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Hi...is there anyone here that can give me thier opinion on the town of Williamson? It looks like a very nice, rural, green, safe and family friendly town. What would be the nearest big city for shopping, work etc? Any information on the schools?
Thanks so much..
Terri in Ca>>Hoping to find 'Mayberry'.
Williamson is about 35 minutes outside of Rochester. It is a beautiful town that is very close to Lake Ontario. My sister and brother in-law have a weekend place in Wolcott on Port Bay, which is close to Williamson. Gets a ton of snow durring winter; but Western NY is arguably one of the most beautiful places you'll see durring late spring, summer, and fall. Property taxes are pretty high; but houses are VERY affordable, especially if you are coming from California.
Thanks so much for the reply! So would you say that the closest shopping would be Rochester? Any local grocery stores for quick trips? I have been reading here that Rochester is having a lot of gang activity and violence? Do you know this to be true? About the snow...are the roads cleared for the most part? About how many inches of snow, and for how long does the 'snow season' last? Sorry to sound ignorant, but where I live we have never had snow. Maybe twice we have had drizzle that we pretended was snow! Didn't even stick. I am just wondering how we would deal with the kids getting to school, and hubby getting to work etc.
I really appreciate all of the information! It is really hard to figure all of this out from so far away!!
Crime in Rochester is a problem pretty much exclusive to certain neighborhoods in the inner-city (The Northeast and Southwest quadrants mostly). There are still many nice neighborhoods in the city that have low crime, and nice urban ammenities. Crime isn't really an issue in Williamson or any of Wayne County really. Not to mention that Williamson is a good 20 miles away from the city of Rochester. Close enough to be able to go shopping, dine out, have some city culture etc.; but far enough away to not be near the crime. Snow season lasts in WNY from around late October to mid-March. Usually about 90 inches a year. That sounds like a lot, and it is; but the snow is almost never really a problem. The towns and cities in upstate NY have some of the best snow removal systems in the country. Roads are usually cleared within a few hours of a big snowfall, and schools and business rarely close because of the weather.
Sorry I'm so late on this. Wayne County is a lovely place, and the crime issue isn't such a big deal. The City of Rochester is doing quite a bit to contain and suppress crime and gang activity, and I see a marked improvement this year in overall violent crime rates. However, Williamson is a good distance, and you shouldn't have trouble.
My sister and brother-in-law live up on the lake in East Williamson, a few miles from the Sodus town line, and they love it. We are thinking of heading out that way ourselves.
Taxes aren't so bad compared to the more expensive Rochester suburbs.
I live in the city of Rochester now, in one of those peaceful communities mentioned before, but I am thinking I would like a bit more quiet. For three and a half years I pastored a church in Caledonia, to the west of Rochester about the same distance as Williamson, and I loved it.
Williamson, NY is a rural community located about 40 minutes from Rochester, NY in WayneCounty. It is made up of Williamson (proper), East Williamson, and Pultneyville. Historically, it is one of the towns which helped with the Underground Railroad; and it was founded in 1802.
Every year, mid-may, Williamson holds its annual Apple Blossom Festival which is a big event each year having a different theme, and drawing people to attend from surrounding counties as well. I've lived there many years and though it has always had that small town atmosphere, every year I see more and more new faces.
As for the schools, Williamson has a great school system. There is Williamson Elementary which houses the Hand-in-Hand Program which is run by the Roosevelt Children’s Center of Newark. There is also an UPK program, offering both morning and afternoon sessions. They offer a full day Kindergarten, and also house grades 1st through 4th grade. The school offers special services for children such as a reading incentive program, Project TRY (an early intervention program designed to identify and eliminate the stumbling blocks to learning so that the child can have a positive school experience.) In addition, if your child has special needs; Williamson Elementary has programs for Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and music therapy. As well as field trips to local places and other kid-friendly events right at the school.
Williamson also has a Cooperative Nursery School. In addition, there is a pre-k program at the BOCES Center located on Ridge Road. All these programs fill up fast so sign up well ahead of time but if you're not too time-conscious don't worry the next town over, Ontario has an excellent pre-school called Hop, Skip and Jump which offers 2 & 3 day options in the morning and afternoon for 3 + 4 year olds as well as being a satellite site for the UPK program for Ontario. Their teaching staff is phenomenal.
The Williamson Middle School has grades 5 through 8 and offers many sports, and extracurricular clubs and activities. High School is grades 9-12 and offers the standard core with extras in music, art, technology, computers and business. They have an excellent French and Spanish language program as well as advanced placement courses in art, bio, calc, chem., English, European history, and stats. In addition, they offer various dual high school/college credit courses through FLCC (Finger Lakes Community College).
Williamson also has an excellent Recreation Committee which runs seasonal sports programs for youth at inexpensive prices including baseball, softball, pee wee wrestling, basketball and both indoor soccer (in winter) and summer soccer. Other programs include Old Timers Basketball (men 30 +), Lacrosse (grades 3-8), Women's Volleyball (age 19 +), and bowling (grades 4-12).
Williamson also offers a summer camp for kids entering Kindergarten through 6th grades offered each summer. Each week has a different theme. Extended -day options are available for working parents and snacks are provided. You send them in with a bag lunch, water bottle, sunscreen, swim suit and towel. They do the rest, and they have a different field trip each week which is already included in the cost of the tuition.
