"Downtown" districts in the Finger Lakes (Rochester, Syracuse: for sale, apartment)
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Flood risk was greatly diminished since 1972 as Tioga, Hammond, and Cowanesque flood control reservoirs were constructed since then upstream. Disastrous flooding in the Cowanesque watershed in 2021 passed without notice in Corning.
Objectively Corning is less isolated than Ithaca, being on the interstate and sharing an airport and C-level big box shopping area with Elmira. If you need the Apple store the high end shopping of suburban Rochester is a quick zip up the interstate. Since the community is business-based rather than university-based, it's politically much different from Ithaca, more balanced if you stick to the Corning/Painted Post zips. Further out in Steuben County the precincts are just as ruby red as in adjoining northcentral PA.
There is some career-based exchange of population between Corning and the glass towns of western Pennsylvania, so you might not get quite as blank a look mentioning PA there as you would further north in the FLX.
It's honestly amazing how many appealing options there are to choose from. So far here's what I'm thinking (and of course these opinions may change after I spend time in each place this coming summer.)
City of Canandaigua: Love that it's right on one of the cleaner finger lakes, awesome location between Keuka and Rochester plus close to Geneva. Some cool historic homes and buildings. Has a Wegmans grocery store. Worry that the downtown area will not be quite enough for me and that living there would feel more suburban than what I'm looking for.
Geneva: Right on the lake, the row homes look magical, looks more like a real city with some soul as opposed to some of these downtown areas that almost just exist for tourists and travel vloggers. Has Wegmans. There is some info online claiming crime is a problem but something tells me this is exaggerated or inaccurate.
Auburn: Looks like more of a real city with heart. Has a Wegmans. History and cool older buildings. Not right on a clean lake, however only a 15 min drive to Skaneateles Lake. Worry that Auburn has an undeserved reputation for being less desirable, this only concerns me in terms of resale.
Skaneateles: I would feel very safe. Being right on the cleanest Finger Lake would be amazing for me. It's obviously a very beautiful setting, but it might lack a certain realness. The Dickens thing at Christmastime would make me happy, I love goofy stuff like that. I think the people who live in Skaneateles seem polite. However, some of the tourists freak me out. Super-rich people can be frighteningly awful. Also worry that the downtown is too small to be interesting long term.
Ithaca: The setting just looks... joyful to me. When I watch the youtube videos about Ithaca I find myself sitting here with a huge smile on my face. The diversity is beautiful. It seems like a place where I could be myself and not stand out as all that eccentric. Two biggest concerns about Ithaca are: I am not quite buying that Cayuga Lake is clean and there are too many college kids in Ithaca. However, I'm thinking maybe the specific colleges there might attract a better class of students? I would absolutely hate being around drunk fraternity / sorority types but I'd actually enjoy being around weird, nerdy college students, even hipster types would be fine.
Corning: Downtown area looks nice, maybe a little too small, not sure. Love the pedestrian bridge over the river. Wegmans. Half hour to Hammondsport to get into the Finger Lake I know and love best, Keuka. Looks like a pretty setting, more "hilly" than other options. To me Corning looks like an oasis in a desert - like a little section of civilization surrounded by very rural, secluded areas. I might prefer to be in an area of civilization surrounded by more civilization. (Please understand when I say this I have been living in rural and remote parts of FL for a long time. I am not trying to badmouth rural places, I'm just looking for something different now.)
So, those are the main locations I'm considering. Also open to some of the smaller Finger Lakes towns, hamlets, and villages that have downtowns but I predict ultimately I'll choose one of the options above.
From the article: "Alongside places like Brazil, Australia, Disney World, and even Outer Space, one beautiful Upstate New York region was named one of the top places to visit in the new year.
TRAVEL + LEISURE magazine has released their list of “The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2022,” including hometown favorites and far away dream destinations. Only one place in New York state made the list: the Finger Lakes."
We'll be back in NY June-Sept. Hoping to make a final decision on which Finger Lakes town to relocate to. Last year we spent time in Canandaigua, Auburn, and Skaneateles. We'll return to each of those for sure, but more importantly we need to check out Geneva, Corning, and Ithaca (didn't get to them last trip.)
We booked a rental on Keuka Lake for one month. Seriously considering "winging it" for the other 3 months, meaning spontaneously traveling between the various towns and staying in hotels / inns. So if anyone has hotel recommendations for any of the following towns I'd love to know your suggestions: Canandaigua, Geneva, Auburn, Skaneateles, Corning, Ithaca.
I was thinking maybe the Radisson in Corning because it's right next to the downtown area. For Geneva maybe Belhurst Castle. Gotta do a couple nights at Mirbeau in Skaneateles but it's quite pricey so we'll need to find another more affordable place for a longer stay. If anyone's familiar with any of the hotels I mentioned please let me know your opinion and I'm also looking for more lodging suggestions. Thanks!
Geneva has a lakefront hotel and a Hampton Inn within walking distance to Downtown, with some others on the outer edge of the city along Route 20 and not too far from the Hobart/William Smith campus.
We'll be back in NY June-Sept. Hoping to make a final decision on which Finger Lakes town to relocate to. Last year we spent time in Canandaigua, Auburn, and Skaneateles. We'll return to each of those for sure, but more importantly we need to check out Geneva, Corning, and Ithaca (didn't get to them last trip.)
We booked a rental on Keuka Lake for one month. Seriously considering "winging it" for the other 3 months, meaning spontaneously traveling between the various towns and staying in hotels / inns. So if anyone has hotel recommendations for any of the following towns I'd love to know your suggestions: Canandaigua, Geneva, Auburn, Skaneateles, Corning, Ithaca.
I was thinking maybe the Radisson in Corning because it's right next to the downtown area. For Geneva maybe Belhurst Castle. Gotta do a couple nights at Mirbeau in Skaneateles but it's quite pricey so we'll need to find another more affordable place for a longer stay. If anyone's familiar with any of the hotels I mentioned please let me know your opinion and I'm also looking for more lodging suggestions. Thanks!
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