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.
Okay...long story short I finally have the money to move my son and I to a new "home" where ever that may be. I am looking for more ideas on possible locations based on what we are looking for. I know I won't find everything on both lists but at least something for me would be nice. Here is what we are looking for:
Son (6 years old) wants:
**Elementary school with no uniforms and a large playground
**Active cub scout troop
**Lots of parks and a rec center where he can play soccer, baseball, and basketball
**Planetarium or a view of the night sky
**Ice cream trucks in the summer
**A safe place to ride his bike
**Children's theater, symphony, and science museum
**Anything to do with Lego's and Science
Mom wants:
**Walkable neighborhoods and public transportation (no car in the future)
**Low Crime
**Decent schools
**Plenty of outdoor activities (hiking, camping, fishing,etc) within an hour or so -- give me a good excuse to buy a car
**Low rents (right now I pay $800 for a 500 sq ft apt)
**Bowling Alley
**More small mom and pop shops rather than Mega-Marts
**Swap meets and farmers markets
**Prefer smaller community but will settle for a suburb as long as it is safe.
What I don't want (because I have too much already):
**Gangs
**Bilingual focus on the job and in the school (say what you want about me but I don't speak Spanish and think it is wrong to say you must speak it to apply and don't even get me started on my son's school)
**Urban living
Other places in Upstate NY like Watertowm, Glens Falls, Oneonta, Plattsburgh, Corning or a nice, walkable suburb of the bigger cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica, Albany and maybe even Elmira. What do you do in terms of employment?
I have actually looked into Corning, Plattsburgh, and Canandaigua but was told there were no jobs and Plattsburgh was dying. I have a background in retail, a degree in Economics, and am starting my MBA program next month.
I have actually looked into Corning, Plattsburgh, and Canandaigua but was told there were no jobs and Plattsburgh was dying. I have a background in retail, a degree in Economics, and am starting my MBA program next month.
Who told you that. Plattsburgh GAINED people during the past decade. Canandaigua is an easy commute to Rochester. Corning is dominated by Corning Inc. and I would check with that company or look in nearby Elmira, which has a huge mall in Arnot Mall. Oneonta has 2 4year colleges and is near the Catskills between Binghamton and Schenectady.
Actually, a Syracuse suburb could work and Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management could allow you to pursue your MBA. There are suburbs where you can get a decent home for 80-100k and in safe communities with good schools.
Check with colleges in the communities/metros mentioned for jobs and MBA programs. Check city, county and metro area websites, as well as employment websites.
Some of the smaller communities around Harrisburg, PA might be good to look into - the State Capitol is within sight of roadless mountain areas and many explore the mile-wide river too rocky for commercial traffic. Job outlook is probably rosier than the smaller upstate NY cities, the area is a transportation/logistics hub. Also has Whitaker Center and Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra . PA is a state with a tradition of hyper-localism where the outlook changes quickly on turning the corner or crossing the municipal boundary.
Middletown Borough (PA borough = NY village) is a generally safe, walkable (2 full grocery stores still in town walk to), relatively inexpensive community on an Amtrak rail line with frequent service to Philadelphia and New York City, and beside the Harrisburg airport (the symbol MDT honors its proximity).
Lemoyne, New Cumberland, and (now) Hummelstown boroughs have weekday buses into downtown Harrisburg and generally walkable and safe. Palmyra Borough is good for walking and bike riding around the streets, it seems a throwback to the 1950's, except the shopping is now out on the highway outskirts. Prices are higher in Camp Hill borough and in Hershey CDP due to higher rated schools, there is also less walkable shopping in Hershey.
Carlisle Borough is further out, larger but not so good bus service. The south side is safer and closer to neighborhood shopping, schools are rated better than PA average.
Newport Borough is a 1/2 hour out except in rush hour traffic. Still has full grocery and K-12 schools walkable in town with housing costs more modest than other relatively safe areas. The center of town square has been fixed up and now sports a couple of decent casual eating restaurants, Perry County Council of the Arts and a natural foods store. However one would need a car to drive to any sort of employment.
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.
