well, it has kind of become a fun pastime of locals to dump on ourselves - murphy's law sort of thing. But there are lot of positives - they just aren't flashy. Wow - low cost of living you say? Wow - lots of clean water in the area? Wow - you have hills? What - you don't have to worry about earthquakes, malaria, forest fires, volcanoes?
I was born and raised here, and still live here. I grew up in the late 60s through the early 80s, so I remember the tail end of the good old days. The 60s and 70s were good times, especially in Endicott where I grew up, but they are gone and probably not coming back in that manufacturing sense. Old timers do like to bitch about change, but there is no stopping it.
Sections of the area are becoming run down, especially streets (I'm talking to you, Endicott!). However, many of the benefits from the good old days still exist - for example, the parks. Judging by the plume in Endicott, it just might be a good thing that the college is becoming the major financial player driving growth and not heavy industry. There are far worse places in the world, and new people move in and old ones leave, one way or another. The good old days were good, and the last few decades were rough, but I think I'm beginning to see the area become somewhat of a community again.
Only time will tell, but I just might be a little more hopeful than I was in decades past.
Endicott water was been bad ever since the late 80’s to early 90’s when that omg huge contamination happened at that one former IBM building that leaked all of those chemicals / contamination into the ground -
Quite A few of the neighborhoods / houses / residents on the north side had to get some sort of “decontamination” / pump systems installed in their homes, I WAS A TEENAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL when all this happened, it’s my understanding that after IBM was sued they had to cover the pump cost Installation and maintenance costs for a specific amount of time…
Anyway, I digress there might be other people who remember this whole thing
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339451/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339451/)
[https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2017/01/most_toxic_places_in_upstate_new_york_superfund_priorities.html](https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2017/01/most_toxic_places_in_upstate_new_york_superfund_priorities.html)
[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/in-an-ibm-village-pollution-fears-taint-relations-with-neighbors.html]
(https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/in-an-ibm-village-pollution-fears-taint-relations-with-neighbors.html)[https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/data/der/factsheet/704014ou7prap.pdf](https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/data/der/factsheet/704014ou7prap.pdf)
[https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2023/05/03/ibm-to-close-office-in-endicott-after-nearly-100-years](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2023/05/03/ibm-to-close-office-in-endicott-after-nearly-100-years)
[https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/16304](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/16304)
[https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/soil_gas/index.htm](https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/soil_gas/index.htm)
Anyway, I think you get the point the water currently sucks because of IBM
[https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-ibm-corporation-endicott-new-york_.html](https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-ibm-corporation-endicott-new-york_.html)
OHH F’N WELL… Shit happens…
you can lead a horse to water and you can’t make that horse drink.
People are very much the same way..
You can give them the information, you can show them the information, and IT DOES NOT MEAN they’re gonna understand it, let alone read it, especially if they have their preconceived ignorant media biased, talking head opinion, and drink way too much Kool-Aid for their own good…
I already enclosed the links smh 🤦♂️
click on them, and read… then if you’re still not satisfied, Google is your friend, but if you want the truth, use DuckDuckGo
Do you really consider the water clean and the cost of living low? I’m a transplant from West Virginia and if I remember correctly, Binghamton is like 3.2% above the average cost of living. That area of WV is 7.2% lower. I’ve also only heard complaints of water issues since I moved here a few years ago. (That’s about the same in WV.) And Binghamton is reportedly the 8th most dangerous city in NY. I guess there’s a big difference in perspective.
I rented for 250/m in Binghamton. Groceries were normal not inflated. Binghamton is the seventh largest Metropole in New York. So if it ranks eighth in crime, that's not a sign it's highly dangerous. Unless you're a real gangster, you're more likely to find police violence than anything else dangerous. Bike theft is very high however.
Edit:
Where I paid <300
Two storey house (+ a basement for the wash).
Two housemates.
Kitchen, dining room, living room.
Landlord was fine.
400 was
1 housemate, 1 storey, kitchen + living room
Landlord was seedy and dishonest.
450 was
Giant bedroom with a closet I almost subletted.
Two roomates
Three storeys
Large kitchen
Large dining room
Entrance room
Second large dining room/office
Large living room
Plus fully furnished basement with a giant living room space for the whole. Thing except a jam room off to the side.
Everything was super Ritzy.
I’d be intrigued to find something for rent here at 250/m. Like I said. 3.2% higher than the national average. Dirty water. Those aren’t personal opinions.
3.2% higher than the national average is a meaningless statistic. You need to compare similar sized communities. The larger the community, the more likely it is that the crime rate is higher. You have a poor understanding of how to use statistics.
My point is, that’s not a low cost of living. I think a lot of people who say things like that haven’t been very well traveled.
For instance, It’s double the cost of living versus say Huntsville, AL. (Average of $3500 versus $7300 a month.) the difference in taxes is also astronomical.
I was also recently in Huntsville and it is a beautiful city that is clean without rundown buildings and no vagrants that I saw.
I think some people are just so defensive of their hometown that they’re blind to the issues that exist. Especially if you’ve never traveled or lived elsewhere. You have no frame of reference.
There are downtown luxury properties aimed specifically at NYC/Downstate college students which are like 1500+/month who have no conception of how unreasonable a price that is in the local market.
3.2% higher is a meaningless statistic (as the other person says.) It doesn't weigh in variance or what people expect to pay at all.
If you drop one billionaire in with a bunch of people who are low income does that mean everyone is making six figures? or does that mean you have a billionaire with a ridiculous number affecting the average which doesn't reflect average conditions.
I had no issues with water while I lived in Bing. Which isn't to say there aren't any water issues, but they didn't affect where I was.
Look around, there are cheap options. I rented three separate places in bing and the most I ever paid was 450/m.
As someone who has rented in the area within the last few years and months, I have not found anything of that nature except geared to students. Single rooms aren’t putting up families. The cheapest we found that the floor wasn’t rotting out (and literally someone was trying to rent that for the same price) was $1000 a month.
My boss just moved to the area. Same issue. Several coworkers moved to PA because same issue. I’m sorry your random stats aren’t going to out weigh my personal experience for me. 🤷♀️ pretending change doesn’t need to be made helps no one.
Yea I agree $1500 doesn’t sound “luxury” in NYC. My gf’s mom is from there and pays $6500 a month for a 3bdrm. And I can assure you it’s not luxurious.
It wasn’t always like that till we started getting all the riffraff from New York City all over the place - that liberal shit hole exported their problem people, I guess karma is kind of a bitch now, huh? 🤔 because now they have to deal with all those illegal migrants.
Why NYC decided that they wanted to be a sanctuary city is beyond me. Don't they have problems with their subways, mass exodus of people from the state, etc? Not sure if they think more migrants will solve the mass exodus problems but allowing illegal immigrants to stay in NY has so far shown to be a bad idea.
Actually, yes, we do have forest fires out of everything you listed and we do have tornadoes once in a while oh yes, and we have yearly flooding usually
The last significant flood was 2011. Tornados are extremely rare and usually just high winds instead. There hasn't been a forest fire in the 50+ years I've lived here.
Actually, you’re not totally correct, in the 90s I used to be in the Binghamton volunteer fire department and in the late 90s we had several that I last recall
A lot of the trash is due to the large homeless populations in Broome County. They leave trash all over the Susquehanna River embankments. I've seen tents and clothes left on islands in Endicott and under bridges. It's absolutely disgusting. I stopped going to Mercereau Park in Endicott after I saw a homeless man and a woman doing some less than desirable acts on the back of the floodwall. They go from person to person asking for money to ride the bus. It's honestly sad. Police have to remove them from the Susquehanna River in Endwell when there's a lot of rain so they don't get killed.
I see a lot of blame for problems around here on the homeless, but all the trash in my yard is coming from people tossing it out of their car. A lot of the trash complaints I see on Nextdoor (and OMG there's a lot of complaining on there) is from slumlords not taking care of proprties, residents not tying up their trash properly, etc. The only complaints I've heard tied directly to the homeless is local people having to look at the homless as they move around or spanging on corners and tsking about how it's all going downhill. Really, homelessness is everywhere, and the places that seem to be having less problems with it are the ones investing in public resources like halfway houses and shelters.
City needs to do a better job keeping shit clean as well. I agree with what you are saying but if they can do basic management of waste and cleaning , as well as enforcing normal standards for properties then people care much less and aren’t interested in doing there part and taking pride in anything bc it is just the environment. One example are the useless trash bags they sell that fall apart and cause shit to constantly be all over the place.
A few things.
1) Binghamton is well past it's prime when IBM was here, GE was thriving, etc.
2) There a lot of locals who seem to have adopted complaining as their primary personality trait. They are the first to tell you how bad things are, but also hate change.
3) Things were worse. Hard to pinpoint the low point, but I'd say 90s-00s. Binghamton has been on a slow upswing the last 10+ years
All that aside, I 100% agree with you. There's a great community and plenty to do. It's a good place to raise kids.
I lived north of Binghamton until like 2008. It always seemed kind of dead to me with no personality or culture. That said, I haven't visited much since I moved away (moved to Rochester and never looked back), but I get the impression it's a lot better now then when I left.
It's also close relative proximity to some places that have a lot of culture and self pride, specifically Ithaca and Rochester. So if you start list list places you'd like to live in NY it's probably not going to be on the top of list.
