Central to Albany Buffalo Pittsburgh with great restaurants (New York, Rochester: 2014, rental)

[Bengineer]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Also OP, if you don’t mind me asking, is your current location urban or suburban? I ask given the different preferences given for you and your spouse and perhaps that would give posters an idea of the type of neighborhood that fits the description of your current neighborhood.

We've lived in different types of neighborhoods. Let me give you the streets we've lived on since we've been married. That way you can look at the street views to get an idea of what it's like. These are all in RI. House on Mawney St in East Greenwich (suburban but walking distance to downtown Main St with restaurants), apartment on Weybosset St in Providence (downtown Providence), house on Transit St in Providence (city neighborhood walking distance to Wickenden St for restaurants), and Touro St in Newport (somewhat busy road in the heart of Newport.) We really would be happy with either a suburban or urban environment if it has most or all of the items on our wishlist. And we are totally fine with driving to restaurants, the gym, library, etc as long as it's a quick drive.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Bengineer

We've lived in different types of neighborhoods. Let me give you the streets we've lived on since we've been married. That way you can look at the street views to get an idea of what it's like. These are all in RI. House on Mawney St in East Greenwich (suburban but walking distance to downtown Main St with restaurants), apartment on Weybosset St in Providence (downtown Providence), house on Transit St in Providence (city neighborhood walking distance to Wickenden St for restaurants), and Touro St in Newport (somewhat busy road in the heart of Newport.) We really would be happy with either a suburban or urban environment if it has most or all of the items on our wishlist. And we are totally fine with driving to restaurants, the gym, library, etc as long as it's a quick drive.

Nice...The East Greenwich street view: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6595...7i16384!8i8192 is similar to many villages just outside of the cities here or even select city neighborhoods. So, say if you wanted a similar community in the Syracuse area, you may like the village of North Syracuse, which has some restaurants along Main Street: https://www.google.com/maps/search/n.../data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1346...2!9m2!1b1!2i39

or a village such as Baldwinsville, NW of Syracuse: https://www.google.com/maps/search/b.../data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1587...2!9m2!1b1!2i39

and Fayetteville east of Syracuse: https://www.google.com/maps/search/f.../data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0299...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0298...7i13312!8i6656
A shopping center at the edge of the village: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0292...7i16384!8i8192

Each of them are bigger villages, that are generally walkable.


Weybosset Street: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8217...7i16384!8i8192 kind of reminds me of the Heart of Downtown portion of Downtown Syracuse, which is essentially South Salina Street with some restaurants, a theater, etc.(reminds me of State Street in Schenectady too): https://downtownsyracuse.com/live-he.../neighborhoods
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0480...7i16384!8i8192


Transit Street/Fox Point: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8204...7i16384!8i8192 seems to be similar to Westcott in Syracuse, but just more dense(Seems more like Allentown in Buffalo or South Wedge in Rochester). https://westcottsyr.com/

Westcott Business District: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0403...7i16384!8i8192
A residential area: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0398...7i16384!8i8192
Westcott is close enough to Syracuse University to the west for events/lectures and there is a library in the neighborhood. Many university and hospital affiliated folks live in the neighborhood or adjacent neighborhoods. Syracuse Stage, which is live professional theater that houses a portion of Syracuse University's VPA program, is also not too far away. More information about the general area: https://university-hill.com/
https://www.unpa.net/
https://www.planning.org/greatplaces...ersityhill.htm


Truro Street in Newport: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4898...7i16384!8i8192 may actually be compared to Genesee Street in Downtown Skaneateles(about 15 miles SW of Syracuse) due to it more high end feel and proximity to water: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9457...7i16384!8i8192

Newport is more in line with cities such as Auburn and Ithaca in that 25-just over 30,000 people range. Binghamton has about 46,000 people. Skaneateles is actually only about 5-10 miles east of Auburn. I almost thought of Genesee Street in Auburn being relative to Truro Street: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9307...7i16384!8i8192 and State Street in Ithaca being similar: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4395...7i16384!8i8192 West 1st Street in Oswego, 45 minutes NW of Syracuse is another somewhat similar street in its Downtown: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4556...7i16384!8i8192


Something to keep in mind on the Syracuse front(hopefully others will add to this with info from other areas), but the JCC is in DeWitt just east of Syracuse: https://jccsyr.org/ This is due to most of the Jewish population in the area living roughly in the area from the outer East Side of Syracuse through the eastern suburbs such as DeWitt(Jameville-DeWitt SD) and the Fayetteville-Manlius SD. So, you might like Westcott/University Area in the city of Syracuse, which is an East Side neighborhood(as well as adjacent areas like Meadowbrook and Outer Comstock, another business district north of Syracuse University in that area: https://crousemarshall.com/ , https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0415...7i16384!8i8192 ); Fayetteville, Manlius(village): https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0017...7i16384!8i8192 , https://www.google.com/maps/search/m.../data=!3m1!1e3 or maybe even the DeWittshire/Orvilton area of Dewitt: https://www.google.com/maps/place/De...!4d-76.0696493 , https://www.google.com/maps/search/D.../data=!3m1!1e3

I'll stop there, but may add more later.

[Bengineer]

^ I enjoyed that post, very impressive the way you compared NY streets to my RI streets!

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Bengineer

^ I enjoyed that post, very impressive the way you compared NY streets to my RI streets!

