Ithaca: What Kind of Place is It?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
41

<p>Driving through Ithaca was like driving through Newark, NJ, except the scary people in Ithaca are white. Downtown Ithaca was like downtown Allentown. It gave me the creeps. I did park, get out and wander around, peeping into restaurants, hoping to find a place to eat. People on the streets did not seem friendly. I got the hell out of there. </p>

<p>The little town of Oberlin, Ohio is an example of "nice" in my book, and the town is well integrated into the college. I felt very comfortable there. Even Carlisle, PA (Dickinson College) which is similar to Ithaca, didn't give me the creeps like Ithaca. Maybe I caught the town on the wrong evening? </p>

<p>One thing I noticed about the drive to and from Ithaca is the ubiquitous presence of John Law. Man, those NY state troopers are everywhere. I've never seen anything like it. Is there a speeding problem in upstate NY? Too little real crime and too many cops? It seemed like there was a trooper every five miles on 81.</p>

42

<p>I love Berkeley. It's exciting. And I love the grittiness of many rustbelt towns. I apologize for engaging in a teasing contest. The other poster has a great deal of pride in his town & school, and if I was 25 again I'd love to be right there with him. And the lakes are spectacular.
Oddly, I am also quite familiar with the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area of Pennsylvania.</p>

43

<p>What they say about Ithaca: "Ten square miles surrounded by reality"</p>

<p>How true is it? I would just say that Ithaca is very unique, and hard to compare to other places. Is it a city? A lot of people from NY, NJ, MA would say not. Is it rural? Well no, it's actually the cultural capital of the Finger Lakes. It's got a population of about 40,000, and half of it is college students. That says something about the environment. </p>

<p>And it's really hard to determine how seedy a place is by how it looks. If you're from the suburbs like I am, you'll feel that Ithaca is a lot more gritty than what you're used to, because this is a city to upstate new yorkers and will still have something of that feeling, and it has been largely unaffected by the suburban bug (except maybe Cayuga Heights). But once you've been a student here for a while, you'll start to notice how nice and small town it feels, even with all the hippies roaming the Commons. And how amazing it is that even such a small and secluded place can have so much music and arts and drama. And food. Don't forget the yummy yummy food. And wine. Oh man, Ithaca is a big food wine beer place. IT's awesome for a student. Be sure to try to the Thai food when you all visit.</p>

44

<p>oh god, the thai food is amazing.</p>

<p>I found a place for thai sunday brunch, don't remember the name, but it was fantastic.</p>

45

<p>there are a lot more than just "hippies" roaming the commons...</p>

<p>wanna-be gangsters (non-college kids) and working class folks too...</p>

<p>that being said i dont think there is any danger factor involved here only a social one: </p>

<p>in ithaca there is a tension between those on welfare (ithaca is known for its handouts), working class folks who might commute to ithaca from many of the smaller towns outside ithaca and those with cornell...</p>

46

<p>Ithaca as a dump? Although Ithaca isn't as modern or exciting as Cambridge due to remote location, it is far cry away from being a dump. It is generally clean and has beautiful natual surrondings. My impression of dump is like a ghetto with dangerous neighborhoods, slums, drugs, and ugly buildings in urban neighborhoods. (such as Harlem) </p>

<p>But, I will give Coldwind that I could see how people would prefer Cambridge or Evanston to Ithaca. While those places have good cultural things, Ithaca has unique natural beauty. I always thought, for instance, that for me it was better to go experience this kind of collegiate life in rural area for undergrad. I am from Evanston area btw.</p>

47

<p>I like to go away to spas to relax with friends and my daughters. La Tourelle Spa by Ithaca College is as nice of spa as any I have been to. The rooms are not Four Seasons quality, but very credible as a B&B. I go up there on a Sat, spend the day at the spa with my daughter, have a meal at Za Za (best lasagna, even though Mrs. owner is a bit uptight), then have brunch at the Statler or lunch at the Boatyard Grill, and my weekend is complete.</p>

<p>Ithaca's restaurants are better than what we have at home, and we live outside of NYC. The Korean restaurant (seafood tofu casserole) is pretty authentic. According to my daughter Taste of Thai and Plum(?) are also very good. I think there is also a place for great hamburgers that students go to, she told me it's not my scene.</p>

