Where to move in the NY - New England area? (ski resorts, co-ops)
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Hi all,
I’m looking for advice and ideas! I’ve been researching where to move to (to escape the expensive, fast paced, unsustainable, polluted suburbs of Philadelphia,) and want to see if anyone has some ideas based on what I want. (It’s probably some paradise or Shangri-La that doesn’t exist!)
So: Does anyone know of a good place to live where it is a lower cost of living, walkable towns, rural enough that we might find some place at the edge of a town to have enough space for self sufficient living yet not a lot of driving necessary, and unpolluted water and air? I’d like to move to somewhere in the Northeast: New York, New England. I know people in the Syracuse area and so we were mostly thinking of there (and I absolutely LOVE consistent snow cover during winter and don't want it to melt until springtime!) but I’m now learning that I think New York is the one state that is worse than Pennsylvania to homeschool in. Vermont seems perfect also, except I think the cost of living might be too high for one salary. Another point is a viable job market, of course.
I want to find somewhere that is affordable so we can live on one salary so I can raise and homeschool our daughter, have a good garden, chickens maybe (finally) continue to make everything from scratch, etc. – Radical homemaking, to use a term coined by Shannon Hayes.
The reason I want to move away is that I never wanted to live here in the first place( we moved here from a small town about 20 miles from Syracuse when I was 12 years old,) and with regard to pollution, especially water quality and Superfund sites, it’s one of the worst places to live, health-wise. It’s way too expensive. It’s not walkable, but mostly bedroom communities or strip development and the epitomy of Suburbia. Etcetera. I will certainly miss the wonderful museums of Philadelphia, though!
I’ve moved so many times in my life that I can’t count them. This is going to be the last time, hopefully, so I really want to make the right choice, since I’m 51, my husband is 53 and my daughter is 9. I guess it’s finally time to find a spot to stay! Even my daughter, in her mere 9 years, has lived in 3 places!
Thanks for any ideas!
Cheryljoy
Hi all,
I’m looking for advice and ideas! I’ve been researching where to move to (to escape the expensive, fast paced, unsustainable, polluted suburbs of Philadelphia,) and want to see if anyone has some ideas based on what I want. (It’s probably some paradise or Shangri-La that doesn’t exist!)
So: Does anyone know of a good place to live where it is a lower cost of living, walkable towns, rural enough that we might find some place at the edge of a town to have enough space for self sufficient living yet not a lot of driving necessary, and unpolluted water and air? I’d like to move to somewhere in the Northeast: New York, New England. I know people in the Syracuse area and so we were mostly thinking of there (and I absolutely LOVE consistent snow cover during winter and don't want it to melt until springtime!) but I’m now learning that I think New York is the one state that is worse than Pennsylvania to homeschool in. Vermont seems perfect also, except I think the cost of living might be too high for one salary. Another point is a viable job market, of course.
I want to find somewhere that is affordable so we can live on one salary so I can raise and homeschool our daughter, have a good garden, chickens maybe (finally) continue to make everything from scratch, etc. – Radical homemaking, to use a term coined by Shannon Hayes.
The reason I want to move away is that I never wanted to live here in the first place( we moved here from a small town about 20 miles from Syracuse when I was 12 years old,) and with regard to pollution, especially water quality and Superfund sites, it’s one of the worst places to live, health-wise. It’s way too expensive. It’s not walkable, but mostly bedroom communities or strip development and the epitomy of Suburbia. Etcetera. I will certainly miss the wonderful museums of Philadelphia, though!
I’ve moved so many times in my life that I can’t count them. This is going to be the last time, hopefully, so I really want to make the right choice, since I’m 51, my husband is 53 and my daughter is 9. I guess it’s finally time to find a spot to stay! Even my daughter, in her mere 9 years, has lived in 3 places!
Thanks for any ideas!
Cheryljoy
Take a look at Vernon, CT. It might be the type of town youre looking for.
I will add that to get consistent, many months long snow cover in New England you have to head up to NH, VT & interior Maine away from the coast. Even there there are years when there is little or more spotty snow. Places in northern NY state may do also.
Here's a cost of living calculator that may help figure out where a place is financially with where you are now
Bangor, Maine (Central Bangor and across the river in the suburb of Brewer) would be a good option in terms of walkability and cost of living with a Walk Score over 70. Obviously you wouldn't have a high walkability factor in a rural setting, but you would be quite close to areas that are.
Come back home and I know people that were homeschooled that were fine. In particular, I know a woman that was homeschooled growing up in Oswego and ended up graduating from Cornell. So, it can be done in NY.
In fact, Oswego may actually work. Auburn with its history or Ithaca with its walkability, arts and higher education presence may work as well. There are others as well.
If you want small and walkable, look into Fayetteville, Manlius, Skaneateles, Cazenovia, Baldwinsville, Homer and Liverpool, among others in the area.
I'll PM you with more information.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-29-2014 at 12:57 PM..
Don't homeschool your daughter. School and interacting with other kids her age is such an important thing. It's important to interact with people and to learn how to deal with difficult people & situations. I think your daughter is going to have hard time later in life but I wish you lots of luck.
What do you do you for work exactly? While upstate NY is gorgeous, it's hard to find good paying work up there.
Don't homeschool your daughter. School and interacting with other kids her age is such an important thing. It's important to interact with people and to learn how to deal with difficult people & situations. I think your daughter is going to have hard time later in life but I wish you lots of luck.
What do you do you for work exactly? While upstate NY is gorgeous, it's hard to find good paying work up there.
It can be, but it will depend on the type of work the OP is looking for. So, that will be key in terms of if it will work or not.
Also, to your point about schooling, the smaller walkable places mentioned have solid to some "best" public schools in Upstate NY. So, OP, if you are open to public schools in the future, places like those mentioned would/may work in that regard as well.
Having lived in various parts of Oswego Co. and familiar with the City of Oswego, I would stay completely away from there or most places north of Syracuse. There's also the snow factor. It sounds like Ithaca would be good and the old part is very walkable. We love the Finger Lakes area and all the things to do around here (winter was tough this year) and below is a link that will give you some ideas. Ithaca is a kid friendly town and there is a community garden, a science center, museum - all on a much smaller scale than Philly. Cornell and Ithaca Colleges contribute to the community and there are lots of free things to take advantage of. Farmers market is amazing and there are co-ops galore for your fresh, from scratch cooking. There's a lot more than I know of as we just moved here in November and the weather has been rather prohibitive. Spring is coming though. Ithaca: 10 square miles surrounded by reality: Visit Ithaca, NY - Official Site for Ithaca, NY & Tompkins County
Far Western NY. If you love snow, then it is a paradise. There are plenty of ski resorts, snowmobiling, winter festivals, fishing, hunting, walkable towns, etc. to keep you busy. The area is big into self sufficient living.
I was also thinking that if you don't mind something more secluded, but that still has walkability, a place such as Lowville may work. It is in between the Adirondacks and the 1000 Islands and is a walkable village of about 3500 or so. Nearby, the villages of Carthage and West Carthage may work as well. Jobs may be an issue, but there are a few companies in Watertown and there is a Kraft plant in Lowville, as well as Fort Drum military base. Utica and Rome are within a reasonable commute from Lowville as well. Both areas have a hospital as well.
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