come in the western NY region. As a whole, the region is almost like a mid-west kind of collective consciousness, but EA is a mellow little pocket of folks who are very tolerant of alternative lifestyles and more liberal values, although you'll quickly run into staunch conservatives without looking too hard. There isn't much diversity here- took 3 months to meet the first gay couple, and requires trips into Buffalo to see any color other than white. That's another story (Buffalo is pretty gnarly compared to Seattle where we moved from).
There's a small, funky health food store here, a bunch of well established alternative healers, artisans of various mediums, musicians, and an awesome waldorf school that is well established and expanding through high school next year.
The village of EA is quaint, but not quite like Woodstock, Vermont or other northern new england villages. The village taxes are ridiculous and make buying a decent house cost prohibitive. Be sure to add the taxes onto your estimated mortgage payment for the big picture. We're looking for a place a little south of here in Colden, which shares the culture but is more rural and closer to the "hills" for skiing and outdoor recreation (sure do miss the cascades!). The taxes are less once you get out of the village of EA, but NY is nutty about taxes. And that goes for red tape in general. Allow 10 times longer and multiple attempts to get anything done around here.
This winter was relatively mild and spring has been great- although the locals say it's unusual. But we enjoyed the lake effect snows, snowshoeing, sledding, etc, and now "mud season" is in full swing, although I saw the first crocus blossoms a few days ago (about 5 weeks behind Seattle).
The lack of traffic is wonderful- never have to go less than the speed limit unless by choice. Getting into Buffalo is a piece of cake. Have enjoyed a concert, and get to the local organic food co-op weekly there. The zoo and aquarium are small and run-down and smelly compared to others, but provide good foul-weather family outings. Better yet head to the falls border area for the amazing butterfly conservatory.
United and Southwest both fly full-sized jets into BUF so you don't have to risk life & limb on those small commuter planes.
The local papers to read for EA classifieds are the pennysaver and the advertiser. Folks are just discovering craigslist here.
Rentals are spotty- not that many most of the time that are decently sized. Small 2 bdrm apartments in multi-family houses are in the $550 range (but good luck finding a clean one for that price). Duplexes and small houses out of the village are $800-1000. We lucked into a large, newer home on acreage for a month to month rental for $1200.
Buying places: smaller, decent houses on 1-5 acres outside the village are in the $150-170 range, in the village the low end of a decent smaller house is $180. Anything sizeable is in the mid 200's. Add another $5-7,000 for annual taxes though so don't get too excited. Speaking of taxes, don't forget about the almost 7% state income tax (sure miss WA state's NO income tax!- we're suddenly paying 32% being self-employed).
Overall we've found everyone to be very friendly and helpful in an old-fashioned way. It's slightly Mayberry-like at times, which is not a bad thing in my book.
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