Which state is better, NY or PA? (New York, Rochester: upper-class, apartment)

[sweetpea3829]

My husband is considering a job in Elmira, NY. He will be close enough to the PA border that we are considering houses in both states. Which state is better to live in as far as community, resources, taxes, etc?

Cross-posting to the PA thread as well.

Thanks!

[ckhthankgod]

I would go with NY, as Elmira is the only area of any size for a while. You might places like Horseheads or Corning.

I believe that Chemung County has some of the lowest tax rates in NY State too.

If you do go with PA, you might like the Sayre/Athens area. Waverly is on the NY side next to those communities.

[jblake78728]

Elmira's property taxes are pretty high compared to the neighboring area of PA. In Elmira they are somewhere between $3200-$4500/$100K assessed property value. I believe they are around $1600-$1700/100K in Tioga or Bradford County, Pa. The only problem with that part of PA is that it is very remote. You would basically need to run to Elmira, Corning or Binghamton, NY for just about all of your shopping & entertainment (or drive an 1.5-2 hours to Williamsport or Scranton/W-B, PA. Depending on where you live in that part of PA you might also find that the roads are pretty bad (and not maintained very well in the winter).

[Krisps]

If I had this choice, I'd no doubt choose PA, in the Wellsboro area, because of the excellent natural scenery and obvious lower taxes. But I suppose it depends if you want a rustic place in the woods or something more suburban. To me, this is an ideal place to live, you have the mountains, wilderness, Pine Creek Gorge in PA and the finger lakes in NY... not too shabby. The area north of Wellsboro would be nice as you'd be somewhat centered between Wellsboro, Corning, and Elmira.

[ki0eh]

Recalling from another thread that you said you were homeschooling, I can't believe no one's pointed out yet that Ithaca has a number of tremendous learning resources (Sciencenter, Museum of the Earth, Sapsucker Woods/Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cayuga Nature Center, and so on) about the natural world. The town is not friendly to the politically conservative but if you would find a home somewhere between Elmira and Ithaca you'll still likely be outside Ithaca's left wing bubble but close enough to take advantage of what it has to offer.

The Odessa-Montour area in southeast Schuyler County would be not terribly far from box shopping in Horseheads/Big Flats, close enough to Ithaca to make a trip there with the kids not so major a production, plus Schuyler County is exceptionally beautiful, like the area around Ithaca but without as big a town to clutter it up. You would be getting a little closer to the snowier area heading north-northeast. Northern Schuyler is wine country, fortunately there are back roads the drunken wine tasting tourists don't know about (or at least there used to be, before GPS ), and SW Schuyler has the Watkins Glen race track which would be a painful neighbor during racing weeks.

Wellsboro might be a nice town but it doesn't have a huge waterfall at the end of the main street like Montour Falls does...

[sweetpea3829]

LOL, RI isn't friendly towards the politically conservative either...

Aside from the house in Corning that we are considering...we're also looking at a property in Rock Stream, just outside of Watkins Glen. It's Yates County, but from what I understand, that's just north of Schuyler. We actually like this particular property more than the one in Corning, and it's more affordable. But...the house leaves a bit to be desired. It's not quite big enough and would require adding on. Plus...it's far from EVERYTHING. And, Cherokee Gas has a right of way lease allowing them to place a road anywhere on the property at any time. The current owner is in the process of trying to have that lease removed, but I don't have any further information on how that's going.

Any one of those issues alone, we'd be fine with...but the combination of those issues makes the property that much less appealing to us. Nevertheless, the area is beautiful. I've driven through there before while visiting with friends in Rochester.

[citygirl182]

There are a lot of options as of where to live.

As for New York:

Elmira is a decent city. The West Side is a nice, middle class neighborhood with older but well kept victorian homes. Hoffman/Fassett neighborhood is full of gorgeous mansions and upper middle class homes. Also, the Town of Elmira (West Elmira) has very cheap taxes compared to the City of Elmira, which is known for its ridiculous taxes. The West Side is very safe. It has a good elementary school, but middle and high school are iffy. They aren't wonderful schools but there still are really smart kids that attend them.