<p>Ithaca doesn't have multi million dollar homes, but some of those lake houses are pretty nice. Is it a slum or a dump, hardly. We live in some of the most expensive areas in the country, but we still have some seedy areas in our towns. Ithaca is a nice college town. It is safe and affordable to most students. The only place my daughter doesn't feel comfortable is around where she teaches ballet when it's dark, so she'll take a taxi or drive, no different than if she was going to school in NYC or Boston. We turned down 2 schools because of surrounding town, but not in a million year would it cross my mind not to have my daughter go to Cornell because of Ithaca. I went to school in Hamilton, so anything would be an up tick.</p>

<p>If anyone on this board knows of some other good restaurants within 10 miles radius of Ithaca or a good lake house rental for graduation...</p>

48

<p>
[quote]
Driving through Ithaca was like driving through Newark, NJ, except the scary people in Ithaca are white. Downtown Ithaca was like downtown Allentown. It gave me the creeps. I did park, get out and wander around, peeping into restaurants, hoping to find a place to eat. People on the streets did not seem friendly. I got the hell out of there.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I offered once and I'll offer again...you want to experience seediness...come visit me in New Orleans. A city with many absolutely gorgeous areas and some areas that have crime rates at levels way above the national average...you go two blocks from the Garden Distract and you're in some very shady areas and if you're lucky...you can see a drug deal or two go down (note the sarcasm).</p>

<p>So please...come visit me...then we can talk seedy and unsafe.</p>

49

<p>
[quote]
P.P.S. Nice try at fudging the FBI stats. Try "Evanston Township".

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</p>

<p>I don't think anybody was fudging stats. Evanston, IL is both a city and a township, an odd little legality of history. I believe most of the crime statistics get reported up through the city, and the township presumably gets the leftovers. Taken together, we know that Ithaca has the lowest violent crime rate of the areas I mentioned.</p>

<p>My original comment, which so irritated ColdWind, was to suggest that Ithaca is a safer place for an undergraduate to spend four years than the other locales. I took "seedy" to mean "unsafe". I still stand by this assertion. The original poster was concerned about a bum on a street talking to himself (and in actuality, I now just wonder if it wasn't a grad student deep in though), and in my experience, I encountered more of those 'quality of life' types of problems in Evanston, Central Sq. Cambridge (home of MIT), New Haven, and West Philly than I ever did in Ithaca. For the average student, safety is going to be more of a concern in these college areas than in Ithaca.</p>

<p>I have many good friends who attended Northwestern. I almost attended Northwestern myself. I visited Northwestern often. And I must say that while crime on campus, like on most college campuses was not a problem, I was surprised by how much crime was a problem a few blocks west of campus. </p>

<p>Granted, perhaps Evanston and Cambridge are kept up a little better looking than Ithaca -- but I wasn't thinking about aesthetics. And Ithaca's unkempt look adds a lot to its character, I believe. Not all college towns should look like Hanover or Princeton.</p>

<p>Here's a quote from the the Daily Northwestern:</p>

<p>
[quote]
"Evanston has all the luxuries a college town should have, but there's a lot of crime that is disproportionately high for how nice the area is," McCormick Kozberg said.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Students</a> question Evanston's ranking as best suburb in nation - City</p>

<p>I come from a Rust Belt city. My family is white and mostly working class, and the neighborhood a lot of my family grew up in has been absolutely hollowed out in the last twenty years. Every other house is abandoned. Extremely shady characters with ties to organized crime roam the streets. This is a lot closer to a "dump" than Ithaca ever was, even if I wouldn't use that phrase. </p>

<p>Ithaca, in comparison, has more culture, nightlife, friendliness, and good nature on a per capita basis than most cities can dream of. When you are down by the Commons or West End on a weekday, you can feel it "bustling". The architecture in so many of the neighborhoods -- be it Cornell Heights, Cayuga Heights, Lower Collegetown, Belle-Sherman, and Fall Creek, just to name a few, is fantastic, and the streets all over the city are clean and safe. As an undergraduate I used to walk alone all over the streets of Ithaca at two or three in the morning. And not once did anybody ever feel unsafe.</p>

