not surprising.

I'm trying to think of a city I'd want to live in....lessee....Singapore, Bangkok, Chang Mai, KL, Ismir, Quito.   None of them are in USA.   I suppose if I had to pick USA- Savannah...ummm I give up.

There is a silver lining though.  When I tell people from outside Upstate what I paid for my place, how big it is (not big by our standards, but big for Europe and Australia), and the view, they almost cry.  

But quality of life in Upstate?  That left with Kodak and Xerox.

What no Albany and Binghamton.
If it was not for Johnson City Binghamton would be like Albany and only good for one thing, above ground nuclear testing.

Rochester is a crime-ridden shithole with the occasional mediocre attraction scattered here and there.

Bring an armored car if you go after dark.

im shocked.

I am not a fan of my daughter living in Rochester but she loves her job as a RN at Strong. Hope soon she will get a house farther away from the city.

Friend of mine moved into the ghetto so she's close'ish to work.  She hears gunshots most nights.  Has no license, so she's kinda stuck with public trans or rides from coworkers.  It's a good IT job, so she's gonna tough it out until she can afford to move to a better place.

I hear gunshots here, too.  But that's just the neighbors shooting on the farm behind me, during the day. 

Albany, Schenectady, and Troy all suck too.

Not surprised at all about Syracuse.  My late father's family was from Syracuse.  He was born in 1922, along with my three older uncles, and grew up on Livingston Street.  By the time I was cognizant of my surroundings in the early 70's (about 10) one could see the city was going down the tubes.  The last one out was my youngest uncle (five years older than my father) who lived at 107 West Pleasant Avenue (Picture at https://goo.gl/maps/qScBMp1dsqN2).  I had a cousin who lived next door at 105 West Pleasant.  The cousin moved out first and my uncle was out around 1975 after my grandmother died in late 1974 (she lived nearby in Nedrow until about 1970).

The two houses used to look pretty much identical but 107 has had an extension added to the front that enclosed the porch.  There also used to be a standalone garage in the back of 107, that is see is gone now in the satellite view, that was always getting broken in to and stuff was being stolen (bikes, etc.).  Just cruising down that street in Google Streetview one can see a lot of abandoned and derelict houses.  You couldn't pay me to live there.

Add Utica & Mohawk valley to list. Nothing but worn down, non usable structures everywhere

I used to live outside of buffalo and actually liked it.  Saratoga springs is nice but that's because it's small, has attractions like the track.  Upstate NY will always be depressed because NY is mostly hostile to business because of the oppression of liberalism.  Sometimes the state will bribe someone like global fou dries with tax breaks, but it has no interest in removing the barriers it has put up to squelch economic growth.  That's NYC liberalism for you.

In other news: Water is wet and taxes are due April 15th

JC is just as bad as Binghamton, although both have areas that are still nice.