Horseheads is another option. It is probably the most family-friendly location around Elmira and only a 5-10 minute commute. A lot of subdivisions and newer homes, good schools, and extremely close to shopping and the Arnot Mall.

Corning might also work. It is an artsy town with a really cute downtown area, the schools are decent, and Corning Community College is located there. More of an educated feel in Corning than Elmira. About a 15-20 minute commute from Elmira.

Ithaca is a great city with a lot to do (the most in the area). Of course, Cornell is there, as is Cayuga Lake. Many beautiful nature areas, such as Buttermilk Falls, and Watkins Glen gorges are located there. Ithaca has the most liberal/earthy/green feeling of any town within a 2 hour radius of Elmira. Downside is that the commute is 45 minutes.

Waverly is right on the border of New York and Pennsylvania. It has very pretty victorian houses, but like most towns in central New York, isn't exactly booming with this economy. Again, Waverly has good schools, probably some of the best in the area.

That is about all the towns in New York. Everywhere else is very rural and rustic.

As for Pennsylvania:

Sayre is an okay town. The Guthrie Clinic is located there, so you get a good deal of upper-class doctors. Sayre has good schools, too, and taxes aren't bad. Not much to do in Sayre, but Elmira isn't too far away and Binghamton is fairly close. Sayre is about 20 minutes from Elmira.

Athens is another option. Small, decent school system, cheap taxes and home prices. Athens is located directly south of Sayre.

The rest of northeastern PA, honestly, is dead. Very rural, no recreational or shopping places. Only immediately north PA is very close to civilization.

Are you looking for a home in the country or in a more developed area? How far are you willing to commute? What type of home are you looking for? This would definitely help narrow down the home-finding process.

Hope this helped you, and best of luck with your home search.

[beckyhuggs]

I know that Ithaca is a more liberal area but if I were you I would try to get as close to Ithaca as possible. They may be more liberal but that is primarily the immediate area of Ithaca. The region around Ithaca is more conservative. The reason I say try to stay close to Ithaca is because they have a well supported Home School community. See the following links -
LEAH - New York State Loving Education At Home This is the group used by the local Christian Home Schoolers, just find your local chapter
Article - At home in Newfield: Homeschooling Article in the Ithaca Times
Northern Light Learning Center - http://nllchs.org/
Cornell University even offers a free Home school science program that the whole family participates in CCMR K-12 Programs

[ckhthankgod]

Cayuta or newfield might work too. You would be close to shopping in the horseheads/Big Flats area, as well as shopping on Elmira Road(Route 13/96) in Ithaca as well. Odessa, Montour Falls and Watkins Glen would be close as well.

[sweetpea3829]

Thanks for all of the info. :-) We visited Elmira, Corning, Horseheads and drove through the communities from those towns up to Honeoye Falls the week after Christmas. My husband interviewed in Elmira and it went well. They are in the process of completing his background check and we should actually be moving in about three weeks.

I did not care for Horseheads as we drove through. We saw a property off of Jackson Creek Rd and it was just a wreck. It looked SO much nicer in the pictures. As we drove through, the impression that I got was that nobody in the area cared about what their houses looked like. Pretty much all of the homes were run down....some were so run down that I couldn't believe people were living there, yet they looked occupied.

I know that we did not see all of Horseheads...and that the area that we saw was probably not representative of the entire community...but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. We like rural...but not redneck, kwim?

We did actually stop at and eat at Arnott Mall while we were out there. Cute mall...small...but it seemed to be in good shape and not run down. A lot of young kids hanging out without their folks. Not causing any trouble, but you don't see that at our local malls too much. Actually...I'm not sure it's allowed at our malls for youth to "loiter" without parental supervision.

We interviewed in Elmira and actually looked at an apartment near Sullivan St. I don't think we'll be looking to live inside of Elmira limits.

We looked at a house in Corning and really liked the area. We liked the area of the house...the town of Corning was cute. The area where the house was (Caton Rd) was really nice.

For now...we are going to need to rent for awhile. So we're looking for good affordable rental options. Must allow us to have our dog without exorbitant fees for him. 2 beds or larger...lol. so if you know of anything, please do share.