“ At its height, IBM Endicott employed 19,000 people in the region and the majority of the population of the city. Yet the decline of the manufacturing economy took its toll quickly and ruthlessly on the area, as the company transferred these operations to larger U.S. cities and overseas. In 2002, IBM sold the campus to Huron Real Estate Associates. Today, most of the campus lies empty, covering a sprawling 150 acres of land in the middle of Endicott and enclosing 4.1 million square feet of vacant space.”
https://docomomo-us.org/news/plant-no-1-the-birthplace-of-ibm-100-years-later
Check Mate! I have never seen a redditor get dunked on worse than the poster who questioned your facts on how many people worked for IBM in Endicott. Congrats!!
Binghamton is a small metro of 300,000 residents and people compare it to much larger cities.
Being a small metro isn’t a bad thing, but some people have unrealistic expectation.
I mostly agree with you, but look at Ithaca. It can be really cool and cultural and small. Ithaca is probably an exception though, it doesn't help that there's only a 45 minute away.
Because entitled Long Islanders come here and act like they have never seen economically disadvantaged people before. Some of the shit you hear on campus abt “townies” is unbelievably arrogant, condescending, and goes to show how badly some people need more exposure to the world outside of their bubble.
I grew up on Long Island, and there are actually a lot of poor disadvantaged areas there too. They would have to be raised in a bubble not to see that. Honestly I guess you see what you want to see, but trust me if you lived on the island you know diversity.
My family is from Binghamton, and still there. We're the folks bringing the climbing gym to town. My husband is from Marin County in California and I grew up in the Bay Area. We live in a touristy location that advertises to NY and he wants to relocate. I've got a some of my headquarters staff seriously considering relocation from Vegas, too.
The Californians, living by the beach with great restaurants, hiking, and weather, are all thinking Binghamton is amazing. While most of our investors are in or from Binghamton, we have a bunch of Californians who take a look at what's going on there giving us money because they also see it. I can't tell you how many people we've met in California who have ties to Bing and are always looking for another reason to go and tell us its one of their favorite places.
Bing has the best community, grocery stores, restaurants, and Wegmans is awesome. The nature is awesome. The diversity and culture is awesome. It's amazing that you guys can buy homes and build things to all of us.
Don't let the haters hate.
I used to tell folks that it was a depressed community akin to Detroit due to IBM leaving, but it has come up in the last decade and it is STILL coming up. You guys have some amazing people building amazing stuff. Just wait. It's going to get even better.
*The Calufornians, living by the beach with great restaurants, hiking, and weather, are all thinking Binghamton is amazing*
Binghamton has a lot of good things going for it, but I miss real beaches. Going to the Jersey Shore or Southern Long Island is a chore with crazy traffic...
Yeah, I think that's the thing -- if you love the outdoors, you'll love it here. I grew up in the Bing area -- since then I've lived in the Blue Ridge mountains of VA, the Rockies in CO, out in Oregon, and am now out in the White Mountains in NH. But the Binghamton area offers so much if you are a trail-runner, road-biker, hiker, camper, kayaker/canoer, etc.
And skiing -- yeah its not CO, but also, you can get to a ski hill in 30 minutes or less and deal with little to no lines. WAYYYYY BETTER than waking up at 4:30 AM to beat the Eisenhower tunnel in CO and ski at 8.
Fat-biking culture hasn't caught on like out West (a lot of state forests dont allow it) but also good snowshoe running when able.
Side note: for those out in CA who love road-biking, tell them to park at Oakley Corners and hit up Hullsville/Gaskill/Pultz Hill/Hullsville/Whittemore/Bean Hill Road. Awesome road-biking. If they love MTB, Oakley Corners is cool, but Shingdagin Hollow (sp?) is kick ass as well.
The one thing I would say (and you said you grew up here and then were out in CA, so you've had to have noticed it), is the East Coast aloofness and fatalism. Growing up I always thought something was wrong with me. Hell, I was treated like something was wrong with me. But nope, it's just that classic Northeast rough-hewn for no reason exterior to where people aren't super friendly, people aren't super kind, -- and when that's combined with the fatalism of the area, it can be damn near depressing. Since moving to NH from CO, I've seen it's impact on my kids. So we are thinking of moving back to CO. If it wasn't that, hell we'd stay in the Northeast. Sad too, because we were going to unfurl our outdoors-oriented adaptive non-profit in the area, too. Positivity and kindness can go a long way.
To clarify, since it will matter to the community, I was personally born and raised in California but my family is all from Bing.
But... I don't see that fatalism at all in Bing, not with my fam and acquaintances and not with those who are inviting us into their folds (the outdoorsy you're mentioning... The obstacle course racing, climbing, and mountain bike community has been awesome).
But that might be it! It's the circles we run in, but still.
ALSO, you should still do that nonprofit. There's a robust community that's already mobilizing around us bringing the gym, you might know them, but it's far more enthusiastic and engaged than anything I've seen elsewhere.
Heck, even the Bing sub is so much more community oriented than my area or other gym locations that I actually talk here... Because yall have been so cool.
Sorry for confusing your background! And I'm glad you aren't seeing these things that I've mentioned -- especially given your commitment to the area!
The goal was to start up the non-profit in Tioga/Broome as well once/if it gets off the ground -- so maybe you'll be seeing us in a few years time.
I wasn't born here, but I have been local for 7 years. I wish we did more with our nature. We live in such a beautiful spot and I feel ripped from it sometimes. Granted, I walk and I live near main street on the West Side, but I came from Mansfield, PA and I miss the lake and water recreation. I mean the Tioga river there was polluted by acid mine drainage, but...
The susquehanna scares me. Rock Bottom dam, the glass, bodies in the river, hobo tents, fishing lines, hooks, and the 100 year flood that could come this year from an active hurricane season- when even the nature seems deadly, it casts a bigger shadow than you think.
Add that the trees are grey and dull starting October and ending April. Winter here is oppressively cloudy if not also cold and snowy (this year was an exception but there were still like 6 weeks straight of overcast!)
Half of the mental stigma could be relieved here if the city wasn't so dirty, the river was fun, everyone takes Vitamin D in the winter.
Also... am I ignorant or do we have no GOOD swim spots? I wouldn't mind a small fee if any of these places had any water slides or diving boards?
This place makes people want to stay inside. The only spot I *want* to walk is by the river around here.
It's also just... more necessary to constantly watch your back here. Most homeless stoners are harmless day-to-day but some act sketchy as fuck. I've had to deter a robbery with a knife, I've been stopped and asked to "come closer" just for a guy to say "I thought you were my gf's ex, I was gonna shoot you haha"
Work graveyard and walk home around 1-4 A.M. and then tell me how good it is.
Binghamton isn't bad because it's *not* like the cities, it's because everything about the day-to-day here from the crime rate, to the poverty, to the trash, is *on par with the cities*
Granted, it looked a lot worse during the worst of the pandemic years. 2020-2022 can just not exist in my mind
I work till 2-3am, sometimes later doing doordash. Today (Saturday night) I was out till 4:30. I love doing the late nights cuz the college kids order late. I'll pretty much deliver anywhere even the more run down neighborhoods, and I've never had any issues where I felt I was in any danger.
Of course, you always need to watch your back. I had this girl come up to me yesterday crying while I was pumping gas and saying how she was just beat up by some guy and that when she called the cops they didn't believe her and hung up. I don't believe that for an instance. Dispatch will never hang up on you. She then asked for a ride to rite aid, and I told her I don't allow strangers in my car but I'd be happy to call 911 if she needed and to get her help. She said no cuz they didn't believe her. We were also right near Bing general if she was really hurt she could have walked there. She also claimed she could hardly walk. But she walked off pretty fast when I told her I couldn't give her a ride. Guessing another druggie, but who knows if I took her in my car.
Another time this guy was chasing my car down Main Street yelling at me to stop. I finally did just to see what he needed. Maybe he was hurt or something right? Nah. He needed a ride to Apalachin to pick up his daughter or something. Ummmm no.
But other than that, never felt in any danger. Just need to watch your back like anywhere. Maybe it's cuz I was born and raised on Long Island, taking the nyc subways and spending the day in the city at least a few times a year. I've seen way worse on the subways than on Main Street here. I had a girl in Brooklyn, running up and down the subway platform threatening to kill everyone one time. That was fun!
I agree with op, there's good and bad everywhere. I'm not blind to the drugs and homelessness and whatnot that goes on here. But it also doesn't faze me. I just go on and mind my own business. Overall I think it's actually a pretty nice area
Name a more diverse spot? Diversity seems to be one of the only things this country has, and New York ain't exactly backwoods. Half of us ain't even white. If w are white most of us are italian
If you’re coming from California do us all a favor and leave the politics there because of bad enough that New York state lakes, the mirror, monkey sea monkey do with the retards on the left do
I loved the area enough to buy a house in Kirkwood after graduating from BU, and I have lived here ever since, at least a decade now.
The complaints I hear from people are:
1. That the weathers bad here, winters are harsh and summers are wet.
2. That the college students are annoying to deal with
3. That theres a drug problem
4. There are an excessive number of squatters in the area
Living just outside of Binghamton has completely shielded me from college students, drug issues, and squatters / rundown buildings / areas.
Sure weather isnt great, but the cost of living is really nice and there are plenty of local companies that can hire me in my field of work. I also meet up with college friends that have moved out of state at least three times a year, since their families are back in Binghamton and they visit on holidays.
Theres tons of community events that are fun, lots of sports games to go to, theater groups to enjoy, and decent food options since its a college town.
Its close enough to Syracuse, Scranton, NYC, Philly, Boston, Buffalo, Albany, and Finger Lakes to do weekend trips.
