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I live in Utica and I am not on welfare and I have never smoked crack. Once again for all the Utica haters, We have some area's of our city that is not as safe as it could be(Like every other city)so avoid those area's and the drugies and the negative people and you will be just fine. Maybe you might even meet some of the hard working possitive people that live here and maybe you will change your mind. Utica has a lot of good things here if you keep your eye's and mind open to them. Try to enjoy life nomatter where you are because is way to short to be miserable. Have a great day. Tom
I went to Utica once, many years ago back when I was in college. It was the dead of night, and we were walking to the house of some friends, which was not in one of Utica's best neighborhoods. At one point, the gentleman who lead the way stopped and pointed to two houses on the street. Both were nearly identical, except one was in OK shape, the other in disrepair (cracked windows, peeling paint, etc.). He asked us, "OK, guess which's one's the crack house?"
A friend who was with us said it was the crappy one. I said it was the not-so-bad one. The guy replied, "Nope, it's a trick question. Both of them are crack houses."
I'm sure there are some nice parts of Utica, but unfortunately I didn't see them that trip.
i live in utica ny, and yes there are problems..JUST LIKE ANY OTHER PLACE. no place is perfect. not everyone is on crack, so idk what kinda people you came across. and i am in fact WHITE living in cornhill and ive never had any problems. it all depends on how you approach people, it can be like that everywhere. no theres not HIGH CLASS paying jobs, but there is work that pays good here you just have to look. okay theres people getting shot but go to NYC go to syracuse ny.. its not only utica. open your eyes, its happening everywhere.
Have you been any place else?
Now, if you want to count New Hartford as part of Utica, I would agree with what you're saying. However, at one time, as little as ten years ago, Utica did have a few things going for it, not much, but a few. The job market has totally dried up unless you want to work at McDonald, the two hospitals or a prison. just last week they anounced a 7.25% property tax increase as soon as the new mayor got into office, right before giving city hall a 6% pay raise, imagine that! The only viable business seem to be drug dealing. The local government, with it's hand in the till isn't helping things either. they just refurbished the landmark Stanley Theater to the tune of $18 million in a downtown that has an 80% vacancy rate (with no prospects I might add) Keep in mind this refurbishment was done so they could cater to the 1% of the population left in town that has two nickels to rub together in order to keep up the illusion that everything is A-OKay. They'll be the only ones going to the Stanley since only this 1% can afford tickets.
Other than that, you're right, it's a great place to live (if you like snow). But really, all kidding aside, for awhile it did look like it had some prospects but sadly that boat left the dock.
I agree with SSwebb37. If you've ever seen Michael Moore's Roger & Me then you should have some kind of idea of how bad life is in Utica (just watch the film and substitute Utica, NY for Flint, MI in your mind). Jobs are practically nonexistent and the majority of homes and buildings that haven't either burned down or fallen down have lapsed into disrepair and should be demolished. There are skyrocketing levels of lead poisoning in Utica because a lot the dilapitated houses have chipping lead paint and lead-contaminated pipes. The public school system is like a juevenille hall daycare center for ghetto offspring and hardly any learning occurs. Many of the people who grew up in Utica have moved to the nearby staunchly, conservative Italian Catholic middle class neighborhoods of New Hartford and Clinton.
Walking through Utica you get the feeling that you are in a haunted city and this is probably the "scary" and "depressing aura" that Brand Onian was talking about. There is garbage everywhere, cracked sidewalks, houses and buildings with boarded up windows and signage from the 1950s (seriously...I'm not kidding). For those who were wondering about toxic waste in the drinking water I can say: yes, there is toxic waste in the drinking water--it's called lead. For those who said one would think there are no schools in this part of the country I can say: there are schools, however, hardly any learning occurs in these hallowed instiutions other than basic reading and arithmitic (you'd be better off attending a school in Ethiopia).
Oddly, however, violent crime is lower than what one would expect in a city with such problems. This is probably due to the fact that people are too poor to afford guns and drugs (the two biggest contributing factors to violent crime rates). Most people in Utica get their food and clothes from food banks and churches so it is unlikely that people will be able to finance expensive cocaine addictions. Drug dealers must realize Utica is not a lucrative place to set up business so they avoid it. Besides Utica's dirt cheap real estate market, this may be the only positive thing going for the city. But, alas, it is not safe to walk the streets of Utica after dark and there are a lot of places that should be avoided altogether (like the James Street-Cornhill area). Two police officers were killed in the line of duty one year apart in Utica and New Hartford and the weekend shootings are as predictable as the sour weather, but there are generally less than 10 murders per year.
***Sigh*** What else? A small number of careless and reckless pit bull owners have made Utica into possibly the new pit bull capital of the world. And the problem only gets worse with each passing day. Every other person in Utica now owns a pitbull and nobody ever bothers to nueter their dogs or even place them on leashes. The result: Utica now looks like Michael Vick's backyard. Everyone in Utica should be shot!
So, yeah, that is it. Don't ever move to Utica. Try not to come within one hundred miles of the place. If you ever drive by Utica on the thruway roll up your windows and hold your breath until the city is out of view. If anything, Utica would make a good missile testing site and that is about it.
Utica is not truly representative of most communities that lay west of Albany. There are plenty of fine, decent communities as well as bad places like Utica. Just do your research and homework next time to avoid choosing the wrong place.
My husband use to have a cabin in Andes. I was never in Upstate NY, but hope to one day, I hear it is beautiful.
My husbands job is relocating to utica. It seems like the elementary school over there is GENERAL HERKIMER. Can anyone please give me some reviews on that side of utica. Its on the edge of Utica.
I live north of utica, about 15 miles. that's close enough for me thanks. utica about 20 years ago used to be a decent place to live. then there were plenty of jobs . all the manufacturing is gone. as far as to live, there are alot of nice surrounding towns and villages. i live in a village and it's nice and quiet. there are alot of drug and crime realted problems there. also fires. check the fire log for this city, they have at least one or two house fires a week. and that's no lie. if any one needs more info about this city give me a shout.
utica sucks. it's like troy without the glamour and that's really saying something.
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ummm no
depends on where
