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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!
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!
Well, with my limited experience I'll chime in until someone with more knowledge answers you
Since you don't mind doing the bulk of the driving and she's working at the medical center I'd say one of your best bets is Fayetteville. You could meet more in the middle and each have to drive about 30 miles to make it more even, but if you want to stay in the Syracuse area this would be one of the more popular suburbs with access to all you are looking for
From what you're describing, Fayetteville/Manlius probably would be your first place to look, possibly some of the newer parts of town of Dewitt towards Minoa. Most of the northern suburbs that fit what you're looking for would become a pain for both of you; the eastern suburbs would probably be your best bet.
Depending on the feel you like, there are also smaller villages with some suburban style development further east towards Cazenovia and Chittenango. Unfortunately, the furthest east Wegmans goes in this area is the "Fayetteville" (Dewitt) store near 481.
Thanks to Lovemountains and Acknight for your suggestions.
Acknight: may i ask why you say that the northern suburbs will be a pain to us?
We did a little driving around yesterday, in Dewitt and Cicero. Maybe we are not driving in the right area of town, but we weren't too impressed with Dewitt. Seems a little on the boring side.
Cicero seems like a pretty good place, with Walmart, Target, Wegmans and so on.
My fiance is wondering whether there are any nice area to stay in Syracuse itself. Somewhere safe, so not the downtown area obviously. Any suggestions?
If your looking for an area within the city itself then the East side near Meadowbrook Rd would probably be your best bet. It borders dewitt on one side and SU/Medical center on the other side but has a somewhat different vibe then the suburb or SU. It has a number of basics nearby in the Drumlins plaza including Drumlins country club and grocery store and just up the road from that is a gas station, drug store, bagal shop and others. I used to live in that area and walked or biked to a lot including the library off wescott street. It's a very safe area and community centered area. I used to know most of my neigbors because a lot of people jog, walk animals or garden in that area.
Im doing some research on real estate online, and it seems that Dewitt and Manlius have some nice houses for an attractive price.
However, we are slightly concerned with the things-to-do in these areas. We drove around Dewitt yesterday, and it seems kinda dull, except for the Wegmans there.
Can someone give us a little more insight into these two locations, especially in regards to our "likes" mentioned in the first post:
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.
The *village* of Manlius would be your best bet, I think. You're within walking distance to all that's already here (I'll bump my photo thread), a five-minute ride to Fayetteville for big-box shopping, a 10-15 minute commute to downtown Syracuse and 45 minutes, at worst, down Rte. 5 to Utica.
Dewitt isn't much, other than stores and houses, but you didn't drive east far enough to get to Fayetteville or Manlius... keep heading that way a few miles.
Thanks to Lovemountains and Acknight for your suggestions.
Acknight: may i ask why you say that the northern suburbs will be a pain to us?
We did a little driving around yesterday, in Dewitt and Cicero. Maybe we are not driving in the right area of town, but we weren't too impressed with Dewitt. Seems a little on the boring side.
Cicero seems like a pretty good place, with Walmart, Target, Wegmans and so on.
My fiance is wondering whether there are any nice area to stay in Syracuse itself. Somewhere safe, so not the downtown area obviously. Any suggestions?
Most of the areas that are nicer within the city limits you're less likely to find a place to rent in. There are good neighborhoods (Meadowbrook, for the most part, is similar to many suburbs for the most part; Strathmore though that's way out of the way from what you're describing; Sedgwick off James Street northeast of downtown) around.
I warned against the northern suburbs more in terms of distance than much else. There's not much up there that you don't get in the eastern suburbs, with added commute time. The other consideration has more to do with winter driving; the general rule of thumb is that north of the Thruway gets more snow and harsher weather than south of it.
That combined with the construction project starting up on 81 just north of downtown (which will last through November, and if last year's project is any indication will slow commuting time through that area significantly) is why I figured you'd probably want to avoid there.
They're all pretty good places. But my fiance commutes to and from Verona every day from the east side, and she has coworkers from the northern suburbs whose commutes are almost twice as long as hers due to traffic and the added distance.
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!
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.
Last edited by bellafinzi; 01-10-2010 at 06:00 PM..
Less expensive area with all you need/want... Westvale.
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