Upstate new york

[Hunbleandlost16]

What are some good catholic areas of upstate New York? I would like to move somewhere up there one day I heard Rochester is pretty bad? Thanks for replies!

 

[Corki]

How far up do you want to go? Orange County is more “outstate” then “upstate” but it’s very nice.

 

[QuasiCatholic]

Good as in lots of Catholics already live there?

I think probably the Utica area – lots of Italian and Polish immigrants there historically.

 

[PolarGuy]

“Upstate NY” IMHO depends on how you define it. Some people think “anything above Yonkers” is “upstate.”

True upstate, i.e., above the Catskills, is a very challenging area to live. Upstate NY has a very old demographic. Jobs are few and people are leaving many areas. NY is one of the few states losing population, and since NY City is always growing, the loss is coming from somewhere.

There are Catholic communities upstate but that is overshadowed IMHO by the loss of many jobs. Economically, NY State is not a lot better off than California IMHO.

 

[Nanni_amore]

What are some good catholic areas of upstate New York? I would like to move somewhere up there one day I heard Rochester is pretty bad? Thanks for replies!

Rochester is considered to be part of Western NY. You heard incorrectly. Rochester is very nice…very Catholic and under the watchful, loving and gentle guidance of Bishop Matano.

 

[Marysann]

I grew up in upstate New York. Your reason for moving there would help to determine where you would like to live. The economic situation is difficult, but not impossible. The son of one of my childhood friends recently got a good job with an engineering firm doing very interesting work in Syracuse. The company was thrilled to have him. He is a local boy, and they can’t attract people from out of the area because of the bad weather etc. Rochester is in upstate New York. Western New York is upstate. The Diocese of Rochester has a new bishop, but it is going to take him a while to straighten things out up there. There are many fighting against him. If you are interested what is going on with the Church in the Rochester area, you should check out the website “Cleansing Fire” (DOR). The Diocese of Albany is also problematic, but I don’t know as much about that. I think an internet search would tell you about it. Don’t get me wrong, there are many faithful Catholics in these areas, but catechesis has been so bad for so long that many truly don’t understand the faith. I grew up on the Diocese of Syracuse, and my small town parish has perpetual adoration, but no jobs. The problems in the Church were never as severe in the Dioceses of Syracuse or Buffalo as they were in Rochester or Albany. The working class descendents of the Polish and Italian immigrants wouldn’t put up with the “modern” innovations that the more highly educated people of Rochester and Albany did. I don’t know anything about Ogdensburg, but our bishop in Arlington, VA, Bishop Loverde, was bishop there, and he is great. If I were you, I would look into the Buffalo area. You will be able to find a good Catholic community there. The area is larger, and you will find an active cultural life, good universities, etc., and your neighbors will be nice! Full disclosure: I have family in the Dioceses of Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo and visit there often.