Is there anyone here with information on Binghamton, New York?

I received an inquiry from a company out there who saw my resume and requested I fill out an application which I promptly did. I've got a curious nature about me and would strongly consider a move if the situation were right. Right now I'm just trying to get a feel for the area. I see it's not close to a major city and it's roughly 15-17k in population if I read the demographics correctly. So I'm wondering if there's anyone here familiar with the area to give a little more info? Thanks.

Beyond that I don't know much about it, having been there only once when driving through.

Is it in the mountains?

Did you check the Wiki profile? Sometimes those are pretty good.

http://www.cityofbinghamton.com/

You may want to post this in the New York forum as well.

It's about two hours from me so I don't get there much. It's an older small city surrounded by rural areas, including Susquehehanna County in Pennsylvania just south of it. The Finger Lakes are not too far north of it. Overall, it's placed in a pretty, rural area of NY and the northern tier of PA. It will take you about 4 hours to drive down to NYC.

It seemed to be cloudy alot of the time there.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Binghamton-New-York.html
http://www.rssweather.com/climate/New%20York/Binghamton/

I do know one can get apples.

I've driven through many times. My cousin - who got quite wealthy in the end - graduated from SUNY there. She seemed to like it.

Always a big plus for me.

Because he was in a golf tournament. I hiked around a lake a couple of times while he played golf. It was a lovely hike and I saw a lot of wildlife.

From what I saw of the town, it was lovely.

books and pamphlets available, including something called a "relocation package". Tell them why you are calling and ask them to send you information about the area. Some Chambers will charge a small fee but most will send the info free.

My mom grew up there and in college I used to go there for Thanksgiving each year.

It's a rust-belt town and the downtown has been completely decimated by the economy for the last thirty years. Almost all the shops are boarded up. There's a lot of crime and drugs. The bus line from New York city is on the main drug trafficking line through upstate New York.

There was a major shooting there last year a few blocks from my grandmother's old house which in the course of the fifty years she lived there transformed from working class shanty Irishtown to crack alley. Seriously. I wasn't allowed to walk down the street to the grocery store alone.

A job is a job and I wouldn't tell you know to take it if you really need it, but Binghamton is one of the most depressing cities I've ever been too (think Buffalo or Pittsburgh on a much smaller scale.)

A month ago I lived about an hour south of Binghamton and 45 minutes north of Scranton. While there isn't much Scranton, there's even less in Binghamton, and there's nothing in Susquehanna county, just south of Binghamton.

The good news: There are some nicer places to live nearby, such as Vestal. In the winter, there's good skiing not far to your south at Elk Mountain, and in the summer there's dirt-cheap golfing in the same area. Syracuse, Turning Stone Casino, and New York City are fairly close, if you're game to drive more than an hour or two.

Good luck!

"Not quite as interesting as Scranton."

Vestal has some nice homes, but my impression of it was mostly strip malls. Some serious white-flight issues in the Binghamton/Vestal/Endicott area creating the kind of suburbs I was so desperate to get out of when I was a kid.

NYC is about 4 hours away... good for a long weekend trip but considering this:

"The per capita income for the city was $17,067. About 16.5% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the poverty line"

I can't see having the money to go into the city very often or to afford anything when you're there.

canopies, sleeping bags and related accessories for life outdoors

Binghamton NY
http://www.eurekatent.com/

in the sense that it's a great place to live,but you wouldn't want to visit here. A lot of small cities, many of them with empty factories, set in rural country side that is absolutely gorgeous.

It is about 3 hours from Philly, NYC, 1 1/2 hours from Syracuse, and 2 hours from Albany. So not close but not bad. The Finger Lakes region is beautiful and you have the Adirondacks in the summer. Lots of small towns to settle down in along rt. 17 and on either side of the state line. You could do worse.

And it currently has a Democratic Congressman.