FYSA. Wondering how life is like in Ithaca–culture, weather (haha), people, food, shopping, campus life, pretty much anything and everything.
This captures it pretty well:
Ithaca is the best place in the world, in my (extremely biased) opinion. Some people complain it’s too rural, but having grown up about 15 minutes away in what is ACTUALLY a rural area, Ithaca is where I always went when I wanted to do something. Ithaca has an incredibly strong sense of community and there are always celebrations of peace and love and the arts. The food is great and there are cuisines from almost every culture. Grocery shopping is great because we have Wegmans, which is the best grocery store in the world. Clothes shopping is less great. We have some local clothing stores, thrift stores, and then in the mall there’s Target, American Eagle, Aeropostale, and Victoria’s Secret. I usually buy my clothes online or head up to Syracuse about once a year.
If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to ask me!
I spent another weekend in Ithaca (& vicinity) recently.
It was more convenient to stop in Cortland on the way up, so we picked a movie over live theater and had a nice dinner there.
The next day we replenished supplies at Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett. Everything they make there is great. . We spent the rest of the day in Trumansburg:
outdoor concert at Taughannock Falls, amazing dinner, then more music at the Rongovian Embassy , which is open again. If we’d gone earlier we could have gone swimming or hiking in the park.
Chose the park concert over a movie basically only playing at Cinemapolis that my wife really wants to see.
Sunday we hiked (OK, walked) along a gorge trail, visited the the Dairy Bar for ice cream, then stocked up to go home:
Farmer’s Market, then Shortstop Deli for my obligatory hot truck sub; .Wegmans.
Since I first went there I thought Wegman’s was a great supermarket, nice to see that Consumer Reports agrees.
There are so many Ithacans who were ex-students there, or their parents were, or their grandparents were.
It’s a small city, it doesn’t have absolutely everything. But it has enough, and if you like what it has, it can be great there. The town has a “hip, chill” vibe that I personally love. Types of people often include: intellectuals and ex- hippies.
There is a contingent of upstate bijker-types too though, just for variety.
Fall it’s rainy but stunningly beautiful. Winter is snowy and cold, and lasts a long time. The rest of the year it’s great.
Cornell is a great institution but it’s large, and you will be challenge and tested there. Though the same can likely be said for other institutions of comparable repute. . Most people live off (though often near) campus during their upperclass years, which means they have to fend for themselves, to an extent.You’ll grow up there. It has a lot there academically, so it is likely to continue to meet your needs as your interests evolve over your college career. That same great diversity of fields of study results in a great diversity in the types of people who are attending. To a greater extent than many other schools, IMO.
There is nothing like walking to campus on a nice Fall day, breathing the clean, crisp air, and marveling at the natural beauty you are walking through on your way to class. Trudging through the snow and slush on a cold winter day may not be equally inspiring. But the good news is, there is such a thing a selective memory. All these years later, I really only remember the Fall.
Goodbye, for a while anyway. And good luck.
I hate it, but that’s just me. The mall sucks, winters are long and cold, its just downright boring.
It just depends on your preferences (are you a city person? or a rural or suburban person?)
Thank you for the responses, guys! I grew up living in a suburb area and am currently attending a local university in the fall (located in a big city). So heading to Ithaca in the spring, I’ll get to experience both city and rural! I think I’ll like the community feel. Yes, Cornell will be a challenge, but I already know that the experience over there will mean everything to me 
Is there such thing as a good mall? I’ve never met a mall I liked. Give me a beautiful hike in a gorge any day, but that’s just me! 
My kid buys most of her stuff online or she waits when she gets back to NYC.
She is back for her last year at Cornell. I was very sad when my older daughter graduated 5 years ago, until I found out my younger was to follow her sister’s foot steps. I will be going up there more often this years because it probably will be my “last time” until I have grandchildren.
My parents got their Ph.D’s from Cornell so I grew up in Ithaca. To me, it’s one of the best places in the world! But I’ll be more specific:
It’s quite an isolated little town so it’s quite a close-knit community, but it’s big enough to give you enough privacy. When I was there a couple years ago, the Downtown was dying, but I heard that the business has since improved a lot. It’s also very beautiful: there are a lot of natural reserves and it also has one of the Finger Lakes.
Unfortunately, it gets cold. VERY cold. I don’t know where you’re coming from, but it’s practically winter 5 months a year (I used to think of it as from Halloween to Easter.)
For some, it may also be boring. There is a mall and cinema, but there’s not much activity that goes on. Carousel Mall (now Destiny USA) is much better, but it’s an hour’s drive away.
If you like small town living, Ithaca should be able to make you happy. But, of course, I don’t know what life in Cornell is like…