<p>You just don't want to let this go. Your posts do more harm to my impression of Cornell & Ithaca than anything. I am going to go out on a limb here and wager that maturity is not your strong suit; nor does it appear to be reading comprehension or good judgment.</p>
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Your posts do more harm to my impression of Cornell & Ithaca than anything. I am going to go out on a limb here and wager that maturity is not your strong suit; nor does it appear to be reading comprehension or good judgment.
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<p>So we both apologize to each other and then you come back with this?</p>
<p>I rest. I'll let my longstanding presence on these boards and the flow of this thread speak for itself.</p>
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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.
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<p>Sam - That sounds about right. My friends were living right at the corner of Simpson and Ridge from 2004-2006. The distance didn't strike me as all that unreasonable -- maybe a ten minute walk to the library. Then again, any walk without a four hundred foot hill to climb seemed reasonable to this Cornellian.</p>
<p>Cornellians must have Bowflex legs! :D</p>
<p>We have great legs :-D</p>
<p>ColdWind: I wouldn't go around telling anyone else that maturity isn't their strong suit, especially when even you admit that you were acting like an 8 year old. Also, I'd say that your reading comprehension and judgment are severely lacking, not Cayuga's. CayugaRed actually managed to respond like a rational adult. Too bad you couldn't do the same.</p>
<p>Sam Lee: There is no way a person making only 100K can afford a 700K house, in Evanston or anywhere else, unless he/she sold a house in Calfornia and used the capital gains for a huge down payment, or they had half a million from some other source to put down.</p>
<p>Plainsman,</p>
<p>That's true and it appears those numbers shown on wikipedia are inflated according to this: Evanston</a>, Illinois (IL) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
It puts the median house/condo value at $424,300 which is still not cheap. The median price of homes near the campus/around downtown is definitely higher than this.</p>
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Sam Lee: There is no way a person making only 100K can afford a 700K house, in Evanston or anywhere else, unless he/she sold a house in Calfornia and used the capital gains for a huge down payment, or they had half a million from some other source to put down.
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<p>Don't forget that the average family isn't buying the average house in Evanston. A lot of the housing stock in Evanston comprises condos or apartments, so the average house price reflects maybe only the top 30 percent of the market. </p>
<p>Looking on Zillow, you can get a pretty nice two bedroom, two bath apartment close to downtown Evanston for under $200k.</p>
<p>The average single family house in Evanston probably is running $6-700k these days, and closer to the university it probably higher than $1MM, but who knows what it will be a year from now.</p>
<p>For comparison purposes, in Ithaca the average house is probably only $200-$250k, but that is by far the highest you will find in any Upstate city. And if you zero in on ritzy Cayuga Heights, the prices are typically $500k-$1M.</p>
<p>Upscale suburbs Plainsman???? Seriously??? You come to a beautiful small town with locally owned shops and restaurants and a thriving art community and you want some cookie-cutter crap to make yourself feel safe from the middle-class?</p>
<p>Please never come back to Ithaca. You are extremely blind.</p>
<p>I'm from evanston and now at cornell, so I feel the need to defend it. Evanston is quite different from ithaca, mostly because of evanston's vicinity to chicago and its growing 'city' feel with all the developments going on. There are many houses in Evanston well over a million dollars. My neighbors house sold for 2.25 mill and we aren't even close to the lake or northwestern...actually closer to the seedier part as posters have been saying. Probably many of the higher prices come from Evanston's proximity to chicago, while here in upstate New York, we are close to nothing like chicago. However, there are many less expensive houses, but over the past few years the prices of these houses have gone up causing the types of families who have historically lived in those houses to not be able to afford them anymore. Regarding evanston township vs evanston crime rating, I know my high school, Evanston Township HS, included part of a neighboring suburb. I know that the township and and city of evanston are exactly the same, but maybe this is where the lower number came from.</p>
<p>It does seem that Evanston and Ithaca both face the same problem of a large income gap. I have always felt safe in both evanston and ithaca. There is a fair share of crime in both towns (I have experienced it personally in evanston). However, if I had to choose whether to walk through the commons or through downtown evanston late at night by myself, I would probably chose evanston. If the choice were between collegetown or the cornell campus and downtown evanston, I would be indifferent.</p>
<p>A cookie cutter suburb is a nice place to raise a family in. I live in Cupertino, CA (median home price of $900,000) and I have no complaints. But, when you're young, I think it's more important to enjoy a place that has a bit of life and culture (even if there is some crime that comes with it). I've lived in a lot of places (having moved 13 times in my life) and Ithaca is far from seedy or a "ghetto." As with any town, it's important to take precautions when traveling at night but I've never felt unsafe in Ithaca. There is a lot of good food and a lot of good local stuff in Ithaca. </p>
<p>I'm not sure what's with the preoccupation of comparing home prices. Ithaca is naturally at a disadvantage due to its location (not really that close to any of the major cities). In my opinion, it's pretty silly to be comparing upstate NY/rural area prices to Chicago suburb prices. The median home price of East Palo Alto is $400,000-$500,000 (about the same as Evanston). Take a stroll through there at night and tell me if you've changed your definition of ghettoness ;)</p>
<p>Coldwind: I took the liberty of looking at your past posts, and you are a generally a very helpful and supportive "older" poster (my generation). The repartee you have been engaged with on this particular thread seems very out of character judging by your past posts. Sometimes I also get very frustrated reading what earnest, zealous people write on these boards - along with what bitter, negative people write - but I try to take a deep breath before I post because I try to picture myself dealing with my own children and their friends - in other words I remind myself that I am the adult on this board (not a young alumnus adult, but an adult with a lot of years of experience). Muerteapablo nearly sent me on a tailspin (on the Cornell/Penn thread), but I walked away after one post. I knew as a graduate of both Cornell and Penn I had so much to contribute to the debate - but I also knew I would be arguing with just a narrow minded kid after seeing his/her other posts and knew the conversation would deteriorate rapidly. In other words, I try to walk away from debates that will turn into playground name calling with people a generation younger than myself! </p>
<p>I don't know exactly how old you are, but you have stated that you are a parent of a college aged student, so I am guessing you are a lot older than the posters you got into the "one-upmanship" debate with and closer to my generation. You wrote a nice, mea culpa in post #58, but then you had to come back to say that one of the young alum posing on this board is not mature, etc. I think it's time to act like the "grown-up" on this thread, take a deep breath and stop this meaningless debate. By the way... I too would love to retire in Ithaca - by East Lake.</p>
<p>P.S. Coldwind: I thought you were a long-time member of the CC community because you have over 400 posts... didn't realize that you only joined 3 weeks ago! Welcome to CC - you'll get the hang of the etiquette!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, threads like this can affect one's perception of both the town & school. There is another thread started by a current Cornell alum wishing to transfer to Penn due to his perceived lack of intellectual class discussions. The main poster on this thread does not come across as being well educated. My point is that even though this is an anonymous site, posters should care about the image that they present when defending their school or its location.
