Is the Plattsburgh area the best kept secret in NY State? (New York: rental market, neighborhoods)
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I want to tack on to this thread in case any one in the future is considering Plattsburgh and wants an honest review. I've lived in Plattsburgh for 8 years now.
Quite honestly, it's a dump. The airport does have nonstop flights to Florida, and they're adding a new daily flight to DC/Dulles. Housing is fairly cheap, but the property/school taxes are crazy. Expect to pay around $6000-7000 a year in taxes in the cities (Plattsburgh, Rouses Point). The suburbs are cheaper (around $5000/year) but don't have cheap electricity. Also keep in mind this is for a standard ~$170,000 house; expect to pay even more if you want bigger.
The summer time is great, the lake is awesome. Unfortunately summer is extremely short. Winter starts around the final week of October and stick around until the last week of April. It's usually very windy during most of the winter months, which makes the real temperature way colder. It's also cloudy most of the year.
Do yourself a favor and come to Plattsburgh between November and April; do not come in the summer. Drive through downtown. Then cross the ferry and go to Burlington, and see the difference.
I think the taxes are/may be higher in both of those places due to having lower electric rates, in which both places are NYPA communities and you may see this in other such communities across the state:
Housing is fairly cheap, but the property/school taxes are crazy. Expect to pay around $6000-7000 a year in taxes in the cities (Plattsburgh, Rouses Point). The suburbs are cheaper (around $5000/year) but don't have cheap electricity. Also keep in mind this is for a standard ~$170,000 house; expect to pay even more if you want bigger.
So you are telling me that a city with a median house price of $325,000 is less dumpy than a city with a median house price of $170,000?
For comparison,
an average house in Plattsburgh is $175,000 and has an annual tax burden of $3,600 (tax rate 2.05%)
an average house in Burlington is $325,000 and has an annual tax burden of $5,500 (tax rate 1.67%)
Burlington may be nicer, but you will pay for it up front, and while the tax rate is lower, the values are higher, so you will still be forking over a pretty good sum every year.
So, the information in the first post of this thread is not correct?
Some of it isn't. Sure there's a couple new restaurants opening, but there's also plenty closing that aren't mentioned. The downtown grant has been around for a year now and they've made little progress. All they've proposed is eliminating the one big parking lot we have (which they found was 80% full most of the day) and replacing it with paid on-street parking. It would make parking anywhere around downtown super difficult.
It's proximity to Montreal is good; the local hospitals and other health providers get a nice influx of new doctors and dentists from Mcgill University. The Quebec Canadians flock to Plattsburgh every weekend to shop, which brings me to my next part- the airport. The airport strictly caters to the Quebec Canadians, who mainly vacation to Florida. Burlington Airport is a fairly quick drive across the lake and has regular legacy carries to major regional airports. I travel a lot for work and have never flown out of Plattsburgh, only Burlington. For personal vacations I fly out of Albany or Boston.
The city beach (free for Plattsburgh city and town residents) is perfectly nice, but is constantly closed because of algae outbreaks and high e-coli levels. Also, you can really only swim in July and August, the rest of the year is too cold.
I honestly don't think the cost of living is all that great. Very high school and property taxes tack an extra $400-500/month on to your mortgage. I have a coworker who lives in the city of Plattsburgh who pays $1,000 a month in taxes on a $225,000 house. Heating costs are a killer, since most of the region relies on heating oil. We also pay about 20 cents more for gasoline than the rest of the state and 30-40 cents more than Vermont.
Job prospects are good here for the manufacturing industry with the titanium plant coming. Otherwise the only industries are government (state/federal law enforcement) and minimum wage jobs. It's very hard to get a job around here without knowing someone. My wife had a masters degree and was working at Old Navy for $8/hr for 3 years, before she finally found a job in her career field (and it's in Vermont).
The weather is the biggest factor, it's grey, it's cold, and it's miserable most of the year. The long winters just beat you down.
Is it a horrible place to live? No. Is it the best kept secret in New York State? Absolutely not. If it was that good, people like myself wouldn't actively be seeking to go someplace else.
Some of it isn't. Sure there's a couple new restaurants opening, but there's also plenty closing that aren't mentioned. The downtown grant has been around for a year now and they've made little progress. All they've proposed is eliminating the one big parking lot we have (which they found was 80% full most of the day) and replacing it with paid on-street parking. It would make parking anywhere around downtown super difficult.