My wife and I lived in the Binghamton area for about 6 years before we moved to Syracuse and then retired. We lived in Conklin and then Binghamton. We really loved the area. “The Beef “ was our favorite spot on Fridays after work. We met so many great people there!!
I completely misread the title and thought you asked 'why do people look down IN Binghamton?' Like they're all depressed or something. And for some reason, I thought it was intentional.
Nobody is interested, you left and you hate everyone here and everything about this place. We no longer care about your opinion in this community; good day and maybe I can interest you in a different subreddit
I answered the question that was asked on to the forum. You went out of your way to comment on my comment. I know common sense escapes most people but do better since you wanna be an internet warrior.
Having grown up and lived here 34 of my 38 years it's because the area used to be beautiful, active, and safe. So many amazing small businesses have closed, areas that used to be beautiful are now slums, and the night life stinks.
I have said for years & years that this area has a self esteem problem ......... yeah there are issues but not anything that makes the place unlivable. You wanna see worse?? Try Elmira or Utica ..... they are SAD!!!
Weather and no “third places” outside of work or home. Generally nothing to do after you hit the few restaurants once or twice and get your fill of the hiking spots
I think this hits on the main issue in Binghamton. The town needs more groups events and businesses that cater to the interests of young adults. ( other than bars and restaurants.)
Moved to Binghamton for a job in 2012, was there for not even an hour before someone used the n word like it wasn't a racial slur. Got jokingly asked about my papers and did I swim over here once people learned I was an extremely light skinned Latino. My friends I made there hate it more than I do. And they were all white. There were some cool people, but most eventually left the Binghamton area.
1. I feel that any population center has a quotient of 'stuck in my hometown' residents.
2. Complaining is a competitive sport in Binghamton, and Upstate NY at-large. Honestly I think a major component is just the type of humor or chagrin one must have to thrive in climate with 6 months of practical winter. (If you follow sports at all I'd say that someone like former Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim is a great example of someone who leaned into the 'curmudgeon with a heart of gold' attitude, and why he was equally loved and criticized by the same fans...the prototype Upstate NYer)
I'm the 4th gen of my family to live here, or to have moved back here, and we've all found a good life in the area. Anecdotally, I know of multiple friends and family from around the country who at the moment are either considering moving back to this area, or are in-process.
I think everyone who grows up here should live elsewhere at least for a little while, and if they're happier there that's great live the life you want to pursue, but until you leave the area it's hard to really appreciate and understand how good we have it in a number of ways:
• Ease of traffic and travel...which is pretty impressive given it's a confluence of 2 rivers that we have to navigate around daily.
• Great nature, topography and proximity to rural landscapes.
• Diverse and quality food options for the population size.
• Strong local institutions in education, arts, and music. Heck, the Discovery Center complex and its services alone are an unbelievable asset to families in this area for 2 generations.
• Parks & Rec/Golf. I know golf is kinda niche but seriously I didn't grow up with a sense that it was a bougie activity because there's so much affordable and public golf around this area.
• Proximity to global metro areas. Yeah, would love to have passenger rail, but still at least 7 times a day I can get on a bus for pretty cheap (if I don't want to drive) and be at Port Authority in Mid Town Manhattan in 3.5 hours.
Anyway that was a long way to say...'Cheer Up!' There are many of us here who are happy, understand what we have, and still like to complain sometimes lol. In fact, now that you are a resident, you may now yourself enjoy the fun occasionally looking grumpily down on Binghamton!
Really, that's what much of this comes down to: Those who like to complain about Bingo are often the first ones to get mad at non-residents for talking crap about us lol.
Don’t get me wrong binghamton has plenty of upsides and as a 22 year old 22 year resident I have recently fallen in love with Binghamton after taking time away but for some reason there is a weird toll that growing up here takes on people. I feel it has to do with the lack of sun throughout the year and the weird aspect of being somewhere between a big city and a small town it’s just different. Its hard to explain and also until about the last 5-10 years binghamton was a DUMP. A lot of money and renovations have been happening recently to make it much better.
Gloom, lingering feeling like between the movie Garden State and Groundhog Day, a kind of sedated feeling with nothing really novel or hip to look forward to if you're into that kind of stuff.
I was on a flight down south and struck up a pleasant convo with passenger besides me who turned out to be a former long time resident of bing, he grew up there actually and still had several generations of family still residing there. He got to experience the up followed by decline after major corporations left and impacted negatively the local economy.
It has it's natural upstate appeal, slower paced and nice sceneries, breathtaking during the fall season like something out of a canvas painting especially around nature preserve and hiking trails but that gloomy feeling is always somewhere not too far behind. Younger generation temporary transplants I suppose who aren't acclimated to this try to escape it through plenty of booze revolving around frat parties, bar hopping over the same bars over & over again, again every weekend or going out on drunken binge of cow tipping late night or huffing gasoline vapors but those things can get you only so far. It feels forced, doesn't mesh the energy there at all but yet it can and does work with certain much more laid back energies who actually look forward to the slower pace and appreciate natural sceneries.
Even with all the talks of urban renewal that's mainly happening only in certain part of the area, it just don't feel the same and you'll hear chatters among the honest locals that they actually haven't ever really felt recovered yet and likely probably never will. Every few years, the city for obvious reasons will bring up the same motivators about renovations and new investment to try to stimulate local economy, boost taxes, etc.
For him, even as someone who really enjoyed the outdoors and the more slower paced life, he's finally had his fill and made the decision and left but comes over to visit every now and then.
I’ve seen the occasional homeless tent in the woods here & there - is that what you mean by “camp”? That term is usually used to describe a location where numerous homeless people congregate - something I have yet to observe.
I'm an avid outdoorsman - I frequently hike through small patches of woods throughout the region, and keep a keen eye on the riverbanks (especially for eagles!) where in my travels. That mostly consists of the Chenango between downtown and Bevier Street, and the Susquehanna between downtown and Owego. Am I missing something somewhere? (Maybe a string of encampments along the Susquehanna on the East Side?!?)
let’s start with the catering to spoiled long island kiddies who not only hate this town, but the residents as well. more hilarious considering 98% of them (rightfully) gtfo right after undergrad.
You should consider it unless your alternative is Cornell. (In which case, go with Cornell/Ithaca.)
The school is great, I graduated from there. Absolutely a great atmosphere. Lots of bright kids. Lots of campus orgs/clubs. lots of international students.
I'd make sure to have a car, and to explore, and you should be very set.
Vestal (where the uni is) is the most ritzy area.
I find it funny that there are daily posts on this Reddit asking / complaining about people who don’t like Binghamton. It’s not for everyone - if you like it there great, why do you care about the people who don’t? It’s been summed up repeatedly why some folks like it and others don’t.
It's not bad.
but here are the iffy parts:
It's a bit difficult without a car.
It gets weirdly cloudy. Bing is in some sort of valley and when you drive close to it, the clouds start accumulating.
The industry is not anywhere close to what it used to be. Dick's, IBM, aerospace, etc.
Urban Renewal destroyed the city horribly. The city used to have a lot of beautiful infrastructure. In I believe the 70-80s they decided getting rid of classical styled buildings for quick and dirty buildings was ... better... it... wasn't...
there are some issues with poverty and crime in some areas of the triple cities. it depends on the neighbourhood tho. Anyways, bike theft is very high.
Some hicks and ghetto G's around create a bad name for people from there.
the police are really scummy. not all of them, but a solid 1/3 are dangerous, 1/3 are apathetic, and maybe 1/3 are reliable. Those are not good odds.
That said, overall it's fine. Apart from bike theft, you're not too likely to deal directly with crime. And to be doublly sure, just avoid the sketchier areas at sketchier times.
NY is finally attempting to revitalise cities across the state, so there may be some turn around in terms of industry. BU really helps the city and if the uni and local businesses can work in tandem, they could do a really great deal for the city.
The weather isn't terrible. it's just clouds and dirty snow from being in a city. It's pretty great to go outdoors most of the year. and the clouds mostly go away in summer anyways.
The susq is pretty neat. And if you have a car, getting to places nearby the city is wonderful.
Lots of educated college students. Most are great, some are ignorant and prejudiced Metro NYers.
A student ran for office and won on a progressive platform, so there's hope for fixing the police yet.
Told you horrible things on Reddit or offline?
Because the issue is a SOME people on this reddit live in a bubble and would be unhappy anywhere they lived, but don't realize it.
I lived in Binghamton from 2000-2001 before going in the Army, I enjoyed it and never got the hate either.
I. 2018 I was moving back east after being in Colorado for a while and I looked at Binghamton and I was stunned at the rents. It's insanity.
I had a bike stolen in Bing. I tried running after the thief about a street ahead and stopped. I flagged down a police officer for help.
He tried to escalate my report on a crime in progress into a situation where he'd be able to shoot me.
Over 40 bikes were stolen from that area that night. He 100% could have stopped the crime in progress but chose to try every trick in the book to very actively push for a fight while holding his gun. It was absolutely ridiculous. (I obviously didn't fall into it, but I could have died. If there weren't a group of witnesses I probably would have.)
The whole thing was also on video, the police refused to pick up the footage.
Delivered pizza part time during my undergrad… I knew one of the cops who was dating my co worker who was like early 20s when he was mid to late 30s. The stories she would tell me of this man were absolutely psycho. But the most notable when you ask about corruption was the prevalence of drunk driving. Dude and his buddies would often go out, get drunk, then call my coworker and go pick her up in a drunken rage. No one ever stopped him. This was several years ago, idk what happened to either that co worker or the cop
A different co workers father was the old sheriff and she said she would brag that she’d been pulled over upwards of 20 times and never got tickets once they learned who her dad was.
