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Soon I will move from Ann Arbor, MI to Syracuse, NY. I need an information about (almost) everything: house prices, rental prices, areas to avoid, elementary school ratings, places of interest, etc.
Stekicar, I am moving there as well and have spent a lot of time researching the area. I also visit there frequently as I have family in that area. I recommend starting with NYS school report card. You can access a profile of every single NY school. So many elementary schools are good. It seems as if it is the highschool level where you start to clearly be able to distingiush what type of district it is. So regardless of the age of your children be sure to look at the highschool in any given area. I would send you the link, but this site will not forward the link. So just Google NYS report cards 2005 (2006 is not done yet) and start with school districts. There is a good realestate site call CNYhomes. com (central new york homes). You can get your self an idea there. I recommend towns like Manlius, Dewitt, Liverpool, Camilus, Baldwinsville and there are a few more. They are well populated areas with great schools and plenty to do. There are some great more rural areas that are great if you are into a more quiet life on bigger property like Tully, Marcelus, and Lafayette. The finger lakes are to the west of the city if you are looking for lake front life(that gets pricey) In the city there are some real nice areas such as Sedgewick and Sedgewick farms but the school districts in the city seem to be problematic. Tha's a start for you, get prepared to whether cold very snowy winters, but it is a beautiful area. Take your time and look alot.
That is a tough question and I guess lifestyle has a lot to do with it. Cost of living is relatively lower than the national average. I know where I live now on Long Island that 100k a year is not much because the cost of housing. You really can't buy a house in any neighborhood for under 400k for a starter home. In Syracuse you can buy great homes in great neighborhoods for about 100k. Any less might be a questionable neighborhood or beat up home. The tendancy, when you see what is out there, is to want more, better, nicer, fancier but as you know most of that is unnecessary. I would say that a salary at about 50k would allow one to live average to comfortable. Some are making it on less and anything more will allow you some fancier lifestyle. Apartments can be found from $450 and up but rarely over $850 per month. Certain thing seem to cost the same no matter where you go, like cars, clothes, furnishings, gas, electronics and so on. Property taxes are too high any where in NY and you can expect to pay 3 1/3% of the homes value annually in most of Onondaga county.
I found out similar what you have said. But I was suprised whan I saw the house prices. In here, Ann Arbor area, everything around $200.000 is considered very cheap. Thank you for the detailed info.
Basically, Upstate New York has some of the most affordable housing in the nation. But as pointed out, the property taxes are pretty high, some of the highest in the nation infact. Moving from Long Island though, with the money you will save on everything else (groceries are much cheaper upstate than downstate as well, as is gas), you will be saving a lot of money.
Yes absolutely, and we are looking forward to an overall less expensive way of life with better quality. Quality of life has diminished on Long Island. The traffic and crowds are intense. Everysingle thing you want to do is a production. Dinner out: 1-2hr wait on weekends. Evening movies: better buy you tickets in the morning. Any good events: sold out by noon on the day the event opens, better get on line the day before. Everything is so expensive and so crowded. Trip to the city is 15-20 miles but takes one to two hour drive and parking starts at $30 for 2-hours
I am going to move to liverpool new york as well, can you tell me about what insurance costs for houses.As I live in Florida and it is very expensive in merritt island or cocoa beach area.
Housing insurance is nothing compared to Floridas. Property taxes are higher in NY, however, it really equals out because I pay .25 cents less per 1000 then my mother. I live in MD she lives in northern NY. My townhome is worth 350K, hers is worth 180K(3000+sq ft home, with land, 2 stall garage, etc). You see so it equals itself out.
As far as where to live, I would not recommend living directly in Syracuse. However, the areas around it are nice, Liverpool, Baldwinsville,Central Square, Oswego, Fulton, Tully, Marcellus,etc.
People considering a move to Syracuse should not overlook some of the older, inner ring suburbs, with their shorter commute times to the city and good schools. They are also pretty well served by the bus line into the city. You'll also find more affordable (if smaller and older) housing than in the McMansion infested areas like Baldwinsville, Manlius or Fayetteville. You can get some nice 3 bedroom Cape Cods in older neighborhoods like Fairmount Hills (which is in the built-up part of Camillus) for $100K or even less. There are even older and smaller (but charming) starter homes in Old Fairmount. These are neighborhoods where your elementary kids can safely walk to school without having to cross anything busier than suburban tract streets. The Westvale-Fairmount area has been traditionally overlooked because of a relative lack of amenities, but that is changing rapidly now and many more stores (ie Target, Kohls) and restaurants are moving into the area. It goes without saying that upstate NY has the best grocery chain in the country, Wegmans. (They are NOT a "specialty" store for the rich here, btw -- most suburban neighborhoods have their own easily accessible local Wegmans and they are all more or less equal in quality. Wegmans can be slightly expensive but you do have alternatives nearby)
Syracuse may not have the greatest job prospects, but if you don't need a big McMansion, you can live very nicely within your means there. Decent apartments in the suburban areas can still be had starting at $550-$600. There is sort of a pioneer movement to redevelop city apartment living in places like Franklin Square, I think the rents are more expensive, but if you want to be close to Syracuse nightlife (ie Armory Square) it might be appealing. I also don't think some city neighborhoods should be sold short. There are still some very nice neighborhoods in the Strathmore/Woodland Reservoir area, for example.
Yes, property taxes are high and the winter weather is sometimes a challenge, but everyone is suffering right along with you. Winter weather is a great equalizer! Doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, you still gotta learn to drive on the snow and ice. If you enjoy cultural things you might find Syracuse a bit limiting, but fans of outdoor activities have got a million things to do here. A couple weeks ago I went directly from my job in the city out to a nearby farm to pick 10 pints of strawberries at a U-Pick and I was done and back home in an hour. That's the sort of "leisure time" you can enjoy when you live in a place like Syracuse.
Last edited by NYCO; 07-13-2007 at 07:44 AM..
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