SperlingViews - Oneonta, New_york

Our family has lived in Oneonta for the past 14 years. It is great! Oneonta is safe, friendly, active and serene. The hills will grab you and keep you. Whikle not NYC it is an easy hour from Albany and Binghamton. Many dance classes, theater, sports, culture, great Downtown and so much more! [read more...]

Well oneonta sucks, if it were not for the colleges, it would dry up. the cops suck, they are not trained the way they should be. down town is a ghost town all closed up. why you can not even open up a store there as the code dept really sucks. so people stay away the the city hall works for their own people ,in city hall only. good night.[read more...]

Dreary, bleak and dull especially in winter. That about summarizes it. Unattractive three block narrow downtown has nothing to offer; most of the shopping is "Southside Mall" a long hike if you don't have a car. Limited cultural and social activities if you're not into bars. Despite being in the middle of the wilderness there are few outdoor activities like in the Catskills to the east. Basically a hick and college town.[read more...]

I was raised in Oneonta, NY. The good is that it's a diverse and relatively open-minded town, there is some very unique shopping downtown, the people are very friendly (will carry on a conversation with a stranger), and it's not far from Cooperstown, Fly Creek (with the Cider Mill :D), and other really beautiful places. However, the bad is the economic structure. There is very little opportunity and prices are kind of high for everything, overall. However, if you have a good job, and have enough money to make a monthly trip or so to Binghamton, then it's a wonderful place to live. Much of the population is quite poor, however, you do not see very many homeless people (if any), as everyone has a tendency to get by due to some decent programs. The schools are quite good, and Riverside, the lesser of all of the schools, has really turned around and become a great school to go to. The people take a lot of pride in this town and are very much involved. There is a local farmer's market downtown during part of the summer, and there are plenty of health food stores and grocery stores so that you can get away from just shopping at the local Wal-Mart. There are a lot of different kinds of restaurants and some of the best pizza in the country is right there at Gino and Joe's and Sal's (among other great pizzerias.) An other great aspect is the landscape, it's a beautiful area and since it's mostly a sugar maple region, the hills turn to stunning yellow, orange and red splotches in the autumn, and it's like you're living in a painting. :) I really enjoyed growing up there, for the atmosphere; but, the economy can very much spoil your time there. Also, I plan to move back to this area when I'm finished with college, to raise my own [future] children there. :)[read more...]

Oneonta's ONLY allure are the colleges. Outside of that there is nothing here. For a young person trying to start a career you will find yourself terribly out of luck. There is no big business and if you find a job it will be at a fastfood restaurant or the local Wal-Mart. Income per Cap is only $13,792. About sixty percent of the county is on welfare while the cost of living exceeds the national average by 5%. How we achieve this? I have no idea. Our population has decreased and will continue to decline as the cost of living rises. Why bother to spend the type of money it takes to live in Oneonta when you could go somewhere else that provides you with more for your money. If it was not for the colleges, the hosptial and the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Oneonta would be a ghost town.[read more...]

Oneonta is often passed over for glitzier small towns. But for folks from the NYC and Boston Metropolitan areas looking to start a business and raise a family its hard to beat. There are two colleges in the town, restaurants that serve local produce, and no uppity attitude you find in Ithaca and Saratoga Springs. Its a down-to-earth community, a bit on the frumpy side, but means well. there are oodles of Victorians at cheap prices and good condition, and wonderful views from the "City of Hills". A secenic 3.5 hour drive from mid-town Manhattan is making it noticed by entrepreneurs./[read more...]

Downtown is pretty, but extremely congested with traffic. There is a small farmer's market in the summer. Outlying areas are not very picturesque. Walmart dominates the south side of the city. There is a whole strip of fast food places, dollar stores, and others of this type that have sprung up around the discount giant. Great if you want to buy cheap clothing or food, but not so great if you own one of the cute shops on Main Street. Parking is terrible.[read more...]