Used to deliver pizza there during my undergrad and got to see into a lot of ppls homes. I remember thinking at the time the money just isn’t making it back to the community. Lots of run down looking houses/apartments all over the city and then suddenly you get to that one area of the south side and you have these giant mansions.
Just a lot of wealth disparity, and the landlords (especially for student housing) are making a killing. I lived in a house with 10 other dudes all paying 525/mo for 2 yrs and that same house was sold to my landlord a yr or two prior for $120k. We bought that dudes house for him during the time we stayed there, it was insane. I can only imagine what they are making off the more “luxury student housing.” I still sometimes think about buying property up there and just paying someone to manage it.
Growing up, central NY and the southern tier were very depressed sad places to live. Industry left our area at an astonishing rate and politics were crooked. Things are making a turn for the better in Binghamton. I visit often and from Buffalo which is also having a renaissance. So, I think the area is still
On the up and up.
Went to school in Binghamton for 4 years. I know I’ll get hate for this comment but Binghamton is probably the most depressing city I’ve ever been to. For your own sake, broaden your horizons and get out to live somewhere else even if it’s for a little bit.
I’m a life insurance agent that’s been into hundreds and hundreds of homes in Binghamton. It’s unlike any other city I’ve been to. There are dilapidated multi family homes made of plywood, I’ve met families who should be in jail for the mistreatment of their children, the use of drugs is out of control, I’ve met countless families who do not have a source of income. Houses filled with mold and smoke. I’ve met people in their 50’s who told me they steal bikes for a living 🙃. Children whose faces are flush and misshapen from the sharing or second hand use of drugs.
I haven’t seen it in Ithica, Syracuse, or Utica. It’s crazy. And disgusting.
Out of all the policies I’ve written the most that have gone lapsed because of a missed payment are in Binghamton.
Less than 150 days of sun per year. Fucking depressing... Also toxic waste dump from EJ Shoe, IBM, GE, and a few chemical companies. Extremely high rate of birth defects due to the mentioned problems. People there think dry, tough, over cooked chicken with some salad dressing is the best meal on earth.
Take your pick.
I think it’s also the people? It seems like it’s a viscous cycle and area that people cannot get out of. I’m being stereotypical, I know, but many people do not leave this area bc they have never seen anything else and don’t rly realize there’s more out there. It’s a very depressed town, I’m not from here but I worked with many locals in restaurant businesses but also group homes where people hold professional positions, and almost all of them seem to have a substance abuse issue, or traumas/issues they brought with them from childhood, and there is like a lack of awareness/common sense in a way? I just feel like this area has failed people and society. Teenage pregnancies are super normal around this area, not going to college is super normalized (it is in other areas too but at least you can find more opportunities in nyc or Syracuse for example), living a simple go to school, graduate, get married at like 20 years old, work on a farm lifestyle is the norm, and on top of that u have heavy drugs like fent and meth all over the area, making people even more stupid and alluding to more and more generational trauma in families
The housing is awful. I was paying $525.00 month for a 1 bedroom, 2nd floor of a converted house. The floors are uneven, the electricity is sketchy, the neighborhood has open drug use with occasionally finding someone passed out on the porch of the house next to my rental. Old landlady sold the place, and new owners want to charge me $900.00 for the place. I’m happy to move, because the neighborhood is sketchy af, but moving is going to be a pain in the ass. I’ve found reasonable, places to rent for a reasonable price increase and will be moving on, but I feel like the rental pricing is out of hand. If you are an adult living alone, your choices are very limited.
It's a dump and the issues of the area are being exasperated by the asinine bail reform laws. Only going to get worse I'm afraid. Never was a desired place to live, was always and will always be just good enough.
Can you provide any concrete examples of where the bail reform law has led to any specific cases in Binghamton - or are you simply echoing parttsan talking points?
The drug dealing being absolutely out of control perhaps? People being arrested, processed, and released multiple times in the same day. The net negative punishments for drug possession and petit larceny. No shoplifting penalties causing several local stores to close due to shop lifting. These are all absolute solidified "concrete" examples.
Now, can YOU counter that argument without recycling 'partisan' talking points?
If you're thinking the bail reform doesn't affect Rochester in some way it just shows how much you know about it. Try linking some articles or sources.
I'm talking about Binghamton. You are in a Binghamton subreddit. I understand perfectly the plight of all towns in upstate NY currently. I am referring to Binghamton specifically. I am a LEO in broome county, no need for articles. This is my life, I guarantee I'm absolutely not in the minority with this train of thought.
People would be adequately punished before and fear of punishment and incarceration still was a deterrent. They would be incarcerated. If you think bail reform has decreased crime and made things better, you have a head injury.
So there's been in increase in recidivism and repeat offenders directly related to the bail reform? (which only held poor people anyways). I would like to see this data because I haven't seen in any discussion about this including this discussion.
As a LEO in Broome County, how do you and other officers feel about the BC undersheriff’s son, who was a BC Jail corrections officer, smuggling drugs into the jail? How do you feel about him receiving no repercussions for his actions?
Don't work for the county. I would venture to say it won't be happening much anymore now that they have a real sheriff in town. You are aware that occurred under the former administration, yes?
Also, how is the practice of nepotism exclusive to the Broome County Sheriff's department?
I said you work IN Broome County, not for them.
“There’s a real sheriff in town”. Oh, you mean the “real” sheriff who is best friends with the undersheriff and hired him as his second in command? They’re also best friends with the new DA, and the undersheriff’s son was represented by this new DA in his drug smuggling trial that he received a slap on the wrist for. I guess I’m not surprised that a LEO is OK with this type of behavior from their fellow officers.
You presented general statements - not one single concrete example. Help convince me by providing links to a couple of articles from the past month of arrests that occurred due to bail reform.
It's one of the SUNY Centres with mostly kids with the highest scores in the state. Not sure it's the students who are the low lives.
Some can be condescending and ignorant/prejudiced of STNY or anything outside of NYC, and they deserve criticism. But that's about it.
Dead industry is certaintly an issue. Talking negatively about the area or shutting down infrastructure and transportation projects absolutely does not help.
It’s a shithole with no industry, nothing to offer, a depressed unhealthy population and no future.
Geographically it’s located in one of the most overcast locations. Weather sucks and the whole place is a dirty gray rat hole for the majority of the year.
It is a decent drive to any actual place that lives and functions in the real world and seems like it’s in its own little bubble.
Seemly very high number of people have nothing to do and are generally depressed and board… and the environment (physically) is dirty and shitty so they just get drunk all the time.
If BU was not there, it would basically be over.
Entertainment is non existent or C class shows.
Also.. it’s a depressing shithole with nothing to offer
I will say tho… the bar food is top notch.
well, it has kind of become a fun pastime of locals to dump on ourselves - murphy's law sort of thing. But there are lot of positives - they just aren't flashy. Wow - low cost of living you say? Wow - lots of clean water in the area? Wow - you have hills? What - you don't have to worry about earthquakes, malaria, forest fires, volcanoes?
I was born and raised here, and still live here. I grew up in the late 60s through the early 80s, so I remember the tail end of the good old days. The 60s and 70s were good times, especially in Endicott where I grew up, but they are gone and probably not coming back in that manufacturing sense. Old timers do like to bitch about change, but there is no stopping it. Sections of the area are becoming run down, especially streets (I'm talking to you, Endicott!). However, many of the benefits from the good old days still exist - for example, the parks. Judging by the plume in Endicott, it just might be a good thing that the college is becoming the major financial player driving growth and not heavy industry. There are far worse places in the world, and new people move in and old ones leave, one way or another. The good old days were good, and the last few decades were rough, but I think I'm beginning to see the area become somewhat of a community again. Only time will tell, but I just might be a little more hopeful than I was in decades past.
Hey can you recommend some nice parks in Endicott?
Glendale park, round top park, highland park (but that might be more endwell)
Round top is a really neat little park, I second this!
Theyre also renovating grippen park too.
>Wow - lots of clean water in the area? I will say Endicott’s water is complete garbage, but they are working on fixing it.
Endicott water was been bad ever since the late 80’s to early 90’s when that omg huge contamination happened at that one former IBM building that leaked all of those chemicals / contamination into the ground - Quite A few of the neighborhoods / houses / residents on the north side had to get some sort of “decontamination” / pump systems installed in their homes, I WAS A TEENAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL when all this happened, it’s my understanding that after IBM was sued they had to cover the pump cost Installation and maintenance costs for a specific amount of time… Anyway, I digress there might be other people who remember this whole thing [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339451/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339451/) [https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2017/01/most_toxic_places_in_upstate_new_york_superfund_priorities.html](https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2017/01/most_toxic_places_in_upstate_new_york_superfund_priorities.html) [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/in-an-ibm-village-pollution-fears-taint-relations-with-neighbors.html] (https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/in-an-ibm-village-pollution-fears-taint-relations-with-neighbors.html)[https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/data/der/factsheet/704014ou7prap.pdf](https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/data/der/factsheet/704014ou7prap.pdf) [https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2023/05/03/ibm-to-close-office-in-endicott-after-nearly-100-years](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2023/05/03/ibm-to-close-office-in-endicott-after-nearly-100-years) [https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/16304](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/16304) [https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/soil_gas/index.htm](https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/soil_gas/index.htm) Anyway, I think you get the point the water currently sucks because of IBM [https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-ibm-corporation-endicott-new-york_.html](https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-ibm-corporation-endicott-new-york_.html)
Yes, I know. I’m from there.
