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We’re looking to move to an upstate NY community where we could rent a spacious 1 bedroom, or a 2 bedroom apartment or house for $850/month or hopefully less.
We run our own online small business, so we don’t need to be able to commute to NYC. We simply need an affordable, hopefully artsy town so we have some time/financial slack to grow the business.
I’m beginning to think it’s impossible, but thought I’d ask.
In terms of what we are looking for:
- affordable rent
- artsy/artisan feeling with decent restaurants within driving distance
- safe (can walk at night if possible)
- quick access to scenic views. We love the mountains.
- comfortable for a mixed race couple
- small town but with a main street/downtown area
- good hospitals and medical care nearby (that would be a plus)
We don’t have children, so we don’t need good school districts. And we don’t go out that often, so we don’t need an active nightlife scene. We’re in our late 30s/early 40s.
We also really liked Jim Thorpe, PA, if that helps to give a sense of what we are looking for.
I’d appreciate any thoughts or places we should check out.
Consider bigger upstate metros like Buffalo, Syracuse or Albany.
Smaller cities/town outside the big metros include college towns like Ithaca (Cornell/Ithaca College), Dunkirk/Fredonia (Fredonia State), Geneseo (Geneseo State), or Hamilton (Colgate), etc.
You could also try my little city, Jamestown, which has a surprisingly strong arts community and very low housing prices. It's on the southern end of Chautauqua Lake about 30 miles from Allegany State Park and the Allegheny National Forest. We do tend to get a lot of snow, however.
Consider bigger upstate metros like Buffalo, Syracuse or Albany.
Smaller cities/town outside the big metros include college towns like Ithaca (Cornell/Ithaca College), Dunkirk/Fredonia (Fredonia State), Geneseo (Geneseo State), or Hamilton (Colgate), etc.
You could also try my little city, Jamestown, which has a surprisingly strong arts community and very low housing prices. It's on the southern end of Chautauqua Lake about 30 miles from Allegany State Park and the Allegheny National Forest. We do tend to get a lot of snow, however.
^This....To the OP, there are actually quite a few places that can work, but how far Upstate are you willing to go? You may even like something in metros like Utica-Rome and Binghamton too. Places like Plattsburgh, Oneonta and maybe even Glens Falls could work, as all three are near mountains and fit much of the other criteria. There are other places that could work as well, but it will depend on what you are looking for.
If you came to Syracuse, I'd say to look into Westcott/University Hill area of the East Side, a few places in Downtown and maybe specific neighborhoods just outside of Downtown. As for a small town/cities in the area, Downtown Auburn, Downtown Oswego, village of Liverpool and the aforementioned Hamilton.
You have places like Geneva and Corning that come to mind as well.
ckhthankgod: In terms of how far upstate we'd go, I'm not a huge fan of very cold. But I'm a homebody and would be interested in visiting any place that matches what we are looking for and what we can afford.
Also we would be fine with a small town or village (under 7,000 or 5,000 pop and smaller). We don't need to live in a city if we can drive to one.
Glen Falls was on our list. So it's good to know we are on the right track!
Oneonta seems like it might be nice too!
College towns are great if there's artsyness(is that a word?!) beyond what just the college provides...does that make sense? We visited some lovely college towns in PA. But without the college there wouldn't be much going on in the town in those cases.
Is that the same in some of these upstate NY towns?
ckhthankgod: In terms of how far upstate we'd go, I'm not a huge fan of very cold. But I'm a homebody and would be interested in visiting any place that matches what we are looking for and what we can afford.
Also we would be fine with a small town or village (under 7,000 or 5,000 pop and smaller). We don't need to live in a city if we can drive to one.
Glen Falls was on our list. So it's good to know we are on the right track!
Oneonta seems like it might be nice too!
College towns are great if there's artsyness(is that a word?!) beyond what just the college provides...does that make sense? We visited some lovely college towns in PA. But without the college there wouldn't be much going on in the town in those cases.
Is that the same in some of these upstate NY towns?
Yes. Absolutely. For about $850 I am sure you can buy an upstate city. Take Binghamton! Please. If you have $850 you probably have more money than the mayor and if you can count that high you certainly have more smarts than he does.
Other possible small towns are Naples (no college but still kinda artsy, very scenic, finger lakes area) and Angelica (artsy & beautiful, a bit isolated, no college but somewhat close to Alfred).
We found a place in Catskill NY for exactly $850 and are moving there. Plus there are great restaurants across the bridge in Hudson so it seems perfect for us.
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