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Can anyone familiar with these areas speak of crime of the 3 cities? Is it similar to say Chicago where crime rate is high but crime is more or less concentrated to specific areas?
Can anyone familiar with these areas speak of crime of the 3 cities? Is it similar to say Chicago where crime rate is high but crime is more or less concentrated to specific areas?
Crime is more concentrated in select areas of the cities. For Buffalo, it is much of the inner East Side. In Rochester, the inner portions of the NE/NW and parts of the SW Quadrants in an area called “the Crescent”. In Syracuse, the inner South Side and I’d say lately the Near West Side. To be fair, even in these areas, it is largely lifestyle/relationship related and outer portions of these sides of town are actually solid to quite nice. So, there is a caveat in regards to these areas and these are based off of reputation.
Something else kind of related to this is that these cities aren’t that big in terms of land size. Buffalo is only 40 square miles, Rochester is a little over 35 square miles and Syracuse is a little over 25 square miles. So, being in the suburbs in these areas doesn’t mean that you are far from city amenities, but also small barriers like a street, hill, etc. can make a difference as well.
To touch on the suburb close to amenities thing, you could live in say a village like Kenmore just outside of Buffalo that is actually the most population dense municipality in the state outside of the NYC metro area. Due to its location, you can be a straight shot down Elmwood to the Elmwood Village neighborhood or a few blocks from the Hertel Avenue corridor in North Buffalo(Kenmore touches North Buffalo). This is something that people could also consider for these areas. This isn’t to say you can’t find safe neighborhoods within these cities with amenities, but you may have more options than you realize, as suburbs here don’t necessarily mean a far distance from urban/city amenities or a lack of walkability.
Villages like Kenmore offer their own walkability, but are also close(enough) to the bigger city for more due to the smaller size. That means a short drive, reasonable bus ride or bike ride. There are examples of villages earlier in the thread.
By the way, both of those Buffalo neighborhoods would be good examples of nicer city neighborhoods with amenities.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 05-27-2021 at 09:38 AM..
Also, just to add to the last part of the post, there is also plenty of big box shopping near the village in North Buffalo along Delaware Avenue. So, you wouldn’t have to go far in that regard as well.
Eastwood in Syracuse would also allow for easy access to such shopping in nearby East Syracuse.
It is similar for the outer NE neighborhoods of Rochester to the Ridge Road area of Eastern Irondequoit.
There are other examples where this could work as well.
Economy: Probably Rochester, but none are amazing. Weather: All pretty similar, weather (or at least snow) varies more within these MSAs than across them. Crime: All pretty similar, the suburbs are generally fine in all 3. The cities are hit or miss. Rochester and Buffalo seem to have more "active" prosperous urban neighborhoods. Syracuse has a few stable to affluent neighborhoods in the city. But, there aren't really the neighborhood commercial strips like Elmwood Village, Park Ave, etc. Scenery: Syracuse>Rochester>Buffalo. This is subjective. It partially depends on if you want hills or big water. But, Syracuse has the most interesting topography with the hills. Good lake access with Onondaga and Oneida Lakes right there, and the finger lakes and great lakes not too far away. It's also the closest to the mountains. Buffalo has a great waterfront setting, but can otherwise be pretty flat. Rochester is somewhere in between. It has a great lake right in the city and is not quite as flat as Buffalo. Food + Amenities: Buffalo>Rochester>Syracuse. Basically just a function of size.
In general, Rochester and Buffalo seem somewhat like peer cities, while Syracuse is a little smaller. If Rochester is 90% of Buffalo, Syracuse is maybe 60%.
Syracuse is more of an mid-sized interior NE city like Springfield or Scranton. It's smaller, hiller, more closely linked to the NE corridor. The university gives it a strong connection to NYC/NJ/LI. At 4-4.5 hours it isn't exactly close to NYC. But, weekend trips or day bus trips are at the edge of being doable. The city has an old world downtown, but doesn't have the depth of neighborhood commercial districts.
Rochester and Buffalo feel like larger, more complete cities. The have bigger skylines, multiple walkable neighborhoods and more extensive suburbs. Buffalo is bigger, but in someways Rochester punches above it weight in ways that makes them feel more like peers. They are solidly Great Lake cities, NYC might as well be another state. Toronto is the big city.
As a current Rochester area resident and a resident of NY state for 14 years I think this pretty much sums up the 3 cities.
Weather: Is very similar in all 3 cities. Gotta love lake effect.
Crime: Inner city crime is an issue in all 3 areas but the suburbs are all generally very nice.
Scenery: I give the advantage to Rochester on this one. Other than the Adirondacks the eastern Finger Lakes region is my favorite part of the state. And then you have Lake Ontario directly North.
Food and Amenities: I would give that one to Buffalo especially since they have 2 pro sports teams. As for food I would say Buff but the other 2 aren't far behind.
Overall I am very happy with were I live and I do feel that NY State is often overlooked.
A drone shot from the Schiller Park on the city's North Side to the south towards Downtown, University Hill; as well as the hills and valleys to the south of the city: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0672...0!7i3222!8i976 (can also see Onondaga Lake if you turn to the right)
But ... there is something of a snow hole starting about 15 miles south of ROC if you look at snow averages maps over long periods of time. Basically, it starts south of the Onondaga Escarpment and down the valleys east of I390 towards the Southern Tier. I have close family in the area, and they tend to get about 60% of the snow that ROC and places along the high terrain south of Lake Ontario gets. And it's much more likely to be powder as compared to Syracuse, which can be more vulnerable to wetter types of snow, so I am told.
I would probably choose Syracuse due to proximity to the Adirondacks, as well as being closer to New England and other points east.
But Buffalo was nicer than I expected, the one time I visited. Specifically the city neighborhoods north of downtown.
Is it extremely cloudy there? I interviewed for a job at a college in Oneonta, and they let it slip that it was one of the cloudiest places in the country. And looking up weather data, they were sure right. Of course I ended up in NJ, which is pretty sunny for the northeast, but the pollution can make it seem less so...
But ... there is something of a snow hole starting about 15 miles south of ROC if you look at snow averages maps over long periods of time. Basically, it starts south of the Onondaga Escarpment and down the valleys east of I390 towards the Southern Tier. I have close family in the area, and they tend to get about 60% of the snow that ROC and places along the high terrain south of Lake Ontario gets. And it's much more likely to be powder as compared to Syracuse, which can be more vulnerable to wetter types of snow, so I am told.
The wetter snow you can get in Syracuse is usually from the occasional Nor'easter, which can bring some wet snow to the area from the SE. Lake Effect snow is fluffy and in the Syracuse area, the further north particularly in the Lake Ontario snowbelt in Oswego north of the city gets higher totals on average. You can have heavy snowfall up there, but in the immediate Syracuse area, it can be crystal clear during the winter. This would occur when during driving on I-81 north of the city and the opposite can also occur. So, even within these areas, the snowfall can vary in the same day.
A drone shot from the Schiller Park on the city's North Side to the south towards Downtown, University Hill; as well as the hills and valleys to the south of the city: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0672...0!7i3222!8i976 (can also see Onondaga Lake if you turn to the right)
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 05-28-2021 at 08:14 PM..
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