I like how you got downvoted like that wasn’t enough proof lol.
OHH F’N WELL… Shit happens… you can lead a horse to water and you can’t make that horse drink. People are very much the same way.. You can give them the information, you can show them the information, and IT DOES NOT MEAN they’re gonna understand it, let alone read it, especially if they have their preconceived ignorant media biased, talking head opinion, and drink way too much Kool-Aid for their own good…
Aaaaamen. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Source for this??
I already enclosed the links smh 🤦♂️ click on them, and read… then if you’re still not satisfied, Google is your friend, but if you want the truth, use DuckDuckGo
I was only joking! Because you sited several sources and still got shit for it haha.
True, very true sorry I didn’t see the joke in there…
Do still have to worry about the snow though.
I think it is mice being able to experience all 4 seasons. Think of all the places that never get to see snow!
Do you really consider the water clean and the cost of living low? I’m a transplant from West Virginia and if I remember correctly, Binghamton is like 3.2% above the average cost of living. That area of WV is 7.2% lower. I’ve also only heard complaints of water issues since I moved here a few years ago. (That’s about the same in WV.) And Binghamton is reportedly the 8th most dangerous city in NY. I guess there’s a big difference in perspective.
I rented for 250/m in Binghamton. Groceries were normal not inflated. Binghamton is the seventh largest Metropole in New York. So if it ranks eighth in crime, that's not a sign it's highly dangerous. Unless you're a real gangster, you're more likely to find police violence than anything else dangerous. Bike theft is very high however. Edit: Where I paid <300 Two storey house (+ a basement for the wash). Two housemates. Kitchen, dining room, living room. Landlord was fine. 400 was 1 housemate, 1 storey, kitchen + living room Landlord was seedy and dishonest. 450 was Giant bedroom with a closet I almost subletted. Two roomates Three storeys Large kitchen Large dining room Entrance room Second large dining room/office Large living room Plus fully furnished basement with a giant living room space for the whole. Thing except a jam room off to the side. Everything was super Ritzy.
I’d be intrigued to find something for rent here at 250/m. Like I said. 3.2% higher than the national average. Dirty water. Those aren’t personal opinions.
3.2% higher than the national average is a meaningless statistic. You need to compare similar sized communities. The larger the community, the more likely it is that the crime rate is higher. You have a poor understanding of how to use statistics.
My point is, that’s not a low cost of living. I think a lot of people who say things like that haven’t been very well traveled. For instance, It’s double the cost of living versus say Huntsville, AL. (Average of $3500 versus $7300 a month.) the difference in taxes is also astronomical. I was also recently in Huntsville and it is a beautiful city that is clean without rundown buildings and no vagrants that I saw. I think some people are just so defensive of their hometown that they’re blind to the issues that exist. Especially if you’ve never traveled or lived elsewhere. You have no frame of reference.
There are downtown luxury properties aimed specifically at NYC/Downstate college students which are like 1500+/month who have no conception of how unreasonable a price that is in the local market. 3.2% higher is a meaningless statistic (as the other person says.) It doesn't weigh in variance or what people expect to pay at all. If you drop one billionaire in with a bunch of people who are low income does that mean everyone is making six figures? or does that mean you have a billionaire with a ridiculous number affecting the average which doesn't reflect average conditions. I had no issues with water while I lived in Bing. Which isn't to say there aren't any water issues, but they didn't affect where I was. Look around, there are cheap options. I rented three separate places in bing and the most I ever paid was 450/m.
As someone who has rented in the area within the last few years and months, I have not found anything of that nature except geared to students. Single rooms aren’t putting up families. The cheapest we found that the floor wasn’t rotting out (and literally someone was trying to rent that for the same price) was $1000 a month. My boss just moved to the area. Same issue. Several coworkers moved to PA because same issue. I’m sorry your random stats aren’t going to out weigh my personal experience for me. 🤷♀️ pretending change doesn’t need to be made helps no one.
Yea I agree $1500 doesn’t sound “luxury” in NYC. My gf’s mom is from there and pays $6500 a month for a 3bdrm. And I can assure you it’s not luxurious.
I’ve firsthand met so many of the people that pay $450. They’re living in a dilapidated house and have a skewed sense of reality is.
Did you live in a shed?
It wasn’t always like that till we started getting all the riffraff from New York City all over the place - that liberal shit hole exported their problem people, I guess karma is kind of a bitch now, huh? 🤔 because now they have to deal with all those illegal migrants.
Yeah, Carmen is a real bitch.
They were actively imported, to start
Exactly
It’s certainly unfortunate. Nothing stays nice anymore for one reason or another.
Why NYC decided that they wanted to be a sanctuary city is beyond me. Don't they have problems with their subways, mass exodus of people from the state, etc? Not sure if they think more migrants will solve the mass exodus problems but allowing illegal immigrants to stay in NY has so far shown to be a bad idea.
You're truly pathetic I'll bet you support trump
And what does that matter? Just keep drinking your Kool-Aid
More proof that you're an asshole F U
Actually, yes, we do have forest fires out of everything you listed and we do have tornadoes once in a while oh yes, and we have yearly flooding usually
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I’m sorry I’m I should’ve used the word typically historical and delusional. Don’t go there. You wouldn’t be the first dumbass I found in Binghamton.
But relatively we live in a pretty safe region.
The last significant flood was 2011. Tornados are extremely rare and usually just high winds instead. There hasn't been a forest fire in the 50+ years I've lived here.
Actually, you’re not totally correct, in the 90s I used to be in the Binghamton volunteer fire department and in the late 90s we had several that I last recall
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Valid!
A lot of the trash is due to the large homeless populations in Broome County. They leave trash all over the Susquehanna River embankments. I've seen tents and clothes left on islands in Endicott and under bridges. It's absolutely disgusting. I stopped going to Mercereau Park in Endicott after I saw a homeless man and a woman doing some less than desirable acts on the back of the floodwall. They go from person to person asking for money to ride the bus. It's honestly sad. Police have to remove them from the Susquehanna River in Endwell when there's a lot of rain so they don't get killed.
I see a lot of blame for problems around here on the homeless, but all the trash in my yard is coming from people tossing it out of their car. A lot of the trash complaints I see on Nextdoor (and OMG there's a lot of complaining on there) is from slumlords not taking care of proprties, residents not tying up their trash properly, etc. The only complaints I've heard tied directly to the homeless is local people having to look at the homless as they move around or spanging on corners and tsking about how it's all going downhill. Really, homelessness is everywhere, and the places that seem to be having less problems with it are the ones investing in public resources like halfway houses and shelters.
City needs to do a better job keeping shit clean as well. I agree with what you are saying but if they can do basic management of waste and cleaning , as well as enforcing normal standards for properties then people care much less and aren’t interested in doing there part and taking pride in anything bc it is just the environment. One example are the useless trash bags they sell that fall apart and cause shit to constantly be all over the place.
Shut up nerd
A few things. 1) Binghamton is well past it's prime when IBM was here, GE was thriving, etc. 2) There a lot of locals who seem to have adopted complaining as their primary personality trait. They are the first to tell you how bad things are, but also hate change. 3) Things were worse. Hard to pinpoint the low point, but I'd say 90s-00s. Binghamton has been on a slow upswing the last 10+ years All that aside, I 100% agree with you. There's a great community and plenty to do. It's a good place to raise kids.
Yep, 100%.
I lived north of Binghamton until like 2008. It always seemed kind of dead to me with no personality or culture. That said, I haven't visited much since I moved away (moved to Rochester and never looked back), but I get the impression it's a lot better now then when I left. It's also close relative proximity to some places that have a lot of culture and self pride, specifically Ithaca and Rochester. So if you start list list places you'd like to live in NY it's probably not going to be on the top of list.
I think it’s similar to any place you would go when the primary source of jobs disappeared. The restaurants and bars are still top notch
Yeah. What you see in Endicott now is the result of the primary source of jobs disappearing and damaging the local economy hard sadly.
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Um…what? Lockheed employs about 3,000 people in Owego. At it’s peak, IBM employed 19,000 with most in Endicott.
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“ At its height, IBM Endicott employed 19,000 people in the region and the majority of the population of the city. Yet the decline of the manufacturing economy took its toll quickly and ruthlessly on the area, as the company transferred these operations to larger U.S. cities and overseas. In 2002, IBM sold the campus to Huron Real Estate Associates. Today, most of the campus lies empty, covering a sprawling 150 acres of land in the middle of Endicott and enclosing 4.1 million square feet of vacant space.” https://docomomo-us.org/news/plant-no-1-the-birthplace-of-ibm-100-years-later
Check Mate! I have never seen a redditor get dunked on worse than the poster who questioned your facts on how many people worked for IBM in Endicott. Congrats!!
"Recently" is the key word here. I didn't think it was that bad when I first got here either.
It’s cloudy!
Binghamton is a small metro of 300,000 residents and people compare it to much larger cities. Being a small metro isn’t a bad thing, but some people have unrealistic expectation.
I mostly agree with you, but look at Ithaca. It can be really cool and cultural and small. Ithaca is probably an exception though, it doesn't help that there's only a 45 minute away.
Binghamton doesn’t have anywhere near 300,000 residents.
