Good small towns in New York? (Buffalo, Rochester: mobile home, to buy, high school)
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I'm 18 years old and I will be going to college soon. I'm planning on doing a 2-year vet tech program at a local college. So, I mean, 2 years isn't that far away and I'm so sick and tired of living next to Detroit. After I finish my college vet tech degree, I'd like to move to a small city/town. By small I mean around 5k-30k people.
I've had it with big cities. My aunt lives in a small city close to me. I had my graduation party there. I love it! No loud noises or gunshots at night, not so crowded, nicer people. Cool little shops and restaurants. It's just nice and quiet and cozy. I want to live in a place like that. So I'd like to visit some other small cities just to get a feel of them, if I like them or not. New York, for some reason, attracts me. Are there any good small towns for a young person to live in? I don't want to move to a town with all older people and not be able to make friends my age.
I'm worried though. I read some threads on here that young people are leaving Upstate NY and stuff like that. It doesn't matter where in NY, Upstate/Downstate, etc. Doesn't matter. I just want a town like I described above. But if young people are leaving all the small towns... that's not good. Are there any small towns with young people that isn't losing its population? Anywhere in NY is fine.
Actually, much of Upstate NY's overall cost of living is around the national average.
As for places to look into, it will depend on your budget and job availability. Some places that may work for you are Ithaca, Geneva, Canandaigua, Oneonta, Plattsburgh, Watertown, Glens Falls, Oswego, Cortland, Corning, Geneseo, Brockport, Canton, Potsdam and Fredonia, among others. Most of these communities listed have colleges and are affordable. Corning may have some young professionals due to Corning Inc., a Fortune 500 company. Watertown has Fort Drum, a US Army Base, close by and there will be more men than women there(if that matters). Glens Falls is a small city of 14,000 and is the center of a metro of about 160,000 or so. It is near the Adirondack Mountains and is about an hour north of Albany.
To put an idea in your head, you can find places here similar to communities like Brighton, Mason, Chelsea, Saline, Dexter, etc. in MI. So, you can find what you are looking for here.
CKH got a lot of the small towns/cities with SUNY colleges. I would highly recommend Dunkirk/Fredonia which has Fredonia State College, at least 2 veterinary hospitals, and is a quick shot on I-90 to either Buffalo or Erie, PA or Cleveland, OH for concerts, football games, and other entertainment. Fredonia, which is a village next to the small city of Dunkirk, has a very interesting downtown right around the square. Dunkirk is right on Lake Erie and has a couple of nice beaches/parks and a small City Pier with shops and cafes.
A few other cities that might interest you are Lockport and Batavia which are between Buffalo and Rochester; Elmira near Corning; and the smaller cities/towns like Rensselaer, Cohoes, and Watervliet which are Albany suburbs but are cities in their own right. Hudson, in the Hudson Valley about 30 miles south of Albany, might be of interest, too, as you can grab the Amtrak and be in NYC in about 2 hours or drive about 45 minutes north to be in Albany.
I would recommend the city I live in, Jamestown, but I think that it's perhaps not quite what you're looking for. While it has the community college and the business college, it's probably more appealing to a slightly older group: probably thirty-somethings. The locals tend to marry young or go off to college.
The phenomenon of young people leaving small towns is not just a problem in New York but all over the country, BTW.
One larger city (100,000+) that you might consider is Erie, PA. Very pretty, very safe city with a very nice downtown and lots of amenities but with a small town atmosphere. It has 3 or 4 colleges: Gannon, Mercyhurst, Penn State Behrend, and ITT so there are lots of young people around.
If I had to pick one town in Upstate for someone looking to live small town life but is still a vibrant town, it would be Glens Falls, hands down. There are good restaurants, breweries, and some limited nightlife but nothing on a large scale nor does it permeate the town. Saratoga Springs is right down the road (probably one of the nicest Upstate towns, but expensive to live in). Glens Falls is relatively cheap to buy a place in, and has TONS of old, Victorian homes at good prices. Also, Queensbury, the town that surrounds Glens Falls to the north, is a vibrant suburban town with shopping and a mall (albeit a very basic mall).
The vast Adirondacks are to the north and many small towns as well, and Vermont is really close to the east, and VT is probably the state that celebrates small town life better than any other state. Albany to the South may have some jobs depending but has a lot of shopping areas. Its still a good hour south and the sprawl in that area is not as bad as other states.
Valid point I think the real measure is not how many flee their town after high school but how many choose to return and raise a family.
I think if you talk about people returning, you have to separate the small and medium sized cities from the small towns.
