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Hello possibly soon to be fellow Yorkers & Gothamnites!
I am currently undergoing a big decision to finally move out of my home state (Oklahoma) and have decided on New York; hoping for a completely fresh start and a new life experience. I am in the process of attending a community college there for a while (Broome) due to affordability, and the fact that after 12 months and being integrated as a resident I will qualify for... *Stan Lee voice* Excelsior! Scholarship.
In all seriousness, what are your opinions on the area surrounding this Community College? I'm making this particular choice in downtown Binghamton due to apartment affordability. Is the area safe, especially when compared to other areas? What about the job prospects? (I'm currently looking into student/work but still) How would you describe the residents?
For anyone familiar with the area, is this a good decision overall? Any better options?
Broome CC (BCC) isn't in downtown Binghamton, just to make sure you know. If you don't have a car, you're going to have to look at bus schedules to see where you can live reasonably.
The neighborhood of the Town of Binghamton to the north of the CC, Port Dickinson, and other points north (Chenango Bridge, etc) are mostly fine. Small towns, not that poor, not that many crime problems I know of although I don't know them that well.
The City of Binghamton has good and bad areas.
For whatever reason, in Binghamton, the zoning map is pretty much a good proxy for crime problems. The R-3 (multi-unit) have significant crime issues, the R-1 doesn't. R-2 far from R-3 is typically your best bet for safe but still with reasonably priced housing.
If you have to live in/near R-3, smaller pockets of it have fewer problems than the bigger blobs of it.
You can also look at places like Johnson City, Vestal, etc. I am less familiar with them to offer specific recommendations.
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Safety is a topic open to debate. Crime rates aren't very good compared to most places.
On the other hand, there's thousands of college kids from the NYC area going to BU who have money, zero common sense, and who are sometimes walking home drunk who don't find themselves the victim of crime very often.
I feel it's best to say that (violent) crime in Binghamton is rarely random and is intensely localized, as are poverty and wealth. For an example: At the southern end of Murray Street, you have little old ladies walking to synagogue by themselves, expensive homes, and white collar professionals. 5 blocks (10-15min walk) north of that at North Street you have frequent crime problems and visible gang members can be seen roaming about on a regular basis. In between the two, you've got a bunch of college students and average people. Somehow they all mostly stay in their little areas.
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Regarding work/people:
The local job market is not very good. That doesn't mean it's impossible to find a job, but it's certainly worse than average. I don't know if you have any useful skills or if you're looking for menial work to offer more advice. Keep in mind if you are getting an on-campus job that I believe you'll be capped at 29hrs/week maximum for those jobs.
There's a lot more young people than there would otherwise be (at least 9 months a year) in an economically depressed and fairly isolated (by Northeast standards) small city thanks to the large university. I don't know your age, but if you're also 18-25 or so you'll see a lot of similar aged faces at establishments around town. And the downtown's been lifted up a good bit by them. The downside is once you get past grad student age, few of them stay even if they want to because of the economic situation.
Ithaca is also about an hour away and is a very nice small city full of young people and with a better economic state.
Binghamton NY area is a stable economy, plenty of jobs exist in the service sector, but expect them to be minimum wage based. ($9.70 actual minimum wage to $14-15/he). If you have work history and skills, you'll get closer to the$15. Warehousing jobs will also earn you more towards the$15 end.
Most of Binghamton's crime is caused by NYC transplants or NYC gang bangers or NYC drug dealers. If you avoid the areas they live/frequent you'll been safe.
Check out Endicott endwell and Johnson City, and Vestal. Vestal Is a large portion Tony neighborhoods and is where I live. My house is a 2 br 1 ba ranch. Housing costs are fairly stable too. You may be able to buy if you have means and you'll at least get what you paid for out of it. Growth in value may only come if you Impove it. But the market is stable.
If you go to SUNY Broome for two years, check out what associate degree will transfer to Binghamton University. SUNY B used to be called Broome Community college, or BCC for short. BU has many major fields of study and is at the Vestal/Binghamton border.