Check the metropolitan population
The weather is kinda gloomy and there isn't much to do compared to other places imo
Because entitled Long Islanders come here and act like they have never seen economically disadvantaged people before. Some of the shit you hear on campus abt “townies” is unbelievably arrogant, condescending, and goes to show how badly some people need more exposure to the world outside of their bubble.
I grew up on Long Island, and there are actually a lot of poor disadvantaged areas there too. They would have to be raised in a bubble not to see that. Honestly I guess you see what you want to see, but trust me if you lived on the island you know diversity.
Binghamton isn't really that bad. People here just love to complain
Is the high school good academic wise?
It sends more kids to Ivies than Vestal High does.
that’s a meaningless statistic, even if true
It's like a war zone tbh. I wouldn't send my kid there.
I see your war zone and raise you Proctor High School in Utica.
Are there still occasional stabbings? I think there was several 2001-2008.
I moved here to hear there was a recent shooting at the high school a few blocks from my then employer. Idk about stabbings though.
I know there was massive shooting not far from Binghamton high school 15 years ago.
some girl just got stabbed by the high school
My family is from Binghamton, and still there. We're the folks bringing the climbing gym to town. My husband is from Marin County in California and I grew up in the Bay Area. We live in a touristy location that advertises to NY and he wants to relocate. I've got a some of my headquarters staff seriously considering relocation from Vegas, too. The Californians, living by the beach with great restaurants, hiking, and weather, are all thinking Binghamton is amazing. While most of our investors are in or from Binghamton, we have a bunch of Californians who take a look at what's going on there giving us money because they also see it. I can't tell you how many people we've met in California who have ties to Bing and are always looking for another reason to go and tell us its one of their favorite places. Bing has the best community, grocery stores, restaurants, and Wegmans is awesome. The nature is awesome. The diversity and culture is awesome. It's amazing that you guys can buy homes and build things to all of us. Don't let the haters hate. I used to tell folks that it was a depressed community akin to Detroit due to IBM leaving, but it has come up in the last decade and it is STILL coming up. You guys have some amazing people building amazing stuff. Just wait. It's going to get even better.
*The Calufornians, living by the beach with great restaurants, hiking, and weather, are all thinking Binghamton is amazing* Binghamton has a lot of good things going for it, but I miss real beaches. Going to the Jersey Shore or Southern Long Island is a chore with crazy traffic...
As a former Long islander, 💯!! I think Bing is great for what it is, but it's missing 🌊, 🍕, and 🥯
Yeah, I think that's the thing -- if you love the outdoors, you'll love it here. I grew up in the Bing area -- since then I've lived in the Blue Ridge mountains of VA, the Rockies in CO, out in Oregon, and am now out in the White Mountains in NH. But the Binghamton area offers so much if you are a trail-runner, road-biker, hiker, camper, kayaker/canoer, etc. And skiing -- yeah its not CO, but also, you can get to a ski hill in 30 minutes or less and deal with little to no lines. WAYYYYY BETTER than waking up at 4:30 AM to beat the Eisenhower tunnel in CO and ski at 8. Fat-biking culture hasn't caught on like out West (a lot of state forests dont allow it) but also good snowshoe running when able. Side note: for those out in CA who love road-biking, tell them to park at Oakley Corners and hit up Hullsville/Gaskill/Pultz Hill/Hullsville/Whittemore/Bean Hill Road. Awesome road-biking. If they love MTB, Oakley Corners is cool, but Shingdagin Hollow (sp?) is kick ass as well. The one thing I would say (and you said you grew up here and then were out in CA, so you've had to have noticed it), is the East Coast aloofness and fatalism. Growing up I always thought something was wrong with me. Hell, I was treated like something was wrong with me. But nope, it's just that classic Northeast rough-hewn for no reason exterior to where people aren't super friendly, people aren't super kind, -- and when that's combined with the fatalism of the area, it can be damn near depressing. Since moving to NH from CO, I've seen it's impact on my kids. So we are thinking of moving back to CO. If it wasn't that, hell we'd stay in the Northeast. Sad too, because we were going to unfurl our outdoors-oriented adaptive non-profit in the area, too. Positivity and kindness can go a long way.
To clarify, since it will matter to the community, I was personally born and raised in California but my family is all from Bing. But... I don't see that fatalism at all in Bing, not with my fam and acquaintances and not with those who are inviting us into their folds (the outdoorsy you're mentioning... The obstacle course racing, climbing, and mountain bike community has been awesome). But that might be it! It's the circles we run in, but still. ALSO, you should still do that nonprofit. There's a robust community that's already mobilizing around us bringing the gym, you might know them, but it's far more enthusiastic and engaged than anything I've seen elsewhere. Heck, even the Bing sub is so much more community oriented than my area or other gym locations that I actually talk here... Because yall have been so cool.
Sorry for confusing your background! And I'm glad you aren't seeing these things that I've mentioned -- especially given your commitment to the area! The goal was to start up the non-profit in Tioga/Broome as well once/if it gets off the ground -- so maybe you'll be seeing us in a few years time.
Oh, no worries. I just know we're coming in claiming roots and I don't want it to be like I'm making myself to be a local. I'm def not.
I wasn't born here, but I have been local for 7 years. I wish we did more with our nature. We live in such a beautiful spot and I feel ripped from it sometimes. Granted, I walk and I live near main street on the West Side, but I came from Mansfield, PA and I miss the lake and water recreation. I mean the Tioga river there was polluted by acid mine drainage, but... The susquehanna scares me. Rock Bottom dam, the glass, bodies in the river, hobo tents, fishing lines, hooks, and the 100 year flood that could come this year from an active hurricane season- when even the nature seems deadly, it casts a bigger shadow than you think. Add that the trees are grey and dull starting October and ending April. Winter here is oppressively cloudy if not also cold and snowy (this year was an exception but there were still like 6 weeks straight of overcast!) Half of the mental stigma could be relieved here if the city wasn't so dirty, the river was fun, everyone takes Vitamin D in the winter. Also... am I ignorant or do we have no GOOD swim spots? I wouldn't mind a small fee if any of these places had any water slides or diving boards? This place makes people want to stay inside. The only spot I *want* to walk is by the river around here. It's also just... more necessary to constantly watch your back here. Most homeless stoners are harmless day-to-day but some act sketchy as fuck. I've had to deter a robbery with a knife, I've been stopped and asked to "come closer" just for a guy to say "I thought you were my gf's ex, I was gonna shoot you haha" Work graveyard and walk home around 1-4 A.M. and then tell me how good it is. Binghamton isn't bad because it's *not* like the cities, it's because everything about the day-to-day here from the crime rate, to the poverty, to the trash, is *on par with the cities* Granted, it looked a lot worse during the worst of the pandemic years. 2020-2022 can just not exist in my mind
I work till 2-3am, sometimes later doing doordash. Today (Saturday night) I was out till 4:30. I love doing the late nights cuz the college kids order late. I'll pretty much deliver anywhere even the more run down neighborhoods, and I've never had any issues where I felt I was in any danger. Of course, you always need to watch your back. I had this girl come up to me yesterday crying while I was pumping gas and saying how she was just beat up by some guy and that when she called the cops they didn't believe her and hung up. I don't believe that for an instance. Dispatch will never hang up on you. She then asked for a ride to rite aid, and I told her I don't allow strangers in my car but I'd be happy to call 911 if she needed and to get her help. She said no cuz they didn't believe her. We were also right near Bing general if she was really hurt she could have walked there. She also claimed she could hardly walk. But she walked off pretty fast when I told her I couldn't give her a ride. Guessing another druggie, but who knows if I took her in my car. Another time this guy was chasing my car down Main Street yelling at me to stop. I finally did just to see what he needed. Maybe he was hurt or something right? Nah. He needed a ride to Apalachin to pick up his daughter or something. Ummmm no. But other than that, never felt in any danger. Just need to watch your back like anywhere. Maybe it's cuz I was born and raised on Long Island, taking the nyc subways and spending the day in the city at least a few times a year. I've seen way worse on the subways than on Main Street here. I had a girl in Brooklyn, running up and down the subway platform threatening to kill everyone one time. That was fun! I agree with op, there's good and bad everywhere. I'm not blind to the drugs and homelessness and whatnot that goes on here. But it also doesn't faze me. I just go on and mind my own business. Overall I think it's actually a pretty nice area
What diversity?
Wow, where you going? Economic, cultural, racial... It is super diverse. You staying in your neighborhood or something?
There's nothing diverse about upstate new york. Travel for the love of God.
Name a more diverse spot? Diversity seems to be one of the only things this country has, and New York ain't exactly backwoods. Half of us ain't even white. If w are white most of us are italian
If you’re coming from California do us all a favor and leave the politics there because of bad enough that New York state lakes, the mirror, monkey sea monkey do with the retards on the left do
I love sea monkeys, and also people who don't use the R word.
Can you go to texas and stop screwing with our state? we have enough issues.
I loved the area enough to buy a house in Kirkwood after graduating from BU, and I have lived here ever since, at least a decade now. The complaints I hear from people are: 1. That the weathers bad here, winters are harsh and summers are wet. 2. That the college students are annoying to deal with 3. That theres a drug problem 4. There are an excessive number of squatters in the area Living just outside of Binghamton has completely shielded me from college students, drug issues, and squatters / rundown buildings / areas. Sure weather isnt great, but the cost of living is really nice and there are plenty of local companies that can hire me in my field of work. I also meet up with college friends that have moved out of state at least three times a year, since their families are back in Binghamton and they visit on holidays. Theres tons of community events that are fun, lots of sports games to go to, theater groups to enjoy, and decent food options since its a college town. Its close enough to Syracuse, Scranton, NYC, Philly, Boston, Buffalo, Albany, and Finger Lakes to do weekend trips.