<p>So for me to come onto a thread and see people using the term "dump" and "white ghetto" to describe Ithaca, and in such disparaging and mocking terms from full-grown adults, well, it strikes me as a bit wrongheaded. This is a city with a per capita income much higher than the American average, and with more restaurants (fantastic restaurants, at that!) than cities three to four times its size. To top it off, it has a cosmopolitan nature to it that only very large metros can rival. </p>

<p>oldfort -- Try the following restaurants. Are all fantastic:</p>

<ul>
<li>Thai Cuisine</li>
<li>Red Newt</li>
<li>The Heights</li>
<li>Willow</li>
<li>Maxie's Super Club</li>
<li>Just A Taste</li>
<li>Moosewood</li>
<li>Madeline's (especially for dessert)</li>
<li>Pangea</li>
<li>Simply Red</li>
<li>Za Za's Cucina</li>
</ul>

<p>For brunch I especially recommend ABC Cafe and Carriage House Cafe, right across from each other in lower Collegetown. Don't be taken back by their slightly free spirited vibe -- the eggs are the best I have ever had. Also be sure to check out the Farmer's Market.</p>

<p>Finally, for a good steak</p>

<p>-- John Thomas's Steak House
-- Rogue Harbor
-- Antlers
-- Triphammer Inn (Trumansburg)</p>

<p>All of these place will probably set you back $30 per person, you know, because Ithaca is full of white trash. None of them are geared towards students.</p>

50

<p>One other thing about Northwestern. It's a fantastic school, and I didn't mean to suggest that I chose to not attend Northwestern on account of the crime in Evanston. Hardly the case. I chose to go to Ithaca because I wanted to spend four years of my life close to the outdoors.</p>

51

<p>CayugaRed2005,</p>

<p>I agree that Evanston isn't necessarily safer than Ithaca. But Evanston is a rather split city so even stats indicate Evanston has more crimes, it doesn't say where those crimes occurred. The worst parts of Evanston are also the farthest from the campus (west end and south end which borders Rogers Park, a mediocre neighborhood of Chicago) and they are nowhere near where students are. </p>

<p>Now, you should not have used "seedy" to describe affluent Evanston at the first place. To me, "seedy" says more about the appearance and there's no way Evanston is considered seedy, at least not downtown and the vicinity of NU. This is a place where the median home value is 700k and the median family income is about 100k. The rent for a studio can cost you $1000/month. Most areas within walking distance from NU have a preppy and upscale feel. Ironically, sometime it is this appearance that gives some students false sense of security and they get into trouble by walking alone in poor-lit areas late at night.</p>

<p>Evanston</a>, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

52

<p>
[quote]
To me, "seedy" means more about the appearance

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Fair enough, I took "seedy" to mean disreputable characters. </p>

<p>I agree that Evanston does have a split personality, and a "the other side of the tracks" mentality. Last time I was in Evanston we got some food (and liquor) at the Chicken Shack on Ridge Ave, and we did encounter some bums in the parking lot. Looking at the neighborhood on Google now, it appears that a high-end apartment building has gone up across the street.</p>

<p>The Chicken Shack was delicious though. I wish Ithaca had a decent fried chicken place.</p>

53

<p>
[quote]
I wish Ithaca had a decent fried chicken place.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And that is why I love New Orleans :-D</p>

54

<p>Here's a little fact that will show you just how how affluent both Ithaca and Evanston are:</p>

<p>In Ithaca, 4.2 percent of all families are in poverty. In Evanston, 5.1 percent of all families are in poverty. But across the country, over 11 percent of all families live in poverty.</p>

55

<p>Ridge Ave is where you'd start to get a different vibe when you go west of it. To me, it's a bit far to walk to campus in the winter time and not many students lived around there 10 years ago due to the distance. But the rent has gone up and the high rent for areas closer to the campus has pushed students to look for places further west for off-campus housing.</p>

56

<p>
[quote]
I think there is also a place for great hamburgers that students go to, she told me it's not my scene.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That would be The Pines....not my scene either...but the Pines Burger with a side of their broccoli cheddar bits is to die for and you should have the experience before your daughter graduates.</p>