Student housing exists for for both colleges and can be expensive.
There is the BC transit buses, which go just about anywhere near those above mentioned towns comprising the Greater Binghamton area taking you anywhere you need to go, most running every half hour. BU has blue buses too to get students around. They are all safe to ride and if you get a monthly pass you save money. If you want to go by bus to other NY areas, the downtown bus station is right to the Greyhound, Shortline/ capital Trailways buses.
If you want specific questions answered, private message me here, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
I just moved here 7 weeks ago for a job. The median income is below national average, then add state income and Country tax you loose 16 to 20% right off the top. As a student rent is easy and reasonable as long as you can live with 2-4 roommates. (About 400 to 500 per month in a safe area and a tone of options available. I struggled to find a 4 bedroom house that didn't want to rent each bedroom separately. Overall I am not sorry I made the move. It's a nice place with sections of low income which creates crime as all cities have. Having come from a place with no income tax or sales tax loosening Half of your incentive to come here is tough to swallow. Not Binghamton's fault. I would look at surrounding towns like Vestal or Johnson City and you can thrive if you have good morals and ethics. Best of luck, no matter where you end up.
Hello possibly soon to be fellow Yorkers & Gothamnites!
I am currently undergoing a big decision to finally move out of my home state (Oklahoma) and have decided on New York; hoping for a completely fresh start and a new life experience. I am in the process of attending a community college there for a while (Broome) due to affordability, and the fact that after 12 months and being integrated as a resident I will qualify for... *Stan Lee voice* Excelsior! Scholarship.
In all seriousness, what are your opinions on the area surrounding this Community College? I'm making this particular choice in downtown Binghamton due to apartment affordability. Is the area safe, especially when compared to other areas? What about the job prospects? (I'm currently looking into student/work but still) How would you describe the residents?
For anyone familiar with the area, is this a good decision overall? Any better options?
Hello and welcome to my home state of NY! I trust you will find it welcoming. It is very beautiful - you have mountains, lakes, the Atlantic Ocean (about three hours from Bing) large cities and quaint small towns at your disposal. Please enjoy everything!
My husband obtained his masters degree from The University at Binghamton. Which is actually in Vestal. We rented a house there. Because of the SUNY (State University of NY) college, and Broome, there are many rentals. However, I would not suggest the city of Binnghampton. I'd suggest Vestal.
Down town B'hamton is not terribly desirable. I think you should focus on Vestal - not Bing.
Defiantly complete your bachelors at Binghamton. Great school!
I just moved here 7 weeks ago for a job. The median income is below national average, then add state income and Country tax you loose 16 to 20% right off the top. As a student rent is easy and reasonable as long as you can live with 2-4 roommates. (About 400 to 500 per month in a safe area and a tone of options available. I struggled to find a 4 bedroom house that didn't want to rent each bedroom separately. Overall I am not sorry I made the move. It's a nice place with sections of low income which creates crime as all cities have. Having come from a place with no income tax or sales tax loosening Half of your incentive to come here is tough to swallow. Not Binghamton's fault. I would look at surrounding towns like Vestal or Johnson City and you can thrive if you have good morals and ethics. Best of luck, no matter where you end up.
The area's low overall cost of living may play a part in this, as housing is much lower than the national average as well.
I believe that Downtown Binghamton has had some development and has some areas within it with nightlife, as mentioned in the thread Wells5 posted.
I was down in Broome County over the weekend to watch the Dicks Golf Tournament. Stayed in Johnson City near the mall. Pretty area, lots of shopping, nice people, easy living. Location has access to a lot of NY or Pensyvannia. I live in the beehive of Staten Island, found this area very refreshing.Cost of living is good for NY State. Good luck...
Did you effect the move to Binghamton NY, and how did you find it IF you did?
If not, why did you decide against it?
Enquiring minds want to know...
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