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My husband and I have a 4 year old son and we plan to visit Syracuse in October. We started browisng Exit Realty online for homes that are extremely affordable at $175,000 and under. We live in Queens, NYC, but living costs are crazy ....We are trying to find out about the Syracuse area (or surrounding areas) in hopes of being in a good community. We also wanted to know of any farms we can go Apple Picking while we visit?
Our other concerns are where the people in the community our age (26 years old)? I currently work in the social service field and want to know of a good location to continue employment-I make $35,000 a year now. My husband works airport Homeland Security and we have similar yearly salaries.....Any help with our inquiries on family friendly neighborhoods, employment, getting around (any railroads/trains/buses), children entertainment? Thanks, Minty : )
As far as Appl picking, you are in the right area. If you just drive on Route 20 in the Lafayette/Onondaga area, you will see plenty of apple farms. Beak and Skiff is my favorite:Beak & Skiff - Growing Since 1911 - Home. There are others as well. Here's some here and Syracuse is in Onondaga County:NY Apple Country Pick an Apple
As for housing prices, this area is very affordable and you can still get a nice, affordable house here in a nice area. That's including within city limits too. Here's a bunch of houses that are in your range:Real Estate Listings and Single Family Home for Sale - Realtor.com
I would say that any of the suburban areas(North, East and West) are pretty much family friendly. As far as the city, neighborhoods like Eastwood, the South part of the Valley, Sedgwick, Strathmore and most of the East side(Scottholm, Bradford Hills, Meadowbrook, Westcott and Outer Comstock neighborhoods) are family friendly.
As for school districts, I would say the Jamesville-DeWitt, Fayetteville-Manlius, Westhill, Skaneateles, Marcellus, West Genesee and Baldwinsville SD's are on the higher end. The others are good, with of course the Syracuse City SD being more of a hit or miss district. Most of their good schools seem to be East of I-81, with some exceptions. You can check out information on the districts here:https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/County.do?year=2007&county=Onondaga (broken link)
As far as jobs in your field, check this out:Central New York Jobs in Human/Social Services and you can check the rest of that site out too for other jobs as well. Here's a place my wife works at that also might be up your alley:Employment Listings (http://www.hillside.com/Join/employment.htm - broken link) For your husband, he might be able to transfer to our Hancock International Airport and have him check here:Syracuse Hancock International Airport or through the Federal Job listings, which i know is through USAJOBS.com. Here's a similar job here in the area:http://lycos.syracuse.oodle.com/r_sr...PH2F5VPX6XU_Eg,
Some other good school districts with quite a few affordable homes are:East Syracuse-Minoa, North Syracuse, Onondaga and parts of Baldwinsville(Seneca Knolls and the Village), West Genesee(mainly in Fairmount) and Westhill(in some of the Westvale neighborhoods). Solvay is another possibility and it's more of a blue-collar, ethnic(Italian(esp.), Irish and Slavic(mostly Polish and Ukrainian) western suburb with good schools.
Listing of Onondaga County school districts:https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/County.do?year=2007&county=Onondaga (broken link)
Onondaga County School Districts (http://www.ongov.net/About/schools/ - broken link) and this is Lyncourt SD, which goes from K-8 and for HS they go to Solvay or many go to Bishop Grimes HS in East Syracuse:http://lyncourt.cnyric.org/ (broken link) Lyncourt is a very Italian American community too.
Thanks everyone for the responses!! We don't know that much about the community...I guess we can cruise around and take a look at the areas...It will take some getting used to being that there are so many cities... How long is the drive from NYC to Syracuse? What would be a suggested hotel in the area to stay for maybe a day or two?
Is there a Metro North train that goes out to Syracuse? (for future reference) If so, what is the name of the stop?
ckhthankgod, especially....you answered all our questions. Thanks!
Thanks everyone for the responses!! We don't know that much about the community...I guess we can cruise around and take a look at the areas...It will take some getting used to being that there are so many cities... How long is the drive from NYC to Syracuse? What would be a suggested hotel in the area to stay for maybe a day or two?
Is there a Metro North train that goes out to Syracuse? (for future reference) If so, what is the name of the stop?
ckhthankgod, especially....you answered all our questions. Thanks!
We're a bit further out than that. NYC is 4-5 hours (depending heavily on time of trip and where in NYC you're coming from) from Syracuse, so we're a long ways out of Metro North range.
That being said, Amtrak is certainly a feasible option from NYC to Syracuse.
My husband and I prefer to drive out there being that it will be our family vacation to the orchard for apple picking. We didn't want to be in an unfamiliar town without our car and rely on just the Amtrak. We also enjoy exploring places and we can get around better with our car.
I don't know how much that i can help. I grew up in the Central New York area (near Syracuse). Many people who work in Syracuse live in the surrounding suburb communities (Weedsport, Auburn and many others mentioned on this board). I have friends who work in he same field as your husband and they seem to migrate toward Manoa (a couple of newer developments have popped up there recently). The Federal Building (Syracuse) is within a reasonable distance to all of the mentioned areas. I found this link on locating apple/pumpkin farms in the area. I know of so many little farms in the area, it would be impossible to list them all. I hope this helps (scroll down the page a bit to find the farms). Where to find pumpkin patches, Corn Mazes, Hayrides and More in central New York state - and other useful Halloween information!
Have a great trip!
Amtrack train service is a singular stop at the transportation center near downtown for all the surrounding communities within several hours. It is not a commuter line. Public transportation is strictly by bus and then only along given routes. Possibly ok for commuting to a job depending on where you live and work.
There are several hotels directly off the Thruway on Carrier Circle including a Radisson and Holiday Inn. It will take you approx 5 hours from the GWB. Apple picking is a big thing around here that time of year. I prefer to find places in small rural towns seeing as how I got stuck in a two hour bumper to bumper traffic jam trying to get to Beak & Skiff one year. Some places will have pony rides, haunted houses, pressed cider and other fun things.
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....We are trying to find out about the Syracuse area (or surrounding areas) in hopes of being in a good community. We also wanted to know of any farms we can go Apple Picking while we visit? 
I currently work in the social service field and want to know of a good location to continue employment-I make $35,000 a year now. My husband works airport Homeland Security and we have similar yearly salaries.....Any help with our inquiries on family friendly neighborhoods, employment, getting around (any railroads/trains/buses), children entertainment
? Thanks, Minty : )
Thanks For The Responses!
How long is the drive from NYC to Syracuse? What would be a suggested hotel in the area to stay for maybe a day or two? 
