Living in Syracuse
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6/24/2006
Hi, my name is Russ. First I should tell you that I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I joined the Army at the age of 21 and after I got out I moved to Las Vegas. I lived in Vegas, actually Henderson, for about 3 years then moved to the Syracuse area. I now live in Baldwinsville, a small suburb of Syracuse about 15 minutes northwest of the city.
First the property tax, this is New York so the property tax is pretty high when compared to other places. I believe that it is 3.3% at the moment. That being said, you should know that most houses are assessed at a much lower price they are actually sold at. For instance in Radisson which is a planned community in Baldwinsville, the yearly tax paid on a $220,000.00 home is about $6700.00 a year. Next the utilities, which are very cheap here, you can get phone service, cable TV and the internet from Time Warner for about $130.00 a month. Natural Gas prices are on par with most of the country and electricity is quite a bit cheaper then California. For that information you can check out www.nationalgridus.com/niagramowhawk/
The weather is quite interesting. Syracuse is the usual winner of the Golden Snow Ball Award. We average around 120 inches of snow a year, but it’s really not that bad. The only really cold months are January and February. The lowest temperature that I have seen is 7 degrees and that was only for a few nights. The average winter temperature is around 24 degrees, with days being warmer and the nights obviously colder. Around Christmas time last year the day time temps were getting up into the high 30’s low 40’s. The spring, summer, and fall are beautiful, and the summers here are temperate and fun. For some of the more popular summer activities you can check out www.sylvanbeachny.com or do a web search on Casanovia or Skaneateles. We also have several amusement and water parks nearby. The humidity here in the summer is about the same as what you would find in or around Vista or Escondido, California.
I should also mention the many festivals and wine trails that we have in the area, like the Dickens Christmas they have in Skaneateles in December, the Great New York State Fair in July. There are too many to list. Here’s a website that can provide some more information on the fun things to do in the area www.fingerlakes.org. If you like wine or beer and holidays this is a great place to live and it is quite a bit cheaper than California or Nevada.
One more thing
Russ | Baldwinsville, NY