Small towns that are not within easy commuting distance to a larger city where there are jobs are simply dying because of the very limited opportunities that exist in them. From farms to factories to small town hospitals to schools to retail shopping, the number of people working in these sectors have just declined. Kids graduate from high school and they leave, either to go to college or to find work in bigger towns or cities because there are so few jobs in small towns. The young people who stay are frequently the unambitious and the dopers.
Small to medium sized cities are better off simply because they have do have more opportunities. Frequently, young people will return to these places in their late twenties and thirties to raise their families. Some areas of the Great Plains have seen retirees returning home, too.
You see this throughout the nation, though. Read some of the threads on other state forums, and you'll see that young people leaving small towns/cities or even states is not something that's just an issue in NYS.
Wow, thank you all for the great responses. I'm not a go-to-the-club/party/get drunk type of girl. I don't do those things. I just want a nice quiet town that has good restaurants and shops that don't close after 6pm. You all listed a lot of cool looking towns that I think I'd like.
You got me worried though. I know jobs and young people are leaving all small cities. People go where the jobs go. I don't want to move some place where the only people my age are the unsuccessful drug losers. I don't know what to do now, it seems like these cities only have older people or young couples starting families. I'm only 18, don't wanna start a family yet!
The places you guys listed seem amazing. But now I'm convinced these towns just aren't a good fit for a single young woman starting her vet tech career. Which upsets me a little. Maybe I should consider some of the college towns? Albany, Binghamton, etc? Like I said, I don't like the whole drunken party fratboy scene, but hopefully not all the people there will be like that.
Wow, thank you all for the great responses. I'm not a go-to-the-club/party/get drunk type of girl. I don't do those things. I just want a nice quiet town that has good restaurants and shops that don't close after 6pm. You all listed a lot of cool looking towns that I think I'd like.
You got me worried though. I know jobs and young people are leaving all small cities. People go where the jobs go. I don't want to move some place where the only people my age are the unsuccessful drug losers. I don't know what to do now, it seems like these cities only have older people or young couples starting families. I'm only 18, don't wanna start a family yet!
The places you guys listed seem amazing. But now I'm convinced these towns just aren't a good fit for a single young woman starting her vet tech career. Which upsets me a little. Maybe I should consider some of the college towns? Albany, Binghamton, etc? Like I said, I don't like the whole drunken party fratboy scene, but hopefully not all the people there will be like that.
Decisions, decisions!
All of the places listed or mentioned have at least 1 college(community college or a 4 year college, if not 2 colleges). So, I don't think they would be filled with "drug losers". In fact, many, if not all of the places mentioned are within an hour or so of a bigger city.
You also have small communities that are within minutes of a bigger city that could work. For instance, villages like East Aurora, Fairport, Scotia, Baldwinsville and maybe Horseheads could work. This may allow for a balance in terms of staying in a relaxed community, but having the option of going to events/offerings of a bigger city.
Another place I think you would like, but is under you population criteria is the village of Liverpool outside of Syracuse. Nice, walkable village with a huge park and some cool places to eat. It would put you close to the 6th biggest mall in the country and it is a largely safe community. Village of Liverpool - New York
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Originally Posted by Pocooo
I'm 18 years old and I will be going to college soon. I'm planning on doing a 2-year vet tech program at a local college. So, I mean, 2 years isn't that far away and I'm so sick and tired of living next to Detroit. After I finish my college vet tech degree, I'd like to move to a small city/town. By small I mean around 5k-30k people.
I've had it with big cities. My aunt lives in a small city close to me. I had my graduation party there. I love it! No loud noises or gunshots at night, not so crowded, nicer people. Cool little shops and restaurants. It's just nice and quiet and cozy. I want to live in a place like that. So I'd like to visit some other small cities just to get a feel of them, if I like them or not. New York, for some reason, attracts me. Are there any good small towns for a young person to live in? I don't want to move to a town with all older people and not be able to make friends my age.
I'm worried though. I read some threads on here that young people are leaving Upstate NY and stuff like that. It doesn't matter where in NY, Upstate/Downstate, etc. Doesn't matter. I just want a town like I described above. But if young people are leaving all the small towns... that's not good. Are there any small towns with young people that isn't losing its population? Anywhere in NY is fine.
Actually, if you are open to it, you could attend one of several vet tech programs offered by the State University of New York. There are a few programs that have dormatories.
These are offered at the states community and Agricultural and technical colleges.
Many are located in pretty, student centered towns.
That would give you a head start on your career and you would be doing practice clinicals in the state that you want to move to, NY.
I'm formerly from NY State and I currently live in Ohio. I have a friend who went to either Sullivan County or Delhi and studies Vet Technology there.
If you want more information, send me a direct message. I'd be happy to help you.
If you explore NY while you are in college, you van get an idea of what New York is like while getting an education, yet not making a permanent commitment.
Check out suny.edu for more information on the State University system.
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