People who live in Syracuse, New York, I'm in need of information on the town.?

[Bloody]

If I were to rent a one-room apartment in Syracuse, New York, how would the prices be? Does anyone know of The James Apartments? They say the apts. there are in the $500 range, but is it a good neighborhood?

Is the shopping more expensive than New York City? How about the electricity bills and stuff? Are the schools good? Would it be easy to get any kind of job?

Please, I need as much as much info as you can offer, really, anything would be useful.

Thanks to anyone who might be able to help me!

[Sara]

Wow, what a great question for me to answer!

I live in an apartment in the very area you speak of, and the rent IS in the $500 neighborhood. Here it's $525 for renting a one bedroom apartment (about 485 SQ ft) and $20 for lot parking per car ($50 for garage, which I don't bother with). It's very reasonable. Our utilities are included, and the place is kept very warm (so warm, in fact, that we have to keep the windows open year round). This particular area also has secured buildings with wonderful maintenence staff.

The cost of living in Syracuse is extremely low. The average income here is $25-30K. Rent is low. Home prices are low. There are a lot of retail and customer service jobs, many tech jobs, and I'd like to point out that we have three major hospitals and several minor ones with excellent opportunities for work. We have several great colleges (including S.U.!). It's pretty easy to find work here, and definitely easy to find all kinds of education, short and long, for your future goals.

There are beautiful suburbs surrounding the area with easy, fast commute to the city center. There's a beautiful array of woods, farms, lakes, and residential areas around the city, and you can also live right in the city. The schools here are very good, many rate above national averages.

The weather gets a little annoying in the winter, but not as bad as the north country. I have lived here almost all my life and I love it, I'd never leave. Good luck with your move and I hope you get to know Syracuse soon. Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions about the area! :)
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