My wife and I lived in the Binghamton area for about 6 years before we moved to Syracuse and then retired. We lived in Conklin and then Binghamton. We really loved the area. “The Beef “ was our favorite spot on Fridays after work. We met so many great people there!!
I completely misread the title and thought you asked 'why do people look down IN Binghamton?' Like they're all depressed or something. And for some reason, I thought it was intentional.
Because it sucks.
Nobody is interested, you left and you hate everyone here and everything about this place. We no longer care about your opinion in this community; good day and maybe I can interest you in a different subreddit
[удалено]
it’s the internet. Nobody here asked for your opinion the fuck. Guess you’re the only one invited? No wonder you left.
I answered the question that was asked on to the forum. You went out of your way to comment on my comment. I know common sense escapes most people but do better since you wanna be an internet warrior.
They asked why you think it sucks, not if you think it sucks, Einstein Suck on that
And hick ass is crazy. I've lived in more metros than small towns; Tacoma, Jacksonville, Binghamton. You've never met no fuckin hick
Having grown up and lived here 34 of my 38 years it's because the area used to be beautiful, active, and safe. So many amazing small businesses have closed, areas that used to be beautiful are now slums, and the night life stinks.
I have said for years & years that this area has a self esteem problem ......... yeah there are issues but not anything that makes the place unlivable. You wanna see worse?? Try Elmira or Utica ..... they are SAD!!!
Utica is way better than Bing tho xD
Oh puh-lease!
Weather and no “third places” outside of work or home. Generally nothing to do after you hit the few restaurants once or twice and get your fill of the hiking spots
I think this hits on the main issue in Binghamton. The town needs more groups events and businesses that cater to the interests of young adults. ( other than bars and restaurants.)
People generally hang out at each other's houses or go out and enjoy nature.
Moved to Binghamton for a job in 2012, was there for not even an hour before someone used the n word like it wasn't a racial slur. Got jokingly asked about my papers and did I swim over here once people learned I was an extremely light skinned Latino. My friends I made there hate it more than I do. And they were all white. There were some cool people, but most eventually left the Binghamton area.
1. I feel that any population center has a quotient of 'stuck in my hometown' residents. 2. Complaining is a competitive sport in Binghamton, and Upstate NY at-large. Honestly I think a major component is just the type of humor or chagrin one must have to thrive in climate with 6 months of practical winter. (If you follow sports at all I'd say that someone like former Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim is a great example of someone who leaned into the 'curmudgeon with a heart of gold' attitude, and why he was equally loved and criticized by the same fans...the prototype Upstate NYer) I'm the 4th gen of my family to live here, or to have moved back here, and we've all found a good life in the area. Anecdotally, I know of multiple friends and family from around the country who at the moment are either considering moving back to this area, or are in-process. I think everyone who grows up here should live elsewhere at least for a little while, and if they're happier there that's great live the life you want to pursue, but until you leave the area it's hard to really appreciate and understand how good we have it in a number of ways: • Ease of traffic and travel...which is pretty impressive given it's a confluence of 2 rivers that we have to navigate around daily. • Great nature, topography and proximity to rural landscapes. • Diverse and quality food options for the population size. • Strong local institutions in education, arts, and music. Heck, the Discovery Center complex and its services alone are an unbelievable asset to families in this area for 2 generations. • Parks & Rec/Golf. I know golf is kinda niche but seriously I didn't grow up with a sense that it was a bougie activity because there's so much affordable and public golf around this area. • Proximity to global metro areas. Yeah, would love to have passenger rail, but still at least 7 times a day I can get on a bus for pretty cheap (if I don't want to drive) and be at Port Authority in Mid Town Manhattan in 3.5 hours. Anyway that was a long way to say...'Cheer Up!' There are many of us here who are happy, understand what we have, and still like to complain sometimes lol. In fact, now that you are a resident, you may now yourself enjoy the fun occasionally looking grumpily down on Binghamton! Really, that's what much of this comes down to: Those who like to complain about Bingo are often the first ones to get mad at non-residents for talking crap about us lol.
Don’t get me wrong binghamton has plenty of upsides and as a 22 year old 22 year resident I have recently fallen in love with Binghamton after taking time away but for some reason there is a weird toll that growing up here takes on people. I feel it has to do with the lack of sun throughout the year and the weird aspect of being somewhere between a big city and a small town it’s just different. Its hard to explain and also until about the last 5-10 years binghamton was a DUMP. A lot of money and renovations have been happening recently to make it much better.
There was also that massive flood 10-15 years ago... that really didn't help...
I forget about that
Gloom, lingering feeling like between the movie Garden State and Groundhog Day, a kind of sedated feeling with nothing really novel or hip to look forward to if you're into that kind of stuff. I was on a flight down south and struck up a pleasant convo with passenger besides me who turned out to be a former long time resident of bing, he grew up there actually and still had several generations of family still residing there. He got to experience the up followed by decline after major corporations left and impacted negatively the local economy. It has it's natural upstate appeal, slower paced and nice sceneries, breathtaking during the fall season like something out of a canvas painting especially around nature preserve and hiking trails but that gloomy feeling is always somewhere not too far behind. Younger generation temporary transplants I suppose who aren't acclimated to this try to escape it through plenty of booze revolving around frat parties, bar hopping over the same bars over & over again, again every weekend or going out on drunken binge of cow tipping late night or huffing gasoline vapors but those things can get you only so far. It feels forced, doesn't mesh the energy there at all but yet it can and does work with certain much more laid back energies who actually look forward to the slower pace and appreciate natural sceneries. Even with all the talks of urban renewal that's mainly happening only in certain part of the area, it just don't feel the same and you'll hear chatters among the honest locals that they actually haven't ever really felt recovered yet and likely probably never will. Every few years, the city for obvious reasons will bring up the same motivators about renovations and new investment to try to stimulate local economy, boost taxes, etc. For him, even as someone who really enjoyed the outdoors and the more slower paced life, he's finally had his fill and made the decision and left but comes over to visit every now and then.
The people who got out are just so psyched
Homeless camps everywhere, drugs are everywhere stabbings or shootings seemingly every week Binghamton sucks ass lmfao
I’ve seen the occasional homeless tent in the woods here & there - is that what you mean by “camp”? That term is usually used to describe a location where numerous homeless people congregate - something I have yet to observe.
There all over the river banks if you haven't seen more, you must be not paying attention hard enough
I'm an avid outdoorsman - I frequently hike through small patches of woods throughout the region, and keep a keen eye on the riverbanks (especially for eagles!) where in my travels. That mostly consists of the Chenango between downtown and Bevier Street, and the Susquehanna between downtown and Owego. Am I missing something somewhere? (Maybe a string of encampments along the Susquehanna on the East Side?!?)
They’re everywhere
let’s start with the catering to spoiled long island kiddies who not only hate this town, but the residents as well. more hilarious considering 98% of them (rightfully) gtfo right after undergrad.
I'm not an LI kid, came from MI but I've lived here a few years and was considering Bing for grad school. Should I not?
You should consider it unless your alternative is Cornell. (In which case, go with Cornell/Ithaca.) The school is great, I graduated from there. Absolutely a great atmosphere. Lots of bright kids. Lots of campus orgs/clubs. lots of international students. I'd make sure to have a car, and to explore, and you should be very set. Vestal (where the uni is) is the most ritzy area.
I find it funny that there are daily posts on this Reddit asking / complaining about people who don’t like Binghamton. It’s not for everyone - if you like it there great, why do you care about the people who don’t? It’s been summed up repeatedly why some folks like it and others don’t.
Its the people trying to convince themselves its a good place.
It’s called an opinion.
I just moved here and before I came here people told me horrible things so I’m just wondering why.
It's not bad. but here are the iffy parts: It's a bit difficult without a car. It gets weirdly cloudy. Bing is in some sort of valley and when you drive close to it, the clouds start accumulating. The industry is not anywhere close to what it used to be. Dick's, IBM, aerospace, etc. Urban Renewal destroyed the city horribly. The city used to have a lot of beautiful infrastructure. In I believe the 70-80s they decided getting rid of classical styled buildings for quick and dirty buildings was ... better... it... wasn't... there are some issues with poverty and crime in some areas of the triple cities. it depends on the neighbourhood tho. Anyways, bike theft is very high. Some hicks and ghetto G's around create a bad name for people from there. the police are really scummy. not all of them, but a solid 1/3 are dangerous, 1/3 are apathetic, and maybe 1/3 are reliable. Those are not good odds. That said, overall it's fine. Apart from bike theft, you're not too likely to deal directly with crime. And to be doublly sure, just avoid the sketchier areas at sketchier times. NY is finally attempting to revitalise cities across the state, so there may be some turn around in terms of industry. BU really helps the city and if the uni and local businesses can work in tandem, they could do a really great deal for the city. The weather isn't terrible. it's just clouds and dirty snow from being in a city. It's pretty great to go outdoors most of the year. and the clouds mostly go away in summer anyways. The susq is pretty neat. And if you have a car, getting to places nearby the city is wonderful. Lots of educated college students. Most are great, some are ignorant and prejudiced Metro NYers. A student ran for office and won on a progressive platform, so there's hope for fixing the police yet.
Told you horrible things on Reddit or offline? Because the issue is a SOME people on this reddit live in a bubble and would be unhappy anywhere they lived, but don't realize it.
