OFB 50 States Project: New York


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New York

New York

In The OFB 50 States Project, you the readers spill the beans about your state: the good, the bad, and the delicious. And thus provide “forever place” seekers (like yours truly) a useful resource in their search. We’d love to hear about your state! To be a part of this project, click here to fill out the form!

The Facts

Low State Taxes Ranking:  50

Low Cost of Living Ranking:  47

State Economy Ranking:  22

Average Temperatures (Albany):

  • Winter:  31°
  • Spring:  57°
  • Summer:  82°
  • Fall:  60°

The Nickname

The Empire State

The Short of It

The state of New York is brought to you by the following awesome OFB readers:
1) Mary   //   2) Heidi N.   //   3) Lisa B.

What food best represents New York?

  • Pizza 1
  • Hoffman Hot Dogs & Salt Potatoes 2
  • Pizza 3

What song best represents New York?

How does NY refer to a carbonated beverage drink?

  • Soda 1, 2, 3

If you could take a friend to one place in NY, where would it be?

  • Montauk — The lighthouse and beach are really nice. 1
  • Syracuse University basketball game 2
  • The City in the springtime 3

Central Park Spring

The Long of It

Biggest misconception about NY?

  • When people say it snows a lot in Syracuse. Just kidding! They’re right. 🙂 2
  • That everyone has accents. I’ll admit I’ve only lived in NYC, but I have family upstate that I visit quite frequently. There’s also the “stupid New Yorker” stereotype. 3

Best aspect about living in NY?

  • Not so much the best aspect about my state but the best aspect about the town I was raised in is that it’s small, nice, and the high school is one of the top in the country (top 50 while I was in HS). Homes are expensive, and you don’t get as much bang for your buck as you would in states like Georgia and stuff. Property taxes are a little high as well. But towns like Garden City and New Hyde Park have lower taxes and great schools. 1
  • All 4 seasons. Fall is the best! 2
  • The Yankees are the home team! Also, there’s a lot of diversity here so you get to meet people with so many different cultures and points of view. There’s also a lot of different industries that make NY home, so whatever you do, there’s a career path here. 3

Worst aspect about living in NY?

  • I think its easy to think of NYC when you hear NY. I’m from Long Island, which is a suburban area. I’ve told people that I’m from Long Island, NY, and have gotten “where’s that?” 1
  • The winter 2
  • It’s pricey, especially in the City. Winters are rough (though that holds true for all of the Northeast). I don’t own any property yet, but taxes are high, again especially near the City. 3

Summarize your feelings about New York in five words.

  • Empire State of Mind, Yo! 1
  • City & Rural within 20 minutes 2
  • Expensive but full of opportunity 3

Our Freaking Take

Johnny and I really only know the New York City aspect of New York. Living in the City changed us in ways nowhere else could have. And I’m not just talking about that time a homeless man had a conversation with himself and his other self right outside our window. We loved our time there, and Lisa described it perfectly as “expensive but full of opportunity.” I loved living in a city surrounded by the best of the best in every career field. I think Johnny and I were always pushing to be better while we lived in NYC. And there was never a dull moment, which we also loved. And while we’ll probably never call it home again, we wouldn’t trade our time living there for anything. A little bit of our heart will always belong to that city.

How did these answers line up with your perception of New York? Have your thoughts on the state changed after reading this? Could you see it fitting your forever-place bill? 

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26 Comments

  • Reply MomofTwoPreciousGirls May 10, 2013 at 7:56 am

    I was born and lived in various area of NY until I went into 4th grade. I consider it home even though it was just a fraction of my life. If life had been different, I would have gone to college there and probably would have stayed there.
    However, I would only want to be in the city, but don’t like the environment for children. Too much hustle and bustle and too much competitiveness for the babies. My opinion of course. I can’t wait until the girls can hold their bladders longer do we can bring them, especially during Christmas!

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:22 am

      The reason we chose to leave NYC (and Boston) was ultimately the hustle/bustle/craziness of raising kids in the city. It totally works for other superhuman parents, but not us.

      We’re contemplating a trip up this summer while our girl doesn’t have to worry about her bladder. 🙂 We’re going to try some shorter trips before embarking on the 8-hour drive.

  • Reply Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies May 10, 2013 at 8:01 am

    I’ve only been to NYC and Buffalo, but was not a fan of NY. I just can’t get over why you would pay so much to be so cold all the time. Yikes!

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:42 am

      It’s not cold ALL the time… just MOST of the time. 🙂 NYC summers can actually be pretty brutal. It’s hard to find relief in the humid, concrete jungle. But I’ll take that every day of the week over the wind-tunnel chills the city blocks and buildings generate in the winter.

  • Reply Sharon May 10, 2013 at 8:17 am

    I’m originally from upstate NY. I haven’t lived there for almost 30 years, but I LOVE going back in the summer. Summers are awesome in upstate NY, plus all of the mountains…simply beautiful.

    I was surprised no one mentioned SPIEDIES as a food of NY. Perhaps it’s just a Binghamton thing, but they are awesome. (www.spiedies.com)

    We now live in VA, and I’m loving this series because we are trying to figure out where to end up. :)!

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:45 am

      I had never heard of Spiedies. I’ll have to give those meat cubes a shot the next time I’m out of the city.