It's proximity to Montreal is good; the local hospitals and other health providers get a nice influx of new doctors and dentists from Mcgill University. The Quebec Canadians flock to Plattsburgh every weekend to shop, which brings me to my next part- the airport. The airport strictly caters to the Quebec Canadians, who mainly vacation to Florida. Burlington Airport is a fairly quick drive across the lake and has regular legacy carries to major regional airports. I travel a lot for work and have never flown out of Plattsburgh, only Burlington. For personal vacations I fly out of Albany or Boston.
The city beach (free for Plattsburgh city and town residents) is perfectly nice, but is constantly closed because of algae outbreaks and high e-coli levels. Also, you can really only swim in July and August, the rest of the year is too cold.
I honestly don't think the cost of living is all that great. Very high school and property taxes tack an extra $400-500/month on to your mortgage. I have a coworker who lives in the city of Plattsburgh who pays $1,000 a month in taxes on a $225,000 house. Heating costs are a killer, since most of the region relies on heating oil. We also pay about 20 cents more for gasoline than the rest of the state and 30-40 cents more than Vermont.
Job prospects are good here for the manufacturing industry with the titanium plant coming. Otherwise the only industries are government (state/federal law enforcement) and minimum wage jobs. It's very hard to get a job around here without knowing someone. My wife had a masters degree and was working at Old Navy for $8/hr for 3 years, before she finally found a job in her career field (and it's in Vermont).
The weather is the biggest factor, it's grey, it's cold, and it's miserable most of the year. The long winters just beat you down.
Is it a horrible place to live? No. Is it the best kept secret in New York State? Absolutely not. If it was that good, people like myself wouldn't actively be seeking to go someplace else.
Then, can you explain why the area actually saw a population increase in the last official census and why there appears to be job growth in manufacturing in the area? Many jobs that people get are due to knowing someone, regardless of the area, if we are going to be honest.
Also, I notice that VT is being mentioned a lot in these North Country threads, but it is more expensive in terms of overall cost of living. So, you just get hit harder in different aspects.
Then, can you explain why the area actually saw a population increase in the last official census and why there appears to be job growth in manufacturing in the area? Many jobs that people get are due to knowing someone, regardless of the area, if we are going to be honest.
Also, I notice that VT is being mentioned a lot in these North Country threads, but it is more expensive in terms of overall cost of living. So, you just get hit harder in different aspects.
Without a doubt, manufacturing jobs are increasing. As far as population increase, I wonder if it’s the VT cost of living you mentioned. I know plenty of people live in NY but work in VT, because they can get an apartment for 1/3 of the cost of Burlington. The last census was 8 years ago, so I’d be interested to see numbers from the next one. New York State as a whole had been losing people steadily.
Of course none of the articles will mention it, but the City of Plattsburgh is in serious financial trouble. Chronic overspending has led to a major deficit, and even with layoffs they haven’t figured a way to cut spending enough. They had a large tax increase a couple of years ago, and I suspect another one is coming in the very near future. Most of the retail stores, the airport, and the new manufacturing companies are all located within the Town of Plattsburgh.
Without a doubt, manufacturing jobs are increasing. As far as population increase, I wonder if it’s the VT cost of living you mentioned. I know plenty of people live in NY but work in VT, because they can get an apartment for 1/3 of the cost of Burlington. The last census was 8 years ago, so I’d be interested to see numbers from the next one. New York State as a whole had been losing people steadily.
Of course none of the articles will mention it, but the City of Plattsburgh is in serious financial trouble. Chronic overspending has led to a major deficit, and even with layoffs they haven’t figured a way to cut spending enough. They had a large tax increase a couple of years ago, and I suspect another one is coming in the very near future. Most of the retail stores, the airport, and the new manufacturing companies are all located within the Town of Plattsburgh.
I actually posted an article earlier in the thread about the mayor being caught on camera unknowingly talking about the city and town of Plattsburgh should consolidate. However, he backtracked from that statement. So, it will be interesting to see what happens in that regard.
I did know about people taking the ferry or driving to VT for work, but living in the Plattsburgh area. It makes sense for some given the differences in COL.
NY State isn’t losing people due to immigration and births. In terms of the Plattsburgh area, it appears to have slight population loss according to recent estimates(key word). According to this source, it shows a 2.42% population increase between 2000-2014: Clinton County, NY - USA.com™
Even that is according to estimates, which has varied depending on census source(look at a thread in the Buffalo forum as an example). Given what happened last decade in terms of population underestimation, I think we may have to wait until the official census in 2020 to be sure.
To bring back on track with the Plattsburgh area, since the turn of the 20th century, Clinton County has only had population loss in 3 official censuses(1920(-9%), 1950(-.7%) and 2000(-7.1%)). Keep in mind that Plattsburgh AFB closed in 1994 and likely played a big part in that last official loss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinto...k#Demographics
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