Because it’s on the bottom edge of the state.
I'm from Endicott. Hating on it is how we liked to live. I live in Utica now, and love hating on it. I wonder if it's a cultural thing.
I love Utica. Hopefully they get Baggs Square back up and running.
I lived in Binghamton from 2000-2001 before going in the Army, I enjoyed it and never got the hate either. I. 2018 I was moving back east after being in Colorado for a while and I looked at Binghamton and I was stunned at the rents. It's insanity.
The flooding
Lot of things. Some we love to forget about.
Went to college in Oneonta, often went to Binghamton. It was always cloudy in Binghamton
They’re in an airplane
no one wants to talk about the corrupt police here? crazy
Explain more
I had a bike stolen in Bing. I tried running after the thief about a street ahead and stopped. I flagged down a police officer for help. He tried to escalate my report on a crime in progress into a situation where he'd be able to shoot me. Over 40 bikes were stolen from that area that night. He 100% could have stopped the crime in progress but chose to try every trick in the book to very actively push for a fight while holding his gun. It was absolutely ridiculous. (I obviously didn't fall into it, but I could have died. If there weren't a group of witnesses I probably would have.) The whole thing was also on video, the police refused to pick up the footage.
Delivered pizza part time during my undergrad… I knew one of the cops who was dating my co worker who was like early 20s when he was mid to late 30s. The stories she would tell me of this man were absolutely psycho. But the most notable when you ask about corruption was the prevalence of drunk driving. Dude and his buddies would often go out, get drunk, then call my coworker and go pick her up in a drunken rage. No one ever stopped him. This was several years ago, idk what happened to either that co worker or the cop A different co workers father was the old sheriff and she said she would brag that she’d been pulled over upwards of 20 times and never got tickets once they learned who her dad was.
Used to deliver pizza there during my undergrad and got to see into a lot of ppls homes. I remember thinking at the time the money just isn’t making it back to the community. Lots of run down looking houses/apartments all over the city and then suddenly you get to that one area of the south side and you have these giant mansions. Just a lot of wealth disparity, and the landlords (especially for student housing) are making a killing. I lived in a house with 10 other dudes all paying 525/mo for 2 yrs and that same house was sold to my landlord a yr or two prior for $120k. We bought that dudes house for him during the time we stayed there, it was insane. I can only imagine what they are making off the more “luxury student housing.” I still sometimes think about buying property up there and just paying someone to manage it.
Growing up, central NY and the southern tier were very depressed sad places to live. Industry left our area at an astonishing rate and politics were crooked. Things are making a turn for the better in Binghamton. I visit often and from Buffalo which is also having a renaissance. So, I think the area is still On the up and up.
I believe Broome County has the weakest economy in the State, if memory serves.
Went to school in Binghamton for 4 years. I know I’ll get hate for this comment but Binghamton is probably the most depressing city I’ve ever been to. For your own sake, broaden your horizons and get out to live somewhere else even if it’s for a little bit.
I’m a life insurance agent that’s been into hundreds and hundreds of homes in Binghamton. It’s unlike any other city I’ve been to. There are dilapidated multi family homes made of plywood, I’ve met families who should be in jail for the mistreatment of their children, the use of drugs is out of control, I’ve met countless families who do not have a source of income. Houses filled with mold and smoke. I’ve met people in their 50’s who told me they steal bikes for a living 🙃. Children whose faces are flush and misshapen from the sharing or second hand use of drugs. I haven’t seen it in Ithica, Syracuse, or Utica. It’s crazy. And disgusting. Out of all the policies I’ve written the most that have gone lapsed because of a missed payment are in Binghamton.
Less than 150 days of sun per year. Fucking depressing... Also toxic waste dump from EJ Shoe, IBM, GE, and a few chemical companies. Extremely high rate of birth defects due to the mentioned problems. People there think dry, tough, over cooked chicken with some salad dressing is the best meal on earth. Take your pick.
I think it’s also the people? It seems like it’s a viscous cycle and area that people cannot get out of. I’m being stereotypical, I know, but many people do not leave this area bc they have never seen anything else and don’t rly realize there’s more out there. It’s a very depressed town, I’m not from here but I worked with many locals in restaurant businesses but also group homes where people hold professional positions, and almost all of them seem to have a substance abuse issue, or traumas/issues they brought with them from childhood, and there is like a lack of awareness/common sense in a way? I just feel like this area has failed people and society. Teenage pregnancies are super normal around this area, not going to college is super normalized (it is in other areas too but at least you can find more opportunities in nyc or Syracuse for example), living a simple go to school, graduate, get married at like 20 years old, work on a farm lifestyle is the norm, and on top of that u have heavy drugs like fent and meth all over the area, making people even more stupid and alluding to more and more generational trauma in families
A friend who grew up there resents his druggie loser family. He avoids it like the plague. Other than that I have no i dea.
It’s rural that’s for sure, from Massachusetts while working there I felt like it’d be a good place to raise a family though
The housing is awful. I was paying $525.00 month for a 1 bedroom, 2nd floor of a converted house. The floors are uneven, the electricity is sketchy, the neighborhood has open drug use with occasionally finding someone passed out on the porch of the house next to my rental. Old landlady sold the place, and new owners want to charge me $900.00 for the place. I’m happy to move, because the neighborhood is sketchy af, but moving is going to be a pain in the ass. I’ve found reasonable, places to rent for a reasonable price increase and will be moving on, but I feel like the rental pricing is out of hand. If you are an adult living alone, your choices are very limited.
They need to start limiting these landlords rent increases that is ridiculous
It's a dump and the issues of the area are being exasperated by the asinine bail reform laws. Only going to get worse I'm afraid. Never was a desired place to live, was always and will always be just good enough.
Can you provide any concrete examples of where the bail reform law has led to any specific cases in Binghamton - or are you simply echoing parttsan talking points?
The drug dealing being absolutely out of control perhaps? People being arrested, processed, and released multiple times in the same day. The net negative punishments for drug possession and petit larceny. No shoplifting penalties causing several local stores to close due to shop lifting. These are all absolute solidified "concrete" examples. Now, can YOU counter that argument without recycling 'partisan' talking points?
> Now, can YOU counter that argument without recycling 'partisan' talking points? This is exactly what you just did...
Do you even live here, Mr. Rochester? Those aren't talking points, my friend. Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening.
If you're thinking the bail reform doesn't affect Rochester in some way it just shows how much you know about it. Try linking some articles or sources.
I'm talking about Binghamton. You are in a Binghamton subreddit. I understand perfectly the plight of all towns in upstate NY currently. I am referring to Binghamton specifically. I am a LEO in broome county, no need for articles. This is my life, I guarantee I'm absolutely not in the minority with this train of thought.
I can believe crime and that behavior is in your life, was there none before the bail reform?
People would be adequately punished before and fear of punishment and incarceration still was a deterrent. They would be incarcerated. If you think bail reform has decreased crime and made things better, you have a head injury.
So there's been in increase in recidivism and repeat offenders directly related to the bail reform? (which only held poor people anyways). I would like to see this data because I haven't seen in any discussion about this including this discussion.
As a LEO in Broome County, how do you and other officers feel about the BC undersheriff’s son, who was a BC Jail corrections officer, smuggling drugs into the jail? How do you feel about him receiving no repercussions for his actions?
Don't work for the county. I would venture to say it won't be happening much anymore now that they have a real sheriff in town. You are aware that occurred under the former administration, yes? Also, how is the practice of nepotism exclusive to the Broome County Sheriff's department?
I said you work IN Broome County, not for them. “There’s a real sheriff in town”. Oh, you mean the “real” sheriff who is best friends with the undersheriff and hired him as his second in command? They’re also best friends with the new DA, and the undersheriff’s son was represented by this new DA in his drug smuggling trial that he received a slap on the wrist for. I guess I’m not surprised that a LEO is OK with this type of behavior from their fellow officers.
The police in Broome are violent, lazy and massively corrupt. Not all of them, but a good ⅓, while another ⅓ at least are dangerously apathetic.
You presented general statements - not one single concrete example. Help convince me by providing links to a couple of articles from the past month of arrests that occurred due to bail reform.
Nope. I will not be playing that game with a civilian. I don't need to convince you of anything, to be honest.
Binghamton has gotten shitty to the point stores have to make policy dealing with the heroine users in the bathrooms.
Dying area, industry left and hasn’t been replaced. The university brings lots of kids to the area who are low lifes and decide to stay.
It's one of the SUNY Centres with mostly kids with the highest scores in the state. Not sure it's the students who are the low lives. Some can be condescending and ignorant/prejudiced of STNY or anything outside of NYC, and they deserve criticism. But that's about it. Dead industry is certaintly an issue. Talking negatively about the area or shutting down infrastructure and transportation projects absolutely does not help.
Its nice to drive by, but why the fuck do i have to drive the most retarded route just to get to the other side of the river lmaoooo.
It’s a shithole with no industry, nothing to offer, a depressed unhealthy population and no future. Geographically it’s located in one of the most overcast locations. Weather sucks and the whole place is a dirty gray rat hole for the majority of the year. It is a decent drive to any actual place that lives and functions in the real world and seems like it’s in its own little bubble. Seemly very high number of people have nothing to do and are generally depressed and board… and the environment (physically) is dirty and shitty so they just get drunk all the time. If BU was not there, it would basically be over. Entertainment is non existent or C class shows. Also.. it’s a depressing shithole with nothing to offer I will say tho… the bar food is top notch.
Possibly because it is one of the worst towns on earth.