Post #72: Thank you for the advice, but it wasn't a mea culpa as much as I started feeling sorry for other posters affiliated with the school or town.</p>
<p>Yes you are. Actually Ithaca is very safe.</p>
<p>Coldwind: I hope most CC people are intelligent enough to realize that this is a subjective discussion board and the individuals are not representative of any university (or township). We all come to the table with our own prejudices. I don't find a need to hang around Penn's discussion boards, because I feel that Wharton gets a fair shake on these boards - and I am only qualified to speak about Wharton's graduate program (and West Philly ;)). I am a very active alum at both universities, but I feel that there are a lot of tales and rumors about Cornell (and Ithaca) that need clarification and truth. I believe Cayuga feels the same way, he's a very loyal alum and a wealth of information for students doing their research on CC.</p>
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But I feel that there are a lot of tales and rumors about Cornell (and Ithaca) that need clarification and truth. I believe Cayuga feels the same way, he's a very loyal alum and a wealth of information for students doing their research on CC.
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<p>Thanks Tahoe. Cornell does get a bum rap for whatever reason, be it studying the pathology of corn, helping to mediate labor disputes, being located in a breathtaking location and a wonderful little city, seeking to educate more students instead of less, or getting funding from the government. </p>
<p>Ithaca and Cornell may not be for everyone, but that doesn't mean they should be disparaged. I appreciate your efforts as well.</p>
<p>"The main poster on this thread does not come across as being well educated." - Coldwind</p>
<p>I don't know if you're referring to me, the OP, but for your information, I can proudly put the following after my name: B.S., M.B.A., J.D. and Esq.</p>
<p>Not once have I disparaged Cornell. I was very impressed with the university. I hope my daughter applies. I just didn't like what I saw of downtown Ithaca, and I'm not alone in my negative opinion of the town. Compared to what I'm used to, Ithaca is seedy. I'll simply warn my D about the downtown area. She grew up in a very different environment. I want her to be safe. That's all. She's not "streetwise."</p>
<p>Plainsman: You are the OP, not the "main poster". I agree with your observations contained in the original post & think that the discussion is not whether your ctiticisms are incorrect, but only whether your brutal honesty & harsh criticisms are unduly harsh.
Posters like Tahoe & CayugaRed are trying to use "red herring" tactics by trying to draw other cities into the discussion of Ithaca (misery loves company). I tried to get out of this thread in a humble & graceful manner, but Tahoe refused to let that happen & CayugaRed is too prolic to stop. Tahoe has gone so far as to play dumb--despite claiming degrees from two Ivies--by writing that he doesn't understand how real estate prices enter into a discussion of cities labeled as "seedy" by post #3. Well when two of the towns/cities have median real estate prices above a million dollars & Ithaca's is probably a tenth of that, then the comparisons started by Cayuga Red are neither fair nor reasonable.
CayugaRed's resort to name calling in post #22 (insulting words deleted by mods) and misuse of phrases from other's posts to change their meaning & Tahoe's condescending "holier than thou" post #72 are simply attempts to divert attention from the thread's topic written in Post #1.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, both posters Tahoe & CayugaRed do more harm than good in their inappropriate attempts to "defend" Ithaca & the school.</p>
<p>For the record, Coldwind, I never besmirched the reputation of other cities by drawing "other cities into the discussion of Ithaca" I only expressed that the only college cities that I am qualified to speak about are Ithaca and West Philly and I never even spoke about West Philly other than a brief mention. </p>
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Tahoe has gone so far as to play dumb--despite claiming degrees from two Ivies--by writing that he doesn't understand how real estate prices enter into a discussion of cities labeled as "seedy" by post #3
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Where did I say this? I never even mentioned real estate! </p>
<p>Regarding the OP - I found his use of the term "white trash" to be disparaging to hard working people trying to get by. In my opinion it's a form of social/class bigotry.</p>