Thanks and no problem. I was actually in RI about a year and a half ago(stayed at a Hilton near the airport in Warwick) and I could see some similarities to Upstate NY areas.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

You pretty much answered your own question, as those three cities would be the places to look. I dare say that Ithaca may be a very good fit given its pretty big Asian population and vegan/vegetarian/organic food scene for its size.

Another place to consider on the smaller end is Binghamton. Maybe Corning, which has a Fortune 500 company, as well(including parts of the immediate Elmira area like say West Elmira(cdp), Horseheads or Big Flats).

The other thing could be to live in say the eastern/NE suburbs of Buffalo and drive the 4 hours on the Thruway to Albany and the 3 and a half hours to Pittsburgh on the Thruway to I-79 south.

Just to compare the bolded sentence to other options, here is a rough idea of distances to and from different cities.

Rochester to Buffalo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/cYTXLjkCc2RH9dt89?g_st=ic
Rochester to Albany: https://maps.app.goo.gl/m8BkvwQZvfZK4xes8?g_st=ic
Rochester to Pittsburgh: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kB4APq5eD7m5tBMF8?g_st=ic

Syracuse to Buffalo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QeEjNrSTswFZhZTT7?g_st=ic
Syracuse to Albany: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uyMfPpAiKcht1nUq9?g_st=ic
Syracuse to Pittsburgh: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WZa8jFXurhaGE6FC6?g_st=ic

Binghamton to Buffalo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1UVNW5ZQZ4VZMviC7?g_st=ic
Binghamton to Albany: https://maps.app.goo.gl/v9s8gLTeovpbtLTeA?g_st=ic
Binghamton to Pittsburgh: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nNqtqkMFKRFhHq1LA?g_st=ic

Ithaca to Buffalo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/L6mCCnb5pkaifmLx6?g_st=ic
Ithaca to Albany: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BX2sMYbvzNoZAvNQ6?g_st=ic
Ithaca to Pittsburgh: https://maps.app.goo.gl/VEsdL6ZRyLMKzqxs7?g_st=ic

Auburn to Buffalo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/u86sDRqEAGAh9Kgc9?g_st=ic
Auburn to Albany: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbU5y6FDRMRjCeRD8?g_st=ic
Auburn to Pittsburgh: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uf155rPQ7wGfuBvg9?g_st=ic

Also, in terms of Buffalo area neighborhoods, besides Allentown mentioned a few posts above, North Buffalo around Hertel Avenue would be similar the Transit Street/Fox Point and East Greenwich business districts, but more extensive: https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/...hertel-avenue/
https://www.facebook.com/189544959519/
https://hertel-ave.com/

A street view: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tdsf9Mc73jiMZPUt7?g_st=ic

[ckhthankgod]

^Also, Elmwood Village is another Buffalo neighborhood that would fit what you are looking for: https://elmwoodvillage.org/

https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/...mwood-village/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/El...!4d-78.8750634

A street view: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9174...7i16384!8i8192

Further south on Elmwood: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9085...7i16384!8i8192


Also, some Allentown info: https://www.allentown.org/

https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/...ood/allentown/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Al...!4d-78.8764795

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8994...7i16384!8i8192

[Bengineer]

^ The "welcome to Josh Allentown" banner in that street view

[ckhthankgod]

^Definitely something you would have to be use to seeing in the area.

[ckhthankgod]

In terms of Buffalo suburbs, villages such as Kenmore, north of Buffalo and the most population dense municipality in Upstate NY and Williamsville, just east of Snyder are a couple that come to mind.

Kenmore info: https://www.villageofkenmore.org/

https://maps.app.goo.gl/kbUgrR34s7bfC5b79?g_st=ic

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._New_York.html

https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/...rhood/kenmore/

Williamsville info: Village of Williamsville | Williamsville, NY

https://maps.app.goo.gl/B7cVF1KGWqMzt1UF7?g_st=ic

https://stepoutbuffalo.com/neighborh...williamsville/

https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/...williamsville/

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

It sounds like you may like lectures series that occur at colleges/universities or other instutitions like these: https://calendar.syracuse.edu/events...902.1637614862

https://www.foclsyracuse.org/events-calendar/

https://www.binghamton.edu/campus-ac...ers/index.html

https://www.sas.rochester.edu/humani...-seminars.html

https://www.rit.edu/individualizedstudy/lecture-series

https://www.buffalo.edu/community/ne...re-series.html

https://www.canisius.edu/academics/o...rick-institute

https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell...-1999-present/

https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/lectures-presentations

I'm sure there are others, but that gives an idea of similar types of events that take places in some cities mentioned already.

Also, here is some food scene information for some other cities: https://www.visitithaca.com/food-drink/

https://eatbing.com/bing-restaurants/
https://visitbinghamton.org/eat-drink/

https://www.visitrochester.com/restaurants/

https://www.corningfingerlakes.com/e...-drink/dining/

https://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/eat-drink/

This is interesting from the Visit Ithaca site: “We crunched the numbers, and it's true: Ithaca, NY has more restaurants per capita than New York City! It's a delicious statistic that hints at the variety of local restaurants and tells us something fundamental in the Ithaca psyche – Ithacans are passionate about food. Whether you are searching for classic American bar & grill-style food or fine dining and Italian, there's a restaurant to enjoy.”