Is Syracuse "midwestern friendly" or "northeastern rat race"? (New York: lease, home)
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This is a long post, but I'm seriously looking for a life change and I'm looking to do it in the next 3-5 months. I currently live in South Jersey, near Atlantic City, but I'm not a long time resident of this area. As time goes on, I'm hating this area more and more. Unemployment is currently at 12% and the people are anything but friendly around here. Yes, there are friendlier people in the NYC metro, if you can believe it. I am absolutely leaving here when my lease ends this winter.
I recently took a trip to Pittsburgh and I was blown away by the "midwestern friendly" people that I met. I was tempted to put down roots there, except I cannot keep the job that I currently have in Pittsburgh. Huge downside. However, I am still seeking that Midwestern friendliness that I experienced out there. I am a 34 year old divorced SWM who would like to one day also meet a future wife and have kids. The women in Pittsburgh seemed far more down to earth and approachable than women here, who many of them even in their 30's act like Snooki. I sh*t you not. I'm not turning this into a bashing thread in any way, because both men and women here are pretty despicable. This whole area revolves around the casinos and the money hungry, hard partying hordes that frequent them. Not my scene.
My question is: Is this Midwestern friendliness present in Syracuse? I considered Albany initially due to the distance back to NJ, but Albany seemed to be, although nicer than here, lets just say Northeastern in feel. New England, a bit cold. I know Buffalo and Rochester are Midwestern in feel, but I cannot live that far out. I'm really trying to escape the NYC/Long Island/Philly/NJ sphere of influence and I'm wondering if Syracuse is far enough away to not be sucked into this black hole.
The obvious upside of Syracuse as well is the cost of living. Also, I don't mind snow or cold weather and have a 4wd truck so I have no issue with that. I'm mostly hoping that the people are similar to the people I met in Pittsburgh.
I'd say you are safe from the rat race and people are friendly around here, for the mot part. Traffic isn't bad at all and it is probably the most affordable of the Upstate NY major metros(Buffalo is close or about the same). It's probably similar to Pittsburgh in terms of landscape too(hills/valleys).
I'd say it's a comfortable hybrid of both. Midwestern-friendly meets straightforward (but without contentiousness.) Definitely not any kind of rat race.
I'm happy to hear that Syracuse is more like Pittsburgh than NYC or Philly! So, I'm assuming that the New England/NYC attitude of weariness of strangers is not as prevalent in Syracuse. Do people approach other people easily in SYR? I guess what I'm asking is: if you go up to the average person in Syracuse and start a conversation with them, would they be off-put or accepting of talking to you? I noticed in PGH that talking to people was extremely easy and people actually looked forward to having a conversation with you, especially if it revolves around the Steelers :-) They seemed open, laid back, and friendly. I'm definitely looking to live in a place like that.
If you try this around here, most people will think you have an alternate agenda and ignore you, or try and start a fight with you.
My other question is: Does Syracuse lean toward Buffalo in sports (Bills, Sabres) or NYC (Giants, Jets, Rangers)? Are you guys rooting for the Phillies or the Yankees? Just curious.
You can absolutely pick up a conversation with most people. My born-and-bred NYC metro godfather was horrified, while visiting, as I picked an embarrassing number of fallen hairs from a woman's black wool coat in the checkout line in the grocery store. I told her first. :P He was shocked that she wasn't offended. But really, I know how annoying it is to have long hair and an unreachable/unnoticeable spot of them collecting... no one wants to unknowingly walk around with that. lol
The sports are pretty well split in all directions. I'd say the majority split is between the Jets, Bills and Giants. Increasingly, the Patriots... but there are a lot of people who grew up in New England here and just can't let go of their home team. Not that I blame them.
I've always thought Syracuse was a hybrid of the midwest and northeast, almost a confluence of these these two distinct regions and cultures, if you will. The regional dialect is consistent with midwestern english (ie. Great Lakes cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo, and Rochester). The only difference is Syracusans say "soda" instead of "pop" which is common in western New York. Having lived in both the Syracuse area and Westchester County / New York City, Central New Yorkers compared with their midwestern counterparts are more direct and as "Proulxfamily" says, "tell-it-like-it-is." Compared with New York, Philadelphia, and New England, people in this area are more approachable, down-to-earth and genuine. Unfortunately, we have our share of Snookies (mostly in the northern suburbs and Solvay), however far fewer than most northeast metros. As someone who lives in the NYC area, I'm in full agreement with your characterization of south Jersey as this mentality is pervasive along most of the corridor from Philadelphia to Providence.
I remember leaving work in downtown Syracuse at around 5:30 on a winter night, an old woman walking nearby turned toward me and remarked how slippery the street was. Being an aloof New Yorker with my guard up, I initially said to myself why is this person talking to me. I then realized that I was in Syracuse and not Manhattan where people would step over a dead person to get past the subway turnstyle. Don't get me wrong, as in every area, Syracuse has rude people with a chip on their shoulder, however I found this to be less common.
Syracuse, and Upstate NY in general has extremely nice people. I have never been to Pittsburgh even though I would love to visit it someday, but from what you describe we have about the same type of people here. People are always willing to talk to each other, while given there are a snotty few, but even the wealthy people here are down to earth and in my opinion dont flaunt their wealth. I have a hard time saying the same about some Rochester people (stay away from the suburb of Pittsford there). The person who said Syracuse looked similair to Pitt was absolutely right, I have seen pictures of the city there and it looks very similair to the hills & valleys in Syracuse. Have you had a chance to visit Syracuse? If yes, did you like what you saw? I know the people on this forum would be more than willing to help you explore the area.
As far as sports, if you move here, expect to become an Orange fan. Here, we live & breathe SU. Basketball especially, since we haved one of the greatest programs in history, but give it a few years and our football team will be right back up there. Buffalo Bills and the Giants are big here. My dad is a big Giants fan yet im a Bills fan. The Jets & Patriots you see a little bit. Cuse is a Yankees town. The mets & red sox have fans here too but anywhere yo go you'll see mostly 2 thing: SU Orange, & and the Yankees.
Economically, Syracuse is doing the best it can to withstand the recession, and our local economy is greatly improving. Just today new numbers came out showing the region has gained more than 900 jobs overall in the past month or so. This is certainly good news.
I'm a college student from Syracuse and rebuilding its economy here is obviously extremely important. I plan to stay in the area for the rest of my life, because I believe there is so much potential here. I hope you learn to love Syracuse as much as I do.
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(Also without the traffic.)
