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Originally Posted by lalito00
Thank you to all who chimed in, I appreciate the help.
I had to make a decision by today about moving and I decided against the move. The rental market in Ithaca is too chaotic for me. Too bad because it is beautiful there.
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I see that this is an old thread, but I will post for anyone with the same question. Do not come to Ithaca without a solid purpose to be here like a job offer or attending school. And once here, plan to have a way out.
The area is excellent for college students and married people with solid jobs. If you are single and not college age, you are in for a tough time.
There is no significant dating scene for 30+ singles who are not originally from the area. Also, there is an oversupply of super-educated, accomplished "trailing partners" who come with someone attending grad school or who has a professional job at the universities here.
These folks are underemployed, bored, and looked-down upon for their lowly status. Trust me, this cannot be overstated.
Ithaca City is surrounded by a sparsely populated that has not recovered from the recession and manufacturing-job loss of the last 40 years. There is a very small middle-class with few middle-class jobs. Lot's of interesting positions in the city are filled with educated, retired folks who volunteer, thereby eliminating paid positions. Artsy and cultural venues are few because there is not enough well-paid people in the area to support them. Lot's of restaurants and bars, few other options.
Ithaca is great for married people with jobs who want a place to raise their children. But those children will most definitely leave along with any other young person with some smarts and ambition. Ithaca is growing slowly, yet the surrounding rural area is emptying out, especially the Southern Tier.
My advice is come for school, maintain outside contacts and interests, and have a solid plan for a job elsewhere lined up well before your schooling ends.
The same advice goes for any other college town/city in the upstate area, like Binghamton, though the over-supply of talented people is acute in Ithaca.
Think very hard about advice you get from the Ithaca booster club you'll find on this site. They focus on opportunities that are few in number and are available to folks with very specific, high qualifications. And since they post frequently here, you'll get the impression that everyone is satisfied in the upstate NY area. Part of this is political - they're Democrats and don't like to criticize the Dems who are in power in Ithaca, Tompkins Co., and NY Gov's - and part of this is just plain elitism - they simply can't comprehend the situation of working people. BTW, I am a Democrat, so let's not start the conservative/liberal thing.
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