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For the record, I like both Ithaca and Newport, and find the invitation to compare them one of the more interesting city comparison exercises on this board. I love the Finger Lakes region and its people, and expect to move there in a few years (to the western side of it, to be near my closest family that have lived there for the past few decades; my late father attended Cornell in the 1940s, with a 4 year interruption for service in World War II from 1942-46; Cornell is an amazing university, something that Newport does not have; I have close cousins from his side of my family who live in Dryden just to the east of Ithaca) and hail from family from the southern New England coast but I have lived for decades in the inner core of the Greater Boston area.
For the record, I like both Ithaca and Newport, and find the invitation to compare them one of the more interesting city comparison exercises on this board. I love the Finger Lakes region and its people, and expect to move there in a few years (to the western side of it, to be near my closest family that have lived there for the past few decades; my late father attended Cornell in the 1940s, with a 4 year interruption for service in World War II from 1942-46; Cornell is an amazing university, something that Newport does not have; I have close cousins from his side of my family who live in Dryden just to the east of Ithaca) and hail from family from the southern New England coast but I have lived for decades in the inner core of the Greater Boston area.
Ok...The bolded community is more rural/small town in Tompkins County, but I'd say it is more moderate and is home to Tompkins Cortland Community College(aka TC3 locally). So, you have a college student population in that community.
It is essentially halfway between Ithaca and Cortland, which also has a decent sized state college.
Oh, the warmer half of the year in the Finger Lakes can be lovely in many ways. Winter is different, but snow is not necessarily what may bug people out as much as sunshine (or the relative brevity thereof). There are relative "snow holes" in the western side of the Finger Lakes region, and the snow that it gotten there is much more likely to be powder than ocean-effect snow in Newport RI, but the more salient cold season issue is that sunshine is not as persistent (frequently there can be a sunny hour or two, and various breaks in clouds, especially as one moves in the NW quadrant of the region).
I will acknowledge my offhand description of Ithaca as a blue island was simplistic, but I was comparing it to a larger region (a hybrid of Finger Lakes and Southern Tier, and including the flanking northern tier of PA in that sense of region.)
Oh, the warmer half of the year in the Finger Lakes can be lovely in many ways. Winter is different, but snow is not necessarily what may bug people out as much as sunshine (or the relative brevity thereof). There are relative "snow holes" in the western side of the Finger Lakes region, and the snow that it gotten there is much more likely to be powder than ocean-effect snow in Newport RI, but the more salient cold season issue is that sunshine is not as persistent (frequently there can be a sunny hour or two, and various breaks in clouds, especially as one moves in the NW quadrant of the region).
I will acknowledge my offhand description of Ithaca as a blue island was simplistic, but I was comparing it to a larger region (a hybrid of Finger Lakes and Southern Tier, and including the flanking northern tier of PA in that sense of region.)
Yes, the lack of sun can be an issue, but you get breaks days at a time and the snow is fluffy from lake effect snow(can get micro lake effect bands from the deeper Finger Lakes).
I can see where some may view the rural areas as "red", but what has happened is that some have moved to small towns/rural areas outside of the city for more affordable housing. A place like Trumansburg, NW of Ithaca, is an example of a small town that leans more "blue" and has for a while.
The answers have been really interesting and helpful. I definitely need to check out the Hudson Valley area of NY. Asheville was another idea mentioned as a blend of Ithaca and Newport - I've seen Asheville compared to Ithaca before and the Newport tie-in of Biltmore - Breakers was clever.
Everyone notes the very busy tourist season in Newport and how the city feels quite different during the rest of the year. Does Ithaca have a tourist season?
Also in the summertime in Ithaca do the college kids clear out or are they still around?
Everyone notes the very busy tourist season in Newport and how the city feels quite different during the rest of the year. Does Ithaca have a tourist season?
Also in the summertime in Ithaca do the college kids clear out or are they still around?
No, Ithaca doesn't have a tourist season, though, you are likely to get your share of visitors during the warmer months to the state parks. For instance, this is Buttermilk Falls, which you can see from Route 13 on the edge of the city limits: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4167...7i13312!8i6656 You'll have a bunch of people at the park hiking or putting their feet in the water, among other activities.
College students are there during the summer, but just not to the same degree. You'll still have people at the restaurants Downtown, but with more coming from year round city residents, from the surrounding area and from some of the visitors to the area.
Yes, that is a good, but I’m curious if there is a size requirement, as Nyack is smaller than both of them.
As for another place that may be a cross between the 2 is Kingston NY, which has most/all of those things mentioned about Nyack, but is on par with those cities in terms of population/size.
As for the 2 cities, Ithaca skews younger due to the big college presence. That also means that it’s educational attainment is also very high.
Both have active Downtowns, as well as other busy business districts.
Crime I believe is low to average for both cities.
Ithaca does have a relatively affluent area near and into Cayuga Heights(a small adjacent village with a median household income of $112,917)/Cornell University by the name of Cornell Heights.
Kingston does look really great. Maybe has a bit more of a historic feel than Ithaca would you say? I think I can see how it could be like a blend of Newport and Ithaca!
Kingston does look really great. Maybe has a bit more of a historic feel than Ithaca would you say? I think I can see how it could be like a blend of Newport and Ithaca!
I'd say so, as it was settled in 1652 and was the first capital of NY State.
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