Good communities upstate?

U.S.A. New York

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Hi everyone,

I'm a native New Yorker (lived on the Island and in Westchester) who has been stuck living in FL for the past 10 years. I'll be in NY this summer, mostly to see family, but while I'm there I'd like to look at places to live next year. I'll be a brand-new BSN with no experience in July 2014. I've been walking the streets of many cities through googlemaps and looking for safe cities with citydata, but I'm having a hard time finding areas that I can afford on a singe nurse's salary that are safe (not to mention I'd need to get hired there, too!) Albany sound good, with new nurse jobs and decent pay, but it doesn't look like the safest place in the world.

I'm willing to live as far south as Virginia and as north as Vermont if I can't find what I'm looking for in NY, but I really want to come home.

Any advice?

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Hi!

I currently live in Elmira, New York (do not recommend) but it is close to Painted Post and Corning, which are both very nice areas and have a pretty high demand for nurses. There are a lot of hospitals around me. The average salary of a registered nurse here, according to Indeed's website, is $79,000.

Good luck! I hope this helps some.

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Specializes in Adult Health.

I used to live in Elmira, and I agree...not a great place in and of itself but Ithaca and Corning and a lot of great sight seeing areas are right near there. You can also look into places like Utica/Rome, which is between Syracuse and Albany; Syracuse itself is good, and I like it here. UHS hospitals in Binghamton own the hospital in Norwich. Norwich itself isn't great, but its close to Binghamton. Syracuse and the surrounding areas are good places to live. You could also look at communities around Albany/Cooperstown/Oneonta.

I'm not sure about communities further west or North...

Isabel

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Syracuse has opportunity, but I'm not sure the pay is on level with downstate. The cost of living is cheap- look into smaller rural communities. They have more demand for higher degree nurses. The nearby cities draw them away. Finger lakes region is by far my favorite part of the state. Wine country is gorgeous. Have you checked out Canandaigua or Geneva? I'm not Geneva is the nicest, but the region itself is beautiful.

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Specializes in Adult Health.

You won't get paid as much as downstate, but the cost of living is a fair amount lower...

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Hi everyone,

I'm a native New Yorker (lived on the Island and in Westchester) who has been stuck living in FL for the past 10 years. I'll be in NY this summer, mostly to see family, but while I'm there I'd like to look at places to live next year. I'll be a brand-new BSN with no experience in July 2014. I've been walking the streets of many cities through googlemaps and looking for safe cities with citydata, but I'm having a hard time finding areas that I can afford on a singe nurse's salary that are safe (not to mention I'd need to get hired there, too!) Albany sound good, with new nurse jobs and decent pay, but it doesn't look like the safest place in the world.

I'm willing to live as far south as Virginia and as north as Vermont if I can't find what I'm looking for in NY, but I really want to come home.

Any advice?

Don't move to Elmira the place is boring sorry ladies. I'm from NYC check out Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, white plains, Albany, westchester county, NJ Paramus area up through Rt 17 north, and get with an agency. Hope that helps.

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Specializes in Adult Health.
Don't move to Elmira the place is boring sorry ladies. I'm from NYC check out Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, white plains, Albany, westchester county, NJ Paramus area up through Rt 17 north, and get with an agency. Hope that helps.

Yup, Elmira itself is boring. I lived there. But Corning has museums and interesting shopping and dining because of Corning, Inc. That's 17 miles down the road. Ithaca is a great college town, 30 miles north of Elmira. Some of the areas up 17 may be problematic because of the number of nursing schools graduating RNs. True upstate (Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, Elmira, Utica, Rochester, Buffalo, etc) may offer more entry level opportunities. Pay won't be as high as in NYC or the immediate surrounding areas, but rent is lower, as is car insurance and a number of other cost of living indexes. I liked Binghamton, but I really love the Syracuse area. Close to the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes, easy access to a lot of wine country, lots of interesting little towns to explore. And Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Binghamton do have cultural events, fairs, theater, opera, and museums. No, none of it is NYC, but upstate New York is a good place to live and work.

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Thanks for all the replies! I used to live in Westchester and drove up 17 and loved it, but don't know if I can afford it. Corning looks very nice. Is Syracuse safe? And I will have to check out Canandaigua and Geneva. I don't mind living someplace boring, [COLOR=#003366]FUTURE/CRNA. I'm and introverted person by nature. I just need someplace safe, affordable, and with some green parks for long walks and picnics. I'm a simple girl. :) Poughkeepsie looks nice, any one else recommend it?

Due to a family emergency, I couldn't go upstate, and had to go to rural northeast Pennsylvania instead. Wow, that is not for me! Those narrow dirt roads uphill with hairpin turns, and the nasty sulfur well water! EEk! I guess I need to live in the suburbs, with city water.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks Albany is so unsafe- you're the second person on this forum to mention it recently. Maybe you don't want to be a lone lady walking down the street at night in the city (or ever in places like Arbor Hill or downtown if you aren't from there,) but most of the surrounding neighborhoods and towns are pretty darn safe. I'm a small-town girl who grew up on the NY/PA border and have lived outside Albany for the last 16 years. I have lived in Schenectady/Schoharie/Saratoga counties. We are hiring new grads in the area, and as long as you choose your neighborhood wisely, it's a pretty decent place to live- way safer than many areas of Florida.

Slingerlands and Delmar are decent areas right near St. Peter's Hospital and Albany Med. Loudonville is nice and near Albany Memorial and Albany Med. Averill Park and East Greenbush are nice and near St. Mary's and Samaritan in Troy. Any town in Saratoga county is pretty decent and near Saratoga Hospital. Duanesburg and Princetown are fine and near the Ellis Hospital system. Are these places walking distance to these hospitals? No, but if you have a car, the commutes are pretty much

Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer for you about this area. I was scared as all get out when I moved here because I was only 22 and moved right into the city of Schenectady (which I would NOT do now.) But I generally feel safe here, and it is a pretty okay place to live. My commute is a little longer (by choice) and I have a nice home with a big yard but am only a 20-25 minute drive to Albany and close enough to NYC and Boston to visit them with a short drive.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

And if you don't mind small town, Corning is cute. My husband grew up near there and his mother still teaches at the college there. It is close enough to the Finger Lakes to afford some nice summer weekends.

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Thanks dandk1997rn. I'm glad the communities around Albany are safe. hope Albany is still hiring when I graduate this summer.

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