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Going by what you said, I think you are definitely a northern suburb type of person. I too think DeWitt is overrated. Fayetteville and Manlius are nice places with many upscale neighborhoods, but other than that there isn't much there other than the stores and restaurants at the Fayetteville Towne Center. A good looking shopping center with Target, Kohl's, Panera Bread etc.
You'll need to head to Erie Blvd or East Syracuse for most other shops and restaurants. And that is reason enough for me not to highly endorse the eastern suburbs.
The northern suburbs are also much less expensive in terms of how much house you can get for your money too. Generally, if you rent a house anywhere south of the Thruway, 9 times out of 10 you'll end up in a less than desirable neighborhood.
Cicero is a good choice, but rentals might be hard to find there. I'd see if you can find a rental in the Village of North Syracuse or around there. Though the village of North Syracuse looks a little tired and isn't one of the better villages around here, you'll be close enough to surrounding suburbs and towns which are very nice places to live IMO. Since the northern suburbs are the largest in size....over 150,000 in population...you'll find many more local restaurants and shops than anywhere else besides in the city.
North Syracuse, to me at least, really is the center of all the growing areas in the northern suburbs. Lots of new homes, new stores and new development up here compared to anywhere else in the Syracuse area.
Thanks for this great post bella!
Actually, we are considering getting a house, as opposed to renting. We dont have much in terms of savings (having two weddings in the summer of this year), so we are thinking maybe a house of around $120k?
To be honest, I know very very little on the process of getting our first home. Still educating myself on the topic. I make just under $60k pre-tax, and my fiance will be making just under $50k...is the price of the house that I quote reasonable for our incomes?
Actually, we are considering getting a house, as opposed to renting. We dont have much in terms of savings (having two weddings in the summer of this year), so we are thinking maybe a house of around $120k?
To be honest, I know very very little on the process of getting our first home. Still educating myself on the topic. I make just under $60k pre-tax, and my fiance will be making just under $50k...is the price of the house that I quote reasonable for our incomes?
Assuming you have a good credit history to go with that... you should be fine. I qualified back in April for a FHA mortgage for $102k on my salary alone, just under $40k. A FHA mortgage lets you put a lesser downpayment down (2.5%+ still) which works well if you don't have lots of cash to throw in but have stable income.
My fiance and I are considering a move to Syracuse, and we are in the initial stages of the planning process on where to stay.
She will be working in the Upstate Medical, while I currently work in Utica. I do not mind doing the bulk of the travelling, so we are thinking maybe anything from North to East Syrcause would be fine.
Our likes: we are looking for surburbs (we are not country people), with a nice selection of locally-owned, non-chain restaurants. Also important would be the ease of access to major stores like Walmart, Wegmans, Target, Panera Bread and so on.
We are planning to rent for a year or so, and then buy a house.
Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!
I'd say the Eastern suburbs or Cicero would work. As could the East Side of Syracuse in neighborhoods like Meadowbrook, Salt Springs and Westcott. Parts of Eastwood might work too. Considering the criteria, the Fayetteville-Manlius area and Cicero would be perfect, as they both have all of the things you listed.
If you didn't mind a stand alone community, Oneida might be half way. I'm not sure if they have all of the things you are looking for in terms of shopping though. Same with Canastota and Chittenango too.
Cicero is a nice, quiet place to live. The towns services-police, fire, trash, etc are excellent. You are close to the lake for both summer and winter fun, we have all the major chains within 5 minutes plus many mom and pop restaurants within 10 and a fabulous locally owned meat market
Since there are hundreds of individual streets and neighborhoods in the northern suburbs, I elected to rank my favorite cluster of neighborhoods (neighborhoods in close proximity to each other with similar characteristics)
My top ten favorite areas in the northern suburbs of Syracuse are
1) Lysander between the Rivers
2) Radisson Planned Community
3) Wild Creek and surrounding neighborhoods off Bear and Buckley Roads
4) Northern Baldwinsville
5) Neighborhoods off Soule Road and just beyond
6) Village of Liverpool and surrounding neighborhoods to the north
7) Neighborhoods in the vicinity of Hopkins and Buckley Roads in Salina
8) Neighborhoods off Lakeshore Road in Cicero
9) Neighborhoods near Lake Shore Yacht and Country Club near/on Oneida Lake
10) Hiller Heights and surrounding neighborhoods in Cicero
Last edited by bellafinzi; 01-11-2010 at 05:51 PM..
The least desirable areas in the northern suburbs in my opinion are:
1) Seneca Knolls/Village Green neighborhoods in Van Buren
2) Lyncourt
3) The old neighborhoods east of the Village of North Syracuse off Taft Road
4) Bridgeport
5) Mattydale
6) Village of North Syracuse
7) Southern Village of Baldwinsville (the section in the Town of Van Buren)
8) The Apartment complexes/developments off Morgan Road and Henry Clay Blvd
9) Aurora Track or some of the neighborhoods across from Seneca Mall
10) The older neighborhoods off Caughdenoy Road in Clay
Even the "bad" ones mentioned aren't necessarily bad, but some might be more hit or miss in terms of appearance. A lot of that has to do with the fact that most of those mentioned are older developments/communities and you cans till find something nice within them.
I might actually disagree on the neighborhoods across from Seneca Mall, as there are some nice developments in that area too. They are all pretty much cookie-cutter though.
I'd say the Eastern suburbs or Cicero would work. As could the East Side of Syracuse in neighborhoods like Meadowbrook, Salt Springs and Westcott. Parts of Eastwood might work too. Considering the criteria, the Fayetteville-Manlius area and Cicero would be perfect, as they both have all of the things you listed.
If you didn't mind a stand alone community, Oneida might be half way. I'm not sure if they have all of the things you are looking for in terms of shopping though. Same with Canastota and Chittenango too.
Actually, we are considering getting a house, as opposed to renting. We don't have much in terms of savings (having two weddings in the summer of this year), so we are thinking maybe a house of around $120k?
To be honest, I know very very little on the process of getting our first home. Still educating myself on the topic. I make just under $60k pre-tax, and my fiance will be making just under $50k...is the price of the house that I quote reasonable for our incomes?
Absolutely yes. If you have decent credit you should be able to qualify for a conventional mortgage at a decent rate form any of several good local/regional banks. $120K to $150K gets you a decent house in a nice neighborhood in this region. It's important to factor in the ongoing cost of taxes as part of you budget process. Housing prices here are low but taxes on a $120K house will likely be about $300 - $350 per month.
Dewitt is indeed "boring" but the same could be said about much of Syracuse and the surrounding areas if one drills down to particular neighborhoods. Dewitt is popular because the public schools are decent, housing prices are still within reach for many and the location is very convenient. You can commute to Upstate Medical and SU without getting on a highway yet yopu are still close to Rte 481 that provides easy access to the Thruway. That said - if I worked at Upstate and my spouse woudl be commuting to Utica I would look at Fayetteville or Manlius as the best options simply based on geography and convenince of commute.
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I too think DeWitt is overrated. Fayetteville and Manlius are nice places with many upscale neighborhoods, but other than that there isn't much there other than the stores and restaurants at the Fayetteville Towne Center. A good looking shopping center with Target, Kohl's, Panera Bread etc. 