As for businesses, Williamson has many within its boundaries though it doesn't seem like it as you drive through on route 104. There are 4-5 car dealerships, antique shops, a couple overpriced gas stations, Spencer Speedway (holding Stock and Drag Races) on Friday and Saturday nights, an Archery Shop and indoor 3D range, 6 farm markets, Mark's Pizzeria, a winery, animal hospital, Gus's Family Restaurant, Orbaker's Drive-In, The Original Candy Kitchen (family restaurant since 1890), and the Pultneyville Grill, a professional photography studio, a B & B, car wash, Laundromat, Dollar General, ice cream shop, Williamson Hardware, Lumber company, nudist resort, *** Sool Won Korean Martial Arts studio, liquor store, 4-5 mechanic repair shops, an IGA (grocery store), 3 marinas, 2 spa/therapeutic service centers, 2 gift shops, a florist, computer geek store guy, 3 insurance agencies, couple hair salons, 5 different churches, small airport, dental office, Williamson conservation & sporting club ( gun club, skeet, trap, sporting clays, rifle & pistol range), as well as others i've probably forgotten.
Williamson has a fabulous library which hosts events throughout the year such as children’s' activities like toddler story time, lectures, and guest speakers for adults, a summer concert series, free movie nights for kids and teens (popcorn & drinks included) and luncheon programs on the third Wednesday of the month from January to May and September to November at noon. The programs feature speakers on topics of interest and are free and open to the public.
Rochester is the nearest larger city, and has some crime areas (certain neighborhoods) but the city has been doing much with more cops on the streets, neighborhood prevention programs, a city-wide curfew, grassroots programs, and getting residents involved in what's going on around them. Rochester has also been working on revitalizing run-down areas and has a cool, historic (103 years old) public market. The Public Market is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 5:00 a.m. to 3 p.m., year-round. The Market is open additional hours before and after holidays and on special occasions. Williamson is roughly about 23 miles from Rochester, though jumping on route 104 to head to the city, its 55 mph quick and you're right there.
I've lived all over the country. As for climate, it's green and beautiful with lots of shade and Christmas-type trees, back roads winding through rolling hills and fields, little creeks, and streams all over. Salmon Creek is the big one in Williamson. There are lots of farm houses, colonials, Victorians and ranches all scattered around; some apartments - most are either duplexes or single family homes turned apartment. Williamson proper is 5 miles from LakeOntario, and 2 hours drive from Niagara Falls. We have the beautiful green landscape that the east coast is known for without all the rain some places have.
As for weather, it starts getting hot end of May and summer temps range from mid 80's to the low 100's through until mid-September during the days, though nights can go down to high 50's and mid-60's. Every year it seems to get warmer earlier. Everyone hears upstate NY and wants to know about snow - Well when I was a kid, 30 years ago, we got a decent amount, 4-6 feet every winter and sometimes more, - fun for snowmen, sledding, snowmobiling, skiing and snowboarding or anything else you might want to do with it. But every year the snow gets less and less. It can start as early as Halloween but usually you can count on snow for Thanksgiving or the week after. The past 10 years the snow has been sporadic and not as much overall as we are traditionally used to, 3-4 feet is now a big deal. And come March it all starts melting so by April it's all gone away again. They use salt on the roads and driving in it is like driving in any adverse conditions; if you slow down, think rationally, don't be a show off and use your turn signals - you'll be fine.
I've probably rambled on longer than anyone wanted. Well, hope this answers questions for whomever out there is wondering about Williamson. Take care.
~ I can see this was posted 5 yrs ago. Williamson is a absolutely BEAUTIFUL place to live! Lived
there for 2 yrs Til I had to move out of state. Webster is much expanded place where you can basically find anything you need. As someone who had to move, I miss the 'down home' country feel & low crime rate of this little Mayberry! Winters last very long, not going to lie, but they don't have a lot of storms, just softly falling snow~ Gemstone of a town & just a lovely place to raise a family~
Well, I can tell you that was what it was like when I lived there. The snow there is NOTHING compard to Boston. Boston has very fierce, 'NorEasters' when a cold front from Canada collides with the warm winds from Mexico & it's weather soup! & Much worse than anything I experienced in UpState, Ny. Just 2 winters ago, I had could only use the back door because the snow drift in the front of the house covered the door completely. Took me many hours to dig myself out & I can say I never had that problem in Ny. Ny has TONS & TONS of snow & the winters last very long [longer than Boston] but they don't get the FIERCE high winds WITH the snow that Boston gets. Of course in Mass, the snow doesn't last nearly as long [thank God!] So I guess it's all on how you look at it. Long winters with constant cloud cover [if you're near Lake Ontario] can be very depressing but on the other hand the culture there & pace of life is VERY SLOW & the ppl down to earth. The people there aren't NEARLY as INTENSE & no one measures your human value by what kind of car you drive, house you live in ect. ect.[the people there aren't nearly as desperate & insecure] Anyway, I think if I could move back I would~ I miss the low stress & no traffic
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About Williamson
Well, I can tell you that was what it was like when I lived there. The snow there is NOTHING compard to Boston. Boston has very fierce, 'NorEasters' when a cold front from Canada collides with the warm winds from Mexico & it's weather soup! & Much worse than anything I experienced in UpState, Ny. Just 2 winters ago, I had could only use the back door because the snow drift in the front of the house covered the door completely. Took me many hours to dig myself out & I can say I never had that problem in Ny. Ny has TONS & TONS of snow & the winters last very long [longer than Boston] but they don't get the FIERCE high winds WITH the snow that Boston gets. Of course in Mass, the snow doesn't last nearly as long [thank God!] So I guess it's all on how you look at it. Long winters with constant cloud cover [if you're near Lake Ontario] can be very depressing but on the other hand the culture there & pace of life is VERY SLOW & the ppl down to earth. The people there aren't NEARLY as INTENSE & no one measures your human value by what kind of car you drive, house you live in ect. ect.[the people there aren't nearly as desperate & insecure] Anyway, I think if I could move back I would~ I miss the low stress & no traffic
