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My wife and I have been looking for a place to settle down for a while. We've tried a few places, but none of them would really work. In considering upstate New York, we're trying to stay much closer to home, which is Erie, PA.
What we're looking for is a city/town that has an economy that isn't completely depressed and people that aren't totally small-minded. It would be nice to have a mix of young and old, liberal and conservative, with more than just chain restaurants or diners that serve Walmart food.
Climate wise, we're used to loads of snow (about 90-100" annually), but we'd like to have less (probably no more than say, 65").
It feels like a tricky balancing act. We don't want too big or small, too much or too little snow. We want to be fairly close to Erie preferably (like within 4 or so hours) but that also puts you in some of the worst snow belt areas. We also don't want to get too close to the craziness of New York City or any of that other east coast madness.
My first thought was Lewiston... close to Erie & Buff, easy access to Toronto, pretty low snow accum, top notch local eats, and beautiful. Other thoughts are Canandaigua, Naples, Geneseo, Corning, Hammondsport.
Actually, the Ithaca area could fit and has the lowest unemployment rate in the state. Like Krisps mentioned, Niagara County actually works in terms of snowfall and Lewiston or the Niagara-Wheatfield areas may work there. Wheatfield is actually one of the fastest growing towns in the state, if I'm not mistaken.
What you can do for work may also help determine where to look.
These were actually the two areas that jumped out at me in doing some initial research: that pocket in Niagara county that receives much less snow than its neighbors, and Ithaca.
I like the idea of being close to home and near Lake Erie/Ontario and Canada. At the same time, I think the area around Itacha looks beautiful (even though I'm not necessarily crazy about a town that's so ridiculously liberal).
I personally work from home, so employment in the area isn't something I need for myself, but it's more desirable to be in an area with greater prosperity and less lack. This is critically important. I come from a small town where people are some combination of poor, blue collar, uneducated, unenlightened, trashy, small-minded, etc. It's all about the people. I don't want the place we live to feel like some "jerkwater" town.
Coming from Erie, which a population of about 100,000 in the city proper and about 280,000 in the metro area; I've felt that Erie is a bit small and lacks some of the shops and restaurants that we'd like. I think these 2 cities are significantly smaller than Erie; but I'm wondering if it's just a quality vs quantity kind of thing. I've seen cities with very small populations that had a fair amount of things to do.
These were actually the two areas that jumped out at me in doing some initial research: that pocket in Niagara county that receives much less snow than its neighbors, and Ithaca.
I like the idea of being close to home and near Lake Erie/Ontario and Canada. At the same time, I think the area around Itacha looks beautiful (even though I'm not necessarily crazy about a town that's so ridiculously liberal).
I personally work from home, so employment in the area isn't something I need for myself, but it's more desirable to be in an area with greater prosperity and less lack. This is critically important. I come from a small town where people are some combination of poor, blue collar, uneducated, unenlightened, trashy, small-minded, etc. It's all about the people. I don't want the place we live to feel like some "jerkwater" town.
Coming from Erie, which a population of about 100,000 in the city proper and about 280,000 in the metro area; I've felt that Erie is a bit small and lacks some of the shops and restaurants that we'd like. I think these 2 cities are significantly smaller than Erie; but I'm wondering if it's just a quality vs quantity kind of thing. I've seen cities with very small populations that had a fair amount of things to do.
So which city fits the bill the best?
Ithaca is that good quality for its size type of city. It is a college town. So, it has a lot of events and things to do due to the presence of Cornell University and Ithaca College. A happy medium may be to live in say Lansing or the town of Ithaca, as both are more moderate. Further out, you have places that are more small town America like and you will even have gun clubs. Perhaps Dryden, Trumansburg, Groton or Newfield are more of what you are looking for. So, you can find a range of communities in the area.
In Niagara County, besides Lewiston and Wheatfield, you may like parts of Lockport or the select nice parts of Niagara Falls like DeVeaux or LaSalle. I can't forget North Tonawanda as well.
You may like Ithaca as well. Actually, the mayor is a "brotha". Lol
Ithaca is nice but the snow out that way sucks just like most of NY. That's the only thing that keeps me from moving upstate.
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