      Glad to have you following along! Hopefully by the end of this, we’ll both figure our “forever places.”

  • Reply Rachel May 10, 2013 at 9:36 am

    I’m from upstate NY, so I can relate to parts of this! My biggest thing is when I say I’m from NY people always assume NYC! There is SO MUCH more to the state besides the city!

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:46 am

      Wait, so New York isn’t one big city with Times Square as its capitol? 🙂

  • Reply Liran May 10, 2013 at 9:47 am

    I live in nyc and love it. The only other place I think I would want to live is the west coast because of the weather. I love being able to leave my apartment and see people walking down the street, or go to the 24 hour market right next door. Wouldn’t want to live anywhere else! Oh and I think most New Yawkers (accent) and nice, but sometimes we get a bad rap! Nice post!

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:50 am

      The convenience of NYC is definitely one of its greatest draws. Anything and everything you need can all be found in just a few square mile radius.

  • Reply Executioner May 10, 2013 at 9:48 am

    I noticed a small mistake in the Best/Worst categories. The Yankees belong in the Worst category. 🙂

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:54 am

      Hahah. 🙂 I grew up a National League fan with the Dodgers, so I’ve never really cared about the Yankees. I lean toward not liking them because of how bandwagon-ey their fans are. But I will withhold judgment for now.

  • Reply Brian May 10, 2013 at 10:21 am

    My wife loves NYC and would love to live there someday. I doubt we will do that, but we do enjoy visiting it. The next time we go will probably be in the next 2 years to talk our little guy to see Santa at Macy’s (kind of cliche I know, but I’m sure at 2 -3 he will eat it up!).

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 12:58 am

      NYC is magical at Christmas. The sheer number of tourists can get annoying, but the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Macy’s Santa, and Christmas specials at Radio City Music Hall should be at the top of anyone’s Christmas in NYC list.

  • Reply Beth Sheridan May 10, 2013 at 11:18 am

    I’ve only been to NYC and only once, but I really loved it there. It is truly full of opportunity and it debunked every stereotype that I had made about it 🙂

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 1:00 am

      It’s easy to make stereotypes about a city that is featured in nearly every single movie. Dirty, rude, loud, dangerous, shady, etc. etc. Sure, some of those things can be true from time-to-time, but we have wayyyy more positive experiences and memories from our time living in the Big Apple.

  • Reply Kris May 10, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    I am from upstate NY and am actually en route south relocating.
    The winters in NY are horrible. Taxes are very high.

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 1:03 am

      Taxes were killer for us. On top of the high state tax, we got hit with an NYC-resident tax. What made me irate is when those tax dollars were being wasted right before my very eyes. Case-in-point: not being allowed to play a turkey bowl football game on Thanksgiving on ANY grass field in Central Park. Seriously?!

  • Reply Jane Savers @ Solving The Money Puzzle May 12, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Irv Weintstein and Buffalo’s Eyewitness News was a channel that came over our antenna in southern Ontario when I was growing up.

    They had fires in vacant houses and shootings and every night at 11:00pm Irv would come on and say “It’s eleven o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” in an ominous tone that frightened me whenever I heard it.

    Some of us can’t afford to travel and we get a lot of our impressions of places from news and movies and tv shows. I am sure that Buffalo is a nice place but it sure looks bad on the tv.

    • Reply Johnny May 13, 2013 at 1:06 am

      That’s really funny that you’d get the signal and watch another city’s news. And that’s an extremely ominous and depressing line to start a newscast. As a parent (or kid), I’d probably have nightmares listening to that guy.

  • Reply Michelle May 13, 2013 at 3:12 am

    I went to college in Upstate New York and after I got over the shock of the weather (it took a year) I really enjoyed living there. I loved the competitiveness and the energy of the people. Summers were lovely and the proximity to so many cool places was amazing.

  • Reply Wendy May 22, 2013 at 7:21 am

    I’m from Upstate NY. I absolutely love it here, but we call it the Vampire State. The taxes here are BEYOND ridiculous and just keep going up. I own my own small business and NY makes it very difficult for small businesses to operate. If my family weren’t so close and I didn’t love the four seasons we’d move out in a heartbeat. I DO love NY but its government is SO corrupt and greedy.

    Oh, and when it snows in Syracuse the snowflakes are as big as your head! Seriously.

    • Reply Johnny May 24, 2013 at 9:49 pm

      When we lived in NYC, we got hit with the state + NYC + Manhattan tax. It was insane. And nevermind the fact that a dozen NYC politicians have been arrested over the last few months for corruption. Just slimy.

      We only had one or two chances to visit upstate, but we loved what we saw. We wouldn’t love the cold, but we always love a good snowstorm.

  • Reply Jen July 17, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    I grew up in the beautiful Finger Lakes region and now I live outside of Buffalo. I’ve lived in other parts of the country, but New York State is home to me. I love it here. And I’ve only been to NYC once. This is a big state, with lots of farms, mountains, and cities that are not Manhattan!

  • Reply Danielle November 5, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    I think a huge misconception is that when you say you’re from NY people automatically assume NYC… Although I loved visiting the city, for me the Adirondack’s are home 🙂

    • Reply Johnny November 6, 2013 at 3:03 am

      That’s definitely an issue. We took a day trip up to your neck of the woods one winter day and it was certainly a sight for sore, concrete-jungle worn eyes.

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