looking to relocate pros/cons of upstate ny

[farmerjim]

i've finally had enough of ct. way too much developement going on. i hate to do it, and leave the family farm, that i grew up and worked on for 30yrs. lately i've been looking into upstate/western ny property. only thing thats been hard so far is finding work, right now i'm in the line gang for a utility company. which is a bit of a speciality job. i was hoping some of the upstate ny people here could give me some pros and cons of living there. my moms side of the family is from the oneida area, so i'm familiar w/ that area as well as the baldwinsville/syracuse area. taxes there seem to be more forgiving than what i have now, other than a higher sales tax. thanks for any info, jim

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Jim,
Well Im not that familiar with western ny but I drive through Rensaeler County and Washington County Ny on my way up to Vt and IMHO Washington County is some of the nicest farm country I have ever seen!!!

Beautiful rolling hills and fertile ground There are a number of guys on this forum from that area Im sure that could be more informative. RichZ, Dutch to name a few. Hopefully they will chime in and add to this thread !

 

[450EXC]

Hi Jim,

I grew up in Oneida and now live just South West on an old farm.

The pro's I would say are the countryside and mostly good people. I live on 125 acres with woods, stream, waterfalls, etc. I like to think I'm at camp or living at a state park all the time.

The biggest con is probably the economy. Not a real lot of booming going on.

The only thing I know about the utility company here is that joke - Whats white and orange and sleeps six...........A Ni-Mo truck.

Feel free to ask any more questions. Good luck, Larry

 

[ByronBob]

Well I live about split between Buffalo and Rochester in WNY. Unless you work for Ni-Mo or RG&E you'll have to find a job with a local (village) utility. And jobs here right now are horrible. More people are leaving than coming.

If my kids weren't small I might have left too.....

The southern tier is beautiful area just as the Adirondaks are. But people are catching on to this and prices along with taxes are on their way up.....

 

[Dutch445]

TAXES
TAXES
TAXES

if you love em, come on up and help us support the big
city.

the economy is very poor, many local businessman around here
are packing up and heading south.

but the countryside is beautiful, a couple months of the year
when it isn't snowing!

 

[dholly]

It is a beautiful and diverse area in geography, culture/arts and people, but the high costs of business, homeownership and just about everything else keep driving out jobs and population. While most states gained population, NY has been the nation's No. 1 loser of people with 180,000+ people moving out of NY from 2000 to 2004. Downsizing at Kodak, Xerox, IBM and B&L have crushed the Rochester area. With regard to Western NY specifically, recent statistics show more people have left Niagara and Erie counties in the past five years than they did in all of the 10-year period preceding it. Sadly, the continued exodus of people and jobs away from Upstate NY's cities and villages is undermining the economic health and quality of life in the region. Did someone mention TAXES? Reduced state aid to local governments at the same time other local tax revenue dropped (in part because taxpaying population and employers have left the state), caused local property taxes to rise 42% from 2000 to 2005, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to state Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. NY taxpayers face the highest per-capita state and local property tax bills in the nation, while ranking second, behind only Hawaii's unique challenges, in the highest cost of doing business. As the tax base dwindles the tax load climbs meaning, absent any substantive changes from our dysfunctional tax-and-spend state legislature, things are only going to get worse. The ones who remain will be footing the bills. Just some food for thought...

 

[6or7dazeaweek]

Good morning Jim....Well there's two schools of thought here. You could just manage to hold onto your current farm and live with the urban sprawl or sell out and move to NY. Unfortunately, if you sell & move to NY, you will run into the same situation as you are presently in. Lots of folks selling their property downstate & moving North so property prices are always on the rise. Unless you can purchase a LARGE chunk of real estate, you will be feeling the pressures of urban sprawl. I think you're looking at a catch 22 situation here.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Jon

 

[Harleymsn]

I don't know about CT. but I left Western New York after 53 years last year.
In your line of work or just about any line of work, there is no future there.
And I agree with Dutch, TAXES, the highest in the land! Do yourself a favor, if you really feel that you need to move, head south or southwest.

 

[Sigarms]

I used to live outside of Watertown N.Y., then moved out of N.Y, then back to Syracuse some time later. Still have some good friends in Lake Placid, Oneida and Caznovia (sp?).

Loved the area around Lake Placid for outdoor activities. Snowboarding was pretty good, decent sized hills, good hunting and if you get into snowmobiling, you'll love it. Still try to visit at least once a year. Old Forge (?) area was nice for outdoors as well.

Being from Ct., anything might seem lower in taxes.

Cons, starts snowing in Oct., ends the next year in April. You'll learn what a "whiteout" is sooner or later. Buy a white car because it will turn white with all the salt on the roads. You will also swear your new car will rust in less than five years. Good old lake effect snow, drive around Syracuse, it could be sunny, 15 miles later you'll be in a blizzard.
You'll learn how Albany works for New York city, and love what they do to you and your money, and if your lucky, you'll see a bunch of local indians burning cars on the side of the road (Nedrow) in what I could really never figure out what they were protesting. Buy very warm clothing and always keep it in your car as well.

Nice area and does bring back some fond memories, that being said, would not move back.

Longer ways, but I'd look at southern Va., along 81 south of Harrissonburg (sp?) or central/western North Carolina. Just talking with a buddy from Rome N.Y. He has 1 acre with a modest house. He pays 5.5 times in taxes per year than I do with 40 acres.

 

[jjcc246]

STAY OUT !!!!!! DON'T ENTER !!!!! DO NOT SET FOOT HERE !!!!! Really there are a lot better places than NYS. Taxes are out of control, business, real estate, sales and any other tax the can think of. 99.9% of our polititions are total morons. There are few jobs and the ones we have are very low paying. We have the highest rate of welfare and medicade. It'll get worse before it gets better. On the bright side the scenery is nice.