<p>As for lake house rentals...the Cornell Sun Classifieds is a good place to start. Depending on the owner...it can be trickier to get home but if you do it it can often be more reasonable than the hotels for graduation weekend.</p>

57

<p>
[quote]
it appears that a high-end apartment building has gone up across the street.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Evanston has experienced a lot of development in the past 10 years. Areas further from campus have undergone varying degree of gentrification. It appears the vicinity of Ridge Ave is experiencing just that.</p>

58

<p>To be clear, my negative comments about Ithaca were only done to irritate another poster who intentionally went out of his way to misconstrue my postings by inappropriately isolating phrases & then taking them out of context. When I pointed that out, he then insulted me & another poster in a fashion that required the offending words to be deleted by the monitors.
I love the Northeast U.S. & New England and have spent substantial time in both areas.
A simple phrase may be applicable here to all: "Don't throw stones if you live in a glass house."
And, in certain contexts, both Ithaca & Cornell have glass house qualities. The other poster chose to defend Ithaca by trashing other places. This was & is standard operating procedure for a fight among eight year olds. Ultimately--probably in a subconscious wish to be eight years old again--I joined in the fray.
Ithaca does have a gritty, earthy, old industrialized appearance with some folks who have obviously lived a hard life. Ithaca also has an earthy, hippish charm that--especially in the eyes of an 18 to 25 year old--for many constitutes the ultimate college town. Certainly the area surrounding the town is naturally beautiful.
In the eyes of a "long ago 18 to 25 year old" not accustomed to rust belt type environments & looking for a home for the next four years for their child/young adult, the view can strike a different chord.
That's all. My "Ithaca is a dump" comment was not a sincere belief of mine, but, rather, words to harshly illustrate that one living in a glass house should not throw stones. I sincerely apologize to any that I may have offended as I actually dream of retiring in the area from time to time.</p>

59

<p>
[quote]
To be clear, my negative comments about Ithaca were only done to irritate another poster who intentionally went out of his way to misconstrue my postings by inappropriately isolating phrases & then taking them out of context. When I pointed that out, he then insulted me & another poster in a fashion that required the offending words to be deleted by the monitors.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wow. Talk about a revisionist history.</p>

<p>Where things got out of hand was when Ithaca was first described as a "white ghetto" by the original poster. I defended Ithaca, suggesting that it was safer for the average college student than places like West Philly, New Haven, Central Sq., and, yes, even Evanston. And that on a whole, students love their time in Ithaca.</p>

<p>You disagreed with this assessment, claiming:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ithaca is a tired & worn old industrial community

[/quote]
</p>

<p>as if it was Utica, New York. But I differed in opinion, saying:</p>

<p>
[quote]
my friends who lived off-campus by the Noyes El stop had more than their share of problems with crime.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Keep in mind, that at the same time I said:</p>

<p>
[quote]
parts of Evanston are absolutely charming, especially right by the University

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You then jumped in and started calling Ithaca "rough and tumble" in a way that was extremely suggestive to the effect that Ithaca is a more dangerous place to be a student then any of these other areas.</p>

<p>Things spiraled down from there. You thought I was equating Evanston with West Philly, something that anybody could see was clearly not my point. </p>

<p>And your continual negative impressions of Ithaca suggested to me that you had not actually given the city an honest look in quite some time, and your perceptions of the place were colored by your experiences there a couple of decades ago.</p>

<p>And apparently the adjective "washed-out" is now an extremely rude adjective. More rude, than apparently suggesting an entire city is full of "white trash".</p>

<p>But so be it. You then threw a tantrum, continually asserting such things like:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ithaca is still a dump.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>When all I was doing from the first place was trying to dispel the notion that Ithaca is somehow unsafe for students vis-a-vis these other college environs! </p>

<p>But, now you take it all back, saying that you had a subconscious wish to be eight years old again, and that:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I actually dream of retiring in the area from time to time.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Thank you for apologizing. I similarly apologize for my own cavalier attitude. </p>

<p>Can you agree that the original poster's concerns were quite misguided?</p>

60

<p>The Heights reminds me of a very upscale urban restaurant that could easily be located in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, etc.
Ithaca seems like an interesting place.</p>