Quality of life
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8/28/2007
I was born here (but grew up in Syracuse thank god) and moved back when I was a teen. Year after year the city goes downhill. It has went from a city with a trolley car system, opera house, theater, grand hotel and numerous factories (Brockway, Smith Corona, Rubbermaid) all of which no longer are in existence.
Jobs are few and far in between and most don't pay more than minimum wage. Most wont even include any benefits. The city appears oblivious to the deteriation and continues to think its the best. Granted it used to be really great.
The jr/sr highschool is a joke. The staff seem more concerned about the students clothes than if they are being educated. The local hospital is another local joke. It's often referred to as a roach motel because they check in but don't check out. Any real medical attention needed should be sought in Syracuse. Garbage bags must be bought at a local store at 2.50 per bag and recycling is mandatory and you must provide your own bin.
A once thriving Main street has been replaced with expensive eateries and bars along with high priced antique shops, sporting goods and greeting card stores. The cities landmark clock tower burned downed awhile ago and has yet to be replaced, on the other end of Main street they demolished a beautiful hotel and replaced it with a horrible blue roofed single level insurance office.
If you have children I dont think they will appreciate someplace that has no
game rooms, record stores or malls. We have walmart and kmart and many many dollar stores and thats it. They just finished a lengthy battle over if a Super Walmart could be built here and fought it all the way. They seem to not want the city to prosper and try everything they can to keep it down.
The state college is here which probably keeps the remaining business's from going under. In the summer it's a ghost town, and when it's in session all the bars on main street are flowing into the street.
I think the city is trying for an upscale clientile now. They have started a Wine Fest and an Art in the park fest as well as a pumpkin fest. They just don't seem to get the fact that with so little opportunities for a decent job no one has money for those types of things.
THe local bus system only runs from 6am to 6pm Monday thru Friday and only has four routes. A transfer costs you another dollar. If your planning on attending any of the fests or shopping during the evening hours you need to have a car. We had no bus system at a
Rob | Cortland, NY