Anyone live around Elmira/Corning/Bath area in NY state?

Geekchick921

DH's parents try to encourage us to move near them everytime we visit in upstate PA.  I'm not opposed to it in the future, but I think I'd much rather move to the Southern tier of NY which is about an hour away.  It would be years before we could move up there if we decide to, but I am curious as to what others think.

Do you like it?  Hate it?  Why?  How is the weather?  I know housing is cheap compared to where we live now.  Where do you go on vacation (I assume the finger lakes)?  TIA!

 

MegGary

I'm from the Southern part of NYS & can say it is a great place to live. However, it is expensive. Upstate is less expensive but their are no jobs there.

What about Northern PA?

jenny&ben112506

I lived in Elmira for a year and I really hated it.  I had my first post college job there, which I ended up losing at the end of the school year due to budget cuts.  It's a depressed city that has a lot of poverty.  There wasn't a ton to do in the Elmira area either.  I visited the Corning and Bath areas a few times and those are better.  There's also Ithaca and Watkins Glen that are terribly far away for day trips, hiking etc.  Those areas are beautiful.  Not sure if this much help, since I wasn't a huge fan of the area.  Sorry!

Geekchick921

MegGary:

I'm from the Southern part of NYS & can say it is a great place to live. However, it is expensive. Upstate is less expensive but their are no jobs there.

What about Northern PA?

That's where they live, between Mansfield and Wellsboro.  It's too rural for me.  Williamsport wouldn't be too small for my liking, though.

ETA: Jenny, both good and bad are helpful!  Thank you.

clarice928

I went to college in Ithaca and loved it.  I agree that there aren't a ton of jobs around unless you want to work for one of the universities/colleges, but I loved the liberal, metropolitan atmosphere of Ithaca combined with still being in a small town.  Does that make sense?  I think I just like college towns -- lots of culture and good food, but no crazy city traffic/housing prices/etc.  That, and as a flaming liberal, I liked living in what is essentially mini-San Francisco.

PS. Finger Lakes wine country = freakin' awesome...when the college kids aren't there, that is!

Geekchick921

A college town appeals to me for all the reasons you mentioned.  That's farther from where I was thinking but still half as far as where we live now.  I am likely going to wind up working in a hospital so I could likely find a job there (truly, I will go where ever I can find a job once I'm done school) and DH ultimately wants to be a WAHD doing freelance illustration and things.

djandkellen

My DH is from Binghamton which isn't too far from Elmira. ?The area is beautiful! ?Also, I've heard Ithaca is really nice. ?As PP said, the finger lakes are AWESOME! ?There are pretty good state parks in that NY area and PA area. ?It's always worth checking it out! ?